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MH2
climber
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Aug 15, 2009 - 11:52pm PT
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Some of the usual suspects
My God! They're all looking at the camera. Who took the picture?
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Aug 15, 2009 - 11:59pm PT
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Who are all these people?
And what happened to Greg's hair?
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Wayno
Big Wall climber
Seattle, WA
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Aug 16, 2009 - 12:23am PT
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Why isn't Anders smiling?
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Aug 17, 2009 - 02:27am PT
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So who's smiling here?
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Wayno
Big Wall climber
Seattle, WA
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Aug 17, 2009 - 02:46pm PT
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Oh, the mirth. It looks like you guys and gals had a fun time.
Tami does a great impersonation of my cousin Blinky from Appalachia country. How did you get to be so damn funny, girl? There is a sublime balance between you and Anders in that pic. I'm still laughing.
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MH2
climber
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Aug 17, 2009 - 03:24pm PT
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So who's smiling here?
All of us.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Aug 17, 2009 - 04:37pm PT
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Tami's parents constantly warned her that if she didn't stop making faces, her face would eventually freeze that way. They told her and told her, but did she listen? Nooooo! And there's proof - zygomaticus abuse if I ever saw it.
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mazamarick
Trad climber
WA
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Aug 17, 2009 - 04:47pm PT
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Tami, that's the best picture of you I've seen, haven't changed a bit. Anders on the other hand.........
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Aug 17, 2009 - 10:14pm PT
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But I'm sure you'll all agree that I'm the cute one.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Aug 27, 2009 - 01:10am PT
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Here is a Squamish story from before the 1970s, but still a nice one. There is a lovely clean ledge at the top of the Apron - a fan shaped area of slabs about 250 m high, with 20 - 30 commonly climbed routes, and several dozen variants and less frequently climbed routes. A tree ledge - Broadway - traverses down from the top of the Apron into the forest, and is the descent. The left edge of the Apron is something of a buttress, and indeed the Squamish Buttress rises above.
The ledge is right at the crest of the Apron, and juts out from the buttress. It is a pleasant airy spot with a fine view, and I like to sit there and think. (It would be marvellous to bivouac there, but I haven't yet done so.) I was up there last Thursday evening - I was doing a bit of graffiti removal and other cleanup, planning to meet friends for a beer later. A good place to watch the sun's going.
It is named the Baldwin Ledge, although some call it Memorial Ledge.
There is an oven-sized rock perched fortuitously on the edge of the ledge, and on it is a plaque. Here it is:
The plaque was placed in memory of Jim Baldwin by his family and friends, after his death on Washington Column in 1964. It has weathered quite nicely. (Brass? Bronze?) The quote is from a poem by Walt Whitman, called "To Those Who've Fail'd" (I believe it's from Leaves of Grass):
To those who've fail'd, in aspiration vast,
To unnam'd soldiers fallen in front on the lead,
To calm, devoted engineers--to over-ardent travelers--to pilots on their ships,
To many a lofty song and picture without recognition--I'd rear
laurel-cover'd monument,
High, high above the rest--To all cut off before their time,
Possess'd by some strange spirit of fire,
Quench'd by an early death.
I'm not big on such plaques and memorials at Squamish - they just don't feel right to me. But this is one hallowed by time and usage, and is just right. A place special to the memory of Jim Baldwin, a leader in Squamish and Canadian climbing.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Aug 27, 2009 - 01:41am PT
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I don't know whether the bleaching is due to electrolysis, chemical effects, or both. Perhaps there's an 'ologist in the house who can advise? It may depend on which metal it is. There could also be interaction between the bolts (probably soft steel, 1/4" compression, but not sure) and the plaque. The bolts themselves - there are only two, as the surface of the rock is uneven - look like they need replacing.
There are now two other plaques at the Baldwin Ledge (in the 1970s we called that general area "the Baldwin Plaque" = ledge + memorial), placed well after the 1970s. Parks' policy (since 1995) prohibits placement of memorials anywhere at the Chief, which in the long run makes sense. I've suggested that they have a program for friends and families to donate to projects or a fund, with an 'updateable' plaque or similar in the campground on which names could be recorded. It might be a reasonable solution.
The Baldwin Ledge really is a very pretty place. I sent the photos to several of Jim's friends, most of whom hadn't seen the spot for 30 or more years, and one of whom didn't know the memorial existed. I'm hoping one or other may add a bit to this tidbit of history, and thought it worth a small detour from our main theme. Not that I would ever digress, naturally...
The ashes of several climbers have been strewn from several locations on the Chief, including Daryl's from the south summit in 2004.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
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Aug 27, 2009 - 01:54am PT
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Anders,
It looks like 'commercial bronze' to me which is basically brass which means about 12% zinc which probably explains the corrosion. Prolly the only way to stop it is to remove it, kill the corrosion, coat it, and re-mount.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Aug 27, 2009 - 05:30pm PT
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That makes sense - the plaque was probably made at a commercial monument place, and so would have 'standard' composition. I've seen many similar ones from the 1960s.
Still hoping to get a bit more background about the origins of the plaque. The two bolts holding it on are very corroded, more so than those from that period would usually be. Perhaps galvanic action again. Anyway, I may ask those who placed it if it would be OK to replace the bolts - it should be possible to completely remove them without harming the plaque, and to reuse the holes. I need to measure what diameter bolt the holes on the plaque would accept.
You mention coating the plaque - what would be used, and what would the implications, advantages and disadvantages be?
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Slabby D
Trad climber
B'ham WA
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Aug 27, 2009 - 05:40pm PT
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Maybe 8 or 10 years ago when I was in my late-twenties I was standing in front of that plaque with a buddy and he read it as..
"Possess'd by some strange spirit of fire,
Quench'd by turning thirty"
I laughed at the time but its taken a few more years to realize how true his words were.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Aug 27, 2009 - 06:53pm PT
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It's interesting that the poem is titled "To Those Who've Fail'd", even if failed is used in the poetic sense. The metaphors in the poem are of those who tried their best, but didn't succeed - which isn't quite the same as failing. I may know who chose the trope, and will ask what the reason was.
We all eventually 'fail', as we grow older and weaker. But in modern English, Baldwin didn't fail - far from it. I haven't read Leaves of Grass, though I know a bit about it. Perhaps the context of the poem would explain more.
What fun - a poetry highjack.
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MH2
climber
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Aug 27, 2009 - 11:30pm PT
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Hey, it's getting to That Time of Year.
In me thou see'st the embers of such fire...
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Aug 28, 2009 - 08:23pm PT
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Well, Baldwin was reportedly a rumbustious sort, and would likely have approved of just about any non-destructive activity there.
A friend has sent some information about the plaque and its history, and I've asked if it would be OK to post it.
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Aug 28, 2009 - 08:29pm PT
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isn't andy's plaque up there, too?
i'd love to see a photo, if anyone has one.
i've only been back to squamish twice since, and never got to get back up there and see it.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Aug 29, 2009 - 03:42pm PT
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My friend ("Hamie") agrees that the following be posted. He was a friend of Jim Baldwin's. I'll paraphrase a bit.
He and a few friends were responsible for the plaque. They used money from the Cacodemon Climbing Club to pay for it - about $55. Several climbers active in the 1960s at Squamish were quite interested in poetry, and he was then reading Leaves of Grass. Few people knew about the placement of the plaque, probably in autumn 1966. He's unsure if the Baldwin family knew of the plaque being placed.
The plaque is made of bronze. It's common in B.C. to place a sheet of zinc at the ridge of shake roofs, to deter growth of moss and lichen. (Hamie agrees to replacement of the rusty bolts.)
Hamie says that Baldwin "definitely had that 'strange spirit of fire'!!" He agrees that the ledge: "..would be a great place to bivvy. A couple of brews, some cheap red wine, or both. Jim would approve. He would also have enjoyed the idea of climbers having sex there."
Here's a photo from when the plaque was placed. The person in the photo isn't Hamie.
Kerwin: Please send me your e-mail, and I can send you photos.
As mentioned in the very first post, a whole year ago now, and occasionally since, all stories and photos copyright © Anders Ourom, 2008 and 2009. Except, of course, for stories and photos contributed by others, to which they hold copyright. A few tell me its impossible to effectively assert copyright to something on the internet. Not quite. The simple solution to anyone stealing things is to loudly and publicly denounce the person, by name, as a thief. The unwashed public might not care - but those in the climbing community would.
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