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Gary
climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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Jun 24, 2011 - 02:01pm PT
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I just got back to Lunch Rock and was talking to Pat and Tawni when they mentioned running into a rope soloer. They said he asked to join them as his back was giving him problems. After reading all those trolls on rec.climbing, I was instantly suspicious. Yes, his name was Jeff.
Not long after, I showed up at Humber Park to a SCMA trip hoping to find a partner. They said an applicant needed an evaluation, some guy named Batten.
He was a happy guy, we had a short laugh about the wreck. His wife was a UCLA grad, that's where he got the coed bit. We did one of those 5.3 routes on the north side, I forget which one.
He hogged all the leads, maybe he didn't trust me, or maybe he just liked leading. He let me lead one pitch, which was a horror, nothing but loose crap, everything was detached. It was a really sketchy lead, but at least it was easy. I was really worried about setting something off. "There's the guy that killed Rockstar," everybody would say.
But we had a good day. Jeff loved climbing, it was more than obvious. You can watch someone for just a few minutes and tell if they know what they're doing. Jeff knew.
My gf and I met him out at Josh for a day later on. It was the usual pleasant day of climbing. He wanted to take a picture of placing a bolt on Double Cross, but we didn't get around to it. He could only go out for a day. His wife is not well. But he was hoping to climb more, and had joined SCMA looking for partners.
We emailed from time to time, but never climbed again after that. When he started posting about the anti-depressants I thought he was just trolling, I never would have thought it was for real.
I didn't even believe the reports of his death, just Jeff coming up with a really good one. I had a friend on the faculty at Northridge check it out and got an email from the physics department confirming it was suicide.
He was a smart, safe climber and easy going.
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John Moosie
climber
Beautiful California
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Jun 24, 2011 - 07:39pm PT
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You said it Dingus. He helped me tremendously, though I fell for a few of his trolls. But his explanation of why he trolled, which is over on RC.com really helped me understand attachment.
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Gary
climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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Jun 27, 2011 - 11:16am PT
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I don't think Jeff was BURT.
Good post, DMT. It's too bad you guys never got to climb. Batten really enjoyed the wreck. He was a master craftsman. The Chief is about as close as we get nowadays. And your Lois/RitaG avatar really has some of the guys going.
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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Jun 27, 2011 - 03:06pm PT
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Rest in peace, Jeff.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Jun 27, 2011 - 03:53pm PT
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I think Batten was incomparable, there are no current trolls like him and in some ways, his trolling predates the widely known phenomena, a phenomena that grew up out of those old forums.
My side discussions with Jeff were limited, but you certainly saw a side of the man different from his ST persona. His whole life history is spread out on the net if you have the time and patience to look at the details, starting when he was a graduate student at CalTech in geology and ending with the news of his death here.
There was a long time period in which there were no posts by him, I did a bit of looking around at the department he was working for and noticed they had "downsized" the staff due to budgetary constraints. I started worrying when he did not respond to my emails regarding our "side talks," it was very sad to hear of his demise.
Jeff was a human, after all, and I think actually a sensitive one, though with some rather strange twists. In the end he had lost control of his life, his work and his physical ability to participate in climbing could not keep up with his passion. I have no more idea of why he chose that particular solution to his problems, but he did and I have to respect him for it even if there were other ways out. It is natural to think of things we could have done... one lesson I have taken is to try to be humane to all, to put our conversations here into perspective, and to try to keep the banter respectful of the fact that we aren't just what we appear to be here... someone is typing the words in... and we shouldn't loose sight of that.
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John Moosie
climber
Beautiful California
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Jun 27, 2011 - 04:02pm PT
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one lesson I have taken is to try to be humane to all, to put our conversations here into perspective, and to try to keep the banter respectful of the fact that we aren't just what we appear to be here... someone is typing the words in... and we shouldn't loose sight of that.
Thanks Ed.. That isn't an easy lesson to live up to. I still fail at that one.
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Anastasia
climber
hanging from an ice pick and missing my mama.
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Jun 27, 2011 - 04:19pm PT
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Beautifully said Hartouni,
I actually knew Jeff better than some. He had a brilliant mind and for some intelligence can be a curse. He had many friends at JPL and even brought one of them to speak to us at my University. James E. Graf, Project Manager at the JPL site for the Deep Impact Project gave us a fantastic Power Point in great details about the mission and how it was being developed. It was a magical time... A time that I won't forget and a time that only Jeff could have given to my State College. I am sure without Graf being one of Jeff's buddies, he would have ignored such a request.
As for who Jeff was, it really can not be described in the two dimensional world of the written word. He really was more than he gave himself credit for and sadly very few will ever know all that encompassed him that is forever gone.
To all who will not speak to us again in this life... I shall not forget.
Anastasia
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Jun 27, 2011 - 05:16pm PT
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hey there say, ed and anastasia... say i did not see which bump brought this up, but thanks so very much for sharing...
jeff's folks have said that if anything jeff posted here, as to his depression, etc, helps anyone, they will be glad that folks keep going back to read his posts on any of that...
i do know one thing, though, and that sadly it was his love and concern FOR someone else, more than himself, that finally was too much for him to bear, :(
so: when you know others facing hard to bear things, please BE there, in their corner, as much as you be, two are stronger than one...
well, god bless...
i remember when i first learned what happened, i just couldnt believe it, cause, first off:
i did not know him personally and i thought some of his posts had started to sound like he had help, finally, and was doing a bit better...
and second:
i did not know then how complicated his situation was...
:(
god bless to his wife and his parents, and close-friends near home, as they continue onward, without him...
edit:
oops, just saw spider's post:
*spider savage, check your email, :)
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frog-e
Trad climber
Imperial Beach California
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No more WandaFuca?
That sucks...
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Anastasia
climber
InLOVEwithAris.
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Aug 21, 2012 - 01:32am PT
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Thinking of Jeff. He always pops in my mind whenever I read about the Mars Rover since he had done some work on that project. Plus he pops in my mind when I see anything to do with JPL or earthquakes. He was a very nice to me when I needed it while attending Cal State Northridge. I will not forget him.
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Spider Savage
Mountain climber
The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles
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Aug 21, 2012 - 01:37am PT
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Aug 21, 2012 - 01:42am PT
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We've lost a lot of interesting and colorful characters over the past few years - friends and loved ones among them. Jeff certainly carved out a niche here on ST and will not be soon forgotten.
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 21, 2012 - 01:47am PT
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All hail the original and inimitable troll Batten bro~!
I bet he would have even survived the cultural revolution here at ST
Peace
Karl
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WandaFuca
Social climber
From the gettin place
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Aug 21, 2012 - 02:51am PT
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Definitely not without his faults, many of his posts caused barely a temblor within the terrain of SuperTopo or rec.climbing.
But occasionally his posts caused a seismic shift, a shock, or upheaval in the discussions, that were irresistible to being commented on by the masses, and because of that he was an inspiration that was and continues to be imitated by other trolls.
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turd
climber
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Sep 23, 2012 - 01:09am PT
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Aw man. That truly sucks.
RIP Juan.
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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Sep 23, 2012 - 11:04am PT
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I didn't know that Jeff passed away, I must have missed that news/thread. I sometimes wondered what happened to him.
Depression is terrible, and I think that is an understatement on my part.
Hopefully he has found peace.
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Sep 23, 2012 - 11:42am PT
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I too often think of Jeff and miss him. I try to describe him to those who didn't know him here on the taco and I fail miserably. I'm sure his excellent presence here is but a fraction of him in the 'real world'.
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pyro
Big Wall climber
Calabasas
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Sep 23, 2012 - 12:09pm PT
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the last time we spoke jeff had joined us at potholes for some traversing. he started to solo the crack right there and we told em he'd fall so he came down and toked it up!
Jeff the next day called me and asked if i wanted his entire piton rack. i told him to hold on to it... afew months went by and i found out he bit the dust.
jeff was an employee for cal tech in the 90's. he always talked about a crazy boss that would shoot rocks with a shot gun. (i guess that's what u do if ur into siesmology.) anyhoot he work for the nerds at cal tech but then quit to work at the northridge college. his office at northridge was a chemisrty loung and he had 7 computers all of which had supertopo on. he also had an indoor rock thing in his office.
i loved his photo shopped pics on the taco.
p.s i have his wife number if u want it then pm me.
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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Dec 29, 2012 - 10:06am PT
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Crying like a baby going back over this thread. What Bluey said earlier - Shine on you Crazy Diamond.
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