Highlights of Yosemite Valley climbing 80's, 90's 00's?

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Wade Icey

Trad climber
www.alohashirtrescue.com
Feb 7, 2012 - 11:49am PT
Mighty Hiker

climber
Vancouver, B.C.
Feb 7, 2012 - 09:56pm PT
One for Kevin, albeit off topic.
A friend in Norway sent it - not sure of the source.
WBraun

climber
Feb 7, 2012 - 10:46pm PT
Highlights of Yosemite Valley climbing 80's, 90's 00's

Yosemite is the center of the Universe.

Everyone comes here but not everyone goes everywhere .....
le_bruce

climber
Oakland, CA
Feb 8, 2012 - 12:26am PT
Warbler's description above defies imagination.

Caldwell doing the Nose and the Freerider in a day, just so wild.

Caldwell frees Dihedral Wall.

Rodden frees the Nose.

Rodden sends Meltdown, Valley's hardest?

Potter free-soloing Heaven, nothing like that had been done (b/c AH hadn't shown up yet).
Chris McNamara

SuperTopo staff member
Feb 8, 2012 - 12:33am PT
Tom Frost climbs El Cap four times, leads the charge to preserve Camp 4, and bring a lot of people together in the process.

From - http://alpineclub.stanford.edu/saj/0304/saj0304.htm

(and Hill, Caldwell, Honnold sending)
Elcapinyoazz

Social climber
Joshua Tree
Feb 8, 2012 - 12:39am PT
Not a particular event, but an entire season...musta been about '99 or 2000 when the speed walls thing took off. Probably half the existing El Cap time records got smashed that season, and everyone seemed to be in on it, not just a team or two.

Before that, short fixing and IAD pushes were rare.
hamie

Social climber
Thekoots
Feb 8, 2012 - 03:35am PT
Each decade will produce its own masterpieces, perhaps one, perhaps several. Many of the feats mentioned above are described in the latest book from the Stonemasters' Press, "The Valley Climbers--Yosemite's Vertical Revolution". I haven't finished it yet, as I am rationing myself to one or two articles a day. My favourite so far is not a success story, but a glorious failure. Hank Caylor's three paragraph tale of the attempted second ascent of Southern Belle, and his fall is classic. "Then I pitched", says it all. His police mug-shot on the opposite page must be another great story. Anyone?
mcreel

climber
Barcelona
Feb 8, 2012 - 03:39am PT
* Girdle traverse of El Cap
* flash of Midnight Lightning
* freeing Southern Belle

bhilden

Trad climber
Mountain View, CA
Feb 8, 2012 - 03:53am PT
One of the lowlights certainly has to be the opening of a pizza and beer joint over at Curry Village.
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
Feb 8, 2012 - 04:07am PT
I found the previous similar thread Significant Yosemite Climbing Events Since 1994 and my post in that thread:

http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=1278738&msg=1278892#msg1278892

There is a good history through most of 1986 in the 1987 guidebook.

Which leaves late 1986-93:

 1986 FA: Southern Belle
 1987 power drilling and bolt wars
 1988 FFA: Salathe'
 1988 FFA: Southern Belle
 1988 FA: General Dynamics, Keeper of the Flame
 1988 FA: Dreamscape, The Shining
 1989 FA: Wicked Gravity, Fun Terminal, Bucket Brigade
 1991 FA: Shockwave, Black Fly, Kundalini Express
 1992 FA/FFA: The Chief
 1993 FA: Whipcord
 1993 FFA: Nose
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 8, 2012 - 04:28am PT
how about this for the 2000's


El Cap "Cragging" Tommy Caldwell FFA's on El Cap,
Justen Song and Rob Miller preMuir Wall 5.13d
Dean Potter sends King Air
second free ascent of Southern Belle by Leo Holding and Dean Potter
Ammon McNeeley and Ivo Ninov speed climbing Native Son,
Nico Favresse and Ivo Ninov ground up FA of Lost in Transletion (V 5.12b/c)
Ammon McNeeley, Ivo Ninov, Dean Potter speed ascent of Reticent Wall
Ally Dorey is 4th female to send Midnight Lightening
Tommy Caldwell links Freerider and The Nose in a day
Step Davis first female free ascent of Salathé Wall
Tommy Caldwell and Beth Rodden team free ascent of The Nose
Nico Favresse FA of L'Appât (VI 5.13a/b)
Dean Potter sends Sasquatch
Hiedi Wirtz and Vera Schulte-Pelkum set all women's speed records on RNWF, The Nose and WFLT
Steph Davis free climbs Free Rider in a day
Tommy Caldwell FFA of Dihedral Wall
Alex and Thomas Huber FA of Zodiac
Steph Davis sends Cosmic Debris
Dean Potter enchainment RNWF and Free Rider in a day
Yuji Hirayama speed ascent of Salathé Wall
Cedar Wright and Jake Whittaker FA of Psychedelic Wall (V 5.13R)
Tommy Caldwell one day free ascent of Salathé Wall
Rob Miller FA Quantum Mechanics
Alex Huber FA Crosstown Traffic
Lisa Rands sends Thriller
Alex Huber FA El Corazón
Dean Potter and Timmy O'Neil set Nose speed record
Tommy Caldwell FFA of Muir Wall
Lisa Rands sends Midnight Lightning
Alex and Thomas Hubber FA of Golden Gate
Jim Zellers snow boards Half Dome
Tommy Caldwell free ascent of Salathé Wall
Elcapinyoazz

Social climber
Joshua Tree
Feb 8, 2012 - 10:15am PT
For me, aside from Caldwell's two-in-a-day thing, Yuji's near onsight was a bigger achievement than anything on that list.

And "4th female ascent"...really? That's noteworthy?
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 8, 2012 - 10:59am PT
I'm working on the aid climbing... but the whole point of posting here is to get input (so I don't have to impose my opinion on the narrative through my research methodology)... I guess that's a pretty indirect request for help

...and I do believe that the first four or five ascents of Midnight Lightning is well known and recited...
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 8, 2012 - 11:14am PT
more for the 00's

Alex Hannold free solos Crucifix
Beth Rodden completes Meltdown 5.14c
Alex Hannold free solos RNWF
Dean Potter free solos Heaven 5.13a

Tommy Caldwell and Justen Sjong FA of Magic Mushroom
Nico Favresse and Sean Vilanueva FA The Secret Passage 5.13c
Jeremy Collins, Dana Drummond and Mikey Schaefer FA Border Country 5.12c


from
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=1278738
Melissa

Gym climber
berkeley, ca
Feb 8, 2012 - 11:28am PT
How about style shifts...not just the big assents?

Aliens
Hybrid Aliens
Bouldering guides, pads, and people traveling half-way around the world just to climb the Valley's smallest rocks.
Being rad = a paying job (did anyone get paid to climb...not guide...in the 70's?)
Rope jumping, slacklining, links and solos with BASE rigs, and other climber stunts go to the next (several) level(s).
Mini-traxions
Lycra > Beanies > ??? what is the gotta have accessory now? A sleeve? A yoga mat? Lycra?

Foreign climbers' accomplishments are somewhat underrepresented based on popular Taco vote (IMO).

A lowlight would be losing Todd Skinner, but it seems like an important entry in a big-wall-free-climbs-centered timeline.
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
Feb 8, 2012 - 06:16pm PT
klaus,

> I guess aid climbing doesn't really count. oh well

I'd be interested to see what you think have been the most interesting aid climbs done since, say, 1986.

As others have mentioned, the one-day or longer single push ascents have been a definite new development.
Development of Yosemite Falls Wall and Porcelain Wall has been another.
Clean ascents?
Any significant new gear/techniques besides beaks?
(Sorry if I'm semi-clueless).

There have been some significant repeats of older climbs, but I'm not sure how those weight in. Shouldn't the original FAs count higher?
I liked the cool trip reports from Neil Chelton who did some very hard repeats recently.
http://www.supertopo.com/tr/Continental-Drifting/t11224n.html
http://www.supertopo.com/tr/The-Shortest-Straw/t11059n.html
the kid

Trad climber
fayetteville, wv
Feb 8, 2012 - 07:30pm PT
For Big scary Aid routes i would say..
Native Son
Shortest Straw
All the Eric Kohl routes...

WBraun

climber
Feb 8, 2012 - 07:38pm PT
Klaus is definitely up there as one of the biggest highlights.

Electrifying radical free climbing FA's along with his trademark terrifying aid wall FA's all make the rest of these poseurs piss in their pants .....

bp

Trad climber
Placerville, Ca
Feb 8, 2012 - 07:38pm PT
creation of supertopo.
Elcapinyoazz

Social climber
Joshua Tree
Feb 8, 2012 - 07:41pm PT
I'd say Honnold's free solo of Heaven, having never been on the route, is definitely noteworthy. He did get beta from Mason as he climbed it on a rope immediately before, but still, seems as big an achievement as anything else he's soloed.
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