Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
susan peplow
climber
www.joshuatreevacationhomes.com
|
|
When I first started climbing Kelly was probably one of the best all around women climbers in AZ. She did it all and hand drilled!!
A decade or so later I'd run into her while out climbing as she tried to resurrect that portion of her life. She was always fun to be around.
Amazing its been a year already. I didn't know her well enough to claim her as a friend but I have friends that were forever impacted by her association. She was greatly loved.
Incidentally, my sister who taught me to climb had a long and serious crush on her ex, Bill Paul. I had forgotten that until I saw the photo.
~Susan
|
|
Lynne Leichtfuss
Social climber
valley center, ca
|
|
Dickbob, I know about losing the grand passion of your life. I lost mine 17 months and 4 days ago. My prayers and thoughts will be with you.
Special, this Thread you started. Kelly was beautiful and I bet she was one fun person. I would have loved to have met her. Peace, Dude. If you ever feel crazy grief....it hits at times, feel free to email me. Lynne
|
|
Dickbob
climber
Colorado
|
|
The Forks
Vegas
|
|
Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
|
|
Wow. What an incredible looking person. Do you know what I mean? How you sometimes see some pictures and think "I wish I'd known him/her"?
Tell us some stories about her.
D
|
|
rick d
climber
tucson, az
|
|
dick bob-
I knew you knew, I wanted someone else to see the image and guess!
Lynne-
dick bob, et al were just solid friends of Kelly- not romantically involved (except chewy in forks image).
btw, dick bob is really just another "rick" from phoenix.
he is dick bob, I am the gimp...
|
|
Dickbob
climber
Colorado
|
|
Sorry for blowing your quiz Rick.. Is that Copland? Never got to know the guy, to my misfortune.
The quiz Kelly would want is who are all the women from left to right at Pete's in Hueco. She organized that shoot and at the time it was the best of the best women climbers at the time.
And yes..Kell was my friend. My wife and 6 year old daughter idolize Kelly. My Daughter still talks about the time Kelly stopped by our house in Colorado on her Harley. Made a huge impresion on her.
I will tell you some tales Ghost.. Let me sleep on it
|
|
Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
|
|
It is hard to believe, I wish that all of you who didn't know her, had gotten the chance to meet her. 'Bad ass' is only the merest suggestion of the unique person that she was. She even fixed my glasses once.
|
|
hooblie
climber
|
|
i'm sure you do miss her. i'm sorry to have missed knowing her, the images communicate fortitude and presence, especially that highstep and reach at the forks, looks like she's going to cover some terrain. tell us some stories, i'm feeling the pull
|
|
drljefe
climber
Old Pueblo, AZ
|
|
Rest in peace.
Peace to all who were close to her.
|
|
bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, Ca.
|
|
Like Shipley, she seems like a person I 'missed' in meeting and that kinda pisses me off. I have met some really fine folk, but I missed some too.
Pisses me off, kinda.
But I am reassured by the fact that these people have good folks still around to remember them and keep their spirits alive.
F*#kin'-A humanity is still alive and it's good!
God bless Kelly, Walt, Woody, and the others we've all lost.
|
|
Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
|
|
That smile in the photo of Rick's with her and the snake captures the image that always comes to my mind when I think of her. That and a hair displacing head move andof course, that laugh.
I think the first time I ever met her was after I saw her, as a teenager reasonably new to climbing (I think) climbing paradise Lost @ the Forks with no falls.
"Who is that?"
Soon enough it was zonerland season again and she was up in her top steps, hand drilling with the first wave of the season.
She had an element of boldness about her.
She had an element of confidence as well. She was not afraid to take on the role of mother hen with an older crowd...
I remember a conversation I had with her when I was maybe 32 ( and somewhat of a local fixture, at the time in that space) and she was perhaps 18. We were @ Peralta parking or somewhere like that and I was explaining how I had just spent $750 to replace a front axle on my brand new 4wd, after an ill-advised shortcut attempt to Devil's canyon (or maybe I was just driving too fast) in any case I might have saved minutes, had it worked. D'oh!
"Did we learn something?" She chided me.
I hung my head and drew my toe through the sand, "yee-es."
"Are we going to do That, again?" she asked.
"N-oo," I answered sheepishly....
Man she was a lot of fun to be around!
|
|
Dickbob
climber
Colorado
|
|
Bill paul "found" Kelly wandering around Pinnacle peak, just checking out the desert, north of Phoenix after climbing one day. I think she was 17 at the time.
After a very short introduction to the sport, her first lead was a greasy slab, I believe it was White Warlock 10d. This was back in the day when no one did 12's and we all aspired to do an 11 some day.
Her first FA was Tone Of A Bell in Zonerland. I swapped bolts with her on it from stance or hooks. It is on the tallest tower to the entrance of the place. For a year all the guys had been kinda pretending it wasn't there. Not that its hard or anything, 5.9+, but it was in your face. How many bolts? How should the line go? What should we name it? Every one who goes up has to walk right by it. Its the first and the proudest line in the whole place. We were up alone that weekend and I remember her saying come on Percival (thats what she always called me), lets just do it. Tone Of A Bell. She let me name it.
One time in Vedauwoo, for some reason she wanted to leave. We were on a road trip from Phoenix at the time. No one else wanted to leave so she just hitch hiked. Just like that. She just hitched back to Phoenix. It wasn't like we were worried about her either. She could take care of herself and we knew it.
She prefered to lead. Back in the 80's that was rare for a female in my circle of friends. She liked the sharp end.
In Phoenix my dad was in town from southern Minnesota. I wanted to introduce him to climbing by taking him up the Praying Monk on Camelback Mt but I needed a third since he had no idea what he was doing and it was a tower with an overhanging rappel. Kelly said she would love to but she had to be to work at 1pm or something. We got an early start but you know how that goes with your dads first tower. Kelly lead it of course and my dad went next while I encouraged him from the ground. Dad did well.. Then Dad yelled on belay so I went up. When I got on top..no Kelly. Where is she Dad? She had to go to work and I watched her literally run down the mountain, hoped onto her motorcycle and zoom off he said. She gave Dad a very quick lesson on how to belay ..his first ever.. and told him " you will be fine Mr Percival" and rapped off. Being alone on that tower was powerful for my dad. He cried when I told him that she died.
Once at Taquitz Ryan reallly wanted to do the Vampire. We were all scared of it. Ryan and Kelly did it the next day.
You would always find Kelly talking to someone and ask her "who was that" More often than not her response was "I dont know"
At her Funeral they had an open mike and so many people went up to speak that the Pastor had to shut it down and turn people away after more than an hour.
The Phoenix chapter of the Hells Angels escorted her to the cemetary on their Harleys. Impressive audibly if nothing else and I asked a burley, bearded Angel if Kelly was an Angel as well and his response was, "you look like a smart kid. Of course she was! We dont do this for everyone and you cant find us in the yellow pages" I'm not sure if her being an Angel is a good thing or not but it was Kelly Bell.
And by the way, she was sober for 6 years or so just before her death and she was very proud of that.
|
|
hooblie
climber
|
|
i'm circling around a word i'll leave unused. it's been said that it means
honor to the light that shines within you, that shines within us all.
i'm just stricken by the poignancy that attaches to memory,
that should find it's analog in the present moment.
around some it surely does.
|
|
Jello
Social climber
No Ut
|
|
Namaste, Kelly Bell...
-Jello
|
|
rick d
climber
tucson, az
|
|
We should all remember that we also have lost Toto (Xavier Bongard) and the highlander (Scott Hynes)-(shown in image with Kelly, Deuce, Kyle) though it has been a few more years.
The best memory I have of that weekend at the forks was that my cousin Jason (not a climber) took his mountain bike up from Phoenix. He had just told me he 'expected it to be the best weekend of his life'. He proceeded to get really baked and decided to move the truck to angle it to block the morning sun and ran over his bike frame and all...
|
|
deuce4
climber
Hobart, Australia
|
|
Kelly was a rad gal, that's for certain. She was definitely "one of the crew" BITD. Very bold on the sharp end and on the high-ball boulder problems. I was sad to hear of her passing.
Is that really Kyle in the photo? Can't tell, but the ragged jeans and the Budweiser...
I'm sorry to hear also of Scott.
How's that Bill Paul doing? He always has such a good spirit.
|
|
Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
|
|
Yeah, whatever became of Bill Paul?
|
|
Boltgrl
Ice climber
Winslow, AZ
|
|
he's in california, running a staging company. taylor, their daughter, is there with him now.
|
|
Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
|
|
Competing with Rhino? What part of Cal (southern , no doubt)
Glad to hear his daughter is with him.
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!