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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Great shots and no place for heels!
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johnr9q
Sport climber
Sacramento, Ca
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Jan 10, 2011 - 04:53pm PT
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I remember about 15 years ago camping on a spit of land between the Palisades and Thunderbolt glaciers and finding a box larger than a foot locker. When I looked inside it I realized it had been there a long time. Cans of food, ropes etc. I figured it had belonged to the school. I wonder if it is still there? John Robinson (Dougs Pa - just kidding)
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Doug Robinson
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 10, 2011 - 08:13pm PT
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Thanks, Pa!
You stumbled upon Fischer High Camp, founded by John Fischer when he ran PSOM. His ashes were scattered there in September, and it was named in his memory.
The original PSOM High Camp was across the glacier, right at the foot of that NW ridge running off of Gayley. Sometimes called Gayley High Camp. But over the years that camp got more crowded. And funky. The trail leads there, after all.
John Fischer found the site you stumbled upon and inaugurated the camp. Maybe mid- to late-70s? Not sure. But it was a great camp, and at its height there was one of those classic family-camping wall tents up there (with two side-by-side sets of poles duct-taped together to hold it up in alpine winds), and a scattering of smaller tents surrounding it. It was not crowded, and was a lot closer to approach routes on Thunderbolt, even Winchell. Of course it was a bit harder to find...
I remember that box, though I'm a little surprised that it was still up there. Heavy sucker.
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dogtown
Trad climber
JackAssVille, Wyoming
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Jan 13, 2011 - 10:29pm PT
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Bump!!!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Mar 12, 2011 - 01:26pm PT
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Greater Sierran Bump!
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go-B
climber
Sozo
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Mar 12, 2011 - 02:01pm PT
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Doug, those are the kind photos of Don and Gaston! I still have my Ultima Thule!
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Vitaliy M.
Mountain climber
San Francisco
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Apr 11, 2011 - 07:37pm PT
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What a great thread. Read about Don Jensen in "On the Ridge Between Life and Death." Seems like this guy was one of the few who had real love for the mountains of Sierra.
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ColbyOutdoors
Trad climber
Bass Lake
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May 19, 2011 - 08:31pm PT
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Hi Doug,
This was posted on SYMG's Facebook page today. I thought you'd like to see it:
"Doug Robinson was hiking and my son, Eric met him last summer (out with the ucla OA group). My Mom's cousin Don Jensen has been a hero since the 1960s. I was so pleased to find and read Doug's book "A Night on the Ground,A Day in the Open" and see a pic of Don Jensen in his beloved Palisade's. My gratitude and great appreciation to Doug for this chapter and tribute to Don. Merci!"
Cheers,
Colby
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Don Wittenberger
Mountain climber
Seattle, WA
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Bruce Johnson just sent me a link to this page. The comment about YakPaks is a couple of years old now, but I'll reply anyway. I was the YakPak designer and have my original drawings and specifications from which I could make new patterns. I'll ask Eric if he's interested in making YakPaks on a special-order basis.
While I'm here, let me explain my relationship with Eric. He doesn't own Rivendell Mountain Works; my wife and I do. Eric makes Rivendell packs under a license agreement. This arrangement hasn't been primarily about making money; our goal is making the Rivendell designs available again. Right now Eric is the only licensee, but my business structure has room for other interested persons to participate in Rivendell's revival. The best way to describe what's happening right now is that we're proceeding one baby step at a time.
One thing I can say, though, is this: There's no debt, and won't be. I'll never put Rivendell Mountain Works in a position where hostile creditors can take it over or put it out of business. Under the independent contractor business model I've adopted, Eric owns his own business which effectively provides production and marketing services. I retain ultimate control over design and quality, and overall supervision of what is produced and sold under the Rivendell label. I'm ultimately responsible to the public for how Rivendell products perform in the field, and that's the way I want it. This ensures product design and quality will be based on efficacy principles and not compromised by profit-oriented business decisions.
A word about the Bombshelter tent. The original patterns used in the tent's 1975 - 1981 production run have survived; I have them. A couple of the pattern pieces are damaged and need to be replaced, but that's no big deal. Eric and I have talked about the tent but he has his hands full with Jensen Packs. All I can said is we're thinking and talking about putting the Bombshelter back into production, but it's not there yet. From what I understand of the Bombshelter's history, several people contributed to its design, wit Don Jensen as the primary designer. Since acquiring Rivendell Mountain Works from the Seattle federal bankruptcy court in 1981, I've had 30 years to think about the Bombshelter design, plus I've owned an original Bombshelter for my own use, and I'll say this, it's awfully hard to improve on the 1970s design. I'm not going to change the patterns, which means the tent will stay the same size, but there are opportunities for tweaking, such as upgrading the pole system.
Finally, if anyone out there has a Bombshelter they're willing to sell, I want it. Please contact me at dwitt546@aol.com. I don't care what condition it's in; it doesn't have to be usable. I simply need one for pre-production prototyping. Eric and I both own Bombshelters, but those are our personal tents, and I need one I can modify to test design improvements.
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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The Bombshelter. It dosen't flap in the wind...it hums.
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oldgear
Mountain climber
Olympia, WA
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Don, it is really great to see you posting here. As you know from our recent emails, we've recently unearthed one of the original RMW employees who sewed Bombshelters, and he's eager to help.
And thanks for explaining in such full detail your business model and especially how it is pointed at unswerving quality rather than the model of MONEY, MONEY, AND MORE MONEY.
 Bruce
oldgear
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Mar 15, 2013 - 02:14pm PT
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Bump for the Dons...and that Swifter wedding photo!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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May 26, 2013 - 02:09pm PT
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Bump for Ze Bomb...
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Greg Beardslee
Social climber
Bozeman
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Nov 14, 2013 - 11:37pm PT
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This has been a wonderful thread to read and enjoy. Takes me back to my years of growing up in Bishop. When we moved there my father was a schoolteacher. Teachers around the east side often have interesting summer jobs and my Pop was no exception. He became for the next few summers the ranger at Big Pine Creek. I would hear tales from him about rattlesnakes in the campgrounds, cleaning outhouses, and stories long forgotten by me now about the Mountaineering Guide Service and Larry Williams. I believe I was twelve when I met Larry, his wife, and their daughters at the base camp near First Falls. Shortly after I was asked to help at camp and fill in as a cook's helper at Sam Mack Meadow. I could barely cook popcorn or heat soup but I said yes and gave it a go. Larry's daughter Gail and I trailed and coaxed a burro they had (Jingles?) up to Sam Mack with a load of supplies. After unloading and packing stuff away in metal cans, I was wiped out. I'd never been at altitude before. Gail took the burro back down below and returned again that same day. She was 12 as well but not tired at all. The next person I remember meeting was Don Jensen. He came up the next day carrying a huge pack loaded with dog food. Within an hour he was headed for the upper camp on the shoulder overlooking Palisade Glacier and I was prodded to go along and help. This didn't work out too well. While I was inspired and overwhelmed by the landscape (feelings that inspire me to this day) I got a real bad case of altitude sickness and had the worst crippling headache of my life. Had to just lay down in the tent at high camp while Don went about his chores. Useless kid I was. Over the rest of the week I watched Don, Frank Sarnquist, Larry, and I think Bob Swift train clients and take them on outings. It was a journey of a lifetime for most everyone. What did I bring back? A lifetime of memories from that week. A small understanding of mountaineering. Memory of a group glissading and yodeling into Sam Mack from above after a day attempting a peak. I developed respect for the guides, especially Don. He did have that fat lip thing going that summer, which I thought was a curious look to have. All the guides sacrificed themselves. Mosquito bites, sunburn, blisters and callouses. Later I learned that Don was designing packs and tents. That seemed fitting. That the company was called Rivendell struck me as being silly and romantic. Even though I had read the Hobbit by then and was caught up in the psychedelic lifestyle I just didn't always share the same romance. I'm glad to have memories of Don Jensen, following his burly legs as they carried him easily to Palisades High camp. I was very sad when I learned that he had died. And while I'm at it, R.I.P. Larry Williams.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Nov 14, 2013 - 11:45pm PT
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It's the fellowship of the campfire ring I'm feeling.
Warm and snuggly.
We've all outgrown the peach fuzz.
Nice e-membrance and thanks.
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johntp
Trad climber
socal
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Nov 15, 2013 - 03:31am PT
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Thanks Greg.
That is a nice post.
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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Nov 15, 2013 - 03:52am PT
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I had a Jensen pack, and I was born in Walnut Creek, but I don't think I ever met Don, but I do remember his bicycle accident/death in Scotland, reported in either Summit or Mountain magazines, perhaps both. I may have met him though when I was at the Palisades School of Mountaineering, but I do not think so as I was there after he died, I think.
Doug, I met you there but it was Smoke, Chris Fredericks and John Fischer that taught me mountaineering. Chris, John and I did the Swiss Arête on Mt Sill, they even let me lead the easy pitches, I was 14 going on 15.
RIP Don Jensen.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Nov 15, 2013 - 11:34am PT
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Nice post Greg!
Thanks for sharing your recollections with us.
Bob Swift chimes in here occasionally.
Any photos from the old days in your family albums?
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JerryA
Mountain climber
Sacramento,CA
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Nov 15, 2013 - 12:22pm PT
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In 1978,John Fischer & I found a first ascent record in a film can on the summit of Bivouac Peak in the Palisades that had been signed by Glen Dawson & Jules Eichorn on July 30,1930 .The only other signatures were two ascents by Don Jensen & clients in the 1960s.It was still there in 1979 .It is the only in-place first ascent record I've seen in 65 years of Sierra climbing .I assume Don put it in the modern film can.
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