Bachar Appreciation Thread

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Jingy

Social climber

Flatland, Ca

Aug 18, 2006 - 12:25am PT

Tell me where and when!

ron gomez

Trad climber

fallbrook,ca

Aug 18, 2006 - 12:29am PT

was at the base of Lembert, with of all people...my Mother In Law!!! She wants to know "about this climbing thing I do". I tell her it's safe...and we're all pretty much "intellegent people" and it is safe, because we use ropes and protection and all that shitz!!!! So up walks John at about early in the morning and I intro him to Mom in Law and we talk a bit then John proceeds to walk further up the base, sans rope,pro or harness. Solos something sick, then down climbs, RIGHT back to us. My Mother In Law looks at me in DISCUST and walks away. THANKS JOHN!!!! Still with my wife and my mother in law STILL thinks we're all fruuckin crazy.
Peace
Thanks John!

WBraun

climber

Aug 18, 2006 - 12:36am PT

hahaha, hilarious Ron

ron gomez

Trad climber

fallbrook,ca

Aug 18, 2006 - 12:48am PT

Never met Steve, although was suppose to be introduced by John. Unfortunatley this event happened and now I only have the wish. John told me Steve was the man to meet with respects to Sierra flyfishing and I WAS ANXIOUSLY waiting to be introduced as I am now as addicted to flyfishing as I was to climbing when I crossed paths with John. If ANY of Steve friends or family are out there, this is one person I regret not meeting. I was SO looking forward to having Steve take me out ot HIS favorite spots for the trout. I will tie some flies, I will fish with them and I WILL think of STEVE even though, I never knew him, his SPIRIT will be with me. Bachar are ya up for some flyfishin'. Last email said Steve and I can fish, you can climb, then WE can get something to eat. I'll teach ya throw a fly(if you already don't know how)
Peace Bro! Tyrus!
Ron

Ksolem

Trad climber

LA, Ca

Aug 18, 2006 - 12:03pm PT

Bachar quote.

"Remember, every step is a rest."

Overheard words of encouragement to a follower. Josh, mid 80's.

hardman

Trad climber

love the eastern sierras

Aug 18, 2006 - 04:03pm PT

ron that's was nice about how you will think about Steve when you fish. almost brought tiers to my eyes.

i emailed JB saying send Reardon out to the east and i'll keep up with him all day. JB replied and said we'll set up call me. so i was like oh sh#t i'm in trouble now. anyway i called JB & he was the coolest mofo on the phone. ended up talking for about an hour. JB was telling me these cool stories about the days in yosemite and how he watched peter c. solo the rostum 3x in a row.

JB you the man get well soon so you can come out to the gunks and solo.

Richard Harrison

climber

las vegas nv

Aug 18, 2006 - 06:22pm PT

Bachar,
We hope you have a speedy recovery and give you our thoughts. sincerely,
The Harrisons (richard, lisa, and tina)

bhilden

Trad climber

Mountain View, CA

Aug 18, 2006 - 07:14pm PT

Way too many stories, here's one....

Hanging out in Camp 4. I am an unknown(still am and for good reason) but Bachar, Graham and Kauk want to go bouldering and I get invited to join them. We find a suitable boulder and everybody scatters to do a route. I find a nice looking problem and after four or five attempts finally get it. I look up and see Bachar, Graham and Kauk staring down at me from the top. I quickly get it and yell up, "Don't tell me I've just sent the downclimb." A collective nod.

Bruce

aldude

climber

Monument Manor

Aug 18, 2006 - 07:31pm PT

Just talked to John. He's back in California and resting as comfortably as can be expected. He wanted me to thank all of you for your concern and good vibes as he will not be posting for awhile(understandable). John is strong-willed and he will make a full recovery. Sucks hard about Steve - a really cool dude R.I.P. Happily , Anastasia was not seriously injured,although did get banged up. Hang in there girl and I know John could not be in better hands!!

Anastasia

Trad climber

Near a mountain, CA

Aug 19, 2006 - 11:53am PT

hashbro

Trad climber

Not in Southern California

Aug 19, 2006 - 12:04pm PT

John (as I've already reminded you),

you changed the world as most of us knew it in the mid 70's. I remember that fateful day. Our crew was bouldering at the beach, possibly a fall day in the 1975 (?). Everyone was there, Accomazzo, Muir, Cox, Evans, Vogal, Graham and maybe Largo.

When Mike showed up we all crowded around him as he opened a handwritten letter from Bachar and began reading it to us, the eagar teenagers. When Mike read the words, "free soloed the Nabisco Wall" all of our eyes and mouths were locked wide open. At that instant all of knew the game was different. We were no longer "competing with you John; you had become our teacher and mentor.

In one sense, the "wind" had been taken out of our sails; we were almost depressed. One the ohter side we were elated; we suddenly realized our true potential. Anything was now possible!

Thanks for that instant dude,

Spencer

ron gomez

Trad climber

fallbrook,ca

Aug 19, 2006 - 06:30pm PT

A very soooothing post Anastasia! Thanks a million!
Peace
Tell JB...Robert Randolph and the Family Band, good healing music...just don't bounce around too much!

Tarbuster

climber

right here, right now

Aug 19, 2006 - 09:53pm PT

Mari once asked JB,
"Gee Bachar, how 'about lendin' me those marvelous lats of yours for a little while, eh?"
JB: "Mmm, I dunno Mari, you gotta take real good care of 'em and they need lots of quality workin' out and stuff, every day".

I'd be surprised to know there is anyone better at it than you JB.
Take care of those lats bro, and all the rest.
-Roy

Mighty Hiker

Social climber

Vancouver, B.C.

Aug 24, 2006 - 02:15am PT

I wasn't sure if I should contribute to this thread, even in the interests of keeping John, and Steve and Anastasia, in our thoughts. I don't know John nearly as well as many on ST. Also, John is very much alive and, with a little luck, a lot of hard work, and some help from his friends, will fully recover. It is good to cherish our memories of John, and stories - but luckily we can still do so with him. Still, as a sometime student of history, there is always value in remembering.

The following is from Mountain 45, from September/October 1975. John is mentioned in the article "5.12 grade opened in Yosemite and Tuolumne". He and Ron Kauk did the first free ascent of Hot Line on Elephant Rock, "..one of the most elegant lines in the valley and the first to involve 5.12 grading."

I was then studying at UBC, and remember reading this amazing news. A year later I meet John, and got to know him.

Anders

Mighty Hiker

Social climber

Vancouver, B.C.

Aug 24, 2006 - 03:04am PT

Sorry for the quality of the preceding scan - I'm still figuring the thing out, and it's not a very good one anyway.

The following is as much an outsider's observations of Camp 4 life in the mid 1970s as it is stories of John. As I didn't indulge much if at all, my memories may even be reliable.

We went to the Valley for two weeks in summer 1974, right after finishing high school. It was unbelievably HOT, at least to soft Canadians. Team Canada spent six weeks in Camp 4 in autumn 1976, in site 13. (I still have the site's parking plate, liberated a few years later. It holds my parents' garage door together.) Daryl Hatten, my brother, John Arts, Eric Weinstein, Scott Flavelle, Dave Lane, John Bryan, and Perry Beckham. Some neighbours from the northwest, like Rick LeDuc and Dave Davis. We did some climbs and had a lot of fun. Very slowly, we got to know some of the regulars.

I met Ron Olevsky that autumn (never use the "f" word - fall), through Daryl, and recently renewed the acquaintance, through ST.

You pretty soon learned who was who in Camp 4 - the place wasn't that big, and those with reputations were whispered about. But it would have seemed faintly sacrilegious to do more than say hello or perhaps smile at the SAINTS - John, Ron, Werner, Dale, Jim, and the others. The residents, and goings on, at the rescue site were a deep mystery. As they say, you don't tug on superman's cape - although we had far more in common than anything that might have separated us. Climbers really are a pretty egalitarian bunch - if you do your best, challenge yourself, and exhibit some modesty and humour, no one but the magazines and a few racer-chasers much cares if you're doing 5.4 or 5.12. Though climbers do have naughty senses of humour, and tend not to suffer fools gladly.

The Camp 4 ranger then was John Caulkins, a very friendly and reasonable fellow, though not a climber. One day I was talking with John C, when John B came by with a shovel. John B had mooned someone at the grocery store, for some act of Curry Company lese majeste, gotten hauled up, and sentenced to community work. John C was in charge of supervising the work. He sent John B out to "clean up" around camp. John spent the day improving boulder problem landings around camp.

John B was also around camp a lot - I believe he had elbow tendonitis, something that mere mortals then hadn't heard of and didn't get. I couldn't understand that such a trivial thing prevented John from climbing. The two Johns often sat outside the ranger kiosk on a stump playing chess. Eventually, I was in camp for a day, and challenged John to a game. I'd played a lot, but not for years. He beat me fairly quickly, and probably wasn't impressed.

At the time we hung around the lounge, during the long nights. Pre-bar days. It was lit, dry, and heated. There were tourists to feel superior to, girls (a few) to chat up, convenience stores, and so on. The fireplace mantle, Dick Cilley tilting the Coke machine, and various other anti-social adolescent behaviours, provided amusement. Most sat around and talked climbing, ad nauseam. George Meyers' first Yosemite topo book came out in 1976, so of course everyone memorized and fantasized about it. When someone got up El Cap, we usually splurged and went to the Four Seasons.

Most of the Canadians had some non-Valley employment or schooling, so we usually had a little money. Daryl managed to drink through his pretty quickly, but unemployment insurance and his father provided ongoing sustenance. I have vivid memories of Daryl's escapades, such as trying to climb Swan Slab Right - using only empties for "chocks".

Anyway, one night in the lounge John and Werner were playing chess, and when they were done, I offered another game. John thought, the said ok. I may have won, or drawn, but at least put up a good defence. So from then on, most nights he and I and Werner, and a few others, played chess. We are the same age, and got acquainted.

I was in the Valley again in spring 1977, 1979, 1982 and so on, and played a little more chess.

I remember a few things about other Stonemasters, but they'll fit better elsewhere. Though Dale Bard was a friendly sort. It's been good to gradually re-establish contact with John. I met him at the airport in 1999 when he came to speak at a film festival in Vancouver. Having sometimes seen his picture, I knew what to look for. He picked out my eyes, although grey cells took a while to make the link.

I've never (yet) climbed with John, but have always admired what he stands for. He represents an ideal few of us will reach, but we can all aspire to. An uncompromising attitude, that how something is climbed is as important as what is climbed. Good that he's still with us.

Anders

burp

Trad climber

Salt Lake City

Aug 24, 2006 - 04:17pm PT

Anders wrote: "He represents an ideal few of us will reach, but we can all aspire to. An uncompromising attitude, that how something is climbed is as important as what is climbed. Good that he's still with us."

Well put! I've been chasing that ideal set by Bachar for 20 years and it accounts for most of the pleasure I get from climbing. If Bachar wasn't around when I started climbing ... climbing would not be the same.

burp

bvb

Social climber

flagstaff arizona

Aug 24, 2006 - 06:32pm PT

Anastasia

Trad climber

Near a mountain, CA

Aug 25, 2006 - 02:38am PT

I know you don't remember, but you refused to be helped or moved until Steve and I were first cared for at the crash site.
You are still being stuborn with a broken neck.
Love Always,
AF