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Maysho
climber
Truckee, CA
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Jun 21, 2007 - 09:23am PT
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Thanks for the super report Roy, Lisa kicks ass! Congrats to her. Great lungs, great smile.
The summer I turned 17, 1979, I drove from the Valley to N. Conway. Gave Ed Webster a ride from C. Springs to his folks house in Boston, then stayed with he and his buds in a chalet under Cathedral for the better part of July/August. We arrived in town one evening at the tailend of a bitter ethics meeting/debate that had riled up the community like a nest of hornets after being accidentally stepped on by a hapless climber. That summer Jimmy Dunn had put up The Arete 5.11a, and Cambre 510d, both single pitch lines off of the upper ledges with a few key bolts put in on rappel. My traveling companion/partner Leonard Coyne and I were steered onto the Arete for an early repeat. I found it spicy, vertical face climbing being a rare experience for my Valley climber self. The next day Paul Ross the british director of IME, chopped it! I was appalled and approached him on the road at the cliff base, when he waxed on about traditions and ethics, I told him this was just a scruffy little training crag for the grand climbs out west (Like Astroman and the W. Face El Cap, both of which we had dispensed with two weeks previously), what did a few bolts here and there matter? Neither of us had visualized what "sport climbing" might become at that point. Days later, Ed Webster stole Paul's bike and hung it way up on the Morder Wall, to add some levity to the seriousness of the scene.
Travelers from the west were rare and Leonard and I got a lot of attention as the next western visiters the season following the visit by Mark Hudon and Max Jones. At the time a few of the hardest pitches in the East had only been done by westerners, and we were seeking to succeed on the same climbs. I lucked out and pulled the third ascent and first onsight of the bouldery White Eye, 5th ascent of the Prow, and 5th of Supercrack in the Gunks. There is a photo in Edsters guidebook of doing Airation on a rest day. And I soloed Recombeast, seeing those photos of Chiloes, make my fingers drip, I remember being very disapointed when I got to that upper corner and found greasy little pocket jams rather than a secure splitter at the crux.
I loved it out there, and made some great friends. I am still in close touch with Bob Palais, and Ken Sims, and Alain Comeau's son and ex-wife Janot visited me this last spring for some skiing.
Whenever I drive up the Merced Canyon from El Portal, I look at all those dark scruffy walls on the right side and think about the 900 climbs that would exist, with the requisite guidebooks, culture, debates, and rich history if that zone were in New England.
Peter
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james Colborn
Trad climber
Truckee, Ca
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Jun 21, 2007 - 09:40am PT
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I haven't been back to NH for ten+ years, thanks for sharing. The Webster guide is a great source for climbing history in that area. There is an account of the bike incident in websters guide that you are talking about Peter, great stuff. Peter you are one prolific dude.
Why aren't guide books small enough to fit in the top of day packs anymore?
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 21, 2007 - 10:32am PT
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Yes Maysho is quite prolific in his climbing pursuits and tagged a good deal of America's many seminal climbing destinations, all before he was 20!
The historical context of our vertical strivings is so rich. The social aspect of ascent contains a linguistic imperative which acts along with innovations in gear as a primary recorder and director of our strivings: informing, defining and shaping our goals.
All eras have their focus and stories. In the Golden Age free climbing was all about offwidth, primarily because the pitons were not wide enough to protect the terrain and wide cracks dictated mandatory free: in this case, the gear instructed the development of defining nomenclature such as arm bar, tight squeeze, flare, foot stacks and so forth. The stories drifting out about hard wide helped define what was possible and pointed to future goals; Crack of Fear, Crack of Doom, Hollow Flake. Chalk begot a language left as a physical mapping of the sequence which preceding climbers had worked out: a sort of hieroglyphic. Bolting, originally used only as a last resort, was governed by and seated in notions of boldness and environmental stewardship, so the tales of the early slab climbs encouraged a mindset of minimalism, tenacity and “leaving something intact” for future generations.
The developing language of ascent, the stories and “rules” and shifting focus all reflect a literate social norm, ever changing, which reports, instructs and points the way to the fashionable challenge of the day. We do what others are doing and talking about, through language we describe the past, eventually stretching the story to new levels and at interval effecting dramatic shifts in focus and the predominant terms then shift and morph to accomodate the prevalent mode and point the new way: finger lock, run out, stance drill, rap route, hang dog, sport climb, big wall free …
So after a fine introduction to the vocabulary of underclings, sloping holds, chimneys, laybacks, and fingerlocks of Cathedral Ledge, Chiloe and I bid farewell to Eric and quaffed a few beers at the local pub in North Conway, discussing the relevant historical characters, the climbers of the 60’s and 70’s.
On day two we ventured a couple classy steep slab pitches on Whitehorse, sampling the slab portion of Children’s Crusade: a ground up story all about steep edging, crimps, dikes, and mantles and stance driven bolts.
Chiloe might have some colorful pictures to help tell the story…
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 21, 2007 - 11:08am PT
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And if your in Boulder, I've got those Flatirons dialed...
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Jun 21, 2007 - 11:10am PT
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Fall's a great season here. Let's talk it over a month or two in advance to work out when I'll be around.
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snakefoot
climber
cali
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Jun 21, 2007 - 12:02pm PT
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damn i'm jealous, looks like a blast...congrats to your woman tar..
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Jun 21, 2007 - 12:42pm PT
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Tom, this oughtta look familiar to you.... Tar and I hit up Whitehorse the next day.
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mooser
Trad climber
seattle
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Jun 21, 2007 - 12:47pm PT
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This is a great TR, Tarbuster! What a beautiful place, and a fun looking route. And your Stetson helmet is very cool. Not so good for rockfall, but very efficient at keeping spindrift out of your face, no doubt!
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Russ Walling
Social climber
Out on the sand.... man.....
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Jun 21, 2007 - 12:50pm PT
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Hey! Way to go!
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snakefoot
climber
cali
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Jun 21, 2007 - 01:03pm PT
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chiloe,
yes...looks like another day in paradise and a classic at that.
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Rhodo-Router
Gym climber
Otto, NC
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Jun 21, 2007 - 01:14pm PT
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Long live the TR!
(ayup)
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 21, 2007 - 01:27pm PT
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Well shoot, the rock quality and steep slab feel on Children’s Crusade is among the finest to be had.
This connoisseur stone, pristine & compact, presents high angle slab moves on flat cut edges:
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 21, 2007 - 01:55pm PT
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Jun 21, 2007 - 02:04pm PT
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Mooser:
And your Stetson helmet is very cool. Not so good for rockfall, but very efficient at keeping spindrift out of your face, no doubt!
Another cool thing about it ... see those overlaps I'm passing in the last two photos above? As I belayed at the top of this pitch, I could watch his hat moving up below the overhangs long before the rest of Tar came into view.
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426
Sport climber
Buzzard Point, TN
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Jun 21, 2007 - 02:07pm PT
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Cool stuff gents.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 21, 2007 - 02:18pm PT
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Sure, a cowboy hat might be a useful prop and dapper gag, a bit of functional decor,
But maybe I should start wearing one of Lisa's Mt Washington race trophies on my head...
The middle one might fit!
...this years 1st place Master's Champ, Go Lisa!
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Jun 21, 2007 - 03:43pm PT
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Naw, stick with the Cowboy hat, it's all you need. Leave the trophies for Lisa to wear proudly on her head.
It was cool having pizza with a houseful of hyperfit elite runners that evening ....
But for us riff-raff, Whitehorse had been pretty good fun.
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goatboy smellz
climber
colorado
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Jun 21, 2007 - 03:52pm PT
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^^^ Now THATS a stylin pic, the camera loves ya Roy.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 21, 2007 - 03:59pm PT
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While Lisa was enjoyin' her laurels with her runnin' mates on Mt Wash,
Chiloe and I opted out of the beautiful overhung 5.11 tier higher up, in favor of a quick rappel to a swarthy bit of 5.8,
Followed by a couple ritual post climb beers out on a deck in the shade by a sunny, lilly pad topped, fish hoppin' lake.
(...and pizza too).
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Jun 21, 2007 - 04:04pm PT
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Chiloe and I opted out of the beautiful 5.11 tier higher
As I recall you kept looking up at that pitch, while I mentioned many reasons we did not need to try it ... hadn't brought the RPs, wore the wrong color t shirts, etc. Some other day ....
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