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sibylle
Trad climber
On the road again!
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Sep 29, 2008 - 09:48am PT
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I hope to be there. Did you arrange any campsites, or are we on our own for camping? (I'm sure there'll be space; thought it would be nice to camp near everyone.)
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tooth
Mountain climber
B.C.
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Sep 30, 2008 - 08:10am PT
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bump
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Gene
climber
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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/257/story/53336.html
House honors first climbers to scale El Capitan
By Michael Doyle | McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers who blanched at a $700 billion financial rescue package have found time to honor the brave men who climbed Yosemite National Park's El Capitan peak a half-century ago.
Kicking off a round of commemorations, the House this week approved a resolution saluting three climbers who were the first to scale North America's tallest free-standing granite monolith. The resolution sets the stage for a 50th anniversary ceremony to be held in Yosemite next month.
"It's a landmark," Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, said Wednesday of the climb. "It was a really big deal."
The House resolution honors Wayne Merry, Fresno resident George Whitmore and Warren J. Harding, who took 47 days in 1957 and 1958 to climb El Capitan's so-called "Nose Route." Theirs was a full-blown siege, complete with sizable support crew, fixed ropes and established camps along the vertical way.
Today, climbers can race up the same route in two or three days. Some daredevils have done it in one; in July, two climbers did the Nose Route in two hours and 43 minutes.
The House resolution, too, moved speedily through what can be an obstacle-ridden path. Radanovich's office prepared the resolution at the behest of the National Park Service. The park service is now getting ready for its own commemoration of the event, scheduled for Nov. 8.
That was the date, 50 years ago, that the three-man climbing team made their final push toward the El Capitan summit.
"What they did 50 years ago is really significant in the history of the park," park spokesman Scott Gediman said, adding that "climbing really turned into a sport here in Yosemite."
The Nov. 8 event in Yosemite Valley will include auditorium presentations by Whitmore and Merry. Separately, Gediman noted, park officials are working with El Portal resident Ken Yager on the possibility of establishing a permanent rock climbing museum that would display some of the gear used in the park.
Radanovich, whose congressional district includes Yosemite, began soliciting congressional co-sponsors via e-mail Sept. 19. Three days later, with seven House co-sponsors signing on, it was formally introduced.
By Monday, even as most House members were consumed with the pending $700 billion bailout package, the Yosemite resolution was partnered up with a number of other non-controversial measures. These ranged from a resolution honoring the Coast Guard to a measure naming some Rappahannock River rapids after retiring Republican Virginia Sen. John Warner.
"Everyone wants to get their suspension items on the floor before Congress adjourns," Radanovich's press secretary, Spencer Pederson, said Wednesday.
The assorted resolutions zipped through the House by voice vote in the tumultuous aftermath of lawmakers rejecting the $700 billion financial bailout. The lighthearted mood that often accompanies the consideration of non-controversial, feel-good measures was noticeably absent. The resolution was passed literally in a matter of seconds, with no one -- including Radanovich -- taking time to speak about it.
By contrast, several San Joaquin Valley lawmakers took to the House floor several months ago to rave about the championship Fresno State Bulldogs baseball team as the House approved a similar slap-on-the-back resolution.
Harding, known as a hard-living soul, went on to author an entertaining memoir titled "Downward Bound" and passed away in February 2002. Merry went on to head the Yosemite Mountaineering School. Whitmore has been active in the local Sierra Club chapter, which has had a hot-and-cold relationship with Yosemite park management.
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 2, 2008 - 06:07pm PT
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Darn, I had hoped to surprise them at the reunion.
Ken
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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I sent a congratulatory e-mail to Wayne and George three days after the fact.
Wayne shot back that he had never heard of it.
How far off the grid are you anyway, Wayne?
Buzz
Can't wait for the 7-9 November.
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 5, 2008 - 11:43am PT
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Roger,
I helped with the wording and had a little bit of a hand in the Resolution and had hoped to keep it a secret until the reunion. I did not let Wayne or the others know. I should have known it would have been in the papers all over the country.
Ken
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Thanks for getting it done, Ken. I think it is very cool that the House commemorated the first ascent of the Nose. (And it certainly provides me with good cover as I have rearranged my calendar to attend the reunion.)
My guess is that Wayne and George will be embarrassed by it, but they don't get to vote. And we can tease them. Got any red carpet?
Regarding keeping it secret for a month, I assume that you were counting on the normal C-span cameras being off during the vote? Or something? So how far off the grid are you? Heehe.
Best, Roger
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Oct 21, 2008 - 03:43pm PT
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Bump. Less than three weeks to go.
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Jaybro
Social climber
wuz real!
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Oct 21, 2008 - 04:26pm PT
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Dogs' trust with us is absolute, it's one of the reasons we can form such amazing bonds with them.
Once upon a time, we ( my ex, myself, and Alobar ( a 65 pd Collie/retriever)got rained out in a ditch near Flag, it's the one you cross to go to the pit,though this was before we realized the potential of that limestone. We were checking out some Toula beta on obscure basalt.
Anyway, we had to scramble out in a full on monsoon downpour. Slippery basalt on a dry day. I was spotting Michele, who was not in her element(!) and we got to a point where Al couldn't follow ( this was a big dog who made his own way to the Labyrinth in the supes and has actually climbed into treehouses,) it was a desperate situation.
I'm spotting Mich, who really could fall, and Al can't follow. I Grabbed him and clutched him to my chest, he put his front legs over my shoulders and his total trust in me. With one hand pushing Michele's butt above me and one arm dealing with slippery wet 5.7 moves we pulled, all of us, together to the top. Where we all topped out into a pounding rain pine needle slip mass of slopping pine needles. Two of us with fogged glasses, hyperventilating, and one, whose coat looked like that of a drowned rat, but jumping and yarfing, in the deluge, the Joy de vie we all felt.
That human/dog bond is an amazing thing!
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Oct 21, 2008 - 04:35pm PT
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Umm, rhodo, hopefully both the Nose/50th celebrations and the films in El Portal will go well. It does seem that the timing of the films might have been a bit better. The Nose event can only be on the 8th, for obvious reasons. It has involved an enormous amount of planning and effort, and will be a unique event. Hopefully it will have an overflow crowd, and there will be enough climbers and others in and near the Valley to not only fill it, but also the event in El Portal. But the Nose/50th event seems a much higher priority to me.
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 23, 2008 - 12:03am PT
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It is coming up soon! I have been busy with preparations. We will have a special cancellation stamp, a t-shirt, and a beautiful brochure available for purchase. All proceeds will benefit YCA and I hope it will for years to come because I have printed extras.
Ken
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Oct 23, 2008 - 11:45am PT
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The post office generously allows the public to commemorate special events with a pictorial cancellation stamp that is used in addition to the the normal cancellation stamp. This pc stamp is available for one month beginning with the November 8, 2008 event date and is only available from the main Yosemite post office in the Valley. During the use period, interested parties may present envelopes directly to the postmaster for stamp application or via a request by mail with the item to be pictorially stamped.
We are also providing commemorative tee shirts for sale that feature a reproduction of the first national park system commemorative postage stamp of El Capitan issued in 1934 on the front and the pictorial cancellation artwork on the back! Don't miss the opportunity to snag such a cool shirt!
We are very excited about the event and so is Bill Carroll of Yosemite post office who tipped me off about the pictorial cancellation in the first place. Many thanks Bill!
And if that were not enough, a postage stamp featuring a classic Al Steck photo of Batso in action on the Nose is also available! Warren has hit the big time and we couldn't be more stoked to hold these guys high for all the world to appreciate and admire! Come join us for this special event and help support the YCA and our work!
I will leave the matter of the stunning 14" X 20" full color trifold event brochure for another post.......
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10b4me
climber
the gray bands
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Oct 24, 2008 - 12:09am PT
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cannot wait
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Oct 24, 2008 - 12:23am PT
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I can't wait either, even though I'll only experience it vicariously.
But the poster just above me will have to wait - there'll be 10 B4 him.
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Anastasia
climber
Not there
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Oct 24, 2008 - 01:46am PT
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Big Bump for this Night!
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Oct 24, 2008 - 02:16am PT
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At least one of the original bolts from the FA is probably still in place:
Not everything got repaved during the various reboltings.
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 25, 2008 - 12:42am PT
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Clint, Nice photo of a Dolt hanger. Way ahead of it's time, I am surprised that that design has not been explored further. Truly a collector's item.
Ken
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Blitzo
Social climber
Earth
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Oct 25, 2008 - 01:22am PT
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Awesome, Bala Gen!
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