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Largo
Sport climber
Venice, Ca
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jul 29, 2008 - 04:46pm PT
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Closing in on finishing this sprawling picture book of the Stonemasters, and am finding that the text is a tad thin on several key areas. Much of really stellar material in the book are the spontaneously dashed-off blurbs from the original Stonemaster thread of sixteen or so months ago (it went for 1,000s of posts, remember??). Anyhow, I’m looking for the same kind of irreverent and hilarious anecdotes, first person accounts and generic spray on the following people and topics: John Bachar and his sololing; Richard Harrison; bouldering at Roubidoux and Stony Point, and the long nights out at Joshua during the 70s, when Hidden Valley Campground was Ground Zero for shenanigans.
Thanks,
JL
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F10 Climber F11 Drinker
Trad climber
medicated and flat on my back
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Jul 29, 2008 - 05:05pm PT
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JL
Good luck on the 70's in JT, it is pretty fuzzy and a big blur
Looking forward to the book
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GDavis
Trad climber
SoCal
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Jul 29, 2008 - 05:13pm PT
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Some moments I've absorbed in the past little while that I found really awesome:
-Daryl Hatten riding naked through the lodge and Bachar taking heat
-Bachar boxing Leichtfuss in TM (and subsequent pummel)
-The first solo of Nabisco Wall, with note as narrated in 50 Favorite Climbs
-First Free Ascents of Overhang and Hot Rocks
You probably are already cognizant of these events, and they are not all Stonemaster stories, per say. Speaking as someone who wasn't even alive when these shenanigans happened, they hold a certain caché.
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Russ Walling
Social climber
Out on the sand.... man.....
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Jul 29, 2008 - 05:16pm PT
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JL, the "Bago Rides" are a must include..... Yabo standing on top, surfer style.... long rides to Jumbo with no way back.... was it Vogel who clipped into the ladder with a butt bag and went all the way to 29?
You'll need to unearth some real fogies to get the early-mid '70s poop..... the guys with the good memories didn't arrive until like '79 to seize control of the campground.
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James
climber
Leavenworthless
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Jul 29, 2008 - 05:30pm PT
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Last summer, Lucho, Bachar, Lynn Winn, and I were walking stomping through the forest on the way back from South Whizz Dome. We started slandering about Kauk, who's game with the ladies is smoother than his footwork. JB tells us this story.
Back in the ninties, or eighties, maybe even the seventies, Ron had just split with some girl and was somewhat destitute. John tells Ron not to worry about it. Ron's had plenty of girlfriends, he could find another. John goes ahead and asks Ron how many girlfriends he's had and without a second of hesitation Ron replies "86."
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Jaybro
Social climber
wuz real!
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Jul 29, 2008 - 05:43pm PT
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OT, but it reminded me. One time pre 1980, the Cilley one and I were at the Ahwahnee sweet shop, slurping down ice cream and the coffee they used to roast there, at the bar, a stool between us. A truly lovely young woman with long straight brown hair tried to enter and was told there was a line and she would have to wait.
"We have a space right here," said Richard. She joined us. She had a sundae, we all laughed, she scooped ice cream into our coffee, we laughed some more, somebody (Dick?) produced a pint of, something (rumplemintz?) that went into our drinks, we laughed and had a great time. Eventually she wandered off, Dick looked me in the eye and said,"She's the 37th most beautiful woman in the world." I didn't know, but I couldn't argue.
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Jul 29, 2008 - 06:40pm PT
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Not book-worthy, but I'll always remember, about 1980, a tube-socked Bachar climbing unroped next to us on Lembert:
"Say, what route is this??"
"That'd be Truck 'n' Drive. I guess those socks are pretty tight, eh?"
Good luck with the proj, Largo and Winky.
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Jefe'
Boulder climber
Bishop
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Jul 29, 2008 - 07:30pm PT
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John, what kind of stuff do you want to know about Richard? Basement stories, pounding pins in dirt cliffs, bouldering at Baldy, bridge traverses, let me know.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Jul 29, 2008 - 07:38pm PT
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It was in Nov. '76 that two eastern girls came to C4 and got a spot next to the rescue site (#18 wasn't it?) just after dark.
Total gumbies.
2:00AM one of them starts screaming.
Seems she had a bag of Chips Ahoy that a bear was heartily enjoying while, paralyzed with fear, she stared right up at the bear's anus.
I'm surprised she knew what it was at THAT distance, but she did.
After several people chased away the bear things quieted down.
About a half hour later she loudly whispers to her friend asking to share her sleeping bag.
The friend whispers back to go to sleep. The bear was gone etc.
There is a pause and then she whines, "But I wet mine!"
Bellowing roars of laughter erupt from the rescue site where the conversation had been quite audible.
When I woke up a few hours later the pair had evaporated.
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10b4me
climber
the gray bands
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Jul 30, 2008 - 01:16am PT
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Blinny,
that's why I like you, your writing always paints a picture.
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Anastasia
climber
Not there
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Jul 30, 2008 - 01:26am PT
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John Long,
You need to visit Bachar and get him to open up. The man is brilliantly funny once you get him started on story telling.. Nothing is better than getting it from the horse's mouth.
(Just my two cents)
AF
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Double D
climber
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Jul 30, 2008 - 02:07am PT
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Largo... No doubt you've already written some stuff about Tobin but as an aspiring noob Tobin was a very cool dude and a major inspiration.
One day while Bill Price, Augie Klein and I were swimming across from the Cookie road, Tobin sort of just shows up out of the bushes and asks if any of us want to go do outer limits. There's no doubt that we all had a hippie lettuce buzz and at the time we were climbing 5.9's so the prospect of a 5.10 seemed pretty ominous. Prior to really pondering the situation, I blurt out that I'm game.
As I dried off and walked out to the car to get my swami belt Tobin is talking with this guy with the biggest camera and tripod I’d ever seen. Then, seeing my hesitation, he says, “you don’t mind if Bob (?) here films us, do ya?” The color must have totally drained from my face as I was not only petrified of climbing a 5.10, but being filmed? There was just no graceful way out so again without thinking, I hear myself saying, “naw, it’s cool.”
Belaying Tobin, I’m totally in awe at his abilities. Smooth as Belgium chocolate he glides up to the belay. As I access the situation, I decide that the best way to tackle the climb was just to go as fast as possible hoping to make the belay before I’m totally pumped. Much to my surprise the tactic works but only after chalking up to my elbows prior to lift off. I had no clue how to rest but luckily he didn’t place much gear to clean or else I’d have been hosed!
Never did see the film, but years later my mom, who was a school teacher, showed it by total chance to her class as it was apparently distributed to that market. Tobin was always very gracious to us and largely inspired all of us into the realm of 5.10’s and up.
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Social climber
valley center, ca
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Jul 30, 2008 - 02:13am PT
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GDavis re: Bachar boxing it is a great story but I would only let John tell it first...JB has been great to us .... John is such a sportsman....
but being there I have details....love to the climbing community
haha, Lynne Leichtfuss
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jiimmy
Boulder climber
san diego
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Jul 30, 2008 - 02:23am PT
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How bout a book which says how boring climbing is and how dangerous it can be and that chicks dont dig climbers. the crags are getting way too crowded. San diego isnt big enough for all of us.
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Double D
climber
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Jul 30, 2008 - 02:24am PT
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Ok, I just though of another really funny incident. When I was a freshman in high school we were on a week trip with Yosemite Institute and I was showing a friend Kia around the Swan Slab bouldering area when low and behold, there’s Largo doing laps on, well, the lap boulder. I knew who John (Largo) was because I had bummed a ride with a friend of Rik Reider's the day that you guys all started up Stoner's Highway on Middle. So seeing you bouldering was kind of like running into Tiger Woods at the driving range. Kia had seen my shoes (old PA’s) and asked me what type of shoe John was wearing. I’m like trying to keep the conversation in hushed tones as we stood there gawking and explained that those were the new EB’s and that EB’s totally rule.
I’m sure we were way blowing your concentration just twittering away. You turned, slightly perturbed and said, “it ain’t the shoes!”
To this day that always busts my gut, but sorry for blowing your concentration and being such a geek!
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hobo_dan
Social climber
Minnesota
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Jul 30, 2008 - 09:19am PT
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Largo- get off your fat middle aged ass and get this book to the printer!
I am totally looking forward to reading it.
I thought the best thing you ever wrote was a piece in Climbing- mid- 90's maybe? about your life falling apart- having panic attacks and wondering "what the hell?" Then focusing on yourself and how you dealt with relationships. I could so totally relate.
All the best
murf
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Eric Beck
Sport climber
Bishop, California
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Jul 30, 2008 - 12:14pm PT
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It's the late 70s in the inner circle of Hidden Valley CG. Two people announce that they are going to do the Bearded Cabbage by headlamp. Bachar hears this and says "If you guys are really going to do this, I'll get my sax". Thus it happened, a surreal scene, a circle of light making it's way up the Cabbage and Bachar wailing below.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Jul 30, 2008 - 01:25pm PT
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You see this is a perfect example of how bogus rumors get started. Somebody reads this and then says, "I heard that it was Bachar's idea to have sax with a cabbage at night."
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Jul 30, 2008 - 02:02pm PT
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Well yeah, Ron, but Becko said it. And he is unimpeachable.
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