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Hawkeye
climber
State of Mine
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Nov 14, 2006 - 07:49pm PT
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rc.com lost petes stuff? dumbfecks. i am glad i copied and kept some of it. petes detractors just might not appreciate his humour, i kind of enjoyed it.
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rlf
Trad climber
Josh, CA
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Nov 14, 2006 - 08:16pm PT
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Don't mistake "humor" for self delusion. There's nothing funny about a person who has serious self image issues. We all try to compensate for our own percieved short commings. Hey it's easier than facing the music and dealing with our issues at face value. We all do it. Some are just more hell bent at hiding behind some delusion we are better than we are. My guess is that deep down, Pete is probably a really good guy, but he spends so much time trying to prove this that it's all lost. I could care less how many walls he's done. His whole thing with helping the "Big Wall Theorists" is a bunch of crap. It's just another platform for him to prop up his poor self image.
I am good friends with a number of seriously good wall climbers, NONE OF THEM SPRAY the way Pete does. They are humble, something Pete is not.
By the way, I'm not one of his nameless detractors, my name is Robert Fonda, I live in Joshua Tree, and I have no problems telling him anything I've said or written to his face.
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Nov 15, 2006 - 04:58pm PT
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It's always interesting to read stuff like this - some people get it, some people don't. I think the two people who get it best according to what's written above are Robert and Riley. And of course Hawkeye! {wink}
I talked to John Middendorf about contributing to his website. He is mistaken in that I asked him for compensation or else I wouldn't contribute. I merely suggested we work together to see if there were a way to turn some type of profit. I'm a bottom-line kind of guy, and I figure if I'm going to spend another thousand or two hours editing and writing stuff, maybe it might not be a bad idea to see about getting some type of return for me and whomever I were to partner with. I can't afford the time without some sort of incentive, eh?
Accordingly, I have several good money-making ideas for RC.com. I would be happy to work with the new owners to clean my stuff up, edit out all the choss, and give you what you really want - technical how-to big wall climbing stuff. I would also clean up their #1 most visited climbing area page which is El Capitan. Their El Cap page is a disaster, but I could clean it up fairly quickly given the opportunity, and since it's the #1 most visited page, having it in order would generate a huge volume of business for them.
Apparently I offended someone or some people at RC.com that caused my falling out with the website. I repeat that I have never been told why nor whom, nor was I given any opportunity whatsoever to to offer my side of the story [there are always two] nor to offer any apologies to anyone I might have hurt. So yet again, I drop the Olive Branch at the feet of RC.com.
Much of the junk I wrote at RC.com was written during a very turbulent time in my life. My heart was full of angst, and there is a lot of stuff I regret writing. I was pretty new to the internet, I was having a few identity and self-worth issues, and I found the writing therapeutic. Those who get me understand what I mean, those who don't merely find me offensive. [And if I have offended you in any way, please write me, and we will try to work something out, eh?] I wouldn't mind having an opportunity to edit out a lot of junk, and just leave the technical climbing stuff. However my falling out occured with RC.com prior to me having an opportunity to fix stuff. Fixing my stuff on RC.com is still the quickest and easiest way for me to present the ideas, much easier than setting everything up new at some other website.
I think you will see the change in my heart over the last five years as evidenced by my writing here at McTopo. I still have a huge problem with pride which is an ongoing battle for me, but I have learned a thing or two about what's appropriate and what's not. Back then I was brand new on the internet, and really had no clue. I believe in [url="http://www.srcfc.org/pitonpete.asp"]forgiveness and reconciliation.[/url]
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Euroford
Trad climber
chicago
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Nov 15, 2006 - 05:29pm PT
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i think individually the internet, writting and climbing have proven to be dubious when it comes to profit generation. if you ever figured out a way to combine the three and suceed, well more power to you....
pete, your a character, but i definitly never found you offensive.
hasn't the management that you had your little flap with at rc.com since been basicly replaced?
oh well, screw that place, i think they had a good thing going for a while, then managed to blow it.
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Matt
Trad climber
places you shouldn't talk about in polite company
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Nov 15, 2006 - 05:32pm PT
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"Apparently I offended someone or some people at RC.com that caused my falling out with the website. I repeat that I have never been told why nor whom"
"I have learned a thing or two about what's appropriate and what's not"
well which is it?
(edit- i always thought, when you 1st showed up here during all that discussion about someone's accusations over supposedly sexually inappropriate PMs to some teenage cheerleader, that you were run out of that place on a rail over that, and the discussions were over whether or not those accusations had any merrit, because the person either didn't want to participate, or didn't really exist(?). are you saying that you weren't kicked off that site because the moderators over there believed
the other side of the story and not yours? didn't one of the moderators even post stuff about you here on ST? it has been awhile, but that is what i remember, although i personally didn't have the time to go over there and scour that site for evidence and whatnot. my point is, i didn't think at the time that there was much question over why you'd left that site and started posting up over here. /edit)
(edit to the edit- i personally have no info regarding any of that old stuff, and though i was curious, we were all mostly just was sitting there, watching, a few years back, while the train wreck happened, and we all picked our feet up to keep them from getting dirty. i am not saying any of that was true (or false), just saying that i thought the accusations were the reason the PPPtP/rc.c love affair went awry. //edit)
there is a bad joke or two out there for someone sees some irony in the fact that so many so-called "public figures" who so vigilantly promote christianity are all too frequently shown to need the easy-access forgiveness a bit more than the rest of us, but i think i'll just let that opportunity pass...
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graniteclimber
Trad climber
Nowhere
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Nov 15, 2006 - 05:43pm PT
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I've never met Pete but compared to what he posts now, it's hard to believe that the old posts on rc.com were written by the same person. People change, sometimes even for the better. Maybe let bygones be bygones?
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Nov 15, 2006 - 06:40pm PT
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Letting bygones be bygones is an interesting concept. We can all choose specific incidents in our lives when someone did something that hurt or annoyed us, and at the time it seemed like the end of the world. At that moment, we would have happily pissed on that person's grave given the chance. But upon later reflection - and this could be after hours, or days, or months or even years - in hindsight it really doesn't seem like that big of a deal. Yeah, that person was a bit of a dickhead, but so what?
Such is the kind of bygone that really ought to be left behind, because holding on to it probably only poisons your own heart.
There are other deeper hurts that are harder to let go. And I repeat that if there is anyone who I have somehow offended so deeply that he or she just can't let it go, then I would certainly be willing to render an apology if one were warranted. While I might be owed a few myself, I probably owe even more. However in instances I'm aware of, I've always done my best to try to right past wrongs.
The difficult thing is when the person who has hurt you refuses to apologize. In the link above, I offer some suggestions for dealing with this scenario.
Graniteclimber writes, "I've never met Pete but compared to what he posts now, it's hard to believe that the old posts on rc.com were written by the same person."
They were - same man, different heart. Back when I wrote some of the crap I did, I was one of those people who had been deeply hurt by someone I loved. If you wonder how deep the hurts were, look at some of the stuff I wrote! My heart is healing, but it's a journey, not a destination.
You may wonder why the words remain. It has been a policy of mine to never delete stuff I have written. It serves to make me think more carefully - I live and die by what I write. To me it seemed cowardly to delete stuff, no matter how stupid or offensive it was, and I have never hidden from the consequences. If something were deleted, then perhaps I could hide better. So I never edited anything, and I left it in order to render an historical perspective of how I was feeling at the time.
I am reconsidering this idea of not deleting stuff, as there is much I wrote back then [which was no real indication of the man I am, but more a reflection of the internal pain I was then suffering] that might better be removed. So people who have never met me, but have only read stuff I wrote years ago, may well think I'm an ass, which I'm not. Usually. But maybe sometimes. However my agreement with RC.com was that I would not delete anything, and I have honoured that, although it sometimes comes back to haunt me.
What some didn't get [but many did] was this attitude I portrayed as Dr. Piton that I was some kind of internet superhero. I'm not - I'm just a weiner-armed off-the-couch life insurance agent who solos big walls - I'm really not a very good climber at all. I fell off a 5.7 a few weeks ago! But because my oft-stupid words remain, I have to work that much harder [like around here at McTopo] to prove that this is not really the real me. Interestingly, Rock & Ice magazine really liked the Dr. Piton schtick, and Duane Raleigh was always asking me to write with more attitude! And when I didn't give him enough, he jazzed it up himself!
So I kind of made a point at RC.com of writing with attitude - some people see it as character, others see it as character flaw. It is in fact both.
At any rate, I am certainly recognizable, so when you see me in Yosemite every spring and fall wall climbing season, please say "hi", and we will, like, have a beer, eh?
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Nov 15, 2006 - 06:59pm PT
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nice posts Pete.
Wishing you al the best
karl
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elcapfool
Big Wall climber
hiding in plain sight
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Nov 15, 2006 - 07:05pm PT
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It is a shame that you have been censored.
You obviously spent a lot of time writing stuff that some people find interesting.
You are a rather unique carachter in the community.
My only remaining criticism is that money and climbing go together about as well as piss and whiskey.
Be well, amigo. It's all just a silly game anyway.
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Hangerlessbolt
Trad climber
Portland, OR
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Nov 15, 2006 - 07:59pm PT
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No doubt, Pete’s a wordsmith…outside of the aforementioned inappropriatedness…the posts, albeit difficult to sift through at times, were very well written.
On a side note: and typically, I wouldn’t throw this out on a public forum, but I don’t want my drift getting misapplied…
Pete, some of the folks who had “issues” with you weren’t merely offended…they were afraid. And as I’m sure you understand, fear is a hell of a lot more difficult to overcome than anger.
You see…I was angry, but I figured we’d eventually run into one another and handle it then and there. But these folks weren’t 6’, 220 lbs. Ya dig?
But that was, what, nearly 5 years ago…and you didn't get the boot until just a couple of years ago if memory serves.
Bygones being what they are and all, I have no outstanding issues with you and wish you well in your future endeavors; however, there are some folks whom that just isn't the case.
-RB
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Melissa
Gym climber
berkeley, ca
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Nov 15, 2006 - 08:09pm PT
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Well said, hb.
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rlf
Trad climber
Josh, CA
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Nov 15, 2006 - 08:49pm PT
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Well Pete, good for you for owning up to your issues.
Robert
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golsen
Social climber
kennewick, wa
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Nov 15, 2006 - 09:54pm PT
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Pete, I find it to be a real bummer that your stuff was lost, maybe not for you but for the rest of us. I aint no big wall expert, but the current books out there are great for the basics but they have not really changed much over the years. Some of the stuff you (and others) sometimes post here and the stuff that was lost is of great value for people interested in the advanced stuff.
I am pretty new to the internet so I dont know what pete wrote 5 years ago. I myself have written stuff I am sorry for later. Pete, FWIW, you seem alright in my book.
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Lambone
Ice climber
Ashland, Or
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Nov 16, 2006 - 04:47am PT
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"But because my oft-stupid words remain, I have to work that much harder [like around here at McTopo] to prove that this is not really the real me."
It's actions not words that define a person. Many of your detractors have brought up numeros examples of your real-life actions that they use to define you Pete.
For me first impresions make the biggest difference. I actually met your haulbag first. After it landed a couple of hundreds of feet from us at the base of the Trip. Then the next morning we watched bear 46 mawing through yur garbage and bottles scattered about.
Met you on the trail the next day with said haulbag. "Hi I'm Pass the Pitons Pete!" As if I wouldn't know.
I was so tempted to let you have a piece of my mind, but whatever. So I'll do it now.
5 out of 6 times I have climbed El Cap I have seen Pete's crap and trash lying in some pile at the base. Anyone else? I have seen lots of other crap too, buy yours stands out among the rest. Forgive me if trash comes to mind when I see your name online.
Clean your sh#t up and respect our park.
[end rant]
Cheers mate
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cybele
Ice climber
finally, west of the Mississippi
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Nov 16, 2006 - 05:23am PT
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Uh, Pete was definately a "haul the trash and poo up" type guy, (unlike too many wall climbers still, despite the obvious need for that responsibility, given the high numbers on and around the cliffs these days). He was our designated "garbageman," truly enjoyed hammering cans flat every morning -- even has a pet name for the science of garbage minification. Trash and sh#t at the base? Maybe some excess baggage awaiting blast day, yeah, but not purposeful flingage, from what I've seen.
The haul bag is another issue entirely. I prefer techniques that allow for sleepwalking as much as possible; untying the bag every damn pitch is just asking for a problem when the blood sugar runs low.
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Nefarius
Big Wall climber
Fresno, CA
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Nov 16, 2006 - 12:03pm PT
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I've known Pete for a number of years and have been a part of, in one way or another, plenty of his wall climbs. I won't touch the haulbag, or the other stuff from the RC.COM days. I think everyone, including myself has spoken their mind on that, one way or the other, long ago.
To address the trash thing though, Bone... I've got to agree with Cybele. I've always known and witnessed Pete to be pretty clean at the base when blast-off time comes around. Even prior to your "first meeting" with his bag. I'll definitely admit that the base of his climb can be a circus if you're walking by in the middle of the day, while he is there fixing, sorting, whatever. Mostly due to the amount of stuff he takes up and it laying about in assorted piles. When it's come to actually getting off the ground, however, he's always been pretty good about cleaning his mess and taking any trash remaining with him. Just my observation from years ago until our Dihedral Wall climb this spring.
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Nov 16, 2006 - 12:08pm PT
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The only time a bear ever went through my haulbag was indeed at the base of the Trip, after I had accidentally dropped it from a thousand feet higher off of Scorched Earth. This dumbass mistake is fully described on RC.com.
I repeat my offer that if I have hurt anyone, to please contact me directly. I have learned that airing grievances on an internet forum isn't really that cool, and I try to take the high road now.
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Hardman Knott
Gym climber
Muir Woods National Monument, Mill Valley, Ca
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Nov 16, 2006 - 12:10pm PT
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A-fuçking-men to that!
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Nefarius
Big Wall climber
Fresno, CA
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Nov 16, 2006 - 01:24pm PT
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My response wasn't to insinuate that Pete isn't a big wanker, by any means, BTW. So, like, cheers, eh.
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Nov 16, 2006 - 02:41pm PT
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Wanker indeed. Drinking coffee in my ledge all morning and not starting to climb until noon is a choice. Sheesh. So like, take off, eh? See yous in a few months for beers...
My post looks like one of Ricardo's....
Perhaps I will give up bold text for ellipses...
Incidentally, I apologize for so much bold text over the years. I am a recovering Bold Text-aholic and a friend of Bill, who is no relation to Bill W. so far as I am aware. One of my first jobs at RC.com would be to remove so much bold text. As you can see above, I may be recovering, but am far from recovered.
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