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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 27, 2006 - 05:12pm PT
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Yeah Buster,
remember the motorcycle in the living room and how Randy in a Tanqueray fueled frenzy pulls the nine millimeter out of the battle vest hanging on the handlebars, and we're ducking and yelling to him to watch out its LOADED!
Amazing ANY of us are still around.
Somewhere I have to find that picture of Charlie in Long Canyon from the day we were there with Antoine and Teri (and Teri got beaned by that small rock.)
In the photo Charlie is wearing my bosch on one side and my Dan Wesson .357 magnum on the other while he appears to be studiously reading a book (which careful examination reveals is Donald Duck, Mountain Climber). lol
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Dec 27, 2006 - 05:27pm PT
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'Never roped up with Charlie.
But we dated some of the same women, might even have been at the same time...oops!
Some 20 years ago, when he'd show up in the valley, it was like being granted audience to a touch of Colorado royalty; as it turned out he was just as wide eyed and stoked to be there as any of us.
In the early 90's in Telluride I met his brother or brother in law while we were all out for beers and the guy was happy to note that all Charlie's long years of guiding and taking photos was coming together nicely. Charlie was as established in that regard as any of us get and he kept up his steam remarkably well.
Charlie bore the visage of itinerant climber so graciously and it was all for real, right down to his mellow, understated, and keenly satisfied presentation.
Thanks for doing it right Charlie.
We will miss you,
Roy.
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TYeary
Mountain climber
Calif.
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Dec 27, 2006 - 05:33pm PT
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I didn't know Charlie or Christine. But this has become all too familiar a topic. So sad. My heart and thoughts go out to the families and friends of Charlie and Christine. What's going on out there? I guess it's just life, and sometimes life sucks.
Tony
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 27, 2006 - 05:38pm PT
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Curious thing Roy. Only yesterday I was making the same comment about dating the same women as Charlie in an email to Dave Anderson.
But before I was even aware of any of that I remember being in the Valley when suddenly the buzz everywhere was DNB, DNB, DNB, DNB.
And there was Charlie in C4 looking like the cat that ate the canary.
"Nice one Charlie. ARE YOU F__KING CRAZY??"
We laugh.
"Hey I got something here to calm you down. Doesn't stay lit though."
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Carolyn C
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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Dec 27, 2006 - 05:50pm PT
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I only met Charlie a couple of times, but my husband, Eric, said he was one of THE nicest guys in the climbing community. RIP Charlie and Christine.
Carolyn and Eric Craig.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 27, 2006 - 05:58pm PT
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Carolyn,
how you been? How long is it? Ten years? How's Eric?
Do you remember how, when he was reviewing submissions as head of the AMGA certification program, Eric contrasted the responses given by Charlie and me to the question on the form, "What free climbing rating do you feel comfortable leading at?"
I don't know if I should reveal what we said but I still get a laugh out of the contrast.
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Carolyn C
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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Dec 27, 2006 - 06:13pm PT
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Hi Ron. Yes, it's been a long time! We are living in Santa Cruz, CA, and Eric is doing well. He doesn't visit the forum here (I'm just a lurker, myself), but he was very saddened when I told him the news of Charlie and Christine. I don't remember the comments he made re: the AMGA thing...would love to hear the answer! Hope you are well.
Carolyn
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 27, 2006 - 06:18pm PT
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Well I suppose it doesn't hurt. I said that I'm sometimes UNcomfortable on 5.8 whereas Charlie's response was a very assertive claim that he onsighted .12d consistently.
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Carolyn C
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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Dec 27, 2006 - 06:26pm PT
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That's good, Ron!! And a very good way to remember Charlie. I remember his great smile and friendly way.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 27, 2006 - 06:34pm PT
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The first four days of my exam were tough. First with Mark Huston, then with Eric. Quite demanding.
But I guess it was a done deal because the fifth day I got Charlie as an examiner and all we did was go to Lumpy and, along with John Cleary (who later became AMGA President and who emailed asking about Charlie only days ago) we trotted up J crack and knocked off about 13:00.
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buster
Mountain climber
canada
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Dec 27, 2006 - 06:35pm PT
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yea ron,and you with your 45magnum on top of "the owl"the best trip i had with charlie was when we climbed shiprock,sneaking in real early on a sunday morning and bagging it before the locals were awake.buster.
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Islander
climber
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Dec 27, 2006 - 06:36pm PT
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I still remember when I first met Charlie Fowler. It was 1977, and my good friend Casey Newman and I were walking up the road in Eldorado Canyon when, just below the Milton boulder, Charlie came loping down the hill. I had heard of Charlie’s solo of the DNB the previous month in Yosemite, so it was a kick to meet him in person.
Living and climbing in Boulder for the rest of that decade, I ran into Charlie often – once shortly after his ascent of Perilous Journey and, the next year, at a late-night party in Eldorado, after which, instead of turning in, Charlie headed up to RMNP and a solo of the Casual Route on the Diamond. Throughout the 80’s and 90’s we would occasionally bump into one another; in Telluride, Moab, and on a rare trip for Charlie to my stomping grounds in Maine. He was one of a rare breed.
This afternoon I headed out just before sunset for one of my favorite end-of-the-day hikes in Acadia, the west side of Mt. Champlain. As I descended into the notch that separates Huguenot Head with Champlain, thoughts of Charlie and that first meeting suddenly popped back into my head. I saw him very clearly as he was on that day on the road in Eldorado, a supremely fit young man in cutoff shorts and a t-shirt, a tangle of long hair and wickedly tanned. I realized then that he’d had a bandage on one hand that day – a detail I had not remembered until that moment. And precisely as that thought occurred to me, an enormous shadow of wings suddenly passed the ground at my feet. I quickly looked up to see a bald eagle less than fifteen feet above my head silently gliding past. “You lived well, Charlie,” I instinctively blurted out loud. There was, of course, no reply and the last I saw, the eagle was gliding motionless to the north, around a ridge of the mountain and into the wind.
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buster
Mountain climber
canada
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Dec 27, 2006 - 06:39pm PT
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that he did,very well and way better than most.i hope charlie randy,dougal haston and don willans along with rouse,al harris et al are partying and climbing,buster.
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Howie
Trad climber
Calgary, Alberta
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Dec 27, 2006 - 06:50pm PT
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Oh they will be Buster!
Howie.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 27, 2006 - 07:02pm PT
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Damn!
Patey's there too!
I'm not in a hurry, but that's one I don't wanna miss.
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Howie
Trad climber
Calgary, Alberta
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Dec 27, 2006 - 07:07pm PT
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Hmmm, they'll take some keeping up with!
H.
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N0_ONE
Social climber
Utah
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Dec 27, 2006 - 07:18pm PT
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I only met Charlie and Christine once. Ron invited me over for an evening a couple of monthes ago and I had the pleasure of spending several hours with the both of them. A real treat! Thanks Ron!
We'll meet again some day! I would say RIP, but I know your not resting, you've just started the next great adventure!
Steve.
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TomKimbrough
Social climber
Salt Lake City
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Dec 27, 2006 - 08:09pm PT
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It must have been around ’73, 74 or so. I was working the signout desk at the Jenny Lake Ranger Station when a young guy walks in and asks to sign out for Guide’s Wall and the Jensen Ridge. I explained to him that they were on different peaks and he should decide which he wanted to do. He didn’t get huffy or impatient with this (already) old has-been (never was) climber but quietly said he was alone and tended to move fairly fast and his plan was to do Guide’s Wall to the top of Storm Point, drop down to the south side of Symmetry and to the Jensen. That caught my attention and I took a closer look, noticing his powerful upper body. “OK, I’ll sign you up. Let me know how it goes.”
About mid afternoon the station was jammed but I spotted the kid in the doorway. I caught his eye and said, “Get ‘em both?” He showed me a thumbs up with a big grin.
I had just met the up and coming Charlie Fowler.
Tom Kimbrough
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Dec 27, 2006 - 08:13pm PT
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My main partner, Jim Tangen-Foster, and I met Charlie during a trip to Eldo from Southern Illinois back in '76 or '77. Charlie, Hardie Truesdale from the Gunks, and a car load of stoners from Seneca were far and away the most interesting and outrageous folks we climbed and hung out with on that trip. Between those two wildmen - Fowler and Truesdale - I would have laid money we would have lost Hardie long before Charlie. It just goes to show we never know how our lives will flow from one moment to the next...
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