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Lasti
Trad climber
Budapest
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BUMP for BATSO
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Charlie D.
Trad climber
Western Slope, Tahoe Sierra
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"Perhaps the best thing about climbing as a way of life is that it gives you the opportunity to make some very wonderful personal associations" - WH
Amen Warren, thanks for the bump Lasti!!!
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clinker
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, California
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The culture itself.
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John Ely
Trad climber
DC
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Some reminders of the guy who did that 'best climb in north america' etc.
Perhaps the second most unfairly maligned climber after Bonatti....?
■Lauria on Harding's Financial Trip Planning:
One summer day in 1954 it seemed too hot to climb in the Valley (isn't that always the truth in summer) so Harding and I decided to climb the Mt. Hoffman Thumb. No great climbing challenge but a great excuse for a Jag ride. We got up to the filling station and found neither of us had any money! At least the folding kind. So Warren reaches behind the seat and pulls out a bag (it might have been buckskin) that was full of silver dollars! I must have looked surprised or asked some silly question about banks. Harding said, "I look so suspicious I wouldn't be able to cash a check at my own bank even if I had an account there!"
■Harding Describes Reaching the Top of El Capitan:
I SUPPOSE this article could be titled The Conquest of El Capitan. However, as I hammered in the last bolt and staggered over the rim, it was not at all clear to me who was conqueror and who was conquered: I do recall that El Cap seemed to be in much better condition than I was.
■Harding on Harding's Legendary Endurance, as recounted to Snider:
Oh, God, I was always a total mess. ...I hate climbers like Royal Robbins who are so superior. He doesn’t mean to be, he just is. He’s methodic, scientific, capable, and so competent it makes me envious. I was climbing with some hotshot Brit in Yosemite once, and he said, ‘My God, Harding, you can’t do anything!’ I said, ‘I know, but I can do it forever.
■Drinking Account by Climber Russ Walling:
Warren: Hey Fish.... you got a wine opener? Me: nope. Warren: sure ya do..... (then in a flash he busted the top off the bottle against the door jamb of my VW van). Warren: thanks! and then he shuffled away......
■Harding Drinking Account by Harding, satirizing the American Alpine Club's 'Accident Reports' in his 'Descent' Magazine:
It has recently been demonstrated that drinking leashes can be useful in preventing needless tragedies in the home was well as on the rock. For example, at the gathering of friends in the DESCENT office in Fresno, Batso was into his cup (as he is liable to do). Becoming insenced over some topic of conversation (as he is liable to do), he staggered off blindly, apparently heading for the upstairs bedroom. However, he referred to the wrong door and fell down the cellar stairs. Fortunately he was unhurt, wedged between the stair case and the hot water heater. Needless to say, he could have been very seriously injured, and although this wasn't the case, a drinking leash could have spared him the indignity of such an accident.
■Harding's 'Reflections on a Broken Down Climber,' in Rowell:
My once-keen analytical mind has become so dulled by endless hours of baking in the hot sun, thrashing about in tight chimneys, pulling at impossibly heavy loads.... so that now my mental state is comparable to that of a Peruvian Indian, well stoked on coca leaves...
Some of the FAs of notable choss piles that are never repeated:
■1954 'Harding's Chimney' & 'Harding's Other Chimney', Sugerloaf, Lake Tahoe, CA, with Jim Ohrenschall.
■1954 'Upper' & 'Lower Phantom Spire', Lake Tahoe, CA, with Jim Ohrenschall.
■1954 'North West Books', 'Left & Right Water Cracks', Lembert Dome, Tuolomme Meadows, CA, with Frank de Saussure, friends.
■1954 'East Buttress', Middle Cathedral Rock, Yosemite, CA, with Jack Davis and Bob Swift.
■1954 'North Buttress', Middle Cathedral Rock, Yosemite, CA, with Frank Tarver; Craig Holden and John Whitmer.
■1956 'East Arrowhead Chimney', Arrowhead Arete, Yosemite, CA, with Mark Powell.
■1956 'Promulgated Pinnacle', Sentinel Rock, Yosemite, CA, with Bob Swift.
■1957 'East Arrowhead Buttress', with Wally Reed and Mark Powell.
■1957 'The Worst Error', Elephant Rock, Yosemite, CA, with Wayne Merry.
■1957 'East Side', Bridalveil Fall, Yosemite, CA, with Mark Powell.
■1958 'Northwest Buttress', Ahwiyah Point, Yosemite, CA, with Wayne Merry.
■1958 'The Nose', El Capitan, Yosemite, CA, with Wayne Merry and George Whitmore (47 days in several pushes).
■1959 'Beverly's Tower', Cookie Cliff, Yosemite, CA, with Gerry Czamanske.
■1959 'Merry Old Ledge' Three Brothers, Yosemite, CA, with Gerry Czamanske.
■1959 'Southwest Face', Mt. Conness, Yosemite High Country, CA, USA, with Glen Denny and Herb Sweedlund.
■1959 'East Face', Washington Column (later 'Astroman'), Yosemite, CA, USA, with Glen Denny and Chuck Pratt.
■1960 'Keeler Needle' of Mt. Whitney (14,000+ ft), with Glen Denny, Rob McKnight and Desert Frank.
■1961 'West Face', Leaning Tower, Yosemite, CA, with Glen Denny and Al MacDonald.
■1962 'Delectable Pinnacle, El Capitan, Yosemite, CA, with Brian Small.
■1962 'North Face', The Rostrum, Yosemite, CA, with Glen Denny.
■1962 'The Flue', Sentinel Rock, Yosemite, CA, with Bob Kamps
■1964 'South Face Route', Mt. Watkins, Yosemite, CA, with Yvon Chouinard and Chuck Pratt.
■1968 'Good Book', The (Right Side of the Folly), Yosemite, CA, with Tom Fender.
■1969 'Southwest Face', Liberty Cap, Yosemite, CA, with Galen Rowell and Joe Faint.
■1969 'Firefall Face,' Glacier Point, Yosemite Valley, CA, with Galen Rowell.
■1970 'South Face Route', Half Dome, Yosemite, CA, with Galen Rowell.
■1970 'Wall of the Early Morning Light' ('Dawn Wall'), El Capitan, Yosemite, CA, with Dean Caldwell (28 days in one push).
■1976 'West Arete', Mt. Winchell, Sierra Nevada, CA, with Galen Rowell.
■1978 'Forbidden Wall', Yosemite Falls, Yosemite, CA, with Dave Lomba, Christie Tewes and Steve Bosque.
photos from dubious places...
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Nov 19, 2014 - 12:13pm PT
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Bump for clarity. The "Lauria" quote never came out of my mouth. First of all, it's attributed to a trip with Warren in 1954 - I didn't start climbing until 1961 at the age of 29. Secondly, I always had some money in my pocket.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 6, 2015 - 11:45am PT
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Batso and Beasto bump!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 12, 2015 - 01:12pm PT
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Downward Bound Bump...
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 3, 2016 - 03:16pm PT
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Warren bump...
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 10, 2019 - 11:15am PT
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Valley Icon bump...
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Mar 10, 2019 - 04:49pm PT
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Our move to a new home progressed to the "unpacking the endless boxes of books" stage last week. It started well, but then ground to a halt when Chris' "Climbing In North America" came out of one of the boxes.
Re-read the whole thing. Incredible summary of climbing in the US and Canada from way back when until the mid-1970s.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Mar 10, 2019 - 05:03pm PT
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Chatted with Chris at the AAC banquet in SF this weekend. He is well and has retained his wit.
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Fossil climber
Trad climber
Atlin, B. C.
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Mar 10, 2019 - 06:52pm PT
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Thanks, Steve - I hadn't remembered this one. Lots of good memories.
Wayne
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