Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
|
|
|
Feb 19, 2018 - 01:14pm PT
|
Jimmy Dunn said he sounded just fine 5 days ago. I hope his passing went easy.
We sure have lost a lot of the greats in recent years.
Not all of the early heroes of rock climbing have been as successful financially as a Chouinard or Tomkins. I have considered leaving some money to start a foundation that would provide a home for great climbers that find themselves in need of assistance later in life.
Any feedback?
|
|
ron gomez
Trad climber
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 19, 2018 - 01:27pm PT
|
Often thought if I rolled in the cash Ron, I 'd do the same. But how do you choose who "qualifies"? My best guess is, everyone has a fate and we learn to deal with it, good or bad. I'd sure like to see Peggy taken care of in some way. She was with Jim almost the whole ride and without her, he may not have done what he did. If ya'll think Jim was something...ya gotta get to know his soul mate, best friend, Love of his life and greatest supporter! Peggy.
Jim did go in Peace. He had his wife, Son and couple buddies by his side. It was peaceful.
Peace
|
|
Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
|
|
|
Feb 19, 2018 - 01:35pm PT
|
Who qualifies would be a call made by a board who look at not only an extensive history of inspiring climbs, but also the support available to him or her, and the "fit" given existing residents (think Bird / Donini political arguments).
|
|
Claw Fang
Social climber
High Falls, New York
|
|
|
Feb 19, 2018 - 02:59pm PT
|
I always prefer a raucous wake with many legendary tales- here's a story:
The NYTimes also had an excellent article about Jim.
One ingredient of the article spoke of Bridwell’s basic founding of YOSAR
which reminded me that I was on the first rescue that Bridwell ever took part in by virtue of being a Camp 4 rodent , not because of climbing skill.
A bunch of us ( Bridwell, Bev Johnson, Kelsey, Barry Bates , … ) got driven by the park up to above El Cap - we hiked downhill with lotsa big gear including a big winch ( and a few wenches) and set up on the granite slope right over the Nose.
Bridwell with a Walkie Talkie was lowered 800’ to the scotsman? Brian Robertson and ??? .
I have full documentation from YOSAR in my basement archives should anyone require the ??? and the … to be replaced
by facts. As Bridwell was being lowered a sound of panic entered his voice transmissions via the Walkie Talkie -
“ oh sh#t mannnn I’m spinning around whoa …” It was overhanging all the way!
He finally managed to unwind the cable laid rope to an equilibrium state just before
he reached the desiccated climbers.
Later we all were treated to an ASS - TOUNDING helicopter ride from just above the lip of El Cap to the Meadows below.
The ride was in a total plexiglass bubble enclosed 3 seater chopper that one could look down through the floor of.
We were all very VERY used to exposure BUT , as most of you have observed, when taking off in a fixed wing plane as one rises up to about 50’ there begins to be initially a feeling of exposure - then magically as soon as one punctures the 50’ barrier the exposure evaporates and one is comfortably in the hands of this crazy flying machine.
Well in this helicopter we started up and while we were still in the exposure zone - maybe 30’ or so off the ground- the ground fell away from 30’ below to
3,000 and 30 feet below . What a rush !!!!! Even without drugs.
Good times. Memories.
clwd
|
|
Claw Fang
Social climber
High Falls, New York
|
|
|
Feb 19, 2018 - 03:09pm PT
|
Another memory: groveling around in Camp 4 .... sounds , big sounds , coming from Bridwells table ... "Ten Years After" - blasting out of his record player ( 33 LP - no buds, no iPuds, basic - earthy - down home )
" hey little school girl "
dad dad da da dun doh
" let me carry your books home baby
I feels so good to day ..."
I can still hear those sounds ...
forever Bridwell !!!!
|
|
Lynne Leichtfuss
Sport climber
moving thru
|
|
|
Feb 19, 2018 - 04:13pm PT
|
Toker Villian, I have given this much thought also.
I have a vision that I may or may not live to see realized. Start a non profit which would include a climbers museum in Joshua Tree as well as a fund to help climbers financially. A board would be selected to make decisions and a finely tuned document to help them delineate how to make those decisions.
The building would be one story with 3 areas....a climbing museum, in the middle a "Moving Meditations" garden, the right wing a hall of fame.
It's good to dream and have visions.
|
|
cornel
climber
Lake Tahoe, Nevada
|
|
|
Feb 19, 2018 - 05:11pm PT
|
No climber has ever inspired me more than the Commander, the Walrus, the Bird... I told him so too. Thank you Jim for setting and resetting the standard of excellence.. you were a true visionary... condolences to Peggy and Layton
|
|
tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
|
|
|
Feb 19, 2018 - 06:32pm PT
|
Toker. That is a wonderfull idea++++++++ until then all we have is go fund me.....
|
|
Dickbob
climber
Westminster Colorado
|
|
|
Feb 19, 2018 - 08:14pm PT
|
It is good to see all of the contributions to this thread. Friends of the Bird. We are a tribe and that is really not a cliché at all.
I am just Dick Bob. I have a couple of friends on this forum but overall I am just a 56 year old climber and like a lot of you, I have been doing it in the mountains essentially my entire life. And we still are. Thank God for that small thing.
I met the Bird in person one time and like a few of you on this thread it made a positive impact on me. It was at the Derek Hersey Memorial in Eldo. Through a friend of a friend, I went to it with Steve Dieckhoff. Steve randomly touched my shoulder and said, Rick, I want you to meet Jim.
I shook his hand, nervous as F--k, and Jim casually asked me how I was doing. I over enthusiastically said I was doing great. Good day on the rock blah blah blah, kinda going off on it with the nervous excitement of meeting Jim. The entire time his eye balls never left mine. Kind of fricken intimidating if truth be told. But, I could tell that his look was kind and he was interested in my words.
I finally stopped babbling and asked him how he was doing and he slowly shrugged his shoulders, raised his thumb and pointer finger up to my face about an inch apart and said, under the present circumstances I could be doing just a little bit better. I felt like an ass but Jim was gracious as hell. He wasn’t putting me down that’s for sure.
Definitely a leader. That was obvious.
|
|
Chad Umbel
Big Wall climber
Las Vegas
|
|
|
Feb 19, 2018 - 08:43pm PT
|
I met Jim back in 2005 in Joshua Tree. I was lucky enough to spend 6 days with him smoking camel NF’s, listening to countless stories & him sicking me on the best highballs josh has to offer. I was 25 at the time and it feels like a lifetime ago. One night around the fire some belligerent drunk started ranting off about politics and Newt Gingrich to all the youngsters trying to impress everyone with his awareness of current events and such. He then started prodding Jim on the subject. Jim proceeded to embarrass him and devour his knowledge on politics. I remember Jim really having trouble with Newt. He couldn’t stand the dude, I was in stitches laughing as it went on and on.... Anyhow
This pic is from his and Brian’s trip to the Buckskin for the first ascent of the East face of BT. I hadn’t met Brian yet at the time. But he was a legend from my neck of the woods (NRG) and I was keen to try and climb/learn the ways of big walls from him and I asked Jim about their trip. He asked me, “Well what do you wanna know?” I asked him how it was that he failed multiple times with big name partners, but somehow managed to pull it off, older and with a crew of raggamuffins and one red neck from Ohio. He then told me how Brian was the fastest, most competent aid climber in the world at the time. And that he also lead 90% of the entire route. He called him a farm boy and said that he had the gusto to go up in a fashion he respected deeply. The result was “The Useless Emotion” (which was regarding the concern of weather).
One year later I was fortunate enough to peak Brian’s interest enough to share a rope. And even get a trip in to the Buckskin to attempt a new route. Brian taught us what Jim taught him on that same glacier. How lucky we were. Brian loved Jim and did everything he could to help him over the years. He had pictures drawn by a local artist of Jim and he took dozens of them over to Jim’s house for him to sign and write a “Bridwellism” on each one. He then auctioned them off and gave him all the proceeds. Time fly’s.... RIP Bird
PS. Rollover, I haven’t forgot about ya. I will be back in Vegas in two weeks.
|
|
Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
|
|
|
Feb 20, 2018 - 07:39am PT
|
Mountain 25, published in January 1973, summed up the shift that occurred in the Valley climbing in the early 70s.
As Mountain noted, the all-free, all-nut ascents were the rage of young modern climbers (the best ones!), and Charlie Porter's big wall ascents are treated as the exception by Ken Wilson, Mountain's editor. I think this was pretty accurate in 1972.
Ken Wilson, Mountain's editor, noted: "On the short, hard, free-climb scene, Jim Bridwell’s second ascents of the Left Side o f Hourglass and Cream stand out. These very serious leads had gathered a certain aura and Bridwell’s ascents break a psychological barrier that had developed round these climbs."
The notes on Jim Bridwell's second ascents of Mark Klemon's Cream and Peter Haan's all-free The Left Side of the Hourglass point out the importance of these climbs in pushing the free climbing standards of the time. However, I don’t think that Ken's comment about Jim's ascents breaking a psychological barrier holds water--everyone was still scared to death of both of them (the routes, I mean).
PDB: Bouldering with the Delphi Oracle
On a fine day in 1972, Jim asked me to go bouldering with him. It was an odd request because Jim didn't have much interest in bouldering, and my interest in bouldering was limited to finding nice sunny flat ones near the Merced where I could create romantic enticements in my search for the meaning of life.
But, how could I refuse.
I assumed that we would go to the standard boulders with all the caulk marks that ended near the Mountain Room Bar, but Jim started off towards Manure Pile Buttress. I pointed out a few interesting looking boulders, which we passed. Then I pointed out that most were covered with moss and had bad landings. Jim persisted, telling me that he thought there was a good place just a bit farther towards Manure Pile Buttress.
Finally, we arrive at a giant stack of three boulders, two on the bottom, and one on top, with a cave like space between. In the cave, the edge of the top boulder and one of the bottom boulders formed a straight up crack, with a horizontal edge that ran out the along the top corner of the cave. I was thinking in terms of a roof jam crack and noted it had a fairly sharp edge but was a horrible width. Also, the rock was covered with moss, pine needles and dirt. And the floor of the cave was boulder strewn and uneven.
"What a glorious find," I think to myself.
As I stood and watched, Jim climbed back into this embodiment of the perfect bouldering cave, and from a crouch, reached up with both hands, grabbed the edge and underclinged out of the cave, moving from right to left. He doesn't try to find foot holds--just pure gut busting underclinging.
When he got to the end, he steped down to the ground and suggests that we go back to camp.
Sometimes, being with Jim was like channeling the Delphi Oracle.
A few days later, Jim did the second ascent of Peter's Left Side of the Hourglass with Rik Rieder. Rik's account is here: ...Yet another look at the depth of Bridwell's climbing...
|
|
Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
|
|
|
Feb 20, 2018 - 09:29am PT
|
Actually tradman I have a location in mind, and already have an option on the property.
The biggest problem is how I am repeatedly disappointed in members of the community.
Ed Sklar was funny when he said that climbing may be hard, but it is easier than growing up.
But therein lies the dilemma.
|
|
SSH
Trad climber
Seattle
|
|
|
Feb 20, 2018 - 09:51am PT
|
I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark should burn out
in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom
of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.
-Jack London
In my four seasons climbing in Yosemite in the late seventies and early eighties, I never met Bridwell, But you could feel his presence among the big stone that loomed over you in that vertical playground called The Valley.
As young Washington climber back then, me and my climbing crew felt his presence as far north as Index and Leavenworth. We hung on every word (never on a climb, heavens no!) about the Bird's and the Stonemaster's exploits. His influence over little shits like us cannot be underestimated. His influence ran deep into corners and cracks that reached far outside his massive orbit.
After hearing the sad news of Bridwell's passing and after reading the tributes and stories posted on this forum, I thought the Jack London poem really captures the Bird's essence.
He squeezed every ounce of life into an endless narrative of adventure. His was a life fully lived - and as many of you who climbed and hung with him know - it was certainly not for the faint of heart!
Rest in peace oh mighty bird. There will never be a character quite like you to grace the polished granite with such boldness, vision and style!
|
|
Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
|
|
|
Feb 20, 2018 - 09:58am PT
|
As a young Washington climber who only occasionally visited Yosemite I only ventured
into Camp 4 to visit Bruce Hawkins. Bridwell and those other guys looked so scary!
Bruce assured me JB wasn’t but I didn’t take any chances. Wish I had now.
|
|
WBraun
climber
|
|
|
Feb 20, 2018 - 10:20am PT
|
Jim started the P.O. Because he had sprained ankle.
So he said; "Ankle is healing so it's aid climbing time.
We scoped it out one day and he looks at me and says you're coming on this.
I then Sh!t in my pants ....... :-)
|
|
Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
|
|
|
Feb 20, 2018 - 10:24am PT
|
Jim told me that he came down off the PO in order to get roid surgery.
Then he was good to go.
|
|
shipoopoi
Big Wall climber
oakland
|
|
|
Feb 20, 2018 - 10:34am PT
|
condolences to layton, peggy, and all of jim's close friends.he was a great legend of a climber, one of the most influential of his generation. so sorry to lose another valley legend. steve schneider
|
|
StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
|
|
|
Feb 20, 2018 - 10:39am PT
|
I had not met Jim in person until the last few years. I had seen him in Valley a few times, and I was inspired by the accounts of his exploits.
The first time I met him and spent some time talking to him was during a JT fundraiser at Todd G's. After talking to him for a bit (a interssting "feeling out" process for both of us), he insisted that I read his manifesto. Jim stood there waiting patiently to discuss it when I finished. I was trapped and needless to say a little intimidated ;-)
As time went on I got to spend some time talking to him and listening to his stories and opinions on various subjects. I did not agree with all of them, but the discussions were well worth the time, and I got a better appreciation for how he saw the world, and the considerable amount of thought he put into things.
I was lucky enough to spend some time camping with Jim and Ron in JT. We had a couple of "lively" discussions about some Valley routes, and some great general bullsh*tting around the fire. We talked about some of his knives, and craftsmanship in general. I consider myself fortunate to have spent that time with him.
Heartfelt condolences to all his family and friends.
|
|
Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
|
|
|
Feb 20, 2018 - 01:44pm PT
|
Jim ready to start up Stone Groove in about 1974.
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!