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matty
Trad climber
under the sea
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Thanks Pat. I spent some time with Bob at Stoney Pt. and it's nice to hear some old stories/thoughts and see the photos.
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LongAgo
Trad climber
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A tribute of mine to Bob from a thread on Stoney Point:
I vaguely remember a charred, skeletal car body at Stoney Point the first time I visited there. The place looked crummy and felt dusty and hot. The air was brown with smog. There were no climbers visible as I looked around Rock 1 (now called “Boulder 1”), just a few walkers, pooping dogs on the loose and some kids yelling, running and jumping around small boulders. Some of the boulders and higher cliffs were painted with names and hearts and four letter words. I think it was summer 1962.
I had come there to meet Bob Kamps. I had phoned him on a ruse, asking about the best rope to buy. I didn’t care about ropes. I had heard he was good. I wanted to learn about climbing and maybe get to climb real walls with him. All I had climbed at that point was the outside of my house with friend and neighbor Bud (Ivan) Couch. We had salivated over the book Freedom of the Hills, bought a few steel carabiners, a hemp rope and soft iron pitons, but never been on rock. So I steered my phone talk with Bob toward meeting at Stoney. He agreed.
After walking around some, I found Bob topping out on Rock 2 (now “Turlock” or Boulder 2). He wore a T-shirt, shorts and a light hiking boots, probably Cortinas. His hair was short, army-like. He was a little sunburned, wiry, knobby, veined and strong, matter of fact, but flashing a wry smile as we talked about how I liebacked wood siding on my house. It was the smile that told me I had a chance with him. The first thing he showed me was to use my feet, to look for edges and undulations in the rock for friction. We did some no-handed routes on a smaller rock near Rock 1. Bob moved as if walking up a stairway. I got the picture about feet. Later, we did a top-roped climb on a pothole wall at the back (east side) of the area. As I struggled up nearing a crux, he called out, “man or mouse?” My blood zoomed, and up I went.
I remember now the little circuit of Stoney routes we often did as Bob and I became lifelong climbing partners. I remember the smell of the gritty sandstone after a rain. I can feel the soft, grassy paths of the Spring, remember our bantering and competition bouldering. Bob could mantle anything. I was good at small hold endurance traverses. Over those years, Stoney and Bob built in me: wiring in a trust of tiny flakes, how to edge, hop step, step through, reach, match, smear, mantle, yell, laugh, curse and think anything was possible – all the essentials for the walls I came to do.
I remember sitting in the dirt with Bob near Rock 1 decades after our first encounter. We were spent, our arms pumped and gone, sipping a beer. I then lived in the Bay Area and was visiting for Thanksgiving (we alternated Thanksgivings visits for 30 years). Bob was eyeing a young climber, probably thinking, “no, put your foot there, not there.” By then, Bob had bouldered at Stoney about twice a week for nearly 40 years. Every flake, ledge, crack, hole and ledge was in his brain. I asked him if he remembered the first time I contacted him and he said, still looking at the climber but smiling, “Yeah, about the rope.” We laughed.
In 2005, about 200 people came to Stoney to honor Bob after his death. How fitting to hold a memorial for him there, but Bob is not gone from Stoney. He is there anytime I visit, stand still and close my eyes. Next time I go, he’ll be topping out on Rock 2 again, in his cut-off shorts, grinning.
Tom Higgins
LongAgo
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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Gill, Kamps, and some random girl. 2004.
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jogill
climber
Colorado
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Ca 1974
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Thanks, Tom, John, Rich, and all. Kamps. Never enough threads
on Bob...
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Quasimodo
Trad climber
CA
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One of the most impressive onsight ascents I have witnessed was in the Graveyard near Victorville. Bob Kamps was 68 years young at the time. We were wandering around looking for something to challenge Bob. We came upon two 20 year olds thrashing around on a 5.11d/5.12a sport climb that had some very thin technical face climbing. After ten minutes the young leader gave up and lowered off. He had torn a large bloody flapper on his middle finger. He showed us his wound and said the climb was desparately thin. Bob asked if he could give it a try. The two young men said, "Sure, have at it." I could tell by their expression that they thought there was no way the old man could send this climb. I recall Bob actually had a pair of matching climbing shoes on that day. He laced up and floated through the opening moves. The last thirty feet was a complicated sequence of thin moves. Bob looked like he was near his limit but never came off. As I lowered Bob from the anchors the two young lads just shook their heads in disbelief and asked, " How old is that guy?" I said, "68." There was a deafening silence for a few minutes.
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TomCochrane
Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
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some great pictures
i wish there were a way to capture for those who didn't know him: the calm joy and modest intensity that surrounded him in person
we can all be wiser by learning from Bob's attitude towards life and climbing
and our sport can be all the much better for his continuing influence
i think it would be appropriate for us to dedicate a Stoney Point subtitle as the Bob Kamps Memorial Rock-climbing Garden
does anyone have video records of following him around his Stoney Point tours as so many of us have done?
i hope you don't mind my mentioning there are a few very accomplished and modest young climbers who remind me of Kamps' attitude
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Thanks, Tom H, for a lovely story. It's fascinating how so many climbers had good mentors, and how they carry on the values and skills they learned.
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Jan 11, 2012 - 12:56am PT
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Almost every photo I've taken of him or I have seen
taken of Bob by others reveals his calm intensity. He's just
there, always, in his one-with-the-universe sort of way. But Kamps
wasn't always calm and could get ferociously competitive
at times... That was one of his strengths, to turn on the juice
when he wanted to, that intensity... He was like an eager kid
at times, part of his appeal, a true love for the act of climbing.
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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Jan 11, 2012 - 01:04am PT
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Never had the honor of tying in with him, but I can vouch for the fact that just chillaxin' around a tailgate drinking brewskis the guy was gracious, witty, charming and hella fun with and endless fund of really chioce stoies. 24K gold human spririt.
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jaaan
Trad climber
Chamonix, France
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Jan 11, 2012 - 04:09am PT
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Almost every photo I've taken of him or I have seen
taken of Bob by others reveals his calm intensity.
Here you go. I've posted this one before. Bob on Silver Threads:
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Mar 10, 2012 - 01:53pm PT
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On stance Bump...
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Mar 11, 2012 - 12:30am PT
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Nice thread.
I'm sorry I never knew Bob although Bonnie claims I met him once.
Obviously I never saw him climb or I would have remembered it.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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May 20, 2012 - 03:11pm PT
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Kamps Bump...
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bpope
Trad climber
Sunnyvale, CA
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Jun 21, 2013 - 07:21pm PT
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Good story bump.
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Jun 21, 2013 - 07:54pm PT
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I love that picture John. It must be from the same series or the same picture but cropped of the one of Kamps in Piana's guide. That picture always seemed to me to be the epitome of what a climber looks like. He just seemed to be a natural fit in that environment.
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Jun 21, 2013 - 11:21pm PT
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Bob and his calm intensity.............
Circa 1969
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i-b-goB
Social climber
Wise Acres
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Thanks rgold, I would have been loopy up there too, good to extricate yourself vs getting squirrelly! I rope climbed with Kamps once up at Williamson Rock in his golden years and he still had it!
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