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TripL7
Trad climber
san diego
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May 15, 2010 - 07:01pm PT
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As far as i can remember, the first GWBC was held at the Pink boulder, and the the smattering of boulders along the 'river' and canyon below the Mission Gorge Cliff. The second one was at Woodson...i think! And the third at Santee. I have probably gotten this wrong.
I did attend the first one at the Gorge. And two GWBC held at Santee('73 & ??) and the GWBC contest held at the Magnolia boulders Spring 1979 which attracted such greats as John Bachar, Mike Paul, Ron Amick, Bullwinkle etc.
And I also attended the '86 GWBC at Woodson, but missed the first one at Woodson in the early '70's.
I was good friends with Kenny Cook(R.I.P. Bro). and climbed all around San Diego, Tahquitz & Suicide and the Sierra with the man and miss him dearly.
Also climbed with Werner Landry back in those days. The reason i mention this is i had a small part in introducing these guys to the Santee Boulders around 1971. I started bouldering there quite by happenstance late 1970/early '71. Although there were some bolts and no doubt the occassional wanderer, I never saw a trace of another climber i.e, chalk etc. during my first 6+ months that i bouldered there.
Although i suspect the likes of E. Beck and Gallwas(who i did climb with once)had frequented the place early on during their heyday, or at least checked it out. I did see Eric there early on(mid '70s, and he did continue too boulder there, i suspect, long after i left(i last saw him one evening around 1986). He always came and went without saying much...so i am not sure when he or anyone else started climbing there.
I did introduce the place to Ken Cook and Werner Landry about '70-71. And they along with Steve Williams from A-16 decided to stage the second or third GWBC contest there.
Like i said there was nary a soul there in '71, and i felt as though i was the first soul that had just topped out on Everest on many of the harder boulder problems...i had quite the imagination.
Santee Boulders was much like a cool breeze and a swig of cold lager after a long day swinging a hammer for the going wage...if you know what i mean.
A place to sit on top of a boulder and dream...far from the maddening crowd!
And Oh, what sunsets...
EDIT: Haven't read any of the other posts...will do!
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Truthdweller
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Oct 27, 2011 - 01:25am PT
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After (30) years of bouldering at Santee I was just informed that the "No Hands Traverse" actually goes with NO HANDS! I'm sure many already knew this, but back in 1981 I watched many crack the puzzle by at least using ONE handhold! I just figured that it had such a name because it used mostly feet and little hands. Well, just last week, Eric Roedes informed me that it actually has a no handhold solution. This always confounds me when someone gives me new information after (30) years of doing something the same way every time! Then again, misinformation in climbing....nah, never happens!
After disbelieving Eric at first, then being timidly careful of a sandbag, I dragged my butt back to the addicting (15) foot traverse to start from the beginning so as to fathom how anyone could do that silly problem without using a handhold! Recently, I was excited to solve the problem differently by eliminating a key foot "chip" down on the lower face to finish the crux end section by staying on the ramp the whole way: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiAqPBTgSSU
But to eliminate the two handholds? I just couldn't picture it! I was a bit optimistic though for I had figured out a new "step through" that I hadn't thought of before. Maybe this was a key. Well, after a handful of attempts I cracked it!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCDUWAxo1Zw&feature=related
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Oct 27, 2011 - 01:47am PT
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dig the climbing content
did your hands not touch the wall at all?
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Truthdweller
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Oct 27, 2011 - 01:49am PT
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Yes, they touch but I thought of that too and tried it but haven't been able to do that yet! After unsucessfully trying to hang my arms to my sides I conceeded that my elbows and arms can touch but not my hands. I'll keep trying...I'm sure it'll go!
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ramonjuan
climber
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Oct 27, 2011 - 01:52am PT
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Now you gotta stop bye on the way out when it's dark and do it with no hands.
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Truthdweller
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Oct 27, 2011 - 01:52am PT
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No headlamp?
Edit: I tried to reverse it but that's another project!
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mooser
Trad climber
seattle
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Oct 27, 2011 - 02:30am PT
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1) Who are you? ST post name and/or real name.
Mooser - Tom Patterson
2) What year did you first climb at Santee Boulders?
1975
3) How many times (approx.) have you climbed at Santee Boulders, or from what year to what year?
75-85, with occasional visits when back in town. Impossible to count how many times over that 10 year span.
4) Do you personally know of anyone that climbed at Santee Boulders before you ever did? Do you know who first climbed at Santee Boulders and what year it was?
Yes to the first question...not sure about the second.
5) Are you aware of a climbing guide(s) in any form (even scribbled notes) for Santee Boulders, that pre-dates Doug White's "Crags and Boulders of San Diego County" (1978)?
**No.
**
4) Did you climb at any of the Great Western Bouldering Championship climbing contests held at Santee Boulders in the 1970's or '80s? Do you know the specific dates of these contests and who organized the contest?
Yes - 1981 or 82, I think it was. I was a judge, rather than a contestant.
5) If you did climb at said contests, can you list some names of any noteable fellow contestants? Who actually won?
A few of the notable climbers there: Yabo (RIP), JB (RIP), Reinhard Karl (RIP), Tony Yaniro, Chris Cantwell, and tons of others. Pretty sure JB won that one, or possibly Tony Y.
6) Please link to any posts you have made regarding Santee Boulders in any meaningful way.
7) Say something about what Santee Boulders means personally to you. Why should Santee Boulders be preserved?
Santee was a gathering place for a great "social" scene for bouldering--more so, in a sense, than my home boulders of Woodson, in that you can pretty much see the whole place from any vantage point. At times, it was aesthetically beautiful, like BVB's and Off-White's pics above, and at other times, looked kind of like a scroungy urban pile. But I always loved it. It's one of those places that--perhaps because of its early importance in my development as a climber--will always be very special to me.
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mcolombo
Trad climber
Heidelberg, Germany
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Oct 27, 2011 - 07:03am PT
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Questions:
1) Who are you? ST post name and/or real name.
Marco Colombo /Mcolombo
2) What year did you first climb at Santee Boulders?
in 95.
3) How many times (approx.) have you climbed at Santee Boulders, or from what year to what year?
Between 95 and 2000 when I moved to Europe
4) Do you personally know of anyone that climbed at Santee Boulders before you ever did? sure but I only started in 95
Do you know who first climbed at Santee Boulders and what year it was?
No but they are probably here on ST ;-)
5) Are you aware of a climbing guide(s) in any form (even scribbled notes) for Santee Boulders, that pre-dates Doug White's "Crags and Boulders of San Diego County" (1978)?
No
4) Did you climb at any of the Great Western Bouldering Championship climbing contests held at Santee Boulders in the 1970's or '80s? Do you know the specific dates of these contests and who organized the contest?
No
5) If you did climb at said contests, can you list some names of any noteable fellow contestants? Who actually won?
6) Please link to any posts you have made regarding Santee Boulders in any meaningful way.
7) Say something about what Santee Boulders means personally to you. Why should Santee Boulders be preserved?
Learned to climb there after getting hooked on climbing when I friend from sailing took me up the North Buttress of Tahquitz just after I turned 30. My Parents moved to a retirement mobile home park which overlooks the boulders after they sold their house, I moved in with them to help look after my dad who had Alzheimer’s. I Bouldered there often between 95 and 2000 when I moved to Europe. It would be sad to lose the boulders; they are a great climbing resource for the area and a part of SoCal climbing history. I love San Diego County and the overdevelopment and the destruction of so much of the East County has turned so many cool places into faceless suburban sprawl.
SAVE THE BOULDERS!!!!
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Klimmer
Mountain climber
San Diego
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 27, 2011 - 02:54pm PT
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Thanks for keeping the stories, videos, and personal history going on this Santee Boulders thread.
This is a good one.
Climbing also! Not OT. Imagine that. ;-)
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gonamok
climber
dont make me come over there
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Oct 28, 2011 - 03:33am PT
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If Im Ron Amok then youre Craig Fried
That was fun helping you do the san diego section of your guide. It got me places I hadnt been (like Crest) that are right in my back yard. Oh and dont worry, we got those mantles for ya.
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gonamok
climber
dont make me come over there
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Oct 28, 2011 - 03:41am PT
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Bachar won the Senior mens division in 1981 and Michael Paul won the Jr Mens.
In 1982 there was a climb-off for 1st in the senior mens division, between Tony Yaniro and doug Munoz, who was going to school in san diego and had been a local for a couple years. The Aid crack, which had yet to see a free ascent, was the tiebreaker climb. Yaniro went first and made a strong showing, then Doug got to Yaniros high point and slapped chalk higher up the seam to take 1st place. Todd Trimble won the junior mens that year
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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Oct 28, 2011 - 04:00am PT
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Oh hell yeah Ron, I used to love hucking that jump. Knees don't want the pounding anymore...too brittle.
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deepnet
Boulder climber
San Diego
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Oct 28, 2011 - 08:59am PT
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My memory is really bad.
That being said...didn't Bachar win at Magnolia Boulders?
deepnet= Rick Allenby
Climbed Santee '78 - '89
Greg on his "Epperson's Lunge" (to the right of "Shockley's Lunge") ~ '86
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Off White
climber
Tenino, WA
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Oct 28, 2011 - 08:07pm PT
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Yeah Mooser, the place certainly wasn't always pretty, especially after a fire...
Still though...
the place has its charms.
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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Oct 28, 2011 - 09:31pm PT
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Damn, am I lookin' natty in that last pik or what? I remember that cargo pants/tank top/wool skullcap phase. Exactly 35 years ago. Fashion forward, as always.
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deepnet
Boulder climber
San Diego
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Oct 28, 2011 - 09:35pm PT
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Dig the EB's too Bob.
We used to do the Black Spot in those things!
I can't even get close with the sticky stuff now!
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nutjob
Gym climber
Berkeley, CA
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Oct 28, 2011 - 10:00pm PT
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It was either at Santee or Magnolia in 1994 that I did my first ever toprope and rappel. A guy took me out there once and showed me how to make a toprope anchor with nuts, hexes, and cams, and I managed not to kill myself or my buddies for the rest of the education via "Freedom of the Hills."
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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Oct 28, 2011 - 10:30pm PT
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Eight-year-old #1 son Kyle airing it out on the ampitheater while mom offers an attentive spot.
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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Oct 28, 2011 - 10:39pm PT
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I love this classic little Highball slab. Don't even think it has a name. Did it on my very first visit to Klantee in '73.
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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Oct 28, 2011 - 10:56pm PT
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A classic 5.10 traverse that starts beneath eppi's lunge, crosses underneath shockley's lunge, and goes all the way over to the far left hand side of the boulder. One of my favorite problems at Santee. Late Spring, 1986.
Further along on the traverse. It goes and goes and goes.
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