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tom Carter
Social climber
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Talked with Chuck today. He is doing really well. Spent a ton of time up in mammoth skiing which he loves.
The cat can swing anything, golf club, tennis racket, ball bat etc..
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tom Carter
Social climber
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Dale, Bob Loche (Bob-o) and Patricia Batchelder otop Bobo's Van in the meadows quite altered.
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Rick Sylvester
Trad climber
Squaw Valley, California
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Great photos. I knew there had to be a lot more out there besides Glen Denny's excellent stuff. I last saw Brian "Mouse" working at the Berkeley Robbins seconds shop -- or was it another brand? -- near the REI a few -- actually probably several -- years ago. I don't know about a cannery accident. I know years ago he almost lost a finger due to a rattler -- I love the term "buzzworm" -- bite while hiking in to do a route in Sequoia or somewhere. I didn't know Bonebrake passed... and so long ago. Such a shame, and a way too short life. Randy Hamm and I ice climbed the Dana Couloir on a miserably cold windy fall day. Back at the car my hands were frozen useless blocks; it took me minutes -- really! -- to be able to insert the key into the lock. And I found small snowballs in both jacket pockets, formed by the collected spindrift, a unique experience. Randy, just a sweet sweet person, and his significant other, Gypsy, baked bagels for a living at one point. Shinnying up/down the cross was a northern California climbers' tradition or rite de passage like climbing the Golden Gate Bridge's south tower, but not so popular. That's still on my "To Do" list but maybe I procrastinated too long. Now, post 9/11, there's probably a "Shoot first, ask questions later" policy. Does anyone know? And is there anyone who knows the strategy who wants to join me?
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Rick Sylvester
Trad climber
Squaw Valley, California
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Unbelievable stuff, a treasure trove -- the memories, the associations...and the lost friends and acquaintances. Peter Barton -- such a sweet man -- and his weird accident, Andy Cox and his, Tim Harrison and his and Randy Hamm -- another with such a sweet demeanor, and his, on that stupid cross. Gypsy- Hi! It's been a long time. Bizarre accidents lives cut short at way too young an age, all victims of the ol' "Gravity never sleeps" syndrome. Linda Halvorsen -- amazing! We spent a little time together. I think she worked as a maid -- is that term currently pc? -- at Yosemite Lodge. Paul Cowan and David Yohalem and I -- three members of the Hebraic Alpine Club, if there was such. Thank goodness rumors of David's demise have been greatly exaggerated; one can take only so much. Joe "Touching the Void" Simpson had it right with the title of one of his other books, "This Game of Ghosts". My memory's equating and confusing Gene Foley and Bruce Kumpf. Did "Chingando" with the latter. I believe he got into -- of course I'm talking decades ago -- fine art or whatever it's called book binding, a fairly esoteric field, at least to my mind. And Steve Williams aka "Slings". I know the derivation of the moniker...and I'm sure others out there do too. Another really nice guy, and even way back then I worried about his future. Did he have one? Did any of us (but some more than others), selling futures down the river, giving in to the addiction, the immediate gratification of a pursuit like climbing, not building, putting anything away for the future and all that crap? Grasshoppers rather than ants. But as the years and age advance there can be a stiff price to pay.
I think I've been quietly -- not always so quietly -- going crazy with these people and memories and stories running through my head, thinking I was the only one who knew and remembered them, my/our precious fleeting youth. Sorry, cliche-ish, but cliches happen because they rep resentreflections of truth. And now to discover this Forum. It may be my salvation, mental therapy...or my ruination.
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Shameless Yahoolihan
Trad climber
west malling, uk
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Sylvester LIVES!!.. Is reminiscence the same as nostalgia? Sometimes I think my time in Yosemite was created to assemble a collection of excellent memories. (Rick-- note the song we wrote about Slings.. fastest man in the world to get off of free climbing and into aiders! Taught me the joy of nesting with Leepers).
Tha Dood: Dennis Miller changed his moniker to Kid Millis when he found a sateen bathrobe that looked like a boxer's robe with Kid Millis stitched on the back. He wore it everywhere for months! Around that time Randy Hamm and I were doing the first naked ascent of Bishop's Terrace. Millis, walking by in his robe, started attracting a crowd in his best circus barker mode: LADIES and GENTLEMEN.. above you, you will see the famous Yosemite climbers, the boys who roughen their hands on granite and women... and OH MY GOD.. they're NAKED. For the rest of the climb I was shrouded in puffs of chalk. All went well except for the rap off the chimney, too steep to keep the ropes on front, we needed the added friction of a body wrap. Not comfortable.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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Bathrobe....? Kid Millis...Sylvester...the taco has suddenly become more interesting..
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Shameless Yahoolihan
Trad climber
west malling, uk
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Upon further perusal, I believe that the person on the far left at the baseball game may be Herb Swedlund, the girl to the left of Cowan and behind the backstop is Liza Anderson and Vern Clevenger is visible behind Hawkins and a little to the left in the photo. And I neglected to identify Luke Freeman who is standing behind and to the left in the photo of Bruce Hawkins.
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Shameless Yahoolihan
Trad climber
west malling, uk
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May 10, 2011 - 06:55am PT
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Tha Dood: No, Liza is living and well in Idaho. I heard from her after re-connecting with TC.
This string and site have been really good for catching up with old friends. Closest thing I have to a social network (too many avoidances to bother listing in facebook. Those people want to KILL me!)
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tom Carter
Social climber
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May 10, 2011 - 12:08pm PT
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I went to High School with Liza. She has not changed in regards to her joy for life!
She taught me how to climb and together we did some of our first climbs in the Valley.
She lives outside Ketchum, Id and is doing very well.
Prompt her, she may post up?
2003
And back in 1972-73? I remember our first real multi-pitch being Point Beyond and sitting in that hole and looking down and across the Valley. "Look how small those trees look"!
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tom Carter
Social climber
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May 11, 2011 - 10:36pm PT
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I think there is a parkinglot thread somewhere.
1978
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Mike Bolte
Trad climber
Planet Earth
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May 11, 2011 - 10:38pm PT
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nice bunch of photos tom - thanks for posting them up. Bet you have about a zillion more.
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Allen Hill
Social climber
CO.
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May 11, 2011 - 11:28pm PT
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If there isn't a parking lot thread there really ought to be one. I doubt, other than a forum for parking lot attendants, that there are so many pictures of parking lots anywhere else on the web than here.
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tom Carter
Social climber
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May 12, 2011 - 12:18am PT
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Walter and AB stitching up the bags during the rack up for Tribal Rite 1978.
Back then the lot was our yard! Now filled with the "Train-wreck" etc.
We are lucky to have shared those times together!
Here a classic! So, there we are living the dream at the site in the Meadows. Cash is still King and Yohalem has Zip, Zero, Nada, zilch. So he claims we can use him as a belay dummy. The brave lad starts squirming a bit when he sees all of us spring into action (this is CC up in the tree rigging the drop). Any way we decide it was high enough that we should perhaps pad the landing in case he went through the hamock!
He sailed. Hamock gave up the ghost and Yo collected a quarter? Big money back then!
Mr Yerian relaxing.
TC
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tom Carter
Social climber
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May 13, 2011 - 12:09am PT
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A Mastadon photo of Tommy and Donny Herbert in the TM Parking lot a long time ago!
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tom Carter
Social climber
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May 13, 2011 - 12:20am PT
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And yet another lot shot.
Likely suspects?
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Rick Sylvester
Trad climber
Squaw Valley, California
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May 13, 2011 - 12:30am PT
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One thing that's blown my mind -- or would have if there was anything left to blow -- is the shot of Tim Harrison slacklining -- not to mention whilst juggling -- way back then. I never heard of slacklining back then, didn't think it began until a couple or whatever decades later.
Re. the baseball game shot, yes, definitely Paul Cowan leaning against the backstop fence. Under the category of anal retentiveness, Vandiver is the correct spelling. Under the category of T&A -- unfortunately, not the fun T&A, just the truth and accuracy version, I stand corrected about the Mt. Davidsoncross. I didn't know there was a bolt ladder. I though shinnying was the means of ascent.
Mentions of Clan Robertson harness reminds me of climbing with Brian Robertson on his first trip to the Valley and before he formed his company. He was on his way back from an expedition to Huandoy with Whillans. et al. Not being much of a free climber his ambition was to be Britain's top aid expert. Being something like 5'4', even shorter than I, he didn't have a lot going for him in that regard. We had an epic on the Leaning Tower, 2 bivies, ran out of water. Brian insisted on the even leads since the 4th pitch was the crux. What didn't help was that Madsen and Schmitz had just cleaned the route of excess bolts. Schmitz not wanting to set out on that project on the agreed upon day was supposedly what angered Madsen resulting in his upending, perhaps flipping, a fully laden table in Camp 4, as mentioned in a post under another Forum subject. I'll later post more on Madsen's anger, also mentioned in that Forum category, later. I did "Guides Wall" in the Tetons with him a month before his accident.
Brian had a hard time, took forever, on the 4th pitch. I cleaned, sans headlamp -- none of us had them then -- in the dark. It was too scary to traverse to supposedly one of the best ledges in the Valley, as suggested by its name, Ahwahnee. I'm still pissed (and want to sample it. Guess I'll have to do another west face route). So we bivied on lousy sloppy Guano Ledge. It was also damp. I remarked to Brian, "I guess it really is guano." "No it isn't. I pissed there, mon" "What!
Why'd you do that?!" "I was afraid if I pissed over the edge I'd hit you." "well, why didn't you doit somewhere else on the frickkin' ledge?" I had to have my bag dry cleaned afterward and that was a major hit on then penniless me.
So the next two pitches didn't get fixed, as was the customary strategy and as could be done with one rope, the haul line. The first was awkward , I was tired and it took me leading and Brian cleaning a long time. So we had a second bivy, atop pitch 8, I believe. I recall it as being a 1' wide by 2' long ledge with only a single quarter inch bolt -- well, that was the only granite bolt size then -- for belay. There must have been a back-up piton anchor but it was in the wrong place to help with the bivy. One person was going to sit on the ledge with knees drawn up to chin and the other was going to be hanging from the bolt in a belay seat. For some reason I gave Brian the choice, not that one position was better than the other. They were both just horrible in different ways. He elected the belay seat. A night spent in the seat does bad things to the back. Due to the position of the bolt the only thing that kept me from barndooring out was Brian in the seat. But whenever he moved I startled from whatever demi-sleep I was achieving and started swinging out over the dark void. Aarrggh! In addition and most dastardly of all perhaps, Brian had guzzled almost all of our gallon of water after his 4th pitch epic. I could excuse this saying he was British -- well, Scottish -- and not used to heat. I remember being so wiped out that I was barely able to make the only free move required on the route -- well, that was then -- the climb's final ( I think there made have been some easy scrambling above) move out of etriers onto a ledge. I was wiped out as badly as I'd ever been and the route had been murdered.
As far as the guzzling, I was choppered to El Cap's top later that same year when Brian and Kelly Minnick (we were together on the first ascent of Arches Terrace Direct with Bob Grow) dropped a note in a can or some such requesting rescue due to being out of water. They were told there were two gallons at Camp 5 and freaked when they found nothing. Barry Bates was the one who was lowered down to them. They jumared up. It turned out they'd mistaken a ledge a little below Camp 5 for Camp 5. The water was just a few feet above where they quit. It was hard to believe that they couldn't accomplish the few A1 pitches to the top, however thirsty they were. If they'd been on Baffin or some such where getting rescues isn't so easy, or impossible. It started me thinking for the first time that perhaps some rescuees should be charged. Brian, by the way, is a good guy, living in Boulder when I last had contact with him a couple or whatever of decades ago.
There was a thing about Grade Vs and me. I also had an epic with Rob Woods on my first time on Chouinard/Herbert -- again, two bivies. And with Carlos Buhler on one of the Quarter Domes.
By the way, Tom Kimbrough once told me that he'd climbed the Tower in a rainstorm. His description made it sound like being behind a waterfall. He said his partner and he never got wet and it seemed so cool that it sounded like the only way to do the route.
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Rick Sylvester
Trad climber
Squaw Valley, California
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May 13, 2011 - 02:50am PT
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One other thing about Brian Robertson. He told me about EBs, had me mail order them from Graham Tiso's in Edinburgh. I think the pair cost me something like $14 and that included shipping. I was under the impression I was the first in the Valley to have them. But I got them too small (or wasn't willing to endure the pain for enhanced climbing) so I tossed them in the closet and kept using my Kronhofers. A while later I saw Bates using EBs, so I got a larger pair. John Dill weighed in, "EBS make things a grade easier!" And of course some time later there was the next revolution, sticky rubber, beginning with "Contacts" -- was that the correct name? -- and then of course the more popular Fires.
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o-man
Trad climber
Paia,Maui,HI
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May 13, 2011 - 04:26pm PT
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In the early seventies Brian Robertson told me that my physical abilities so far exceeded my technical knowledge that he was sure that I was going to die!
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Barcus
Social climber
San Luis Obispo, Ca.
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May 13, 2011 - 04:28pm PT
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BUMP!
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