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Lambone
Ice climber
Ashland, Or
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Sep 29, 2008 - 09:38pm PT
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Free Chongo! Let him back in!
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marky
climber
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Sep 29, 2008 - 09:49pm PT
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hey, NYT editor:
in what way is this piece "ambitious"? Please tell me.
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jms
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 29, 2008 - 11:04pm PT
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In response to marky:
How was this piece ambitious? Fair question. I'll try to explain...
First of all, Michael Brick had to get all of the legal documents pertaining to Chongo and the authorities' cases against him through the Freedom of Information Act. That alone is quite a chore. Then he had to wade through hundreds of pages of legalese to discern what happened, over several years, between Yosemite authorities and Chongo.
Then lots more reporting -- in Sacramento, in Yosemite, over the phone, etc. -- with countless sources, including Chongo's mother and many of his peers in the climbing community.
But most important, and most difficult of all, was making sure we accurately captured Chongo and the scenes in Yosemite and Sacramento. Chongo's life story seems to go beyond Charles Victor Tucker III and some park rangers.
Oh, one more thing: Michael also had to do some heavy reading during the reporting process. He had to get through “The Homeless Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics.”
Anyway, I hope this explains why we think this was an ambitious piece.
Please feel free to email us directly if you (or anyone else) wants to share some thoughts in the future: stallman@nytimes.com or bricknyt@gmail.com
Jason Stallman
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deuce4
climber
Hobart, Australia
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Sep 30, 2008 - 12:16am PT
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OMFG!
The world is truly upside down. Not that there's anything unlegendary about Chongo, it is just that there's truly amazing folks out in the fray pushing the boundaries of the sport (like Ammon), while Chongo's the center of the big wall climbing world's limelight.
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guyman
Trad climber
Moorpark, CA.
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Sep 30, 2008 - 03:04am PT
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jms...good job, Chongo is just one of the many faces of climbing.
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Curt
Boulder climber
Gilbert, AZ
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Sep 30, 2008 - 03:14am PT
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I read as far as "For Rock Climbing Guru..." and then found something better to do.
Curt
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Matt
Trad climber
primordial soup
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Sep 30, 2008 - 03:17am PT
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^^^ exactly
"Guru"?
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tooth
Mountain climber
B.C.
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Sep 30, 2008 - 07:44am PT
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Nice piece, but sports? Doesn't climbing belong in the lifestyle section? I never really think of it as belonging in the same category as games where you chase a ball like someone's pet.
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Anguish
Mountain climber
Jackson Hole Wyo.
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Sep 30, 2008 - 03:42pm PT
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Filing a FOIA request and having government bureaucrats track down all the relevant citations is hardly ambitious. Other parts of the reporting may have been. I think we've read some of the ranger reports on Supertopo before, and in their language lies the crux of the story.
Good piece, nevertheless. Chongo has a long heritage, including the likes of the late Darrell Hatten, the Canadian logger and big wall aid specialist who adopted the alias Doug Fir after he was banned from Yosemite/USA for, as they say, being Darrell.
That climbers have historically seen themselves as societal misfits[Chouinard, Pratt, Harding] and that Chongo follows that mold is a missing element.
Also, can we finally agree that slack lining is done on a slack rope or chain, that the rest of it is tightrope walking?
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Nefarius
Big Wall climber
somewhere without avatars.........
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Sep 30, 2008 - 03:59pm PT
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What's up with Ivo - "he was the father of big wall climbing." hahaha
Chuck being booted out of the park is a tough, tough thing to find the right in, on either side. While I agree that he was there illegally, I also feel the park service shared responsibility in his continued presence there. They were certainly aware of his presence for two decades. They enabled him to be there. Both as an entity and as the individuals that comprise the entity. Yet, suddenly, due mainly to a personal vendetta by a ranger, Chuck is tossed out. It's sad. I'm glad Chuck is still around and doing well. I spent a couple of Chuck's last nights in the park with him (actually, we drove out of the park and crashed elsewhere) and he certainly looks significantly healthier in these pics than then...
I also understand and somewhat agree with what Tom says above. Again, I don't know that there was really a "right" thing to do, on either side. Most people stuck with their friend and tried to help him as best they knew how.
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James
climber
Leavenworthless
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Sep 30, 2008 - 04:01pm PT
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Why the New York Times wrote an article on a man who has done so little climbing and so much lurking is beyond me.
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TwistedCrank
climber
Ideeho
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Sep 30, 2008 - 04:03pm PT
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I alway thought Chongo was a little crisp around the edges and that the burn marks were from reentry. Did I miss something?
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jbar
Mountain climber
Inside my head
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Sep 30, 2008 - 04:30pm PT
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Just a thought. I was climbing a ridge in April and came across a peacock at the shelter on top. She obviously didn't belong there and had nothing to eat. She ate and drank everything I could spare. When i asked the rangers if they planned on getting her down before winter they balked. I reminded them she was a non indigenous animal to the national park and they replied that she had been there so long that they were considering her a part of the park. If this type of thing has happened before maybe it could have been used as precedence for Chongo. That would have been kind of cool.
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Gene
climber
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Sep 30, 2008 - 04:45pm PT
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He [the author of the piece] had to get through “The Homeless Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics.”
No good deed goes unpunished.
Gene
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Sep 30, 2008 - 05:00pm PT
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Destiny kicked Chongo out of the park so he could share his dirtbag knowledge with a wider audience
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graniteclimber
Trad climber
Nowhere
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Great article! It's currently on the Nytimes.com Most Popular list of the 10 most emailed articles. Congrats, Michael Brick.
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Todd Gordon
Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
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Mr. Brick failed to note one of Chongo's major and main haunts for nearly a decade or longer;...a place that he actually spent more time at then the Valley each year;...a place where there were no Rangers, no cops, no 14 day limit,.....and where he could write his books without too much interference, hassles, or worries. A place where he could bum a smoke, take a free shower, sell gear legally a freely, and often get a free meal. A place Chongo hung out at that was warm on cold nights,....where there was always a fire to keep ya warm, and people to share ideas with. A place where Chongo could meet with climbers from all over the world, and even meet women;...once or twice he would even get lucky and get laid,..(The story about Chongo and the beautiful 6 foot tall Canadian girl is true;...I witnessed it....) ..A place where at Christmas time, there was usually a turkey dinner, and yeah, even a present quite often for ol' Chuck under the tree. A place where he could invite new or old friends, a place where he could get or make phone calls, and a place where the satellite T V was free (Including HBO and Showtime...). A place where he could take a crap, do his laundry, smoke a cig indoors without getting a ticket or the boot. A place where he could park his car, work on his car, store junk, or take a nap any hour of the day. A place that he could call home, and mean it;...for it WAS his home....his and many others. A place he could listen to music, play music, sort gear, sew gear, sell gear. A place where there were little to no rules, lots of freedom, and all/most of his needs met. That place was my home, the Gordon Ranch, ......and yeah, it aint' quite as pretty as Yosemite Valley, it WAS a place where Chongo spend probably the majority of his time at during the 90's.....probably 7 out of 12 months a year.........and the climbing Chongo was always welcome and could stay as long as he wished and do as he pleased;....the hobo Chongo;.....well;......some years he stayed a month or two too long the odd year out......but still;.....your home is your home.............and, like Dorothy says;....there is no place like home. When you read the article, you wonder how Chongo could do all his did , and still stay in the Valley year after year, for so long before he got booted.....well;......many a year, he hung in the Valley just long enough to get the Park Service on their toes;....then he would "disappear" for 5-8 months.....only to return to the Valley again in the spring....not something mentioned in the article..(The Park service knew he went to Josh, and , I believe, they knew where he lived each winter...).. Michael Brick did write a very interesting piece about a very unique and facinating individual, but he did leave out one of the big waves Chongo rode for years;....The Gordon Ranch. There is a side of me that misses Chongo each year;...and the rest of the bums, travelers, climbers, nomads, drifters, locals, seasonals, musicians, Euros, Czechs, run-aways, floaters, parties, ...the madness;............but it's all been replaced by another equally chaotic and challenging form of madness;......the insanity of 3 wonderful children all under the age of 5. I hope Chongo has fond memories of his many,many, months at the Gordon Ranch;...and I hope he enjoyed all the cool people he met here and the opportunities that magically would appeared out of thin air at a place where there were little to no rules, and lots of strange, wonderful, interesting, and fabulous happenings each and everyday. Many many a night I would stay up well into the wee hours......1,2, or 3 A.M.....everyone else would be crashed out sleeping, or trying to sleep;....for I would still be up, playing the piano for hours for no good reason as to pacify myself, escape and hide in the trance-like private world of the musician and his instrument;........but I would not be alone;.....Chongo would accompany me on these journeys;.......for he would usually be awake at those dark and secret times (having slept face down in the sofa most of the day......)......he wouldn't say much...or usually anything;....but he would be writing, typing, listening, and following........After an hour or three of playing the piano....I would stop, Chongo would mutter......"Dude/man....wow........"...we would say goodnight, and I would go off to bed to sleep;.......Chongo was just getting warmed up, inspired, and continue into the night with his non-stop writings and indulgences......I tip my hat to The Man Chongo;...who creates his own world, lives in it, shares with others, creates, inspires, and lives on a few thousand dollars a year......he's truly unique in time and space........
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graniteclimber
Trad climber
Nowhere
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"The house in Josh" - that could be a feature article by itself.
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shutupandclimb
climber
Palm Desert Ca.
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The piece worked.............It made us all think about chongo. I know I haven't for a while.
Even if the piece wasn't entirely accurate in all the claims, it carried to a wide audience a feeling of how our community opens it arms and in some cases even looks up to those who march adrift of societal conventions. I far one, feel honored and gifted to have met many in the climbing community that would be considered "oddballs" or "losers" in the eyes of Society.
We are a group that classically holds in high regard those that have the courage to truly follow their ambitions, and that is a quality that society as a whole lacks. Lets hang on to that.
Cheers to Chongo!
BTW great post Todd...........The ranch was the epicenter of the Josh Climbing community for a long time and worthy of a NY times piece itself..............Are you listening Mr. Editor?
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Wack
climber
Dazevue
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"Question Authority" used to be the mantra of the young. Why are the minions of the DNC allowed to live in temporary (10 years) trailers at the lodge. Why are NPS employees allowed to live in the Valley? All of these service people should be living, crowding and pooping in an off site location. This would dramatically reduce the the number of (unsightly) man made structures in the Valley, acres returned to nature.
Today it has morphed into the simplistic "Chongo broke the law and deserved to be railroaded and exiled". The NPS picks a random number of days that a climber can spend in Mecca while placing no such quota on the number of days you can stay at the Lodge if you have the $$. The amount of time, money and effort the NPS spent in persecuting Chongo is laughable. If the Government can't catch Chongo as he stumbles to his secret bivi site, then write him a legit OB camping ticket it's no wonder they haven't been able to catch Bin Laden.
When Yosemite is returned to pristine wilderness there will be no place for scofflaws. Until then it's just rationing freedom to the highest bider.
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