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nick d
Trad climber
nm
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Mar 29, 2008 - 03:31am PT
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Victor Ostrovsky?
pffft....
James T. Kirk, years ago.
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T2
climber
Cardiff by the sea
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Mar 29, 2008 - 11:41am PT
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Hey John, got any photos of the kid on the Snowshed wall at Donner? I had the pleasure of watching him (I believe first free solo) on Manic Depression. Correct me if I am wrong but I believe you climbed it ropeless right after him after only once with the rope. That should qualify as amazing.
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scooter
climber
Moss Landing CA
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Mar 29, 2008 - 12:28pm PT
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J.B.-
another awesome low-key climber is Jakey Whitaker.(sorry Jake) He has some really good stories too. He on site soloed Yose Point Buttress one after noon a few springs ago. He said that he really had to concentrate and it was hard. He and Sean krieltich also had a pretty cool enchainmet. They ran from Tenya Lake to Snake Dike, across the Valley to Arches. With a stop for a hydration margarita at the Ahwanee. From Arches to the E. Face of North Dome, for both a onsight. Then they ran back to Tuolumne. We had SAR training up in Tuolumne the next day. Sean could hardly walk or talk at training, it was awesome. Jake may have had a sore calf. Ha! I know the routes aren't 5.11s or anything but it was anawesome story to hear them tell it. They are two really good people also so it makes it even better. Know what I mean?
Patrick
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scooter
climber
Moss Landing CA
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Mar 29, 2008 - 01:02pm PT
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Stzzo-
If you knew Jake and Sean you would know they are capable of even more. Jake has completed enchainments on a Croftian scale, for nearly a decade on the low down. No thanks to me spraying here for him. i.e. evolutin travese, red point second try Free Rider with daylight to spare. etc.....
Patrick
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Prod
Social climber
Charlevoix, MI
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Mar 29, 2008 - 01:06pm PT
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Cool Story Cracko. Nice job.
One of my first real solo's was in Eldo. I was tooling around doing some bouldering and mostly just hanging out. I ended up at the base of the Wind Tower and started soloing up Calypso. I came up to a gorup and was talking to the lead, then I wandered up to a cool dihedral, felt a little pumpy compared to what I'd been on, but still knew I was solid. I later found out that I soloed Reggae.
Prod.
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GDavis
Trad climber
SoCal
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Mar 29, 2008 - 01:34pm PT
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Some amazing solo stories that make my palms sweat:
Shipley on Whitney
Reardon On sight on Romantic Warrior
Porter on Dawn Wall
Yabo on Spiderline
Dunn on Cosmos
Cole on Queen of Spades
Dave on Escudo
possibly the most badass, Mugs 1 day ascent of the Cassin.
More than olympic gold medalists or astrophysicists, these people show me that mankinds ability has no limit.
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ron gomez
Trad climber
fallbrook,ca
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Mar 29, 2008 - 02:34pm PT
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Hey Bachar, didn't YOU do some soloing in yer day??? Maybe someone out there has some coolio shots of Masterbacher doing his thing a ma jig. That would be neat to see some o dem shot too. Post up Johnny. In particular I remember yer Half Dome days in Josh and most memorable was the morning I was walking with my mother in law in Tuolumne and John comes up to chat, I then explain to my Mom in law as John is walking away how safe this climbing thing is and how we use ropes and gear as a safety check. John then goes up and solos this route RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER, she gives me this look of absolute discust like I was fibbing to her about the safety thing. Thanks John!
Peace
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ec
climber
ca
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Mar 29, 2008 - 06:33pm PT
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Croft showed-up at Sunrise Mountain Sports years ago when we had designs for a new climbing gym/shop. Someone remarked about how tall the bouldering area was (I can't remember the actual height, somewhere between 15-20ft). Croft, looking at the plans and calmly says, "That's about as high-up as I would ever want to go."
We all looked at each other with a WTF look. Peter wasn't joking...
LOL - ec
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GDavis
Trad climber
SoCal
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Mar 29, 2008 - 06:52pm PT
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Watusi
Social climber
Newport, OR
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Mar 30, 2008 - 04:30am PT
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Knott me, but I thought it was a cool bump...
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Dick_Lugar
Trad climber
Indiana
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Follow up to soloing stories- I was chatting with my first climbing mentor the other day and he reminded me of a classic solo noob story. Back around '92 or '93, he would take me climbing to this craggin' place called "The Grotto" in the foothills out of Merced. I had just started to learn how to climb,I could probably count on one hand how many times I'd climbed on TR up to that point. My climbing style at this point could be summarized as thus: Epic-lectic. So I'm standing there tied into a 10.5 mm rope (which at that time seemed way too thin to provide much safety and peace of mind) and this guy shows up, boyish looks, no harness, no rope..maybe climbing shoes and a chalk bag, but my memory fails me. I must've been thinkin' this guy must be a noobie looking to learn how to climb and what a great opportunity this is for me to be an ambassador to climbing. At this point I guess I proceeded to start telling him about the climbs I'VE done as a beginner on this crag to date and then ask this guy if he "climbs". He says, "yep" and proceeds to solo an .11 finger crack (up and down). In hindsight, I'm sure I was just being friendly and hoping that there was someone else out there more of a noob than me out there that day. Oh yeah, the mystery guy was Dave Schultz...I learned a valuable lesson that day about humility!
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AP
Trad climber
Calgary
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Jeff Marshall had a day of solo ice back in 87(?). He did Polar Circus(5) and the complete Weeping Wall(6) back to back. The upper Weeping Wall is 500'of full on steep climbing with rotten ice. At one point he was standing on a mushroom while placing a tool when the mushroom popped off leaving him hanging from one tool. Said tool then started ripping through the rotten ice and pulled down 6 inches before stopping. Jeff fired in the other tool and proceeded up.
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couchmaster
climber
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I still remember waking up real early one frosty morning in the early 80's I think to see a young John Bachar downclimbing something in Joshua Tree I'd been trying to get up the courage to lead! Then he jumped on a lil bike and pedaled over to his next of many pants pissing (for those watching) solo, of many for that day. Later hearing of his solo at Cookie almost make me crap my pants. Still does.
Here's one:
The late Dwight Bishop free soloing the North Face of the Matterhorn in a day and some of the other Alps north faces. Later, back home, completes the first free solo of all the major Teton Peaks in a day as well. Years later - he try's the same amazing feat again, as a warm up to being the first to do it in the winter with tools: he is later found dead at the base of one of the peaks. I suspect a loose rock smacked him, as he had free soloed 5.13, no way he'd have slipped on a 5.8, but no one will ever know. His gear was donated to search and rescue and his buddies did the Butte guidebook based on his notes and attributed the authorship to him. Class stuff.
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Nefarius
Big Wall climber
Fresno, CA
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Ummm... I'm lost, navblk4. What would Richard Jensen's page have to do with free solo climbs? Solo, in this case, means to climb without a rope. Solo, as on Richard's page means to solo *aid* climb a route. Entirely different things.
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ydpl8s
Trad climber
Denver, Colorado
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Bob Dickerson free solo'd Bridelveil Falls in Telluride at least 3 times that I know of. When recounting the climbs, he was the most animated and detailed about the circuitous routes that he took to circumvent the local constabulary. Unfortunately, he was busted more than once. I think he may be on the Telluride "watch" list.
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Pewf
climber
nederland
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I'd like to hear some Derek Hersey stories from those that knew him.
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Nefarius
Big Wall climber
Fresno, CA
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navblk4 - Well, you kinda look at the OP, what he said and the subsequent posts and you get it. This isn't about aid solos. It's a little bigger than that.
Nothing against Richard, if that's what you're wondering. He's a good friend of mine.
Carry on...
I had the coolest solo experience not too long ago. It was a super easy route I've solo'd a number of times. However, prior to this day, I'd never solo'd with a friend. What a great experience!!! We climbed about 20 feet apart, had a great conversation the entire way up and he showed me yet a different finish to the climb. Previously, I'd always taken a slab exit, which is super cool but a bit heady, by comparison. Anyhow, soloing with a partner is highly recommended.
Let's hear some of the stories about the solo conga lines up Left Ski Track, back in the day!
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Willoughby
Social climber
Truckee, CA
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"Soloing with a partner" sure does sound like an oxymoron.
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Nefarius
Big Wall climber
Fresno, CA
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hahaha Sounds like it, doesn't it. Opinions vary, and it depends on how you look at it, I suppose. But if you're both unroped it fits the bill. Unless, of course, Russ and all those folks weren't actually soloing Left Ski Track, back in the day.
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JuanDeFuca
Big Wall climber
Stoney Point
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I view free soloing as Giving God the Middle Finger.
Juan
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