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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Hey Jay, how was Indian Creek? Post up, bro! Looks like we're on for Zanderland on the 12th.
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, Ca.
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pretty sweet, Mark!!!!
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Always wanted to do the NIAD. I felt I had the skills but not the guns so I never got beyond stuff like Half Dome and the West Face.
Maybe with the right partner when I was in pretty good shape but it still would have been like going into a bank and pointing my finger at the clerks and yelling "this is a stick up, give me your money"
No guns, no glory!
Congrats again!
Would have been funny if you could have passed up some arrogant young guns going slower than expected as usual. They would see the codgers mantle up to their bivy and then BOOM, gone like the wind passing.
Peace
Karl
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Fletcher
Trad climber
somewhere approaching Ajna
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Thanks Mark, I really enjoy your writing and storytelling. That adds even more to a great accomplishment.
Eric
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 8, 2009 - 02:35pm PT
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Yeah, John, that's good.
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JesseM
Social climber
Yosemite
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Nice work Mark,
Next time you come down it would be great to meet up, and go climb something.
Jesse McGahey
Yosemite Climbing Ranger
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Maysho
climber
Soda Springs, CA
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Great job Mark and John!
Very nice account of an inspiring climb! Way to go, way to persevere, way to achieve a worthy goal!
Now a public service safety announcement: 32 years ago I was an impressionable 15 year old, who gleaned a lot of inspiration and knowledge from Mark, and developed a life long love of climbing achievement as a result, including becoming a long time teacher and guide, so thanks!.
So, to keep another of my teachers (Werner) from becoming too busy...this is for all the impressionable young-uns or old-uns out there...
it is not necessary to climb anything up there with "100 feet of slack" to do the Nose in 15 hours or even faster!! It works for Mark, cause he's been jamming granite on El Cap for 35 years, but you can go fast and belay, or short fix and clip a few knots and be just as fast!
There, the safety meister strikes again, excuse the interruption, back to our regular programming.
Peter
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duncan
climber
London, UK
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Mark, congratulations and thank you for taking the time to write this. I noted Tom Evans' report but it's great to hear the whole story. You were an inspiration in Mountain 79 and now again in '09. The key line for me was "I’m really good at training, I can set a goal, plot what it’s going to take to get me there and stay on track for months."
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MH2
climber
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I'm telling you, honest to god, inspiring people is as much of a reward as actually doing the climb.
I don't quite see how you would separate the two, but consider yourself rewarded. This is a Big Deal. An amazing day well-placed along the trajectory of a great career. Makes one feel really good about John, too!
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Was thinking about this while doing the annual, drizzling fall yard cleanup today. Mostly about the interacting roles of motivation, discipline, and experience in pulling off something of this magnitude. I'm pretty good at motivating myself, but I'm also a bit too ADHD / novelty-oriented for the level of goal-driven, day-in-day-out training discipline Mark clearly shows an abundance of.
BITD, and now, whatever climbing I've done is based entirely novelty-seeking motivation and not really driven or governed by much [explicit] discipline of any kind. Part of that for me is climbing is my escape and relief from a world of discipline and work and I don't want climbing to become a part of that. But I think Mark aptly demonstrates some endeavors, and particularly many post-50 physical ones, clearly require a tight melding of motivation and discipline - that you aren't going to be able to skate by on just one or the other.
And then add experience to the equation - sheer accumulated yardage and long familiarity - providing confidence and security inherent in knowing that you aren't necessarily doing something new but rather reacquainting mind and body with the requirements and demands of a such a grand endeavor. That, really, what are the odds of a highly-motivated and disciplined 50+ year old doing NIAD without substantial grainite / crack climbing, experience? Or without prior Valley experience on El Cap, the Nose, or granite of a similar stature elsewhere?
Anyway, the afternoon's raking and ruminating simply reiterated for me how you pretty much need to have all three legs of that equation - motivation, discipline, and experience - fully provisioned, in force, and under control to manage some things. True, you could say the same about a lot of things in life, but it seems to me that some endeavors - like 50+ NIAD runs - really bring that triad into sharp focus. Bottom line is, you aren't going to wish your way up it, get up it on laurels from BITD, or onsight it after a long career of short sandstone. Now that doesn't mean one shouldn't dream, aspire, or try - just that the odds are probably pretty long (no matter who you are) and you better get your head screwed on straight to begin with if you're going to make a run at it. It's also probably the reason a lot of folks think about it, but very few manage to get even close to actually pulling it off.
All the more kudos to Mark and John in that regard.
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Delhi Dog
Trad climber
Good Question...
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Ya Mark I just have to add my appreciation for the time spent in sharing with us. Great job setting your goal and following through.
Truly inspiring for me on many levels...
Cheers,
DD
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steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
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That was really nice. I was at an Ed Viesturs show a couple of weeks ago and he talked about how important is is to have goals and working to achieve them. It's pretty reaffirming to see someone set up the pins and then knock them all down. Thanks for sharing and congrats to you!
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Gunkie
Trad climber
East Coast US
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Thanks! Gives me hope.
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Josh Higgins
Trad climber
San Diego
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I'm laughing over here. You called my NIAD trip report "badass" in the comments section. Well, let me return the favor. Mark YOUR ascent WAY MORE BADASS!!! Nice work!
Josh
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Nice climb--congratulations-and a great report. As I was reading, I thought to pull your chain a little about sleeping at Hans' house. Peter beat me to it. Makes me start thinking...
Best, Roger
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Fuzzywuzzy
climber
suspendedhappynation
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Nice job Mark. And great reading too!!
TC
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Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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Wow. An awesome achievement at any age, and thanks for sharing it with us. As a 45 year old punter with aspirations of getting back on the Big Stone (and never having done the Nose), you've lit a fire in my belly. Nice to know that it's an achievable goal rather than a symptom of an early mid-life crisis.
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Ray Olson
Trad climber
Imperial Beach, California
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great story Mark, the introspective stuff makes
for real substance, thanks for keeping it real.
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Elcapinyoazz
Social climber
Redlands
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“Hey, suck it up man, you’re Mark Hudon, you’re badass, you’re good at this sh#t
True in the 70s, true today.
Nice reportage and congrats. Creeping into my late 30s and all you 50-somethings out there still crushing it are a big time inspiration. What's next, the RNWFHD + Nose linkup sub-24hr?
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