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Studly
Trad climber
WA
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Wolfdog is Wolford, its me Greg! Glad to hear you are still getting after it you rowdy guy. Let me know when you are going to be in the Valley this spring or summer, as will be down there allot. Look forward to catching up, as haven't seen you since Mark K.'s birthday party years ago, you were telling some pretty funny jokes.... I almost dropped the lighter.
PM sent.
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General Ripper
climber
GnarthWest
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I never knew Der Sportsman was a bar!
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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I never knew Der Sportsman was a bar!
What was the name of the outdoor store? It had a pseudo-Bavarian name, too. Mostly a hook-and-bullet place, I think, but if I remember correctly they did sell some climbing gear as well.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Der Sportsman.
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Bobby Boucher
Trad climber
Auburn, WA
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Mark, I've told that story a hundred times, how fricken funny was that?
How the heck are you?
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Chief
climber
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Probably early eighties, I remember stopping to pick up some litter on the way up to Castle.
Took the litter back down to the parking lot and dealt with it.
It was very potent litter and we didn't get much done for the rest of the weekend.
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Studly
Trad climber
WA
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Sorry i missed Donini"s slideshow, it sounded like fun, especially with Tami hunkering down and all. :) I got to meet Jim Donini for the first time last year in the Whole Foods parking lot in Vegas. I was with Tim Wilson, oldtime NW climber and he said Hey, thats Donini and he went over and talked to him and introduced us. I guess he was in Vegas for the Red Rock Rendevous. It was a honor and I had wanted to ask Jim what were the the circumstance that led you to put up a route on the Tolketie Wall, a little known and remote place? I always admired that wall, looks like a great crag but for whatever reason have never stopped to climb there. Its kind of a rowdy approach, and kind of right in the middle of going to or coming out of the Enchantments by a high route. Looks like some nice granite.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Tami, If we had seen that bloated cow on the way out from Latok 1 we would have eaten it.
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hobo_dan
Social climber
Minnesota
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that boot photo is legend
I saw that at a JD slideshow in Minneapolis
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Fritz
Trad climber
Hagerman, ID
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Re: Der Sportsman.
I have to try real hard to remember the bar, but the store was pretty nice, mainly due to Roger’s female partner Joy. The store carried a lot of high end outdoor gear and probably had hooks and bullets, since that was Roger’s thing.
Nice people, when you got to know them.
The bar was a local’s hangout. Climbers mostly were not catered to.
When Donini first settled in Leavenworth: (in the late 70’s?) he was repping for Wilderness Experience, an up and coming, similar to North Face company.
He kept inviting me over from North Idaho to climb with him, and that was a lot of fun.
I was no threat to the Donini legend, so one day he took me on an “insiders” drive up the Icicle to go “bouldering.”
He was already “an old man” to the young “hotshots.” We slowly drove up the Icicle, sipping on beers, while Jim explained he had worked up a similar trip for anyone gunning for him, who showed up in Leavenworth.
He would protest that he hadn’t been climbing, due to work-related travel, but maybe they could go see some local boulder “problems.” Last minute, he would grab a six-pack or two and pop beers for everyone.
Sometime during the drive, suddenly he would hit the brakes, point upward, and exclaim: “don’t think I’ve ever seen that one before.” The boulder would be inviting, and close to the pavement.
Jim always forgot his climbing shoes on those jaunts, but he would lead a charge of properly shoed hotshots to the boulder.
After they fumbled on the “new problem” for a while: Donini would finish his beer, and give it a try in his sneakers. Of course he would roar up the route.
Lots of time to work on those rocks: when you live a few miles away.
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Studly
Trad climber
WA
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BITD,one of the most hardcore guys who seemed like they were always out climbing was a guy named Jim Yoder. I didn't know him well,just from constantly seeing him out and about climbing, it seemed like he was always doing some new route or had some project up his sleeve. He had great stoke and seemed a really nice person. Is he still around the Leavenworth area?
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Mike Bolte
Trad climber
Planet Earth
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Jim was (hopefully still is) a great guy and very motivated climber.
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JBC
Trad climber
Tacoma, WA
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Yoder is still alive and well. Lives on the way eastern side of the state these days - still climbing last I heard. I haven't seen him for a a while, but last time I ran into him he was talking about new route on crags that were virtually in his back yard!
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S1W
climber
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I love this thread. As a (relatively) young Washington based climber, its fun to see all of these photos of you guys back in the day. Hearing you all talk of things like the old Gustav's and hanging out around a bonfire at the base of Classic Crack almost stings, feeling like maybe I missed out on a better era. Keep it coming.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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The den of iniquity, for Washington climbers. Strategically placed so as to lure innocent Canuckleheads off the straight and narrow. Yes, it's the Steven's Pass Motel, ~1983.
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MH2
climber
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Though I only saw him, rarely, at UW Rock, I remember Rick Graham. His climbing, especially jamming, looked more natural and secure than anyone else I recall seeing there. His story about a bar encounter with one of the Supersonics showed the power of humor as a weapon to disarm.
Rick Graham associate Brian Scott heading for and then on Diamond in the Rough
Here is Dan Lepeska again, heading for Monkey Lip. Just above, Jim Yoder is waiting to tell us why the climb got the name.
And another Leavenworth resident with a lot of friends and relations.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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I don't know if there is anyone following this thread who isn't a Leavenworth climber, but just in case there is, I'll post a couple of shots of the town. And a word of explanation, cuz it's the weirdest town in the US.
As I understand it, the place was dying in the late 60s/early 70s, and someone came up with the bizarre idea that if everyone got together, they could fix it up like a Bavarian Village, and tourists would swarm. So whatever businesses had money loaned it to those that didn't, and they did the place up in faux Bavarian. It was (and is) tacky beyond belief, but tourists do swarm.
Anyway, here are a few samples of the Bavarian Village of Leavenworth.
And here's Lester. He's been living at a crag called The Pearly Gates for the last five or six years. Biggest goat (by far) that I've ever met.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
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170 posts and nobody has called anybody a name?
Well, except for me calling Mastadon a Mensa which
he took with grace and equanimity - not wanting to
further besmirch this fine thread. I guess I did kinda
call McCarthy goofy but since he hasn't deigned to grace us
with his presence he is fair game.
Ghost,
ya jumped the line! Nice shots of the Barbarian Village!
Lester needs to call Jenny!
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Couple more shots of Lester. No telephoto here. He's a curious guy, and has no problem getting close. One day he scared the sh#t out of me. I was belaying Mari, who was leading some crack at the Pearly Gates, and Lester (who had semi-charged a couple of other climbers and run them off just a short while before) decided to check me out.
Like I said, he's the biggest goat I've ever seen. Has to be close to 300 lb, has horns that look way bigger when he's bearing down on you than they do in these pictures, and, most important, he owns the place.
I managed to squeak "Get something in and clip yourself off" and prepared to untie and run away.
But instead of killing me, he just lay down at my feet and went to sleep.
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