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WBraun
climber
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Dec 17, 2004 - 01:44am PT
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Yep, Yabo literly beat himself up and destroyed that bike. I've seen Yabo try to break his hands by hitting the steel posts at the lodge. We had to restrain him because we knew later he would have regretted doing it.
For those that don't know. When Karl came on the scene at Curry housing he was a blessing. The guy before him was a total a$$hole. We were so lucky to have a guy like Karl show up. You did a super job Karl.
Werner
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Dec 17, 2004 - 02:52am PT
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Thanks Werner
I secretly wanted to move into a van parked next to ya'll but it was good anyway.
Peace (particuarly to Yabo, who had a lot of heart)
Karl
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Roger Breedlove
Trad climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Dec 17, 2004 - 08:35am PT
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Hey Karl, good post. Good story.
However, something must have changed during the 1970's into the period that you were the housing manager. The young ladies that worked for the Curry Company were there only for the climber's aid and comfort, particularly in the winter. The earnest young men who worked for the Curry Company were easy to run off. The same for the outside showers which made it easy to clean up before retiring to the climbers dining hall, saloon, and reading room. Ah, the good life of leisure. Werner can verify. :-)
So what did they do, pass a law or something?
I recently found a picture of my green Sierra Designs tent, pitched in a deserted Camp Four, lightly covered with a new dusting of snow. I don't remember the details, but I wasn't staying in the tent.
Best, Roger
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can't say
Social climber
Pasadena CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 17, 2004 - 09:36am PT
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One of my favorite Yabo cheating death stories is the one where Mike (Mo) Lechlinski and Yabo were trying to do a rapid ascent of the Captain.
Right off of Mammoth, Yabo is leading the pitch in the dark, in tennies, running it out, no pro between him and Mo. He's up about a 100ft. when something happens and he falls. Mo doesn't know quite what to do since there isn't any pro at all and he know's Yabo is going to deck for sure.
Well about 5 or 10 feet off the ledge, the rope catches on something and stops Yabo just short of ledging out. Mo lowers Yabo to the ledge and then flicks the rope, which comes down very easily. Mo shines his headlamp up to see what caught Yabo's fall and there was nothing they could see that could have caught his rope. The only thing they figured out was the the rope had somehow gotten pinched in the crack and stopped Yabo's fall. After that Mo was heard to say "I'm never going up on El Cap with Yabo again".
This is a very brief version of the real story and any of you old dads that remember this please feel free to supply missed or altered details.
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mike hartley
climber
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Dec 17, 2004 - 10:18am PT
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I can remember eating breakfast at Camp 5 on the Nose. It was peaceful and not quite light yet. Nothing like a LOOOOOOOONG blood-curdling scream to get you fully awake. Who'd be climbing at this time a day/night? Somebody roll off of a ledge? The next day we were down in the lodge parking lot. There was this very theatrical, moaning, walking scab doing laps around the lot. Definitely had the look of being on the losing end of a vegetable peeler. "Dude, did you guys hear me last night"? Yabo... :-))
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waddell
Trad climber
Reno, NV
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Dec 17, 2004 - 12:36pm PT
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gosh guys your making me get emotional. I never got the chance to meet him but he seems amazing. thanks for the good stories of a legend.
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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Oct 10, 2005 - 02:56am PT
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Never climbed with him but did boulder and party with him several times. Good man and unassuming. RIP John
Can't say, that pic at the top isn't showing up.
Edit
The pic's there. Thanks.
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Watusi
Social climber
Joshua Tree, CA
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Oct 10, 2005 - 11:16am PT
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We always had lots of fun whenever Yabo was around!!! He was a great friend of mine as well!!
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Oct 10, 2005 - 01:34pm PT
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Hell that dude was strong as dirt. On the Stem Gem mantle, boom, straight up (right-side-in) without heel-hooking. Nice, but a warm-up; then he'd come back and do it left-side-in.
I remember he'd crawl out of the cave in the morning, sleeping bag strung over his shoulders. He'd throw it down, then throw down Scatterbrain. He'd come around, pick up his bag and wander off to start the day.
When Yabo was around there was an edge in the air.
:- k
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Ihateplastic
Trad climber
Lake Oswego, Oregon
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I grew up with John... Yablonsky... Yabo since our days together in high school. From working with him in his dad's cinema to the earliest boulder problems at Castle Rock he was a committed climber who could spot possibilites where others saw only moss and blankness. I would stand, staring at a rounded sandstone boulder with peeling flakes, dripping moss and long reaches and shake my head. Later there would be a white path from the Yabo start to the top.
John never asked for recognition, only a buck for coffee.
The last climb I did with him was the Owl Roof in the valley. Don't even know if it's in the guides anymore, but this is a 90-degree roof with a nasty fist crack. Yabo took the sharp end while I hoped for a few points of pro to protet me from the nightmare of skull against granite. In true John fashion he made it within inches of the lip before lodging a hex. He couldn't turn the roof and lowered off. Now it was my turn. I managed to get horizontal before hearing the shouts of Kauk, Besio, Bard (as I remember) and others on the road below. Unable to duplicate Yabo's lead I relaxed and arced. My climbing may have lacked panache, but at least Yabo's lead gave me a great ride. This guy is smiling because he is still here. He gives each of us that little bit of craziness we need to push harder.
Oh, and for all of you growing up on plastic... get outside where the real stories are made.
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gneiss
Trad climber
Modesto
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Sleeping on Triangle Ledge just below Mammoth Terraces I recognized a voice, Rick (if I remember right after 25 years) "Wha... Yabo! What are you doing?" then: "We're going to climb the Triple Direct in a day" A short time later we heard the most blood curdling scream imaginable, like someone dying. But then all was quiet. No calls for help.
The next day we met Lynn Hill and Mari Gingery on Mammoth. They were up to be the first all women team to climb the Shield, having just hauled two monstrous pigs so stuffed that gear was bursting out the tops. On their way up they ran across Yabo who had soloed up to a ledge to retrieve his cagoule after his epic fall of the night before. They dropped him a rope for aid.
Yabo had jugged Lynn and Mari's fixed lines to Mammoth in his one day attempt.
The pitch off Mammoth is rated 5.9. It is easy until one reaches a little overhang of extreme difficulty. In the daylight an unhurried examination will lead you to the 5.9 bypass 6' on the left, something Yabo obviously missed. This is where he fell, with no protection placed. I carefully examined the area for features that could have possibly snagged a rope when he fell. There are none, not even improbable ones. His guardian angel must have grabbed the rope herself.
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can't say
Social climber
Pasadena CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 7, 2005 - 05:42pm PT
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Yep, he sure did and his name was Mo.
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WBraun
climber
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That's not the way Yabo described the story to me. That story you read LEB is way out there and sensationalized.
Who wrote that crock of sh-it?
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WBraun
climber
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Lois
"today we have medication to help people through these phases of their lives."
Those pills are stupid, the best medication is love. We all loved Yabo but we couldn't be everywhere to help him.
"In the material world, conceptions of good and bad are all mental speculations. Therefore, saying 'This is good' and 'This is bad' is all a mistake."
Such is our world.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Lois asked "Is it really prying too much to ask how this man died."
In some ways the answer would be yes, though even if you were told you wouldn't know the true answer.
Yabo touched many many people in climbing. I did not know the man, but I know many who did, and everyone of them have very personal memories. I don't think that a simple retelling of his life could come close to expressing what the reality of his existence meant to those who knew him.
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WBraun
climber
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Lois
But it's still all rooted in the heart and it can be carried over from the past life. The chemical imbalances are caused by the karmic reaction of no love onto the “driver” of the material body . One who feels separated from the source of love will feel lifeless.
Therefore I was referring to the root cause. The pills are not the ultimate answer and that was my true meaning.
The symptoms you are describing and their antidote may or may not help in the long run ultimately, for the soul, but may help the body temporarily.
Thus modern medicines focus on the body is like the automobile shop (mechanic) fixing the auto but neglecting the driver.
This is the true light I am seeing in modern medicine.
Still I agree we need the mechanic also, and that is fine.
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Deadwood Mountain
climber
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Yabo lives.
Look at his spirit shine. So beautiful...
Let it inspire you...
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Ben909
Trad climber
toronto
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I was on SSRIs a couple of years ago and they worked great, for about 2 weeks after which they made me feel spaced out and sluggish. When I went off of them I fell into a deeper depression and for the first time had serious thougths of suicide. A study came out this year linking many SSRIs with increased suicidal tendencies when you go off of them. http://www.rxpgnews.com/research/psychiatry/depression/article_2120.shtml
Without a phd I cannot really say that they're junk, but they were definetly not the solution for me. Too many people that I know who have taken SSRIs were just given the meds and told to come back in a month for more. People who feel isolated and down need to be engaged, challenged and loved. Goals and plans are key to feeling fufilled and actually looking forward to tomorrow.
SSRIs can be beneficial but are not saviors in a bottle they can only ever be parts of the solution.
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wildone
climber
right near the beach, boyeee (lord have mercy)
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I'm gonna have to agree with pretty much everyone, and say that if you want to know about yabo, read Lynn Hill's "Climbing Free", an excellent book, and you'll see both sides of his personality.
Lois, I especially recommend it to you.
Most libraries ought to have it.
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WBraun
climber
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And which lives have you saved from repeated birth, death, old age and diseases?
That is what my point on the "pills are stupid" remark was based.
Not the body but the driver.
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