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Larry Nelson
Social climber
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Hey climbski2,
Here's some old photos of Garvey putting up a route on Dino Head.
I know you were wondering the name of the formation off the highway on another thread. Anything up off the highway we always called the 2nd tier, and it was great to get away from the damn traffic.
I think the name of the route is Dino's Stubble Trouble, a 5.10+.
The name came from the gritty texture of the rock. If you climbed on it much, it would sand away your fingerprints. Very steep, but good friction.
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climbski2
Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 6, 2015 - 01:16pm PT
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Hmm..I remember that drill...looks like that is before he made the big battery pack. Yeah that's the area I was talking about...that's a different route I think..the one I fell on was further along the trail..mebbe..past that railing in your picture.
Very cool to see these pics..We had to have met back in the day Larry..too bad I'm terrible with names. Bet I'd recognize you though.
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cavemonkey
Ice climber
ak
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I inherited that drill after his death. What a man that dude was. Love the beer cooler in the pics of northwest passage!
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Larry Nelson
Social climber
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Cave Monkey,
Dude, you need to go climb something, even if it's galvanized steel, hee, hee.
Anyhow, by now, you've probably drilled as many bolts on that drill as old Garv did. He knows his drilled ended up in good hands.
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Larry Nelson
Social climber
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Ok, this is turning into a Garvey thread, and it's only fitting for a legend. He had the biggest balls and the biggest heart of em all.
I forgot I had these photos, haven't seen em since his funeral.
It's out at Purinton Creek, but I don't remember the name of the climb...maybe a 5.10a.
We climbed an already established route nearby on the last couple of photos.
Cave Monkey...you'll see your drill in action here, doing it proud.
You can almost see your cabin in Chickaloon from a couple of the shots.
I always loved the scenery at Purinton, with the highest part of the Chugach to the South.
So there ya go Alaska bro's, your treat for the day.
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cavemonkey
Ice climber
ak
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That helmet in the tree in the last photo.....I got that too! Garvey gave it to me after shattering mine on a grande whip putting up "the twilight flight"
Brings back alot of memories of hanging it out there with garv
thanks for the pics g force
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climbski2
Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 6, 2015 - 02:55pm PT
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Turning into a Garvey thread? That's fine with me. There is a whole era of Alaskan climbing in which Garvey rightfully belongs front and center. Fact was he was ahead of his time along with Jeff Lowe and very few others regarding mixed climbing in that era worldwide. One of the best in the world in that time... period.
Those pics are a real treasure Larry.
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Fossil climber
Trad climber
Atlin, B. C.
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Great country. Parts are truly awesome.
• Spent the summer of 58 mapping glaciers all over AK with Dick Long.
• Lived in Denali 4 years in the 60s.
• Kayaked the Tikchik Lakes.
• Cruised across Prince William Sound in an 18’ square-stern canoe,
Valdez to Whittier and back, with family.Fishermen though we were insane.
•Skied across Brooks Range in 72 with Ned Gillette, Jack Miller,Jed
Williamson, out for a month.
•And we still drive up there at the end of August just to catch the incredible tundra colors.
But...Yukon and northern BC are equally wild and beautiful, and there aren’t rumbling herds of quads on every major trail in hunting season.
If you want a great road trip, come up through BC on the Stewart-Cassiar highway, take a 60 mile side trip to Atlin, continue up the AK highway to the Yukon and Dawson, take the Top of the World Highway across into Alaska, especially early September. And take the Denali Highway across to the Park. Seeing that land you’ll understand where Robert Service got his imagery. And incidentally, he was writing about Canada’s Yukon.
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climbski2
Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 6, 2015 - 03:06pm PT
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Wayne.. Give us a story! Please..That's some solid history there.. Ned Gillete..Brooks Range!? sounds interesting, and cold.. and dark. Or perhaps hot wet and sloppy..depending on the month.
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Larry Nelson
Social climber
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Fossil,
Wow, Ned Gillete and Brooks Range?
My cousin (Ketchum ski patrol for years) used to ski a lot with his wife Susie.
Yeah, we want stories.
Skinny,
Didn't know that story with the helmut. We've never really compared notes on our Garvey adventures.
And incidentally, he was writing about Canada’s Yukon.
Ha ha, got a little extra in there. Interesting that a high school in Anchorage is named after a Canadian, eh?
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Highdesertman
Trad climber
jtree ca
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Larry those are great pictures of garvey. I first met steve and lynn up at hatcher pass. I was by myself and steve invited me to climb with them. We did a few routes and they took off for home leaving garveys rack behind on some rocks in the parking lot.
Luckily he had given me his # before they left cause I didn't have one at the time while living down in homer.
We had made plans to meet on the hwy.i cant remember which pullout.It was a crappy day wind blowing hard and its cold.
I was bouldering on a traverse when I saw garvey pull in the parking lot. While steve was getting out I saw a van pull in and these people got out and started talking to steve.so he calls me over and it turns out these folks were from good morning America on one of there Alaska shows and want to film us rock climbing.
Of course steves all for it so I agree though as it turned out he designated me to lead some effed up route that he choose and that I had never even been on before.
Did I mention it was very windy and cold? The camera crew set up It was run out to the bolt so I went up and down a couple times finally clipped the bolt and started traversing left. I made it about ten ft And went whipping of onto the bolt freezing cold and getting late.
The good morning America crew immediately packed up and left without a goodby.
We still made about 45 sec on the show with me whipping and steve smiling for the camera. Wish I had that recording now. Dino
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Larry Nelson
Social climber
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Dino Banco?? I remember you. As I remember it, your the guy that Dino Head is named after!!
I remember you were from Homer and being out climbing along the highway a few times with you in the group.
I also remember Garvey and Sweeney talking about what a bad ass climber you were...don't know if you ever heard it from those guys directly...as you know it would have been out of character, LOL
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Larry Nelson
Social climber
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OK, here's some more Dino Head photos. Man, I'm tearing the house apart and finding some photos I forgot about.
Jim Sweeney, his girlfriend (don't remember her name), Garv and Lynn with the boys, Kyle and Denzel and Mary Pedrojetti.
Lynn was a good climber in her own right, as anyone who followed Steve had to be. I have some photos of Steve climbing with Kyle and I'll dig those up later.
Mary was climbing a lot with Steve and Lynn at that time. She was a natural athlete, a good climber and climbed with Steve on some FA's
Well, I gotta say these photos are not the best quality. The damn phone I have now takes way better shots than whatever I was using BITD.
But this was Dino Head in it's heyday. I loved being on the 2nd tier off the highway, great views, wind surfers galore, snow capped peaks, warm sun. Best thing about the highway is the sun it always captures.
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Fossil climber
Trad climber
Atlin, B. C.
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Stories? I’ll give you a brief one.
I hired Ned to be Chief Instructor for Yosemite’s first x-c ski school. We wanted to do a good sort of expedition, ostensibly to promote YMS, but really for fun. Originally wanted to ski across Greenland, but they wanted major rescue bonds so we decided on Brooks Range first ski traverse. Ned was new to big trips, but powerful and fun. This was 1972.
The team was Jack Miller, Jed Williamson, Ned Gillette and me. Couldn’t ask for a greater bunch of people.
North Face made our gear to order in return for photos for the catalog. Bonna wood touring skis, rat trap bindings, French boots with felt liners, oversize pack frames, oversize confidence.
Flew to Bettles, donned 80 lb. packs, skied through knee deep depth hoar for days, alternating trail breaking without packs 100 yards at a time. This was April. Down to -30ºF once in a while. I took a little .22 revolver and we supplemented the freeze-dries with snowshoe hares occasionally. And incidentally, grizzlies do come out in late April. We followed fresh tracks on the river one whole day. Thought I heard one crunching along outside the tent that night and alerted the gang, but it was just my pulse rubbing whiskers against the nylon sleeping bag. Didn’t hear the last of that.
After a couple weeks got to the arctic divide where there was a little outfitter’s cabin. Ned ate a whole jar of peanut butter and didn’t feel so well. Here we could see that the last 100 miles was going to be flat with deteriorating snow, so we took a vote - either thrash out to Prudhoe Bay or get to Galbraith Lake oil exploration camp, turn back into the range and climb in some of those gorgeous, unnamed peaks. Ned, always goal-oriented, wanted to go to the ocean. Voted down. He hardly spoke to us for a couple days - just broke trail - a little figure way out ahead.
We were treated like celebrities at Galbraith Lake oil exploration camp - I’ve never seen such food! Then we went back up Atigun canyon and up a side canyon and climbed for a week, nothing very technical, just fun. Saved the biggest peak for last. On top it was windless, perfect. Ned stood on the top rock alone for a long time, looking north at a hundred miles of flats and back into hundreds of beautiful peaks, came down and said, “You guys were right - can’t beat this.”
Skied back to Galbraith Lake and flew out. It was early May, snow going fast.
Ned & I did some slide shows around CA afterward to promote the x-c ski school. After I moved to Atlin he went to be Chief Instructor at Trapp Family Lodge.
Ned decided he wanted to run his own expeditions, and you probably know the incredible things he did after that. Ned was a great guy, a great friend and a powerhouse. I was in denial for months after he was murdered in Pakistan. Always felt sorry I didn’t get in touch with Susie who, I understand, is still carrying some shotgun pellets from the incident.
The trip is ancient history, but nice memories. The north is pretty wonderful - Alaska, Yukon, NWT, northern BC. Try it - you'll like it.
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Prezwoodz
climber
Anchorage
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This thread is pretty awesome.
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Larry Nelson
Social climber
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Fossil,
What a great story!
Whiskers against the sleeping bag...LMAO!
A whole jar of peanut butter, ha ha, I guess we've all been foolish, especially the way that cold can drive your appetite.
I have always wanted to explore the Yukon. Even more remote than Alaska.
Highdesertman,
Hey Dino, I remember when Good Morning America was in Anchorage. It was a big deal and I think it was Joan London? who was the host then. Garv told me about that morning but never said a thing about the bait and switch he pulled on you, ha ha. What a great story.
I remember climbing around Sunshine ridge one day with Steve and Lynn. This vehicle stops and backs up on the highway and this lady walks over to me. She explained that she was a PR person for something or other and she wanted some photos of a "Patagonia" type with climbing gear. I explained that she really should take some photos of the couple I was with and told her who Steve was. So I just took a couple of shots of the PR lady getting her pictures. Never did hear anything more about it.
climbski2,
I have some photos somewhere of Garvey and Sweeney climbing Roadside Attraction on a snowed in day with virtually no traffic on the highway. I will look for those to post up.
I talked to Matt about a month ago and he told me he lurks on here. Being the soft spoken guy he is, I don't know if he really chimes in like I do. (I'm mostly talk anymore, ha). But both you and Matt probably have a ton of Garvey stories as well.
Cavemonkey,
You have to have some Garv stories as good as any.
Here's a shot showing Garv's personality away from the rock...actually his personality was the same where ever he was.
OK, I am between work projects and on a roll, so I will dig for more old photos to scan.
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Highdesertman
Trad climber
jtree ca
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It took me forever to finally talk garvey to go check out Dinos head.I had found it a few months before while exploring around and knew it was good but I had no drill, lived in homer and garvey was the route master and would know what to do with this crag. I originally suggested to steve to call it goate's head cause I had seen some up there but garvey twisted that name around to Dinos head.
I put the first three bolts in with garvey belaying and using the garvey drill. My first time on hooks as well, then I had to go back to work in homer. I told garvey he could put up any other route there but made him promise to save the one I had started for me to finish when I got back. By the time I made it back it was a done deal including my route! Those are awesome photos larry brings garvey back in so many good ways. Rock climbing season here in jtree is just starting its sunny and warm and the rock is calling.
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Larry Nelson
Social climber
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Dino,
Never heard the story of how Dino Head got it's name, but Garv was a master of twisting, shaping and making up words, ha. 'Dino Head is one of my favorites along the highway. Up away from traffic, great views. Just doesn't seem that long ago and nobody had done it. I never understood the development right next to the highway. For me, climbing was an excuse to get out to a beautiful area, and Dino Head is great. Thanks for your discovery.
Garv and his family used to come down to San Diego also and stay with my wife and I. We did trips to Joshua Tree 4 or 5 times, as well as climbing at Mission Gorge in San Diego. I've got pictures of all that somewhere. Here is a shot of Garv with Kyle at Ryan campground, mid 90's. (drifting away from Alaska)
Edit: Kyle is now in his mid 20's and a US army veteran of Iraq. As of 2 years ago, he's living in Maine. He calls me every few years and I think he touches base with Sweeney also.
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climbski2
Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 7, 2015 - 04:16pm PT
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Great share Wayne..Really appreciate it considering he was a friend you lost.
I find myself regularly amazed how many Yosemite folks ended up in AK at various times doing really cool stuff.
Thanks for more pics Larry. That last pic of Garvey..that jacket looks mighty familiar to me.. Used to be Matts...Here is a pic from before it got so faded.
When Matt skied from the summit of Denali
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Larry Nelson
Social climber
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Climbski2,
What a great story about Matt's jacket.
EDIT: Matt has as many great adventures as anyone, but he is so soft spoken about it, ya gotta pry it out of him. His ski descents, his climbs, his flying over the Chugach looking for great skiing. A prince of a man and a good friend.
Garv was a master of taking old gear and resurrecting it. Don't know if you ever saw him on his sewing machine. He made all his own adjustable daisy chains, ice axe straps, etc. He'd sew old clothes, packs etc back together and they would last forever. I guess having 3 kids and climbing as much as he did, resourcefulness was a necessity. You can see that helmet he wears is just an old football helmet, ha, ha.
Here's some shots from climbing down by Portage lake. We crossed the river and climbed some ice high on the hill. Garv was a prolific and bold rock climber, but ice climbing is where he was world class. We ran into Paul Terecki while down there. Terecki was soloing on ice all over the place back then. When we finished our climb, Terecki had left a safety line across the river for us. These photos are before and after our climbing.
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