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WanderlustMD
Trad climber
Lanham MD
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Mar 16, 2008 - 07:51pm PT
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I remember the article on bold climbs in eldo back in '01. I wish I'd had the chance to meet him.
RIP, condolences to his family.
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Mar 16, 2008 - 08:27pm PT
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I am devastated to hear this. Steve was a catalyst for the Colorado climbing community.
My condolences to his family and his friends.
Rick Accomazzo
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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Mar 16, 2008 - 09:39pm PT
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Condolences to Steve's family and friends.
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Ain't no flatlander
climber
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Mar 16, 2008 - 10:24pm PT
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Bummer. We lost Freddie five years ago, now Steve. Two artistic talents that will be missed. Please post info on when/where the memorial will be held.
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WBraun
climber
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Mar 16, 2008 - 10:34pm PT
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Whoa, bummer
A great guy and we used to play chess with him. Man so sad.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Mar 16, 2008 - 10:44pm PT
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Darn it then, another man down.
Steve really followed his principles and stuck to his guns.
Via con Dios Brother.
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Jello
Social climber
No Ut
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Mar 17, 2008 - 01:13am PT
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Steve was my friend. Although we haven't seen much of each other in the last ten years or so, we remained compadres of the spirit.
Steve was a great artist. He gave my first wife, Janie and me a wonderful little pen and watercolor of the Granite Dells in Prescot, Arizona. His accompanying inscription has always felt just right to me: "These acid-etched portals through geologic time--our delight in them". Steve was an artist of life, and climbing and art. A wonderful guy to share a climb or beer with, and a man who worked to keep the tradition alive. We were hoping to be able to honor hin in person here in Ogden next month, but we have missed the boat.
I will miss Steve, and my heart goes out to family and friends.
-CryingJello
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Dickbob
climber
Colorado
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Mar 17, 2008 - 08:03am PT
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The first time I met Steve was when I was punching a time clock at Flatiron Athletic Club in Boulder. A woman named Marty, who was a member at the time with whom I occasional climbed with asked if she could bring in a friend as a guest for a day. I got her a day pass for her friend Steve. After she introduced him to me we went into the weight room where we had one of those Treadwall's. Its a rotating climbing structures that you can set to various angles. I told Steve that my personal best for staying on the thing at its steepest angle was 20 Minutes or so. I showed him how to use it and an hour later he was still on it. I remember asking Marty, " Who IS this man" Never did get to know him well but he was a good guy.
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philo
Trad climber
boulder, co.
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Mar 17, 2008 - 08:57am PT
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Such sad news. Atleast he as at peace at last. God speed Steve.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Mar 17, 2008 - 11:27am PT
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From Climbing, number 200:
photo by Jeff Achey
photo by Beth Wald
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Oli
Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Mar 17, 2008 - 12:56pm PT
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I played chess with Steve a few times around Boulder, and he always surprised me with his tenacity, fighting spirit, and staying power. As a climber, I always kept underestimating him, for some reason, and he always kept proving me wrong. Before Derek Hersey's passing, Steve was trying to teach him chess. They'll be greeting each other now and picking up where they left off...
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ronkat
climber
Bldr
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Mar 17, 2008 - 01:08pm PT
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Steve had a near death experience years ago in Yosemite. He was ready and he was not afraid. We'll miss him. He left much in his wake: beautiful paintings, crafty first ascents, cartoons and controversy. He also left an example for the rest of us of a brave journey to the end. For anyone that would like to get to know him better, check out his website and gallery: http://www.stevedieckhoff.com/main.html
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don't have one
climber
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Mar 17, 2008 - 09:20pm PT
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Steve was a good friend of mine and I am really saddened by his passing. We first met in Eldo when he was 39 and I was 19. He was working the Monument(5.12+) and ended up redpointing it on his 40th b-day. He soloed Outer Space around that time as well. We used to solo around together, smoke bowls, talk about the Eldo obscurities and we even teamed up to pull a few bolts when it had to be done.
He was a great guy who was not afraid to stand up for what he believed in.
This really sucks.
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Bldrjac
Ice climber
Boulder
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Mar 18, 2008 - 01:08am PT
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In every climbing community there is someone who carries the torch for the rest of us. There has to be someone who cares enough about the integrity of the sport and the potential for the future that it is important enough for the future to stand up for certain values. Steve felt very strongly about bolts and how every bolt placement made it easier to cave-in to not meeting one's potential head-on and making the most of the rock palate that was in front of one. He stood up for those of us who couldn't get off our knees.
Steve was first and foremost an artist. His cartoons were hilarious. Especially about the "Boulder Canyon Situation".
Lots of stuff there to comment on.
But his true artistry meant that when he wandered onto a blank palate of rock he "had an image in mind of what he wanted to do". He wandered around the rock, placing a piece here and a piece there but did not want to call it anything except for what it was or to be restricted. Either a given route name or nothing else. A true artist does not honor bountries. They go their own way.
I think that Steve's resistance to bolts came from the view that he really wanted to walk up to a blank face of rock and paint his own story. He didn't want to follow anyone or anything. He never cared about any ratings or reputations. What he wanted was the oppotunity to wander at will on rock without prior history or restriction. He just wanted to wander at will................to be free. To do his own thing.
I'm going to miss Steve. Steve held his ground. He expected that the the climbing community would understand that his values were simular to theirs, that he was a spokesman for them and they would agree. He hoped that when he spoke out loud and clear that fellow climbers would listen and respond in a way that would promote the true values of climbing and not just current faves..............it did not always go so.
There aren't many of us left. Those of us who understand where he was coming from. We are a dying breed. There are fewer of us willing to put it out there and stare the young guys down and state............"this is how it is. DEAL".
He was a true climber. He never made much money. And he never Got much acclaim. He didn't care. He was true to his spirit and he did what he did best. He loved to climb and he loved the climbing. He loved to express his passion and his art. Sometimes that's all we can hope for. He lived a good life.
He climbed until the end and he never looked back.
If we're lucky maybe we'll get a cartoon or two from above to keep it real.
JACK
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crunch
Social climber
CO
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Mar 19, 2008 - 02:43pm PT
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Steve left a collection of slides, piled high in a large drawer. I'm trying to sorting through them, and I'l post one or two.
Here's a classic. No idea who the other climber is. From 1994. Top of Castleton.
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wbw
climber
'cross the great divide
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Mar 19, 2008 - 03:56pm PT
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Steve and Derek both lived at the British Embassy on Spruce St. in the early 90's. I remember many a night, playing chess with Derek, having the inevitable Sheafs in hand. If I remember correctly, Steve was ranked as one of the top chess players in CO, and it always made me a little nervous when he would walk up to our game. Looking down at the board, one of his eyebrows would raise and we would hear a "hmmmmmmm". This was always intimidating to me, as Derek and I were both such iffy chess players (although that never kept us from having a ton of fun), and I knew that Steve was "seeing" moves that neither of us could fathom.
I think maybe Steve had a similar affect on some climbers. Few had the skill and strict ethical approach to climbing that Steve possessed, and I think the perception was sometimes that Steve was a more intimidating personality, than he actually was.
Steve, R.I.P., and if you run into Derek, give him an "eh up" from Bradstone.
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ydpl8s
Trad climber
Denver, Colorado
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Mar 19, 2008 - 04:58pm PT
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Never knew him, but I sure knew of him. Was in Eldo one day when the wind was blowing so hard that we didn't even get our rack out of the car. There was this guy up on either XM or Outer Space and the wind was blowing his rope almost completely horizontal away from the rock. He stood there in the 50-60 mph gusts, on nothing, making slow calculated moves, sometimes downclimbing amazing moves to rest, and then finished the climb with a calm deliverance that negated the howling wind. Of course I asked, who is that guy?...and of course, you know the answer.
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Bldrjac
Ice climber
Boulder
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Mar 19, 2008 - 05:08pm PT
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Crunch,
I think the other climber in the photo playing chess with Steve is Doug Scott. Not the British Doug Scott but own own homeboy here in CO. That's a great shot!
Jack
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crunch
Social climber
CO
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Mar 19, 2008 - 06:44pm PT
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Okay, a few more shots from Steve's collection.
Somewhere on the Bastille (?) with hip flask:
A shot he took of Derek Hersey, on what looks like Prince of Darkness, in Eldo:
And a picture taken on the summit of the Bastille:
Lastly, one of my pics. Steve on Front Line, an Alec Sharp route in Boulder Canyon.
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