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BBA
Social climber
West Linn OR
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Feb 24, 2010 - 11:03pm PT
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Anybody can fall off anything, so it’s not a big deal.
That aside, here are some interesting facts about the evolution of Indian Rock… Just call me Rip Van Winkle, for I was a daily user of Indian Rock from the fall of 1960 to the end of 1961. Every day I’d hop on my bicycle, ride from my place near campus to the rock, and climb everything I could many times which got to be about everything there was at the time. I was a terrible student, but got to be a pretty good climber. Fast forward 40 years. Working in Richmond, I began to spend my lunch hours there for some time until I was mistakenly promoted and had to be an example for others and shorter lunch hours were in order.
What I noticed after 40 years absence was the loss of vegetation, especially alongside the path leading down next to the rock. The overhanging area was impossible to climb due to the shrubbery, but I could see that generations of avid climbers, perhaps with beaver-like teeth, had destroyed the plants. This opened up some extreme problems we never imagined existed. I also noticed that the bolts were gone from the overhang that Guido has pictures of me climbing via direct aid. Otherwise the rock was incredibly stable in its appearance, a testament to its hardness considering the millions of sweaty and chalky hands place on it. Much more stable than Stoney Point. It still smelled of urine under the overhang – when will they ever get a restroom at that park?
Now I will tell the secret of how I upgraded of the abilities of northern California climbers. I used my Gerry hammer to smash a flake off the Watercourse which transformed it from a 5.7 to a 5.really hard. From that point forward if you wanted to say you could climb the Watercourse, you had to get some real finger strength. Guido and Foott were witnesses to this reverse of the Leonard action on the Cathedral Spires where he knocked out some nice chunks of rock to make foot holds. Of course I regret my egotistic action today (just kidding). I was accused in another thread of not understanding sport climbing –Hah! I could still see the shadow of the flake’s former placement after 40 years!
After I upgraded the Watercourse it was interesting to watch people work out the problems and have to come back over and over. Foott, of course, began to work on doing it with one hand. I’m not sure how far he got.
My Mother was interested in the techniques of rock climbing of that time, so when she was in the Bay Area she asked for a demo which Guido and I put on. From there came Guido’s copies of the photos. I once did the bolts solo as a macho deal (like swimming under that rock on the Merced River where we all used to hang out at down the canyon) to prove to myself I wasn’t chicken sh*t, but did not enjoy it as I was nervous about something coming loose. It’s probably for the best that the bolts are gone.
I do not believe I12 existed at the time, because anything Roper could do at the time, so could I, and I would never have rested until I could do it better.
As to why we called Guido “Little Joe”, it was not to honor him by calling him after Joseph LeConte whose moniker was also Little Joe. It was because his pecker was so small he often times had to tie a string on it to get it out to pee. This was an absolute essential after swimming in the cold Merced River waters.
Any questions?
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Feb 24, 2010 - 11:47pm PT
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Well well BBA
I wasn't going to say anything about the Watercourse modification, because until you opened up that can I had forgotten the incident.
Now BBA could be either, Bitchen Bill Amborn, or at times as we all know, Bitching Bill Amborn. Once, he wrote me and called me an as#hole for adding an e to his name. You know like, Amborne. I still love the guy.
How strange, that only this morning I came across the following letter he wrote while on vacation in Taiwan in the early 60s, courtesy of the US Army.
cheers
Little Joe
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nutjob
Trad climber
Berkeley, CA
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Feb 25, 2010 - 12:55am PT
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Such wonderful slices of life!
I have a serious question that belongs in this thread. Is there a comprehensive written Indian Rock guide? I've never seen jack in writing on the place, only what folks have showed me. I live a mile away from the thing and I don't know which is I-12, but I've done the Watercourse a bunch.
A Clint Cummins style photo overlaid with lines and route names would be nice here :)
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Strider
Trad climber
one of god's mountain temples....
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Feb 25, 2010 - 01:16am PT
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I am looking at the 2002 Tresa Black guide "Rock Climbing the SF Bay Area" and there are descriptions of a lot of the routes at the Berkley areas. There aren't exactly topos in the guide but it does a fair job of showing the routes.
You can also check out Clint's digitized version of the 1988 Marc Jensen guide here:
http://www.stanford.edu/~clint/ba/index.htm
-n
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Feb 25, 2010 - 01:47am PT
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I wonder what other incriminating evidence Guido has stowed in his hold, for use at strategic moments?
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FredC
Boulder climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Feb 25, 2010 - 01:52am PT
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Holy cow! I have climbed on watercourse for 40 years and it was once easy. Sheesh.
Regarding a book about the rock, as my graduate school days ended and before I got a job I must admit I did quite a bit of reading in the Doe Library to get some history of the place. I have not opened or looked at my draft in many years but I can say with some certainty that I-12 was climbed pretty early.
First ascent: Probably January 26, 1941 by Robin Hanson.
This climb starts on the tongue of rock just above the watercourse at 20’ above the ground. It traverses left a few feet then goes straight up the darker of the two depressions in the rock.
This climb was described by Dick Leonard in his 1939 guide to local rock climbing.
Traversing on an overhang into a very open overhanging chimney with almost inadequate holds. Dick Leonard, in early 1939, made the complete ascent, but in two separate shifts. "It can be done, but one will have to be good."
After some thought about the book I decided that it would be good for each generation to discover the place for themselves. I was going to write a really detailed bouldering guide. Now I think a decent history would be pretty good.
Fred
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tarek
climber
berkeley
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Feb 25, 2010 - 11:46am PT
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thanks Fred. That's a nice nugget indeed. Any more? First ascent of the bubble, other notable problems rising in difficulty?
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L
climber
Just surfin' the tsunami of life...
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Feb 25, 2010 - 12:13pm PT
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OMG Guido! You're better than Britannica! X-rated Britannica!
I'm laughing so hard right now, I can barely type...
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tarek
climber
berkeley
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Feb 25, 2010 - 12:48pm PT
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Yeah, if we get BBA coming back and upping the ante (that had to sting) we could have something that makes Pate vs. Bob A. look like a couple of cabbage patch dolls going at it.
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BBA
Social climber
West Linn OR
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Feb 25, 2010 - 02:28pm PT
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I was kidding Guido to get his blood pressure up without coffee. But I have documentation which shows he wrote "Perversion is diversion" before I did. Actually it was a phrase that Roper used to spout off all the time and it had a nice ring to it. As far as the string story reference, the line was from the famous valley tourist, Harry Tee (Camp 4, pg 146). He came walking up to his campsite near the Columbia boulder and said hello one day, and I noted a long string hanging down from his bathing suit and asked him what it was for. He said the river was so cold he needed to attach a string to it to find it if he had to take a leak. Just fictionalizing a bit - makes history more interesting, somewhat like Guido's version of Suhl's arrest. The readers seem to enjoy it. Laughter is good.
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Feb 26, 2010 - 10:19am PT
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Randisi, no. I didn't start using chalk until 1970 when I got out of college. We did use rosin at Indian Rock however back in the mid-sixties. Powdered rosin, the stuff ballet people use on their floors. It is kind of grippy too, colorless basically at least compared to chalk.
The handholds on I-12 aren't so bad, it's probably more an issue of balance and the sloping footholds once you start the shifting/changing lieback moves and the psychological problem of traversing left from total security to this overhanging situation with a roof just below you. Many would actually get totally pumped on this tiny 9-move climb.
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wildone
climber
GHOST TOWN
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Feb 26, 2010 - 10:33am PT
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I hope this thread never dies. That place has kept me from going crazy sometimes, having moved from El Portal to Berkeley a couple years ago...
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Feb 26, 2010 - 10:48am PT
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I can't even imagine where that flake may have been. Does anybody have a photo of where it previously resided?
You can still see where it came off-- it's once you're in the groove. the surrounding rock looks a bit chossy.
i never see anyone doing i-12. folks don't set top-ropes anymore. and it's not terribly obvious as hi-balls go.
aawesome to hear about people doing it back at mid-century. but i wouldn't traverse from that spot to, "kids today can't hi-ball." the bar for hi-balling is actually incredibly advanced compared to what folks in my cohort were doing back in the 1980s at josh and black mt., which was one of the golden ages for hi-balls.
i-rock-- or at least mortar --have been important centers for difficult bouldering for eighty years now. it ain't fontainebleau, but it's pretty cool.
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Feb 26, 2010 - 11:13am PT
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I know many incredibly strong boulderers, at least around these parts, backwaters that they are, who need a sketch pad to climb off the toilet. Few in my experience have any head for getting off the deck, pads or no.
Yeah, my comment was just aimed at forestalling the way these threads usually turn, rather than directed at anything you posted.
It's funny about sketchpads-- folks won't climb anything w/o a pad.
On the other hand, here, folks are hi-balling way up there, typically w/o tr prep. It's not enough now to be consistent in double digits. A lot of the new stuff in the Sierras is by Bay Area locals pushing way up there.
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Feb 26, 2010 - 11:48am PT
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tarek
climber
berkeley
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Feb 26, 2010 - 12:42pm PT
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I first did I-12 onsight on tr no falls when I wore climbing shoes 2 sizes too big and had about as much technique as a monkey wearing iceskates. On his go, my buddy crumbled a bit off of a hold (probably off-route) and fell. Never went back to it but I notice that the obvious ramp for the feet at the crux is now covered in lichen. That would make it feel sketchy.
So, it seems pretty unremarkable to me that people bouldered the problem after practice back when. There was a lot of focus on it. Climbing was in full chest-beating mode, owned by a few--is my read of history. Now we know that we all suck. I think Randy Puro onsighted I-12 no rope, when the holds were chalkless, which actually is impressive to me because of that inobvious and insecure transition at the start.
People using pads do some incredibly scary and very high problems. Low probability dynos, the group working out the moves. Many of the types of moves done now use body positions that you would never have used when you had to land on your feet. To put it charitably, I think the boldness shown by the top level boulderers now is at least the same as BITD. One big difference is that very few people seem to know how to downclimb well anymore.
It would be interesting to know what levels of boldness were operating in East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Stolby, and places like that in the 60s. I think we might find them well beyond the levels back here.
Still would love to know if RR picked himself up and climbed back up the thing. That would be worthy of legend status.
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BBA
Social climber
West Linn OR
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Feb 26, 2010 - 05:00pm PT
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I thought the young wild men I saw 10 years ago were doing really hard stuff, especially next to the path where it overhangs. Some moves relied on a finger or two stuck in a little hole as the only hold - pretty dramatic. Instead of chalk, we used the dust from the ground, and instead of pads on a muddy day we walked on the outsides of our soles to keep the edging part dry. I think someone once had an old piece of rug, but that was it.
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Feb 26, 2010 - 05:24pm PT
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Couple more old shots of Indian Rock-probably circa 1961. These are from a weekend session of the Rock Climbing Section of the Sierra Club.
Carl Weissner on the left, a mentor to many of us and a fabulous man. Carl was a Marine veteran of the Korean War. His wife Helen was also a gem and kept us in good humor with her forever smile and lovely attitude. The center is John Shonle. On the right is I believe Larry Williams? Roper would know. Hey Roper give me a hand with this one.
I am pretty sure this is the belay spot for I-12. On one of Roper's jumps off the top of I-12 for belay practice, he dam near hit the ground. The belayer was almost launched off this spot to fly down the Watercourse route. Was the belayer Beck???????
Climbing rope litter with Andy Lichtman as the injured climber. Good in theory but in practice? Probably came out of that classic German book on rescue techniques.
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tarek
climber
berkeley
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Feb 26, 2010 - 05:34pm PT
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Guido, those are neat to see.
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FredC
Boulder climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Feb 26, 2010 - 06:32pm PT
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I never met Andy Lichtman but we all had to do his pull up move. I learned it as "Lichtman's Lick" and the story was that he did a bunch of pull ups on it then licked the rock. I never repeated the lick part...
This is another little bit from my "book" that got started in the 80's.
March 1932
The Cragmont Climbing Club (CCC) formed. Dick Leonard, Kenny May, and Bev Blanks went out with “a 1/2 inch cotton rope of doubtful strength” and climbed C-1 at Cragmont on March 20, 1932. One week later, on March 27th the CCC made their first foray to Indian Rock putting up I-1, I-2, and I-3. Cragmont, Pinnacle, and Indian Rocks were rapidly pioneered by a growing group of enthusiastic young students and Sierra Club members. In order to become a member of the CCC one needed to both up and downclimb C-1, (or "qualification crack") at Cragmont during the same day. “You couldn’t go up on one Sunday and down on the next.
Qualification crack was the easiest way up the east face of the rock.
Fred
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