Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
tolman_paul
Trad climber
Anchorage, AK
|
|
Dr. Rock,
The glue up was still in use through the mid 90's. Possibly not detected are a couple of aid routes on the tunnels where the river flow under the freeway. You have to hike maybe a 1/2 mile down the rr tracks then drop down to the stream and head into the tunnels.
There were also a few drilled pocket routes, but the maintenance crews really didn't dig that vs. the glue ups. Also some aid routes on cracks in the train tunnel under the expressway.
Glue ups, buildering et all had certainly been around since the 60's or 70's.
|
|
ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
Mono County
|
|
" The truth is I Stole the idea from Dale Bard.
My wall was a lot bigger and better than his so I take credit. " That's the one in Moving Over Stone . I saw it in person one time over at Rovana . . . was totally rad .
|
|
Dr. Rock
Ice climber
http://tinyurl.com/4oa5br
|
|
Thanks Paul!
I think that underpass went thru a number of different phases.
It would get popular with many holds, then everybody got the boot.
Then a couple of years later, a new crop of kids would come along.
I know where those tunnels are!
we used to hike those when I was five or six, the train was still going through there, you had to be careful, listen for whistles.
We used to hide in the brush with pellet pistols and shoot the windows out of the caboose every day, up near the High Voltage sub station.
Man, those drunk guys in the back were pissed.
"I'll get you yet, Sunny Jim, nobody shoots the windows out of Shack's train!"
Some freak a year older shot at a helicopter with a 22 up in Rancho San Antonio before it was a preserve, it was to be a Sheriff's chopper, and he happen to catch the co pilot in the leg.
The guy shouts out "I'm Hit" which we used to joke about, since this wasn't exactly the jungles of Nam.
So the pilot calls in for backup and they catch they guy in the woods near Duvanek Windmill or around there somewhere.
Then there was the other classmate that killed another student and stuffed him down a manhole, wow, tough crowd, eh?\
No wonder all the teachers hated us.
White punks on crack, glad I survived all the sh#t.
|
|
Dolomite
climber
|
|
U of Washington had an outdoor concrete wall designed specifically for climbing. Don't know when it was built exactly, but I climbed on it as early as 1975.
|
|
RSpence
Trad climber
Tacoma, WA
|
|
|
Oct 10, 2008 - 01:43am PT
|
I believe the first artificial climbing structure was built in Seattle between 1938 & 1939 by the WPA. It is still there and you can read about it here:
http://www.seattle.gov/parks/environment/history.htm
The climbing rock was designed by Clark Schurman & you can read more about him here:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/visualart/282097_camplong24.html
Here are two excerpts from the articles about Schurman the rock:
"Schurman also envisioned the park as the place to realize his longtime dream: the building of a manmade peak where inexperienced climbers could safely practice their mountaineering skills.
For years, he worked on the idea in clay. Monitor Rock, as it was first known, was built by the Works Progress Administration between 1938 and 1939. It was renamed Schurman Rock after his death."
"Schurman Rock -- a climbers dream
Shurman Rock: This major attraction at Camp Long was designed by Clark Schurman. His dream was to build a human-made mountain incorporating every potential rock climbing problem into its design. After taking a winter to make a clay model of the rock, Schurman worked very closely with the W.P.A. workers to create his dream rock. It took 2 years to complete the 20 foot high, erratically shaped climbing rock. Schurman called it Monitor Rock after its intended purpose to "warn, remind, advise and instruct." After Schurman’s death in 1955 the rock was renamed "Schurman Rock" to honor Clark Schurman’s contribution to Camp Long and mountaineering. On the occasion of the renaming on September 7, 1957, William G. Long gave a special radio address."
It is generally accepted that the first "climbing gyms" in the US were Vertical Club in Seattle followed closely by CATS in Boulder , CO. Although there were many climbing walls that predate this as mentioned earlier.
-Ryan
|
|
Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
|
|
|
Oct 10, 2008 - 01:50am PT
|
I climbed at the Vertical Club in October 1989, so it was there then.
There was an artificial outdoor wall at the University of B.C., built in 1971. It was never finished, but we climbed on it anyway. It was about 10 m high, and had some anchors at the top. There were slots in the concrete for holds, but they were never manufactured and inserted. There are some pictures of the wall in a Canadian Alpine Journal.
I climbed at an artifical indoor climbing wall in London, England in May 1980. It was called the Sobell Wall, and was at some sort of recreation centre. I may have a blurry slide of it. You definitely had to pay to use it, though not a lot.
|
|
Brian in SLC
Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
|
|
|
Oct 10, 2008 - 11:01am PT
|
Donini-a-saurus wrtoe: Gym's may "rot the soul" and be bad for the tendons, but they do provide a service.
And, uh, what service would that be, Jim? Hee hee.
WC wrote: If I remember correctly, The Wasatch Body Shop was around by 1989, maybe a bit earlier.
Sounds about right. On "Gunn Avenue" funnily enough, across from the Villa, next to the old IME location in SLC. Used to go there a bit back then. 5 bucks if you weren't one of the original investors. Rumor has that Dave has a woody somewhere else now (ha!). Rockreation opened in SLC in '92 with Dale Goddard as the first manager, I seem to recall.
Montana State University had an old, converted raquetball court that was a climbing "room" back in the late 60's. Open to anyone with a university rec. pass. Limited, but, fun.
-Brian in SLC
|
|
Dr. Rock
Ice climber
http://tinyurl.com/4oa5br
|
|
|
Oct 10, 2008 - 06:08pm PT
|
You know, the first Any Mountain that was next to Apple on Hwy 9.
They might have had a wall in there around 74 or so.
REI had an indoor mountain, the one on Homestead before they moved.
Way back when.
Any Mountain also had a moving ski ramp out back which was basically astroturf on rollers set to an angle, you get up on there and carve til you bleed.
from somewhere on the web:
"The first climbing wall was created in England in 1964 as a way for climbers to practice ascents in a controlled environment."
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!