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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Apr 29, 2009 - 10:05am PT
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Which lead us, Eric, to your last recorded first ascent: Affront To Rigor II 5.4.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Apr 29, 2009 - 09:09pm PT
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DrDeeg posted "Beck would not eat tomatoes, because in the year 1804 a lot of people ate tomatoes and they are all dead now"
It sounds like there's a story behind that. And maybe the name of "Affront to Rigor". Eric?
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Apr 29, 2009 - 10:11pm PT
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In 1970, when I first met Eric in Squaw Valley, the reason that he wouldn’t eat tomatoes was that anyone who had eaten tomatoes in 1804 was now dead.
Seemed like a reasonable observation.
At least that is the way I remember it.
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DrDeeg
Mountain climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Apr 30, 2009 - 12:25pm PT
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About Kronhofers:
The posts about Kronhofer climbing shoes are generally correct. They were our prevailing shoes in the 60s. However, Frank Sacherer climbed in Spiders, at least in the great Summer of '64. In those days, we owned 1 pair of climbing shoes, and we used them for the approach, the climb, the descent, and the walk to Yosemite Lodge in the evening. In a discussion around '63 or '64 about shoes, Wally Reed opined that Spiders were the best because they were most comfortable sitting around the Lodge.
I started using Kronhofers in '66. On Gerughty's advice, I bought a tight pair, stood in the water until they didn't hurt and then bouldered till they were dry. There are advantages to leather.
When I started grad school in '68, I could fit everything I owned into a VW bug. My entire footwear inventory was: Lange ski boots, Le Phoque mountaineering boots, Kronhofers, and sandals. My Hush Puppies had worn out, but they were pretty good for climbing too, viz Dick Erb on Rixon's East.
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jogill
climber
Colorado
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You guys didn't convert to RDs back then? I gave up my Zillertals and Kronhofers by the mid 1960s (if my recollection is correct!).
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BBA
Social climber
West Linn OR
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This is general curiosity question about Frank. After I went in the Army in 1962, I wrote to Guido about wondering when Frank and Glen Denny would get sucked up into the big green machine. It sounds like Frank avoided that pleasure. Was it because of national defense or some unknown maladay that he wasn't drafted?
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jstan
climber
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Bits and pieces here.
In 1962 I was a grad student in physics working part time on DOD contracts. DOD was funding a big portion of physics research, including the high energy work in which Frank would have been involved.
I had a pair of spiders. Used them on one climb. Wonderful stiff sole that would work only one way. I still have maybe twenty pair of RD's all needing to be resoled. Absolutely great shoe of the day.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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jstan is right. Frank didn't have to worry about the draft because of his job at the Lawrence Radiation Lab.
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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jstan is correct-we could all use a wee bit of "resouling" at times.
cheers
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Guido-
This thread has certainly served that purpose for me!
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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May 22, 2009 - 07:57am PT
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This is probably the best single climbing history thread I've seen on ST. Just the best.
I have a minor personal reason for bumping it.
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John Rander
Trad climber
Paris, France
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At the request of Klara Weis, Joe’s widow, I have scanned my copies of the slides taken by Joe and Frank on the ill fated Shroud climb. Joe’s camera was smashed in the rucksack during the helicopter recovery, but with some care I managed to salvage most of the film later in a darkroom. About 30 photos were taken on the route; only the last images were badly damaged. The photos (and their number) suggest that the climb went normally up to the exit pitch. The first image (#1; Joe’s #4) shows Frank leading the last of the technical pitches at the top of the ice gully on Tuesday afternoon. Since Joe led most of the gully (sections of 80°) it is not surprising to find an absence of photos there. The next image (#2; Joe’s #9) is a view looking down from the small apron above the gully (Frank is removing an ice screw; the slope angle here is about 50°). The next three images (#3, 4, 5; Joe’s #11, 15 & 17) were taken from the chopped-out bivouac ledge below the Shroud’s large ice patch. Photos #4 & 5 were certainly taken on Wednesday morning; the weather on the Italian side is rather thick. The view (#5) looking NE shows the Petites Jorasses and just behind the Aig. de Leschaux; it also shows the true angle of the ramp, not always obvious. The following image (#6; Joe’s #22) was taken while Joe was seconding the first pitch above the bivouac, from this point the climb sweeps upward to the left. The two alternated leads up the ramp, and Frank took the next picture of Joe belaying him (#7; Joe’s #24) on the second (?) of those pitches. The last two photos (#8 & 9; Joe’s #25 & 28) show Frank climbing toward the exit gullies; the weather has definitely started to close in.
Hope this gives a clearer view of that last climb.
John
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 2, 2009 - 03:14am PT
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that is stunning John, simply amazing...
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Wow. High up and have to go a lot higher to reach the safest descent. It makes me glad I can simply rap off of climbs in Yosemite. Sometimes we joke that people may only find our cameras, but this is for real.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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These photos are definitely laden with emotion for me! Amazingly, I didn't even know they existed until John wrote to me to ask if it was ok to post them.
Again, I am amazed that Frank who loved sunshine and heat and going shirtless, was up on a climb and bivouac like that. Second thought is that these photos show all too well why it was so tempting to try to retreat down the Hirondelles ridge to Chamonix rather than go further uphill into the storm, with a long descent into Italy and a trip back through the tunnel to Chamonix.
So near and yet so far. What a difference a few hours makes!
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Thanks - the night crew really contributed yesterday. An excellent thread, made even better.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Now seems like an appropriate time to note that I have just signed the papers to have Frank exhumed as required by French law, and then cremated and the ashes returned to the U.S. The whole situation has been trying to say the least. It has also been complicated because both Joe and Frank were placed together in one tomb and all this had to be coordinated between Klara Weis and myself, along with the mayor's office in Chamonix and the funeral home there. John Rander, a true friend to both Frank and Joe even 30 years later, has been indispensible along with his wife Brigitte, in translating the necessary legal documents from French to English, and making numerous phone calls. Jean-Claude Bourigault has also been an enormous help to me personally with checking on details and sending me encouraging messages from time to time. Becoming acquainted with these two fine men and the opportunity to practice my French again after 30 years has been one of the positives of the whole experience. The other has been getting acquainted with Klara via email. After nearly a hundred exchanges, we know a lot about each other, I know more about the details of the accident, and of course we were able to discuss emotions with each other that no one else in the world could have comprehended.
Since John Rander went to a lot of trouble to recover Frank and Joe's photos taken on their last climb, it is appropriate to thank him for that too and to note they are posted on the previous page.
Finally, I would like to ask those people who knew Frank personally or have a special interest in him to contact me by email as plans for a remembrance and dispersal of the ashes in Yosemite some time next spring e is foreseen but nothing specific has yet been planned.
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aguacaliente
climber
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This thread is one of the most amazing things I have read on the internet (and it would only have been possible, as the collaboration it is, on the internet), and the pictures just posted on the previous page are spooky, poignant, and intense.
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Just a great thread. Transcendent.
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Sheets
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Agreed. Thank you John Rander for posting those pictures.
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