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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Jan 22, 2009 - 11:48pm PT
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Frank’s Physics Contributions
The 1984 Nobel prize in physics was shared by two men who worked at CERN, Simon van der Meer and Carlo Rubbia.
In van der Meer’s autobiography published by the Nobel Foundation, in the 8th paragraph down, van der Meer notes:
“The successful experiments in this ring and the work by Sacherer on theory and by Thorndahl on filter cooling showed that p accumulation by stochastic stacking was feasible”.
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1984/meer-autobio.html
According to the Nobel Foundation statutes, the Nobel Laureates are also required to give a lecture on a subject connected with the work for which the prize has been awarded. In his lecture to the Nobel academy on Dec. 8 of that year, van der Meer also acknowledged Frank’s theoretical contributions on pg. 307. See:
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1984/meer-lecture.html
For a complete list of Frank’s publications at CERN, see:
http://cdsweb.cern.ch/search?ln=en&p=Sacherer%2C+Frank+James&f=author
For those of us who are not physicists, the titles are practically unintelligible, but impressive for the very fact that they convey such a different world view than most of us know. Note he published under three slightly different versions of his name, Sacherer, Frank James, F.J., and F. (his actual given name was Franklin James) so there are yet more of them listed if you click on those variations at the bottom of the page. His latest publication was 1979, which means it was published posthumously and that he was working at a high level right up to the end.
Finally, if you would like to try to understand some of this from a non-mathematical laymen’s point of view, see the Quantum Diaries and the blogs of the individual physicists featured there. In particular, I was interested in physicist John Ellis, because he married Maria Mercedes Martinez, the woman from Columbia that Frank lived with after I left Geneva. They were still together at the time of his death and Maria was very helpful to Frank’s father when he arrived in Geneva to make final arrangements. John Ellis met Maria at Frank’s funeral and they were married shortly after. You can see a small photo of Maria at the bottom of John’s blog.
http://www.interactions.org/quantumdiaries/bios/john_ellis.html
I have written to Maria through John asking her if she would like to make a contribution to this forum but have not heard back yet.
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BBA
Social climber
West Linn OR
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Jan 22, 2009 - 11:55pm PT
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The benediction was a nice, gentle touch. After I left the valley in 1962 I knew almost nothing of what happened in the years following. As I told Guido, when I became a man I put away the things of a boy.
In 1995 one of my daughters said, "Hey Dad, did you know a guy named Roper? You're in his book." So she gave it to me for Christmas and while reading it I was stunned by Frank's death. And Baldwin's, too.
Now I'm old, or getting there pretty fast, and I like to think a task of the elder is to record the history of important events and to honor those who did special things. That is why I resurrected the thread in November, to honor Frank. I think this thread has to be one of the best reads of a "people's history" you will find anywhere, and I thank everyone who has contributed to it. Both text and photos (love those Alps shots). And thanks Ed Hartouni for starting it.
Bill Amborn
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jan 23, 2009 - 12:15am PT
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Thanks to everyone, particularly Jan, and her and Frank's friends, for their heartfelt posts.
A good friend who enjoys watching SuperTopo has sent me the following story, thoughts, and picture. I can say that he's Canadian, in his 60s, and climbed at both Squamish and Yosemite in the 1960s. And that he's still climbing and mountaineering.
"One afternoon in 1964, Bridwell and I were climbing the Right Side of The Slack, on the El Cap apron. He was leading, and I was doing my best to follow. When we were up a couple of pitches, Frank and a partner, whose name I have forgotten, showed up to check out the Left Side, which was unclimbed at the time. We finished our climb, and rapped off. I reached the ground first, and snapped this rather poor quality composite photo."
"While it does not show Frank leading, it does show him belaying, after leading a pitch which had never been done before - almost as good. If you knew Frank, you can tell it is him. He is at the end of the first pitch, on the ledge above the bay tree. His partner is partly visible below him, while Jim can be seen two thirds of the way down on the right, getting ready for the last rappel. It's a lot steeper than it looks! It was getting late, so the others also rapped off, and gave us a ride back to Camp 4. The FA of the Left Side was done the next spring by Pratt and Robbins, who rated it as 5.10."
"I knew Frank reasonably well, but was not a close friend. Reading this thread has been interesting, although it has also been a bittersweet experience. I had heard, incorrectly, that Frank died from hypothermia on his descent from The Shroud, which seemed like a terrible fate for someone from sunny California. While death in the mountains is always tragic, at least Frank's was fast, either from a lightning strike or from falling. It is difficult to imagine the suffering which his partner experienced, roped to a dead friend, and waiting to die himself."
"As far as the 'shut up' story goes, I also heard that Frank was making a traverse. According to Bridwell the full quotation was, 'Shut up you chicken-shit bastard'. That's how I have always told the story, and it has a better ring to it! We still say that occasionally, but only as a joke, and a tribute."
"I never climbed with Frank, as I was not nearly good enough, and he was never that desperate for a partner! That is probably why I didn't see any of his darker side which others have alluded to. But those are things I do not know, as I always found him to be positive, cheerful and friendly. I suppose that there were two Franks, one of whom was too frank for some. When I think of him, I smile."
(The friend is working on a higher quality scan/composite.)
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Jan 23, 2009 - 12:54am PT
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There is a fairly accessible description of the project Frank Sacherer was working on in the 70s at CERN at:
http://cern-discoveries.web.cern.ch/CERN-Discoveries/Courier/aa-to-z/AA-to-Z.html
--
Achievements with Antimatter
from the CERN Courier, November 1983
From AA to Z
The conditions for proton-antiproton physics were attained thanks to a remarkable sequence of developments in accelerator physics.
...
In 1974, tests led by A. N. Skrinsky in a small storage ring, NAP-1VI, at Novosibirsk demonstrated that cooling was being achieved. These results were confirmed later at CERN and at Fermilab. However the alternative idea of stochastic cooling ('The discovery of 'heavy light') from Simon van der Meer proved so successful that in the final schemes for proton-antiproton colliding beams at both CERN and Fermilab, electron cooling was dropped.
The first successful tests on stochastic cooling took place on 21 October 1974 on proton beams in the Intersecting Storage Rings. This followed the development of electronics sufficiently fast (GHz range) to allow the beam to be monitored in an intersection region on the machine (using two directional loop pick-ups connected to a differencing transformer) and to transmit the appropriately amplified signal to kicker magnets in the next intersection region. Thus the signal bypassed an arc of one eighth of the machine, racing the beam around the ring so that the same slice of beam could be acted upon. Over seven hours, a cooling rate of 2 per cent per hour was achieved.
This modest success gave encouragement to those who were working on the better understanding of the theory and on improving the hardware - people like Hugh Hereward, Dieter Möhl, Bob Palmer, Frank Sacherer, Peter Brarnham, George Carron, Leo Faltin, Kurt Habner, Wolfgang Schnell and Lars Thorndahl. The initial tests were concerned only with reducing the vertical spread of the beam. In 1976 the horizontal spread received the same treatment in the ISR and the results were again in excellent agreement with theory. With low intensity beams (around 5 mA), cooling rates went as high as 10 per cent per hour.
...
--
Also, he is not forgotten by the physicists:
http://www.epac08.org/index.php?n=Main.2008AcceleratorPrizeWinners
"The Frank Sacherer prize for an individual in the early part of his or her career, having made a recent, significant, original contribution to the accelerator field, is awarded to Viatcheslav Danilov, ORNL/SNS
“for numerous contributions to accelerator physics, in particular for the proposal, calculation, design, construction, and demonstration of efficient laser H- stripping.”
"
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Jan 23, 2009 - 01:14am PT
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Clint-
Do you know anything about the history of the Frank Sacherer physics prize? I'm wondering who organized and funded it?
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 23, 2009 - 10:39am PT
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Frank's European climbing history seems to go something like this: arriving at CERN and becoming established he starts climbing some of the "classical" routes in the Alps, and cragging at the local limestone cliffs of the Saleve, very close to CERN. He did these activities with various other CERN workers, including Jack Steinberger, an American physicist doing a work at CERN. Jack was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1988 for his contributions to an experiment he did with collaborators in 1961. Jack remembers climbing with Frank, but not much else, though he says "I was much much below his class" regarding climbing. John Cardy, a British theoretical physicist, who has posted some of his recollections above, also remembers meeting Frank in 1971, and climbing with him through 1973. Jean-Claude Bourigault was another partner, and we have some wonderful pictures of Frank on their outings. John Rander was an American physics graduate student who began climbing with Frank sometime in 1974.
It seems that Frank had a group of people at CERN, though his work seemed to keep him from training hard for climbs. John Rander returned to the States to complete his thesis and returned in 1976 to work with Steinberger. He says that he found Frank out of shape and not having been climbing much. Rander's return re-energized Frank as they started climbing in the Saleve.
Frank catches the climbing bug again in 1977 and begins to climb some of the more serious routes of the day. It was mentioned that Frank was very fast in the Alps, taking the "speed is safety" paradigm "to it's logical limit." This may have been an over reaction on Frank's part to being in a distinctly non-Californian environment. He rarely wanted to stop for pictures, lunch, or anything.
John Rander, who has written a book on climbing safety in French, and began his climbing career at Tahquitz and Suicide with Bud Couch and bouldering with Bob Kamps. He observed that Franks approach to climbing really centered on what we would call the adventuresome aspects of a climb, that is, facing a climb without the outcome being predetermined by technology or excessive knowledge of the climb prior to its climbing, accepting the risk. John thought that Frank's "gifts included a memory which allowed him to replay all the moves onsight, a quick insight to resolve the technical issues, and a mind which could switch off the 'alternatives' once a solution was clear to him."
John is an echo of the Yosemite days, "climbing with Frank was never without stress. He enjoyed taking risks, often pushing his limits..." which seems so similar to the early days. However, his work at CERN consumed much of his time and attention which added the observation "...without really being in shape."
Joe Weis was another American physicist and an accomplished ice climber from Washington. He and John Rander had planned to climb K7, they were doing a lot of mixed climbing together. Joe was better in this alpine medium than Frank was, though younger and fitter than Frank. The three of them had done an FA of an ice couloir on the Chardonnet earlier in the summer of 78. John was invited on the Shroud climb but declined.
Added details of that climb were John's impression that they were moving slowly, that they reached the summit the next day after a bivouac and descended a ridge instead of the "normal" descent where the weather closed in on them. Frank apparently fell with all the gear and was killed. Joe could not continue the descent effectively and died of hypothermia.
After writing this it seems so pointless, given the early brilliance that Frank showed in Yosemite. Yet we overlook the risks he took there, and the price he paid through the falls he took finding the limits. Somehow, he was willing to not just find the limits, but try to move beyond them. Often he succeeded, but sometimes he did not, and paid the price of his minimalist style. That attitude of pushing the limits probably worked against him in the Alps, a much more complex environment to explore climbing limits. Frank didn't make it back from that last climb, but the story is an old one to climbers, and not much is gained from its retelling in this case.
John Long wrote in another thread titled "Humility" recently that "the higher you might have one day gotten, you'll be humbled to a corresponding level once your skills start to erode or the injuries start to mount. Gracefully becoming a hack and a 'plunker' as they say, seems as crucial as any other skill." To someone who is young it might seem like a surrender, and they may declare, as we all did when we were young, that they will never surrender. But as you get older, you begin to see the truth in those words. Perhaps the most difficult technique to accomplish as a climber is the grace of aging, a coming to terms with what you have become.
Frank was 39 when he died, his golden years were in his early 20's. I cannot pretend to know much about him, but the urge to climb at ever more difficult levels is something that any climber holds inside them. It is an engine that propels them. At some point in life you do find real limits. We all cope with those limits differently.
Many thanks to Jannice Sacherer Turner for her excellent recall of the people she and Frank climbed with at CERN. Jack Steinberger, who apologized for his bad memory but pointed me to John Rander. Ray Sherwood also remembered a set of companions from those days as did Flemming Pedersen. John Cardy and Jean-Claude Bourigault added to the history, and have posted some of their recollections above. Frank is often characterized as being shy, but he seems to have climbed with a large number of people, both in Yosemite and in Europe.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Jan 23, 2009 - 11:27am PT
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I think a final way of understanding Frank comes from his classical education where the students were encouraged to emulate a hero from ancient history. Frank’s choice was Achilles the hero of The Illiad.
Achilles was famous for his temper, which often brought danger upon his friends. Primarily though, he was known as an exponent of the Greek concept of arete which is often translated as a reputation for excellence. In the Iliad, it also meant honor, strength, courage, and wit. To have arete meant that your reputation would live on after you.
As Frank was fond of quoting from the Iliad, “It is better to have lived a short and glorious life than a long and undistinguished one”.
In this regard, I think he more than managed to succeed at his self-chosen ideal. In both rock climbing and physics, there is a narrow period of time in one’s youth in which to excel and establish one’s reputation. Knowing that his reputation was secure in both fields, I don’t think living a long life was all that important to Frank. Nor do I think being happy in the conventional sense held much meaning for him either. I think he lived his life for just what this forum has accomplished 30 years after his death, a remembrance of his past excellence.
In the Illiad, the demise of a Greek warrior was celebrated with athletic games. In a sense, I think that has been done here also, with all of our climbing stories about Frank. His own funeral was not attended by any of his blood relatives, but 30 years after his death, his much larger climbing family has gathered to remember him.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Jan 23, 2009 - 12:20pm PT
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Frank with John Cardy and Jean-Claude Bourigault who have both contributed their remembrances to this blog.
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Jan 23, 2009 - 12:27pm PT
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Jan-- That's a great photo!
Eating Campbell's soup in the French Alps!
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jstan
climber
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Jan 23, 2009 - 12:53pm PT
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Last night, proceeding by deduction, I wrote something similar to Jan's post above,
including the classical references. So I won't repeat. While considering Frank
however, I did come to a realization that may be worth describing.
We all are much more affected by childhood experiences than we realize. Children
are absolutely ferocious learning machines. A million years ago if you did not learn
quickly enough you became dinner for wild beasts. Two things happen. First you
accept your circumstance as the norm, because you know of nothing different.
Second, you make judgments. If there is something in that experience you do not
like you determine to change it. When a person has exceptional talent, as did Frank,
you may even succeed.
A person currently much in the news, like Frank, is an excellent example. Both of
Obama's parents left him and he knew even his grandmother who was keeping him
alive, would have preferred he be different from what he was. If that had been all,
he would have taken away just resentment and anger and would be using that as a
tool. But there was more.
He saw that she was rising above herself and was committed to him. So he took
away that. That it is possible for people to rise above themselves.
Lincoln's better angels of our nature.
And it is this which is now being expressed.
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Jan 23, 2009 - 01:01pm PT
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I woke up at about three thirty in the morning with some thoughts about how I knew Frank. Of course there was the time we spent together in Boulder, with Jan, but that wasn't how I came to know him. And of course I was keen on what went on during the golden age and kept up on what people climbed, who did what, and when. We all knew Frank by reputation. But that was not how I knew him really. My best understanding of Frank came through several people who had climbed with him.
I remember speaking with Kamps about their ascent of the Right Side of the Hourglass, and that impressive climb seemed to paint a picture for me of how deep Frank was. It was clear Kamps admired Sacherer, and that meant a lot to me in and of itself.
I felt something of Frank's spirit in both Kamps and Royal. I'm not completely sure, but it seemed Royal got a little more serious when Frank's name came up, or as we stood before one of his climbs.
I was given the comic rendition of Frank through TM Herbert, who more than once hypnotically went into one of his routines, where he became someone else, in this case Frank, and started to instruct me, as though I was the belayer, "Now watch me, I'm not going to be able to stop to get any protection in, so feed out the rope..." And you know how funny that was and how much TM could make your stomach hurt with laughter. But he knew Frank in a special way, and I got that sense.
When I climbed Sentinel one day with Pratt, Chuck spoke openly and warmly to me about Frank. I think I asked one of those questions an immature kid asks, such as, "What were your best climbs?" Chuck was not offended and listed, in order, the Lost Arrow Chimney, with Frank, the Sentinel route we were on, and the Salathe Wall of El Capitan. I was always rather amazed he would list these three climbs, especially Sentinel. He spoke in part about the beauty of these climbs. He had undoubtedly done pitches more difficult than were to be found on any of these three climbs. Anyway, Chuck carried some of the spirit of Frank, and I felt it. Also, though, I think I could feel in my partner that day on Sentinel some of the love Frank had for him, Frank's love for Chuck. As I climbed within Pratt's aura, if you want to call it that, I became acquainted with both sides of that coin, Pratt's respect for Sacherer and Sacherer's respect for Pratt. Of course I also felt, had a sense for, a whole lot of individuals alive in Chuck's soul. All of us, I think, are made up in great part of those friends who have touched us and who have shared precious experiences.
Kor told me of a couple of climbs he did with Frank, and in my mind the legend grew. I really could see Frank through Layton's animated eyes. Layton portrayed Frank as a great climber but also a bit of a madman. That struck me a little as the pot calling the kettle black, or however the phrase goes. It was through Layton I sensed Frank's determined, short-fused side.
Chris Fredericks spoke to me about Frank, and when I climbed Sentinel with Fredericks I saw a little of Frank in action. I think Chris patterned his climbing after Frank, almost more than any other example he had, although Chris climbed at about a fouth the speed -- however competently.
Bridwell and I were usually anxious to climb together as soon as I returned to the Valley (almost every season back then), and right around 1971 or so he grabbed me just as I arrived in Yosemite, and we did the Left Side of the Slack. It usually took me a few days to get my mind and body in shape for the Yosemite cracks, and Bridwell had been there already for weeks and was in the best shape of his life. He spoke of Frank several times during the course of that climb, although this was a climb Chuck had led free. There is a ten-foot section that is really tough, a strange off-width, but of course perfect for Chuck. I watched Bridwell lead this in great style, unhesitating. It was as though I might also have been watching Frank or Chuck, because Jim carried their spirits up every climb he did, I believe, but especially Frank's. I really began to know Frank, through Jim. All of the big names in the Valley played some kind of mentor role in Jim's life, but perhaps he was too competitive with the likes of Royal, for example, to view him as a mentor. There was something more father-son-like with Sacherer and Bridwell.
I climbed a route one day with Dick Erb in Clear Creek Canyon, and I felt again connected to Frank through a kind of intermediary or spiritual brother of Frank. I studied Dick's facial comportment, the calm intensity, how he reacted when he came to about ten bugaboos of differening size I had nested all together by their tips into one single shallow hole about a half inch wide and half inch deep. It was an A5 placement, and Dick's eyes widened a little when he caught side of that mess, but somehow, he calmly put his weight on it, the way I imagined Frank would have. To make my point, I connected with Frank through Dick. Of course Dick told me first-hand the story he has again related about falling, and Frank letting him slide down all that way.
When I climbed a route on Twin Owls, above Estes Park, with Eric Beck many years ago I felt as though his presence kept switching in and out with Frank's, or at least something like that was happening in my imagination, that they were interchangeable. I sensed those two were deeply related, and as I got to know Eric a little I seemed to get to know Frank somehow also. Eric, by the way, was one of the best of his day and is one of the truly undersung masters of that golden era.
It's all mysterious, how we are indeed connected. There is much more to it than meets the eye.
Incidentally -- I think if I were to have known Frank much more up close and personal and done a lot of climbs with him I likewise would have better come to know Kamps, Kor, Pratt, Herbert, Bridwell, Fredericks, Beck, Erb, and the rest.
Finally I have come to better know Frank now through Jan and all those who have some inkling of or actual experience with Frank and have shared it here. And in answer to my good friend Higgins, I think we are much more alive than death tells us we are. All of my departed friends live in me and remain every bit as real as when they were "clothed in flesh."
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Jan 23, 2009 - 04:47pm PT
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Jan,
> Do you know anything about the history of the Frank Sacherer physics prize? I'm wondering who organized and funded it?
Two prizes have been given out by the EPS-AG (European Physical Society - Accelerator Group) at their conferences every two years since 1994:
http://epac.web.cern.ch/EPAC/EPS-AG/Accelerator_Prizes/EPS-AG_Prize_Winners.htm
(page does not include 2008 yet).
It appears the prizes did not have titles until 2008, when they were named for Frank Sacherer and Gersh Budker:
https://accelconf.web.cern.ch/accelconf/e08/html/clas073.htm
I don't know why the names were added. Gersh Budker died in 1977 (and Frank Sacherer in 1978), so perhaps it is related to a 30-year anniversary of their passing.
You could ask: Christine.Petit-Jean-Genaz@cern.ch
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LongAgo
Trad climber
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Jan 23, 2009 - 05:20pm PT
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Jan said,
"In the Illiad, the demise of a Greek warrior was celebrated with athletic games. In a sense, I think that has been done here also, with all of our climbing stories about Frank. His own funeral was not attended by any of his blood relatives, but 30 years after his death, his much larger climbing family has gathered to remember him."
Amen.
Tom Higgins
LongAgo
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Dick Erb
climber
June Lake, CA
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Jan 24, 2009 - 12:55pm PT
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Pat,
Since you asked, your memory about the fall I took on Middle was pretty good considering how long ago it was, but it was as I said a piton that Frank told me not to grab. Also it was not a controlled slide. He let go with his braking hand while doing a hip belay. When the rope took off he grabbed it with both hands in front of his body but could not control it. To me it felt like a free fall.
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Crimpergirl
Social climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Jan 24, 2009 - 03:17pm PT
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Cool thread.
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Eric Beck
Sport climber
Bishop, California
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Jan 24, 2009 - 06:13pm PT
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Frank once said that he liked to think he improved every climb he did. His FFAs were the obvious examples, but others included just finding a superior line through a particular section or doing the route faster. This is a more elusive idea for us today, doing the 900th ascent of a route.
Frank also noted that when he was in shape, he felt "light". I also have felt this, although not in quite a while. I have read that for John Gill, this was an important aspect of his bouldering; indeed, that if he didn't taste the feeling of lightness on an ascent, the ascent was somewhat blemished.
One more: "The day you do the Arrow Chimney free in a day is the day you do more work than any other day of your life".
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Jan 24, 2009 - 10:32pm PT
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Interesting observation/remembrance, Eric, about 'improving' a climb--time warpish from today's perspective.
I am guessing that you and Frank may have been the amongst the first climbers who had that feeling of 'lightness.' You almost certainly were amongst the first to train so rigorously. I wonder if that is a more or less constant state for the full-time climbers today?
The sobriquet, "The fist,” was that 1965 when you two climbed the DMB free? Still pegged as a breakaway achievement.
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Jan 24, 2009 - 11:35pm PT
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Gill has been mentioned. He had transcended all or
most ideas of climbing and was aware of and in full use
of almost any of the more "mystical" aspects of climbing,
alluded to here, as far back as the late
1950's, and words that would be tantamount to the idea of "lightness" indeed were part of his lexicon. That
certainly wasn't an idea that began in Yosemite, and I
tend to think almost anyone on any given "frontier,"
whether it be a frontier in terms of a whole social
class or an era of history or a personal frontier, in which
one goes beyond one's own natural limitations, usually involves
some sort of physical transcendence. This usually begins
with one getting into good shape, some training, pushing,
and the associated "light" feeling that inevitably
comes with that. With difficult bouldering, one naturally
pushes hard, and the environment can become right. I found
very early on that even half a pound of body weight,
and probably less, made all the difference between
success or failure. There were other factors, though,
that contributed to a transcendent feeling. I could
go up to a certain problem and not be close to doing
it. Then with some meditation and mental processing
I would return the next day, or sometimes later the same
day, and would be able to do the route. What had changed? "Weight" I believe has a mental component, although this is all very poorly worded now on my part,
because I am in a hurry. But when the mind is in the
right place of awareness, the nature of experience changes.
We have access to powers that would otherwise be utterly
beyond us. I think today's climbers might well be less
in touch with such touch and more in touch with the
natural evolution toward high levels of training and
pushing, and so forth, but I wouldn't argue that point with
too much conviction. I could list, however,
various notable climbers around the country and world who,
I believe, had an understanding of these mental things, these
factors of lightness and transcendence, if you want
to use such words. I have personally witnessed many
climbers who had a remarkable mastery of the art, and I have
seen in them or felt something almost mysterious or that
went beyond what we commonly perceive as physical law, at least on some small level -- enough to allow for some kind of at least
moment's transcendence. You all know the story of the lady
who hears a clunk in the garage, goes out, and the jack has
collapsed, and the car has fallen on her husband. She lifts the car with one hand and drags him out with the other. Later she
can't lift the car with both hands. Some would attribute this
to adrenaline. Others might suggest something more along the
lines of what we speak about in karate, whereas all her
"mental blocks" were suddenly suspended, for just a moment.
Those forces of conditioning and self-perception didn't exist.
For the briefest time, she became "super human." Or so it seemed. I know, in my own experience of climbing,
I have felt such things. Usually it's when I am
in very good physical shape to begin with. One day with Gill,
and he will corroborte this, he took me to a wall he had looked at but not yet done. I don't know how I climbed it, but to his
astonishment I went up it first try, and it almost felt as though no gravity existed for a couple of moves. I know Gill was aware of this type of phenomena, and I think others, such as Greg Lowe, had more than a passing acquaintance with it. Certainly it would be no surprise to me that Eric Beck and Frank Sacherer, and Pratt, and all the masters of rock of many climbing areas, would tap into this kind of experience. I'm sure, even with all his physics, Frank knew good things could happen with the right states of mind and awareness...
Just as a small aside, Eric I did the West Face of Sentinel
with my 17 year old student, Tom Ruwitch, who had climbed for three months, and we did it in 12 hours in early June of 1967. Thinking it would be a big, two day climb, we loaded a huge, heavy haul bag, ran up to the base in the evening, and did two pitches in about an hour and a quarter. We stopped for the night, in hammocks. Like you, we had no trouble with the A5 pitch. I saw a knob to lasso above, and after one piton placement could reach the flake, and it made it easy, and I had no trouble with the dreaded dog-legs, as they were straightforward. We arrived on top, even with the
agonizing haul bag in tow, about two hours or more
before dark, and with plenty of time to have done those
first two pitches. Had we not hauled, I almost imagine we
could have done the route in 8 or 9 hours, but it was hot, and we weren't moving as fast as we normally might have. Royal wouldn't let me call it a one-day ascent, though, since we had done the bivouac. I'd have to look at my files to remember what year you and Frank did it. Did you and Frank use nuts at all?
I would like to hear a detailed report of that climb, every
step, every lead, the weather, whether the fall were running,
all that... That was a significant achievement and not
noticed really in a proper way historically.
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nephew
climber
san francisco, ca
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Jan 26, 2009 - 07:09pm PT
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hi all,
my name is scott sacherer. my dad, ron sacherer, is frank's younger brother. i know very little of my uncle as his death occurred when i was only 4 years old and as jan mentioned in a previous post, my grandparents did not handle the death very well....photos of him were left up in the house but hard to get to know of someone through a still image and very little was mentioned of my uncle while growing up. my dad, not being the most comfortable discussing emotional topics, didn't share a whole lot either. the little information i was able to gather was that he was an exceptional climber and a very intelligent man as shown through his work with CERN.
i found this forum through a friend of mine who climbs, so i want to thank all of you for sharing your stories and insights and thus shedding some light on who my uncle was.
when i graduated college, i decided to take a trip to europe and of the many things i knew i wanted to see, visiting my uncle's grave site was one of my top priorities, as i was aware that no one else from our family had done so. below is the story of my journey to his grave site as well as photos of it.....
i made it to mt. blanc in chamonix, france with the knowledge that he was buried at the bottom of the mountain in what i expected would be a small cemetery. of course when i found it, it was a lot larger than expected and realized it would take days to locate his grave site. i had with me his death certificate and found the grounds keeper of the cemetery. the man spoke no english and i no french, so asking him where was not an option. i showed him the death certificate and pointed to the mountain and then acted as if i was climbing. with that, he pointed to an area which i am guessing is where fallen climbers were buried. the number of grave sites dropped to somewhere in the hundreds, which still seemed quite daunting. i walked along them for about 15 minutes and at some point closed my eyes and said a quick prayer for help finding it. no joke, as soon as i opened my eyes it stood right before me. i was blown away and went over to the site and noticed a slug in front of the tombstone. i picked it up and tossed it aside, feeling that it was and insult to my uncle's resting place. i then bent down and ran my fingers along his name plate. when i got to his last name, the name i carry, it fell off. i couldn't believe it. i was mortified. the only person from the family to trek out to france to see it and i ruin it. so i ran back into town, bought some flowers and a bunch of super glue and went back to make sure that it wouldn't fall off again. and i am sure that this will be hard to believe, but there back in nearly the same place was a slug, whether it was the same one or another that i didn't see prior i don't know, but i sure did leave this one be. once the name was fastened back on, i placed the flowers down and spoke to my uncle for the first time.
another part of the story that made the day even more special was after visiting his grave site, i went back into town and walked by a book store. i decided to go in and take a look at their selection of climbing books. i found steve roper's camp 4 and decided to thumb through it as i knew my uncle was a well known climber in yosemite, i thought by chance there might be mention of him. well i almost passed out when i saw his name on the pages and then saw pictures of him in the book. the book was in french so i couldn't read what was written about him. i asked the man behind the register who spoke english and he told me that it said he was kind of a pain in the ass to climb with as he was known to yell at his climbing partners. this made me laugh and i made it a point to buy and english version of the book when i got back to the states.
so thanks again to all of you for keeping the memory of my uncle alive and giving me a chance to get to know who he was much more than i had.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jan 26, 2009 - 07:31pm PT
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Thank you for looking at what we've written about your uncle Frank, and for your post. It's much appreciated. Perhaps other members of your family would also be interested in reading this thread.
When did you visit the grave in Chamonix? Has anyone from the family been there since? It looks like some thought and creativity went into the design of the gravestone, and that it has since gotten a bit weathered.
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