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JMC
climber
Tucson
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Truly terrible news. My sympathy goes out to his family and friends. I never met him in person, but had some brief email rallies with him regarding climbing in the Alabama Hills and Whitney Portal; he was friendly, and generous with route info. I wish I had met him.
-John
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Few people know that of the two hundred or so routes in Snow Canyon only two were put up by Mike, but those two are the biggest.
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Maysho
climber
Truckee, CA
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It would be great if someone could post Mikes' FA list, the man pioneered new rock all over AZ, east side cali, and who knows where else. Chossman was more of a joke name, he found the good lines on a lot of quality stone out there.
Peter
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nita
climber
chico ca
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Off the couch, This is about Mike...
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Maysho
climber
Truckee, CA
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lighten up OTC, I bet most of us close to him over the years smiled at SS's account of his attempts to lure her to his haunts!
Peter
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Watusi
Social climber
Joshua Tree, CA
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I got to know Mike pretty well and he will be sorely missed!!
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Brutus of Wyde
climber
Old Climbers' Home, Oakland CA
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So sorry to hear this.
Met Mike a few times, when we were working on parallel routes in the high backcountry.
My condolences to all his family and friends. He will be sorely missed.
See ya on the other side, Mike!
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Capt.
climber
some eastside hovel
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Man.....
Bammys and Portal routes will never be the same.Thanks Mike
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bachar
Trad climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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I had heard some rumors a couple days ago but didn't want to believe them...
Very sad. Hope you're in a better place Mike....rest in peace, we'll all miss you.
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Crimpergirl
Social climber
St. Looney
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Very sorry to hear this news. RIP
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Klimmer
Mountain climber
San Diego
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I feel very sad. This isn't how life should be.
I didn't personally know Mike, never talked him, but I have and do enjoy his famous videos and later purchased his guide to The Alabama Hills.
I know on ST I "whined" about how some bolts were placed in the Alabama Hills, and we might not have seen eye to eye on that never ending issue, but I'm sure if we met we would have talked it out. I wish we would have met.
Climbing is very important in all of our lives, but it isn't the end all. There are more important things like family, and friends, and just living a wonderful and adventurous life. Climbing sure adds to it, that we can all agree. Like I said, I wish Mike and I would had met. I'm sure we would have gotten along very well. We certainly love the same places on Earth.
I wish Mike Peace, and I wish all his friends and family peace.
This is all just very sad.
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pn
Trad climber
Portland, OR
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Can't believe it,
A mutal friend of ours (Mike and I) mentioned in a letter that he was concerned about Mike and asked me to see what was up. This was about two months ago. I called, emailed and recently was looking for other friends in the Mammoth area to find out more about him.
I and so many others will miss him. He was a good climbing partner for over twenty five years. It wasen't a regular thing but when we got together either in Tucson or the Sierra, we always climbed something new.
When off the rock we laughed alot and I'm sure that is what I will miss most- his friendship.
I'll try and post my most recent photo of Mike climbing a new route on the south side of Baboquavari peak in southern Arizona.
On that trip he was traveling w/ Rawly,(SP?) who I'm sure many of you also know.
All my best to family and friends.
Peter Noebels
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Mike Strassman's Sister
climber
Massachusetts
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What a great story, Kath!!
The rest of us had Chicken pox, Michael got measles! :-)
Deb
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Jerry Dodrill
climber
Bodega, CA
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What a bummer. So sad to hear of this. Peace be with him, and his friends/family.
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More Air
Big Wall climber
S.L.C.
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Very very sad news...he's way too young. My thoughts go out to his loved ones.
Mike climbed a lot in the early days in Zion, he also wrote about his time there. I loved his writing style...fortunately, he left some accounts of his adventures in Zion. Here's a quote from Mike while they (he and Piton Ron) were working on Equinox, from rockclimbing.com
"Well here it is. Ron and I started up a first ascent in the Temple of Sinawava, down stream from Monkey finger. It's May, and it's hot. We get a late start so we are in the shade. We hit this beautiful ledge filled with ferns and mosses, a veritable garden where you might expect the wee people to dance in the moonlight. It's perfect. Don't even need an ensolite pad. What does Ron do? He starts hacking away at the vegitation (probably had been growing there for hundreds of years) to get to the sand underneath. Well, not exactly environmentally sound, but I figured he's the Zion Master, this must be standard practice -just like those crazy drilled angles.
We are baked out of our sleeping bags by the sun and are overjoyed to see a chimney a couple of pitches up - The Herbert Hoover Chimney. It got its name for the "hoovering" we were doing in there while waiting out the sun. Ron produced a small bindle of cocaine. He claimed he got it from the pop star Robbie Dupree, who had a minor hit at the time. Well, we used a sawed off knife blade to put out some lines (and he didn't even charge me for it!) and start hoovering the stuff up our noses. And then we waited. And waited. And nothing happened. Not even a tingle.
It was so hot we were baking inside that chimney. Must have been at least a hundred. Well, we're sweaty and bored and suddenly Ron perks up.
"Watch this."
He grabs a basketball sized boulder and climbs out to the end of the chimney. Then I see it. One of those open air 'green dragon' tours. You know, with the tour guide sitting backwards talking into a microphone. I can here his oration
"And in recent years, climbers have taken to these cliffs, soimetimes spending the nights in hammocks, lashed to the side of the rock..."
"Goddamn Tourists." Ron mumbles and heaves the boulder out towards the road. I thought that he was going to just scare them, but I'll be damned if that tour and that boulder are heading for sudden impact, just about at the location of where the tour guide sits.
"Someone's gonna get killed" I say and then yell. ' ROCK!"
All heads on the tour turn upwards as the bomb speeds towards it mark. The driver slams on the brakes and the rock explodes in an orange starburst on the road a few feet from the front of the vehicle.
We duck back in the chimney. "You could have killed them, Ron"
Ron shrugs his shoulders, "What's one less tour guide?"
Well, we've had enough. I'm hot, wondering about his judgement, we're sweaty, dirty, unmotivated and got bunk cocaine. We rappel down and I hit the ground first. Mark Pey is there to meet us. Ron raps down just as Dennis Knuckles, the climbing ranger, steps out of the bushes.
"I figured it was you Ron" says the ranger.
"Well, you saw my truck. Who else would it be?"
"We heard that a rock came off this climb and almost hit a tour. Some people said it looked as if it had been thrown."
Ron started pulling the rappels. "Well, you climb here. You know the rock is loose."
"uh-huh'
"Of Sh--, " Ron says, "The rope is stuck." He looks at me. "Well, Mumbles?" (He used to call me "Mumbles the Guzzler because he claimed I didn't speak clearly enough and drank all the water.)
"Alright, I'll go."
Ron achors one end and I start jugging the rope. "Try and keep your movements to a minimum, Mike" Mark cautions, "You don't know what it is stuck on."
"it's fine."says Ron confidently. "I built the anchor.'
And that was correct. I rapped off the anchor we built to lower the haul bag and he was going to pull the pieces and wrap a sling around a tree. When I arrived at the anchor, there was no sling. He had used old 11mm nylon rope. And everyone knows that you never put nylon against nylon. It had burned 3/4's of the way through from my jugging. A few minutes more and I would have been dead.
And that's how Ron almost killed a bus load of tourists and me in the same day"
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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You're a real class guy Brian Smoot. Seize upon a poor climber's death to lay out a BS story/ quote in order to flame me because I wouldn't DARE call a guy who just died a liar.
Class guy!
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atchafalaya
climber
California
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Wow, this is bad news. I first met Mike in the early 90's while living in mammoth, (lived with the Lindell's in Old Mammoth). Always positive and amped on what was going on. Condolences to friends and family.
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tmc
Trad climber
slc, ut
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Wow. Sad news indeed.
I heard about this yesterday-on the 4th of July. I lived in Mammoth in the summers of '96 and '97 and got to know Mike through our buddy Mark McNally, who is also gone due to a f*#king skateboarding accident of all things. Anyway-he was living at the house in Crowley and those two summers I went to his 4th of July Parties- where he set up this cool mountain bike obstacle course/competition in his yard. Somehow I ended up as the winner of these both summers- although there wasn't much competition, or they were drunk. I hadn't seen Mike since maybe '99 when he stayed at my place in SLC during O.R.
My condolences to his family and friends.
TC
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Fluoride
Trad climber
Hollywood, CA
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Very sad news indeed. I remember when I first got into climbing in the Portal area and the A-Hills, I'd e-mail him and he'd always be happy to share any beta or route info I needed. He added so much to the Sierra and anyone who climbs there will appreciate his legacy.
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TYeary
Mountain climber
Calif.
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Sad news indeed.
I ran into Mike many times on the East Side. Very cool guy , always willing to share info with me. Sad, sad sad.
My thoughts go out to all who will miss him and to all whose life's he touched.
Peace, Tony
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