Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
Prod
Trad climber
A place w/o Avitars apparently
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2009 - 03:46pm PT
|
Pretty damn close. Check out the power pole to get centered.
Prod.
|
|
pip the dog
Mountain climber
the outer bitterroots
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2009 - 05:28pm PT
|
i'm rather late to this dance here, but i have a question for brother Hudon, who wrote, in part:
i'm a little late to the dance here, but re:
> It's [the NE] on the Mark Hudon Ten Best Routes of His
> Life list. (which, btw, somehow has 15 or 17 routes on it)
i'd like to ask brother hudon what other routes are on that list.
~~~
i wrote once, in another venue, of what a huge impact watching mark and max jones climb the prow up at cathedral had on my early climbing career. i was at the time, what, like 15. and pretty fair climber (though i never got all that much better). but me and my buddies were at a belay ledge on a trade route nearby and watched mark and max simply cruise the route.
now we had tried it, but quickly given ourselves an easy out by saying "oh, it's a reach problem that only a tall knuckledragger like jimmy dunn (another hero of mine) can do. and with that we gave ourselves permission not to do the work the route demanded.
watching (at close range) mark simply cruise the crux changed all that in a heartbeat. for mark is not an especially tall guy. and watching him absolutely smooth through "the reach problem" convinced all of us watching (all fellow teeny boppers) that we had clearly got it all wrong.
this inspired us to go back and actually do the hard physical and mental work that route demanded. we certainly didn't tag it the first time (or the fourth), but eventually kept our heads in it and found the way.
i really appreciate that, mark. you tought me, us, something that changed our worlds for the better. i have no doubt you inspired many others you never knew. take pride in that, for you deserve it.
~~~
so, anyway, i'm dying to know what is on your list of the '15 or 17 best 10 climbs. if time permits, do tell.
as for the naked edge, took me awhile to make the transition from new hampshire perfect granite to eldo sandstone. everything seemed way marginal as the rock seemd so soft (relative to cathedral). but eventually i got my head on straight and got on that line. i agree, it's big magic. and the rock (relative to the local) exceptional -- though it still gave me the heebies as i placed what pro i had the energy to slot.
ok, all the best,
^,,^
|
|
scuffy b
climber
just below the San Andreas
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2009 - 06:53pm PT
|
Is this really the Dog it seems?
If so, welcome. I look forward to some good, good reading.
Hope your health is good.
|
|
Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 11, 2009 - 07:21pm PT
|
Sure writes like the dog of old. Welcome to the Taco, Pip! It's a fine place for odd stories and
could use some fresh talent. Look around a bit and I'm sure you'll spot some former denizens
of "another venue," with or without their old noms.
My experience watching Roger free the Diving Board in '71, as mentioned upthread,
impressed me in much the same way you describe regarding Mark Hudon on the Prow.
Cheers!
L
|
|
pip the dog
Mountain climber
the outer bitterroots
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2009 - 07:57pm PT
|
scuffy:
> Is this really the Dog it seems?
Chiloe:
> Sure writes like the dog of old. Welcome to the Taco
not sure i which dog i am, simply sure that dogs are my kinda souls.
in any case, thanks for the welcome.
an excellent thread, brother Chiloe (not sister Chloe as i once doped. sheesh, dyslexics untie!) one of many i've much enjoyed during years of lurking. never wuite comfortable actually signing on, for two reasons. first, i was intimidated by the presence of so many "big kids", my heroes who i'd rather listen to than prattle at. second, because i have become rather [in]famous for my 17 page posts. i kinda suspected that this pathology (my mom and all four grandparents are from galway. so, as joyce once wrote "what's bred in the bone can't fail me to fly..."
well, we'll see. as all computers made to date have a DEL key, i figure there is always a way to quick put an end to my prattle.
~~~
finally, i do want to make an edit to my ad hoc comments re: eldo and the naked edge. i wrote (as an afterthought to my focus on mark hudon):
> as for the naked edge, took me awhile to make the transition
> from new hampshire perfect granite to eldo sandstone.
> everything seemed way marginal as the rock seemd so soft
>(relative to cathedral)...
the rock in eldo is of course just fine, excellent. hell, they make hard sharpening stones out of the stuff. perhaps the word i should have used rather than "soft" was "different". i was still rather young when i slithered into boulder, what, like 19. and my experience on rock outside of my home turf was limited. the rock in eldo was fine (despite my protestations to the contrary at the time) -- it was just different. and i didn't yet have the experience or skills to deal with different. that i learned there.
i had gotten a sense of where the next hold would be on, say, Camber. i had gotten a sense of where the pro worth the effort was on, say, Airation. it of course took me awhile to learn the same in eldo. i needed to simply spend the time required to anticipate the form of the rock so that i could anticipate the next hold on a slim face route. just as i needed to put in the time to be able to anticipate where the next pro would go just so as my horsepower failed on routes at my limit.
in the retrospect of many years, i jumped on the naked edge too soon. for i hadn't figured out the nature of the local rock (and with it the pro that worked, fast) just yet. as such my first trip up it was an absolute diaper wetter. sheesh. since then, i've learned more and found the trip pure joy.
ok, enough already. this dog simply hasn;t learned how to do "brief". mia culpa.
be well,
^,,^
|
|
Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 11, 2009 - 10:12pm PT
|
simply sure that dogs are my kinda souls
|
|
pip the dog
Mountain climber
the outer bitterroots
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2009 - 11:02pm PT
|
yup, definately related.
(and i'm digging the stylin' booties. sportiva's be damned)
canis fidelis est,
^,,^
|
|
philo
Trad climber
boulder, co.
|
|
|
Feb 12, 2009 - 12:41am PT
|
Chiloe. That picture of you and your better half (make that three fourths) is wonderful!
You look like such a playful imp. Yes we were all so young BITD.
Here is the impish Chiloe at Spartacusfest 1.
again with perennial Taco favs Tarbuster and Brassnuts.
By the way I shamelessly bumped this thread.
|
|
Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
|
|
|
Feb 12, 2009 - 01:52am PT
|
I just went through this thread for the first time
tonight. Lots of memories. I'm afraid I have
some pretty old photos, Chiloe. I did the second
ascent of the Naked Edge in 1962, with Layton Kor, a
few days after he made the first ascent. He was
anxious to get back up and do it again, and by then
I had become his regular partner. We did it quickly,
for back then, just a couple of hours. I have quite a
few good shots of him, taken with my little camera
I had the sense to bring on almost all my climbs back
then, and Layton took a few shots of me, on the
climb. I have a few I've saved and never published.
Nobody would probably want to see them, but I don't
know if I even remember how to upload to Photobucket...
I have the original print/photo of Godfrey's Naked
Edge shot, of the birds and climbers on the fifth
pitch. He gave it to me as a gift, just before he died.
I did the Edge many times, took many people up it,
did it aid, did it free. I don't think it was any easier
or harder one way or another. When I led the first pitch
free, the first time I tried it, I had been told it was
really at the limit, and I guess I was in good shape,
because it seemed about 5.8+ with one tiny move maybe
5.9 near the top of the pitch, but the difficulty
of the Edge is not the issue. It's the beauty.
I will never forget as a kid turning a corner on a route
to the east of the Edge, and seeing that spectacular
arete with two people on it. This was 1961, and I refer
to Bob Boucher and Stan Shepard, who had managed the first
pitch and were together at its top but were preparing to
go down, not sure about the next pitch.
They didn't simply want to bolt upward. Boucher was in all
green clothing, with bright red knicker socks... Those
colors really stood out against the yellow rock. Then Layton
went up on this route of so much mystique. No one today
can imagine the mystique of those days, the pure magic
of that place, that gift of place, or the sense of
those unclimbed routes, every little hold, ledge, tree,
walls, and to know they were all ours and soon every route
would be climbed. They were there, for the taking in
our virgin gorgeous canyon. Often
only two of us would be in the canyon all day, or maybe four of us, two people on two separate routes...
Usually I went back to do climbs just to reexperience those
joyous feelings of solitude and discovery. There was no real
question of being able to do the climb. I did it in the morning, did it late in the very late afternoon. Something
very warm and comfortable about that climb. I took 17-year-
old Tom Ruwitch up it in spring of 1967, after he got out
of school. We did the route in about an hour or just a
little more. We were preparing for Yosemite and later did
the West Face of Sentinel and the 10th or so ascent of the
Nose... We often looked at these Eldorado routes as the
best place to practice for either Longs or the Black Canyon
or Yosemite. But finally we/I realized Eldorado was a
perfect eden of its own and its climbing as good as any
anywhere.
Jello, my good friend, I recall that film with Lynn and
Beth. Remember, Lynn wasn't nearly as good then as she
later became. She and Beth were both pushed a little bit
by that first pitch. It was a different day, a different
age...
I miss my Eldorado Canyon, so many memories. Endless
memories... Sacred memories... friends...
Pat
|
|
Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 12, 2009 - 08:22am PT
|
Philo:
Here is the impish Chiloe at Spartacusfest 1.
Oof, Hank's trailer has aged better than that guy! Hard to imagine he climbed some route
at Lumpy earlier that same day.
Warbler:
Firstly, do people tell you you look like Dana Carvey?
Oh no, they tell me I look exactly like Spartacus! And I believe them.
Secondly, is that "Chill-oh" or "shylow" or "Cheelo"?
Several variants exist, most with three syllables, like CHEE-low-AY
I loved my time in that little Dogpatch scene. Eldorado is a fantastic place.
You can tell I remember it fondly. We had an ill-behaved mutt ourselves, who contributed
to the dogginess -- but could catch his own food, on backpacking trips!
|
|
Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 12, 2009 - 08:33am PT
|
Patrick Oliver:
I did the second
ascent of the Naked Edge in 1962, with Layton Kor, a
few days after he made the first ascent. He was
anxious to get back up and do it again, and by then
I had become his regular partner. We did it quickly,
for back then, just a couple of hours. I have quite a
few good shots of him, taken with my little camera
Pat, care to scan some of those photos and share them? I'm sure that many of us here
would love to see them.
No one today
can imagine the mystique of those days, the pure magic
of that place, that gift of place, or the sense of
those unclimbed routes, every little hold, ledge, tree,
walls, and to know they were all ours and soon every route
would be climbed. They were there, for the taking in
our virgin gorgeous canyon. Often
only two of us would be in the canyon all day, or maybe four
of us, two people on two separate routes...
Even in '69, we often had the canyon to ourselves. And picked up on that mystical feeling.
|
|
Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 12, 2009 - 10:56am PT
|
|
|
Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 12, 2009 - 10:56am PT
|
With Ivy Baldwin's high wire:
|
|
Prod
Trad climber
A place w/o Avitars apparently
|
|
|
Feb 12, 2009 - 11:34am PT
|
Hey Chloe,
When did that high wire come down? Also if you know when was it last walked?
Prod.
|
|
philo
Trad climber
boulder, co.
|
|
|
Feb 12, 2009 - 12:10pm PT
|
Patrick Oliver will know the answer to that question.
|
|
Rhodo-Router
Gym climber
Otto, NC
|
|
|
Feb 12, 2009 - 12:36pm PT
|
Pat, get thee to a scannery!
|
|
Crimpergirl
Social climber
Boulder, Colorado!
|
|
|
Feb 12, 2009 - 02:28pm PT
|
Welcome Patrick! I hope you can get those photos posted. And regale us with more stories please!
|
|
Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
|
|
|
Feb 13, 2009 - 12:51am PT
|
What beautiful, fantastic images of Eldorado,
they almost make me cry. They take me back... back...
When the Eldorado wire came down, just before
I was about to try to walk it... my friend Van Freeman
and I had trained pretty hard, although I
think at the last minute I would have realized
that without the guy wires the oscillations of that
thick heavy cable would have been too much... no
matter how good a person was... but after it came
down I wrote a poem (still somewhat of an amateur
poet back then). It's called "The Day The Eldorado
Wire Died." There were a few good lines in it,
and amazingly Summit published the poem.
The wire went down in mid-later 1974, when Mr. Fowler
started getting paranoid about some idiot trying
to walk it or something. But also because two nuts
tyroleaned it one day and dropped a wine bottle that
crashed on the road about 20 feet form Fowler... Lawyers
he consulted with told him to cut it down. He got
the wild idea of selling it in one-foot chunks, as
a historical item. I don't think he sold one of those
chunks. Bad karma, or something, who knows?
Not long ago I got some virus that wiped out all my
printer drivers and scanner, and I'm still getting
things back together. One day hopefully I can get to
scanning again... But I have one classic shot already
scanned I'll try to photobucket... soon...
|
|
Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 13, 2009 - 08:23am PT
|
Sorry about the technical problems, Pat, but I hope you'll persevere to scan & post photos.
Alongside more stories. There's a receptive audience here, as evidenced above.
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!