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Plumbbob
Mountain climber
Juneau, AK
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Guess I missed this thread last year. After reading through the posts I thought I would put in some things as I remember them.
Dave and I climbed the lower part of the NW Face and then traversed out to the ice fall to viewers left then accessed the N. Pillar which we followed to the East ridge. We summited in mid August on a beautiful sunny day.
Dave returned to the Stikine in 1979 and attemped the S. face of Mt. Burket (I think he was with Dan Cauthorne) They were turned back several hundred feet below the summit by stormy weather.
Dave and I did a free accent of the complete N. Ridge of Mt. Stewart in June of 1977. This included freeing the Gendarme. We spent 10 days in there below the N face of Mt Stewart and Sherpa Pk. There were a number of people who joined us there. One of the climbs I did was was with Hooblie and I think it was called Razorback Ridge (viewers right of the Stewart Glacier Couliar.
Dave died at the Big Sky ski resort on Chritmass Eve 1982. His death still hits me hard. (The accident was documented in the Snowy Torrents 1980 to 86, incident # 82-21.)
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Do you still live in the NW Bob?
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Plumbbob
Mountain climber
Juneau, AK
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Hello Jim,
I live in Juneau AK.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Next time you need sun visit me in Colorado.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Thanks, Bob! I did Mt. Stuart N Ridge in July 1977 and remember seeing your name in the summit register with the gendarme free at 5.9! (It took me almost 30 years to get back and free it)
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bmacd
Trad climber
Beautiful, BC
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Bob I took the liberty of trying to pull some details of that super contrasty photo of the face, for reposting.
I hope you are okay with that ? So this last great problem has actually been climbed ....
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Plumbbob
Mountain climber
Juneau, AK
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bmacd, quite alright to play with the photos.
The NW Face is still unclimbed. We exited viewers left low on the face on a ledge system from the snow fields in the center of the face.
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bmacd
Trad climber
Beautiful, BC
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Everyone is possibly too awed to comment on these photos Bob, but I hope you post them all ....
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tom woods
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
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I'll post the way cool props to bump this one up.
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Great thread bump!
More pics would be welcome.
Z
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TripL7
Trad climber
san diego
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Plumbob!
Dave and I were good friends and climbing partners off and on after he arrived in Mammoth the winter of '74-75 tell about '77. I was hurt deeply to learn of his death. I had first heard of a patrolman being buried in an avalanche at Big Sky on Christmas Eve '82. I was on the way to my sister & brother in laws house up at Lake Gregory above San Bernadino. They didn't give a name, it was on the news several times that weekend. I kept wondering/thinking how sad it was being Christmas Eve/the holiday's. Couldn't get it out of my mine, being a skier and all.
When I walked into my apt. a few days later the first thing my roommate told me was that it was Dave.
Alison Ossias(sp.)wrote a great memoriam to him back in the 80's or 90's I recall her saying that he was one of those individuals who was born 100 years to late. He was offered a nice cabin to live in as one of the percs for guiding(she and Dave were guiding in the Cascades)and he never moved in and chose to set up camp up in the woods next to a creek.
I'll never forget the time he walked into my shiny new bachelors apt. that i had just rented on the eastside. It was one of the umpteenth times we had bumped into each other after not seeing each other for a while. Total disdain. It was as if I had sold out, and I had to admit it just wasn't me. I quit my job that day and bailed on the apt and went climbing.
Alison also mentioned that when they found him, one foot/ski boot was exposed. As if he had almost freed himself.
It's with a heavy heart that I discuss these things, it saddens me greatly that I will never see or climb and laugh with him again. Dave had a great sense of humor, a dry sense of humor at tmes.
I'll never forget his gripping tale of his ascent of the the NF of the Grande Jorass. He and his partner were high on the face and a huge storm was coming in. They were to high to retreat, and to far bellow the summit to be pulled off. Everyone was retreating below and getting pulled off the summit by choppers(they were warning everyone to retreat or die). Evidently it was one of those killer storms and they were on there own pushing for the summit. They came upon a Spanish team that had pretty much given up/couldn't get any higher. Long story short Dave got everyone up and back down. Storm lasted over a week and initiated winter with horrendous conditions.
So as I sat there in silence for a few minutes after the harrowing tale, a thought comes to my mind. And I ask, in regards to the Spaniards, "Did they know any English?" Dave sits in deep reflection for a minute or so, then suddenly a smile/half laugh breaks out on his face and he says "Yeah...HELLLLLLP!
I will forever regret not going to Alaska and attempting the NW Face of the Devils Thumb with him that summer '75. I didn't have a nickle in my pocket, or a clue to what I was getting into, but he was willing to drag me along somehow. It would of been one helluva adventure...that's what Dave was about.
It would be good for someone to start a In Memory of... thread.
RIP Dave...we love ya Bro!!
Trip~
BTW, Thanks for that pic of Dave. Would love to see more.
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Plumbbob
Mountain climber
Juneau, AK
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Here are some additional pictures.
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Max
Social climber
outer space
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Max
Social climber
outer space
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TripL7
Trad climber
san diego
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Plumbbob!
Great photo's!
Wish I had a camera back then.
Thanks.
Max, great shots of the NW Face of the Devils Thumb!!
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marv
Mountain climber
Bay Area
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 31, 2010 - 01:33pm PT
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could someone post the text/photos from "50 Classic Climbs"? [I would if I owned a copy]
aside: if a book is out of print (which I believe Steck/Roper is), are there any legitimate copyright objections?
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Oct 31, 2010 - 02:19pm PT
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You can buy Fifty Classic Climbs of North America for $32.46 used on amazon - it doesn't really matter if it is technically out of print. Easy to get.
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Chief
climber
The NW edge of The Hudson Bay
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Oct 31, 2010 - 11:15pm PT
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Steve Grossman offered this bit of info which I wish was true.
I believe that Perry Beckham (the chief not The Chief!) climbed a ridge route on the left margin of that side of the mountain.
Steve, I've only been to the Thumb in my dreams and those dreams ended when Guy and John lost their lives trying that face. Kai Hirvonen is a dear friend and workmate and his tale of loss and survival on the long journey out is a sobering story. It makes me wonder if sponsorship causes young climbers to take risks they wouldn't if they were climbing on their own dime.
Tragic. RIP Guy and John.
Respectfully,
Perry Beckham
ps. Hi Bob, it's been decades, hope you're well.
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ms55401
Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
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Sep 28, 2011 - 08:30pm PT
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unclimbed still
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mojede
Trad climber
Butte, America
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Sep 28, 2011 - 10:09pm PT
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Those photos from August 1977 made it look more like a long-azz rock climb (ala' Becky/Chouinard) and a lot more tantalizing than a romp up an ice ramp in full-on Winter condition.
Maybe global warming will bring that big bad boy into rock shape in the next decade, eh?
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