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the albatross
Gym climber
Flagstaff
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Thanks for the contributions, Tony and Flo.
I want to make it clear that I am not "trying to prove anything" by posting on this thread. If people want to turn this thread negative I'm not going that direction. I am sharing stories and photos of a lost friend who, among many other skills, interests, and talents, happened to be a very accomplished rock climber. Some would argue Brian was among the gifted rock climbers that has ever lived.
But, nothing means anything, after all, when it is said and done and you're dead.
I will continue sharing photos, and stories of my friend Brian if folks are still interested. Brian left behind many photos, and even more stories, of many ascents all over the world. Don't worry, I have no interest in posting topos or maps of any specific climbs in respect for the rock, the community, and mostly for my friend Brian (this mainly pertaining to undocumented new areas over the last decade).
Thanks Flo, for the photo of Bridwell. As lots of folks probably know, Jim Bridwell is considered by many to be among the more influential climbers of all time. He and Brian were good friends and as was mentioned way upthread, Jim saw that Brian had a very special gift for scaling mountains. I believe JB wrote something like, "I never saw anyone climb such a hard new route in such appalling weather conditions."
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Vegasclimber
Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
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I appreciate the stories, and I agree that the thread should stay positive. Good on you for not getting drug into any drama. Don't make me call Off Topic Marmot folks....
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Ezra Ellis
Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
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Thanks Albert for the great stories about Brian, I wish I had known him.
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Burt
Social climber
Angelus Oaks, Ca
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Burt
Social climber
Angelus Oaks, Ca
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Burt
Social climber
Angelus Oaks, Ca
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And yeah Albert it did matter. So many Valley self proclaimed "hardmen" walked past NOCS spraying about how they were just about to "jump on it" and yet it sat for over a decade without a serious attempt. I'll never forget begging him to do an El Cap route with me. I told him any route, and speed, I'll haul, but we have to climb the "Captain" together at least once considering all that we have done and been through. He told me the only thing that even held his interest was to climb NOCS solo. It was the only thing that was even worth losing sleep over. We talked, and he said he would rather bolt sport climbs with me and laugh and have fun then climb the captain for the umpteenth time. He said there are so many better memories doing first ascents in far off places with me, then to just repeat someones route, so thats what we did. He was right. So many memories charging into the unknown with him trumps any repeat of a route could have ever been. I left this page alone for a bit, f*#k I just miss him so much. I was looking at some old pics of routes that we where still supposed to go climb together... my son who has a strong connection to Brian asked if he could go with. 12 years old and his desire to venture onto the cliff, charging into the unknown, all smiles and too naive to even know what he is signing up for just lights my soul. Something about a young kid getting way over his head, following someone who is slightly off their rocker, and being too dumb to know any better just makes me smile like I maybe I have learned what I was supposed to and now its time to just spread my wings and leave the nest. Time will tell if I crash and burn, but it will be one hell of a story.
Brian's legacy will live on through the ones he loved and shared his unique life with. The crap that you read in the mags is written so you will buy mags. The article the was written about Brian in Climbing a few years back is a complete work of crap. Nothing was told about the man that he was, and things where told that any editor and journalist should be ashamed of. A feature article on one of the most prolific FA of our time and one of the most caring and loving people that I have ever dared to let into my life and you want nothing but gore and mindless dribble about someones dark side? I was interviewed by the journalist for a story, at that time the Brian and Burt show was going full throttle. He wanted nothing of my story and said it made no sense. Yeah everyone has a story of runnout A4 and beaks and blades and blah blah blah, but this story should who he really was. A friend. I never purchased another climbing rag after I read his story. Just utter crap. I will share that story in the next few days. So cheers to Brian. The only fu$ker that would ever have the balls to tell you to your face what you where doing wrong but in that same breath let you know that he appreciated and valued your friendship.
Kurt Burt
and a repost
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wayne w
Trad climber
the nw
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Thanks Albert, and Burt, for keeping Brian's memory alive.
What a treasured memory climbing Bad Seed on El Cap with he and Hans will always be. When Brian was leading a hard aid pitch faster than seemed possible, you knew that you were witnessing a force of nature. As Burt and Ammon can attest!
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the albatross
Gym climber
Flagstaff
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Thanks for the reply Kurt. When Brian went for the second ascent of NOCS it was the only time in our friendship that he even once exclaimed some sort of hesitation about the outcome of an adventure.
I couldn't ever get him to take me up El Cap, either. I could see his point, by the time we met he had already climbed quite a few of the most extreme routes on the formation (with some 36 or so ascents of El Cap). Besides, it is always way more exciting putting up a big wall FA in a remote area then do a repeat of some trade route so that's what we did.
I've been biting my tongue about Climbing magazine issue 265, April 2008. At the same time I feel obligated to my friend and know that he would have expected we would point out this grievous wrong by the media.
(Edit:): It is reasonable to suggest that if a climber is being "profiled" in a national magazine in regards to accomplishments as a leader in the field, that the story would focus on their climbs and their many first ascents and significant repeats.
The first thing Brian told me when his "profile" came out was, "I can't show this to my grandmother." Brian was deeply hurt by what these folks did to him. And they did it all for just a few measly bucks, a chance to see their name in print and to boost their reputation in the sleazy, shallow world of climbing journalism.
We saw the rough draft a number of weeks before publication and were disgusted with some of the bashing regarding Brian's youth and of his family. I'm assuming many folks reading this might agree that some things told around the campfire with trusted "friends" need to stay in your hearts or heads, not to be sold and published in a national magazine.
We pleaded with the author to delete a few sentences. The author told us the editor thought that it fit the story just perfect. The author, photographer and the staff of Climbing magazine did the world climbing community, and much more importantly Brian McCray, a terrible disservice. I hope those folks realize the wrong they did, but somehow find that highly unlikely. Empathy is a trait which does not get one far in the world of climbing media. It is no wonder Brian considered most of the climbing media professionals as "parasites".
I tried to keep this positive and avoid the "drama", yet after all this is a thread about a man of honor, integrity and respect. And sometimes the ugliness of humanity needs to be pointed out in the search for truth.
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the albatross
Gym climber
Flagstaff
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Respect.
Honor.
Your friends.
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Fluoride
Trad climber
West Los Angeles, CA/Joshua Tree
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Albatross, was that the article titled "The Contrarian"?
That was such a sh*t piece of work and made me realize all the more why Brian hated the climbing rags so much.
The title alone told me it wasn't going to be anything positive. He deserved so much better.
Anyone who knew him knew that article was so far off the mark as a "profile" piece.
Burt - I too never purchased Climbing again after that. Showed what hacks they were.
Albert, Ammon, Burt and everyone else in this thread thank you and keep posting your stories and pics.
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Captain...or Skully
climber
in the oil patch...Fricken Bakken, that's where
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I obviously knew a different Brian than they claimed to know.
I prefer(ed) mine....He was Real.
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nah000
climber
canuckistan
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a story Ammon wrote up for a thread in 05:
Last year Brian McCray and I were climbing Lost in America together. It was the first time we had roped up since the little accident on the Dunn Route, in Zion. For those of you who don’t remember I got hit badly by rock fall.
Anyway, we started up LIA, a 16 pitch route on El Cap in a push. We were chomping at the bit with enthusiasm and the way we divided the pitches, proved this. The plan was that I was going to lead 8 in a row and then Brian’s 8 pitch block would lead us to the summit.
Everything was going as planned and I was really psyched to have finished my block in under seven hours. Brian took over and swiftly lead the next two pitches. On his third pitch of his block he whipped.
I heard him yell out with pain and then silence. “Are you all right”, I asked him.
“Yeah, I’m fine”, came his reply.
Brian called for some tape, which I promptly tagged up to him. He led the next two pitches and I could tell he was slowing down, just a hair.
“Hey, I know I was supposed to take us to the top….. but, do you think you can take over the lead”, Brian yelled down.
“No problem, fix the line and I’ll be right up”, I yelled back. I cleaned the pitch, grabbed the rack and continued to the summit, making it in record time.
We had a few friends at the rim when we arrived and I was ready to celebrate. I went to give Brian a “high-five” when I noticed the look on his face. The look told me that everything wasn’t ok. He took the tape off his hand and showed me the damage.
“Holy SH#T, what the hell happened down there” I asked Brian. That’s when Brian relayed the story to us.
Apparently, Brian had just put in a beak. He tested it, clipped in his aider and climbed to his high point. Somehow the bottom of his aider got clipped to the piece below. The beak blew and he whipped. Since the bottom loop of his aider was clipped into the piece below it flipped upside-down as he fell pass the piece.
The beak that was still attached to his aider also flipped upside-down, creating a hook. His hand embedded into the hooked beak and the first thing that caught him was his hand, which was attached to piece above.
So, that was what the yell was all about and as I looked at his opened wound my stomach did a few flips.
Wow, I thought….. Brian is a TRUE hardman. After this bizarre accident ripped opened the palm of his hand, he bit-the-bullet and continued for two more pitches. Not complaining, once.
The image of Brian hanging by his hand with a beak entrenched into his palm, still makes me shudder.
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the albatross
Gym climber
Flagstaff
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Yes, the article was called "The Contrarian". The title baffled us as well.
Out of respect for Brian, I'd like to suggest we not print the names of the dirtbags, or post that trashy "profile" in this thread. Those hacks should be ostracized from the community. The story was an incredible insult to the man who was so influential in shaping modern hard rock climbing in the US. I would not be nearly as critical of their assault on Brian if we had not seen the rough draft in the weeks before its submission and begged the author to reconsider, to spend a bit more time polishing it up to look more like a traditional climbing profile.
I always imagined if a "climbing profile" is done on someone it should be a gift, a treasure of sorts, something that the person would be proud of, perhaps even frame it for the wall. After a half hour phone call debrief when the issue came out, Brian never once mentioned the article again, he tucked the magazine away.
"I can't show this to my grandmother". It brings tears to my eyes to remember those words. So sad.
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drljefe
climber
El Presidio San Augustin del Tucson
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Albatross-
We don't need to fully discuss it because it's obviously a sore subject to you and others, and most of all Flyin Brian (RIP)but....
In regards to that story in Climbing- I reread it this morning.
As an outsider, meaning I wasn't friends with Brian but certainly knew of him...
I wasn't left with a negative image of the Man after reading the article.
It highlighted a bunch of his rad ascents and iincluded major props from The Bird.
The parts about his struggles, to me and maybe others on the fringe, only added insight into his drive. We all have a past, even if we'd like to forget it.
I'd like to think that his Grams would see that article now and glow with pride.
I only say this stuff to maybe give you, and others who were close, solace.
Solace knowing that the general climbing readership could read that article and not be left with a tainted image of Flyin Brian.
NO offense or disrespect intended here but let me know if you'd like me to delete this post.
Peace to you- sorry you lost your friend- dude was a legend.
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the albatross
Gym climber
Flagstaff
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drljefe no need to delete. I'm sorry you never got to meet Brian he was way cooler than was portrayed in that story. As far as the story, my main complaint (besides it being shallow and poorly written) is that Brian asked for certain parts to be removed and they weren't. That's called "dissing someone" in my circle of friends.
One awesome aspect of ST is that all of us can contribute to his legacy. Brian touched the lives of many, many people in a number of aspects of life, from his AA groups to the art and mineral community and on and on. Keep the stories coming this way!
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the albatross
Gym climber
Flagstaff
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Brian and I used to hang out in this magical sanctuary deep in the desert sands. The camp has expansive views and the area happens to have a couple of cracks around to mess around on. The rock sort of sucks, but with no other folks around it was a slice of nirvana to us. Nice and quiet.
(And we hope it stays that way).
Early on in our friendship, I hike out a week before with a buddy and stash in this big crack system all sorts of food for an upcoming climb with Brian. Took my time vacuum sealing crackers, candy, cocoa, oatmeal and a few plastic bottles of Pepsi for Brian. Yeah Brian, we are set up dude, you don't have to bring a thing I gleefully exclaimed over the phone. When we meet at the parking area, I notice him tossing in his pack a can of soup and a couple candy bars.
We hike up the sand dunes for what feels like hours carrying all the usual crap for a big first ascent: ropes, rack, drill, bolts, etc… When we finally get to camp it looked like a war zone. There were all sorts of wrappers fluttering in the wind, empty Pepsi bottles strewn about. Damn near all our food had been devoured by something…
Night fell and we found out what creatures had devoured all those delicious groceries that had been left laying out like a smorgasbord.
They were so happy to see us, the bringers of such wonderful delights. We weren't as psyched, they hopped across us all through the night we hardly slept a wink. One even dragged a small stuff sac with my camera in it deep into a crack to be lost to history. By sunrise we were pissed.
So the next night we come up with an idea to get even. We were in desperate need of sleep after a long day struggling around on the rocks.
The trap didn't work out as well as hoped, but it sure entertained us for a couple hours. Fortunately most Ringtail Cats are smarter than us.
Some time goes by and our next trip comes up. We are stoked to get some suffering, and some sleep, in. Brian hauls this huge .44 magnum pistol up the mountain to base camp. Night falls and we are getting set up to even the score for all that delicious food the idiot had left out for them to eat.
We soon see eyes in the distance, maybe a 100' away. Brian sets up to rest against a rock, massive pistol in hand. Now keep in mind Brian has about as much chance hitting that Ringtail at 100' as I would have throwing a #6 cam. But it was all part of the fun times. You ready? Yes. BBBOOOOOMMMM! I bet that shot echoed for 10 minutes. We howled with laughter. And of course no way in hell he even came close to hitting that cute little cat.
A day or two later we hike out. Reaching the vehicles a sheriff pulls up. You boys doing alright? I noticed your vehicles a couple days ago. Uh, yes sir, just out for a little backpack trip. Oh, ok, ya' know last year we had some hikers report about some climbing gear and such out by Lowrey's Thumb. Guess some idiot rock climbers been out there. Wow, officer, that's weird, thanks for checking in with us we had a great camp out
After the cop drove off I notice a freaking bullet hole in side of my truck just behind the drivers door. Reaching in the sand I find the slug. WTF? Man, this sucks. Albert, you don't own your possessions they own you. We start laughing, how true. (Brian quoting a line from one of our favorite Chuck P books).
At the time Brian owned this piece of sh#t little red car I mean it was in rough condition. A couple of months later he goes to sell it and the guy is like WTF? There is a bullet hole going all the way through the car? We laugh again over the phone as he recounted the story.
I'm not sure what the moral of that little tale is, but that's the only time I've been around a gun at our sanctuary in the sky. Hope you enjoyed the story and before you get all hating me about animals check this photo.
Have a good night folks.
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mucci
Trad climber
The pitch of Bagalaar above you
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Awesome Albatross.
Wish I could have met him.
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martygarrison
Trad climber
Washington DC
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I was with Flo today at the NPR board meeting. We had a good chat.
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Burt
Social climber
Angelus Oaks, Ca
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Nov 12, 2014 - 07:51pm PT
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This pic was taken right after our first route together. Brian always called me the walking guidebook. I can remember climbs, pitches, placements, and most blurbs about routes. Well used to be able to, I'm getting old now. Well our first route together was going to be something hard. Latitudes was too much hype at the time for him, he wanted something obscure, something dark, something where the sheep don't go. I dove into my list of routes in my head and the first thing that popped out was the Forbidden Corner. A Walt Shipley/Barry Ward route in the back of the Temple of Sinawava in Zion. It lies across the river from Monkey Finger and from what I had heard it hadn't seen a second ascent. Brian didn't care. I described the line and he was hooked. We left the next day. I was just of the legal age to buy cigarettes, and some how I was off with "Flyn" Brian repeating a Walt Shipley route... WTF. We hiked our stuff to the base and I lead the first pitch, 5.9 loose, scary number but kinda no big deal. Brian lead the next pitch, beaks off a ledge that would hurt if you blow it. I watched him aid, I have never seen someone lead like this before. One aider, one adjustable daisy chain, and holy sh#t it was fast! He tagged up a few smokes on the pitch but before I knew it we were bivied in this crazy corner. My girlfriend at the time was bivied in the car parked across the river. We took a telescope and walkie talkies. We talked to her, warned her when the rangers where coming and all that good crap. Me and Brian talked that night about a lot of things. El Cap routes, music, and what life meant for both of us. How broken must one become before clarity comes? We were desperately trying to find out.
The next day, I led off the portaledge using the Brian method. I was hooked. I led, he led, I led, he led, and we bivied that night just 2 pitches from the top. It was dark out and we laid back smoking cigs laughing about something when the walkie talkie came alive. My girlfriend just had something bang on the car. It did it again, and again, and again. It was loud enough to where I could hear it over the radio. She was hysterical, honking the horn, flashing the lights and yelling into the darkness trapped inside our wagon. I was terrified seeing the car lights blinking and hearing the horn over the raging river. Brain looked me straight in the eyes and told me to turn the walkie off. You don’t want to hear whats going to happen. We both thought we were going to hear my girlfriend be murdered. Well it subsided, she got out of the car and reported all these dents all over the car. It was a buck slamming our car for some reason.
We topped out early on our third day and Brian asked me if I had ever pitched a bag… I was lost. He said throw the bags down so we can walk down with nothing. I laughed and said politely I like my gear and no I’m not hucking it off a 1200 foot cliff. He assured me that it would be fine. This was a time when you could drive into the canyon. The Temple was packed. I mean hundreds of people. Well that mother f*#ker had a plan, he got my girlfriend to aim the scope at monkey finger and on our que start pointing and making a fuss. We prepped our bags until the last detail was perfect. We got the walkie and said our code word. Like little sheep they went for the bait. It looked like a flock of birds changing direction. They scoured the wall across from us as our bags rocketed towards the ground. It was so loud. The impact was tremendous. We walked down and not a word was said to us.
This was the start of a friendship that I have never had before. A bond that I hope people find at some point in their lives. Here, months after Brian left this earth, I still pick up my phone to call him because something I saw had to be shared. I miss my emails that shared so much of what he truly was about. I miss our conversations about the parasites (climbing media) and how the truth just isn't depicted and how shame on our sport for letting our heroes who blazed the path we follow die broke and alone and without the respect they deserve. I miss the irreverent behavior that drew us together and made us friends for life. Most of all I miss that god damn crooked-tooth smile with that sinister snicker that let me know that adventure was near. I am 34 years old now, yet I find myself on a daily basis wondering if I will ever have the drive to venture into the unknown again without him. So a big f*#k you and thank you to a man who helped me in so many ways.
More stories to come, god there are so many, and I can’t wait to share.
Kurt Burt
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