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scuffy b
climber
Sinatra to Singapore
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yaa-frickin-hooooo.
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philo
Trad climber
boulder, co.
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Ho man! I laughed, I cried, I had flashbacks. Many, many thanks to the Big Brave Convection Oven.
What a great read after a long day of work. You totally rock Buggs.
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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AWESOME!!!!!!!!!
Thanks Mike--I could feel something welling up in my throat
when you let go. . . OMG!!!!!
Salut!
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Captain...or Skully
Social climber
Idaho, also. Sorta, kinda mostly, Yeah.
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I really like the different Takes on the same Route.
You captured that Odyssey, in a big way. Thanks for sharing it.
WooHoo! Watkins, Baby! A Huge Rock that AIN'T by the Road.
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philo
Trad climber
boulder, co.
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Now sir, if you please sir, could you, would you, compile them all into a "proper tale" for the proletariat masses to enjoy? We, and I'm sure I speak for more than me, so appreciate the engaging way you've told your grippingly great story. Thanx for a phun ride.
BLT wrote;
I've reached the end of the lower out line. Muther F#$%er. Eyes swirling like spinning galaxies, Hubble-esque spirals smashing headlong into one another...
"Cut to commercial." "I want to get off this s#@t."
That was brilliant!
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 7, 2009 - 03:08am PT
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Buggs you made the whole thread, just like you did on that climb.
Thanks bro.
For both.
Forever.
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Dick Erb
climber
June Lake, CA
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The first ascent of the South Face of Watkins seemed to be a rewarding ordeal and the second was certainly not achieved without incident.
Layton Kor, Eric Beck, and I started up in May of 1967, but got stormed off. Then when Kor headed off to the Salathe Wall with Galen Rowell, Eric and I went back for another go at it. The first day was a lot of nice climbing to our bivy at Sheraton Watkins. The next day was quite intense; some aid off the ledge, some easy free traversing out over the huge overhangs to the steep wall above. Several pitches higher was a pendulum which was mine to lead, nailing out to the end of an arch then lowering and swinging to a good bucket and pulling onto a ledge. I walked across the ledge 10 or 15 feet and set up my belay anchor slightly to my right. There is more than one way to follow a pendulum, and the way we chose seemed like a good idea at the time. As Eric was jugging the pitch I threw the haul line to him, and when the got to the pendulum pin he clipped it through the biner and rapped to a good height across from me. I had him on the good old hip belay and then with both hands on the line to my partner pulled him hand over hand across the pendulum and he latched the bucket, but then a little potato chip flake foothold popped and he was sliding down the rap line. I put my breaking hand back in position which left some slack in the rope and watched him swing feeling his weight pulling me off of the ledge. I rolled out on to the face below into a position where the rope was cutting through my testicles. Screaming through the excruciating pain I gasped, "Eric get your weight off the rope it's killing me". He looked up and very calmly said, "It will be a while I've dislocated my shoulder".
Hanging there with my right hand clamped to the rope I watched while with one hand he clipped the jumars one by one onto the climbing rope. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, but was probably about half a minute I went numb. The pain was gone. Eric looking very focused and composed worked his way slowly up the climbing rope, one arm hanging uselessly at his side, until after about ten feet or so he was able switch over to the other portion of the rope that was tied directly to the anchor.
Eventually we were both back on the ledge and it was time to deal with Eric's injury. Hanging upside down with one foot in his armpit I pulled on his wrist, over and over again. We couldn't get the arm back in its socket. I tried another way, one hand in the armpit the other pulling the wrist. It was harder to get as much pulling force this way but somehow after a few tries the shoulder popped back in. It was now late in the day and Eric couldn't lift his hand more than chest high.
We rapped down to a ledge where Eric must have had a painful sleepless night and I sat up convincing myself that we could rappel over the huge overhang below and somehow swing back into the wall below.
Morning came. We started down and got a good anchor above the overhang. With a big knot at the end of the rope I let myself down to the lip and pushed off trying to get as big a swing as possible. Down I went hanging in space trying to pump like a kid on a swing to get back into the wall. When my toe touched the rock I knew I had it made and bounced around 'til I got to a good flake. The rest was easy' but there is one item of interest. Thanks to Pratt's recommendation we carried a bolt kit. He said there were some bolts that were so bad they could have fallen out on their own. I am grateful for that because there was one rap station where I placed a nice two bolt anchor. When Eric got there he said they looked like good bolts and was much relieved. The next rap brought us to one of the pendulum bolts low on the route. There was a lot of controversy about bolting then and Eric and I were on the side of as few as necessary. So I didn't want to add a bolt to a good route and tied into that quarter incher. Eric came down to me and said not a word, no complaints. We tried not move around too much and rappelled to the ground.
Later that year I went back up with Jim Madsen and finally got the second ascent.
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 7, 2009 - 01:17pm PT
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Great post Dick!
Full on adventure for sure,...you just made us look lightweight.
Congratulations on having the balls (BWA HA hahaha) to keep going back and getting the second on a great climb. I know the feeling.
You da man Dick!
Any old pix??
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Fantastic stories, Dick! THe first couple of repeat ascents are usually just as grand adventures as the FA's! Thanks for sharing your recollections!
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philo
Trad climber
boulder, co.
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Wickedly good story Dick. You dudes were hardmen.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
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I gotta go lie down with my feet elevated after that!
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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This thread just gets better and better!
Yah Hoo!
Z
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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Wow, Dick.
What a story!
Talk about hardmen.
I can't imagine what both of your pain
must have been like!
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C. Small wall climber.
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Thanks, Dick - a great story. How was the eventual successful climb, with Madsen?
And about the brave little toaster bit...
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drljefe
climber
Old Pueblo, AZ
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Awesome additions to such a great thread.
Oh, and by the way-
Yesterday I saw a silver Honda Element with a "Brave Little Toaster" sticker!
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Captain...or Skully
Social climber
Oh, you know.....Here & there
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Yup, Buggs has a following.
ALL the chix dig the BLT.
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Gobee
Trad climber
Los Angeles
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Here's to all who have been up there!
A long time ago, John Barbella and I got baked off of it. But I got a few cool shots. The worst day climbing is still better they the best day doing other stuff?
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Dick Erb
climber
June Lake, CA
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Some people may think the Watkins approach is too long, but where else can you get to a wilderness grade VI only a few hours from home and bivy on a ledge with no lights in sight (if you live in Camp 4). After not reaching the top in two tries, I had to go back again. This time it was with Jim Madsen, the strongest wall climber of our generation. To say he was obsessed with climbing would be an understatement. On a nice warm September day we packed our gear and headed up Tenaya Canyon with two gallons of water for our planned two days on the wall. Jim's determination became apparent before we even reached the top of the approach. As I was struggling up the 5.8 pitch below the wall one of our gallon jugs came loose from a strap on my pack, and I turned to watch it sailing through the air. Before it even exploded on the rocks below, Madsen was screaming, "We're not going down because of that". Oh well I guess we'll get thirsty. Jim was always in a hurry. He'd finish a lead, and too impatient to set up a pulley, haul the bag hand over hand, then wait chomping at the bit while I cleaned and led a pitch so he could get moving again. As we got higher it got warmer and by the time we got to our bivouac at Sheraton Watkins we had already drunk half of the remaining jug. The next day dawned clear and we continued on, getting thirstier and thirstier pitch by pitch. I led the pitch up to the ledge where Eric and I had bivied last spring. As I pulled onto the ledge I saw two quarts of water that we had left behind and I had forgotten. It felt like a celebration as we gulped it down. All those green floaters in it were no deterrent. We figured we'd be off the wall before it made us sick. To my pleasure we passed our old high point. It got airier and we got lighter and higher, finally the wonderful last pitch and a bee line to Snow Creek. We lay on our stomachs, faces in the water, gulping and gulping. Then we'd roll over on our backs and breathe for a while. Then back over, face in the creek to do it a again and again. We staggered on with bellies full of water and minds delightfully empty after the release from the wall, which helped on the long walk back to camp 4.
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 2, 2010 - 05:58pm PT
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Great post again Dick.
Gobee, awesome shots!
Where the hell is Barbella? Do you still see him?
Man, that guy was so cool and mellow compared to how bad ass he was!
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WBraun
climber
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Where the hell is Barbella? Do you still see him?
He's in Fresno.
I saw him in Office Depot buying something.
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