Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
nah000
climber
canuckistan
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2013 - 07:24pm PT
|
frank jourdan...
from chic scott's pushing the limits:
"... Frank Jourdan of Germany who [during an eleven day "vacation" in 1994] completed a superb 45-hour enchainment in the Columbia Icefield area. After soloing the west shoulder direct on Mount Andromeda, he down-climbed Skyladder, then proceeded to climb Shooting Gallery and down-climb The Practice Gully. Finally he soloed The Andromeda Strain by headlamp, traversed the Andromeda/Athabasca Col and finished off his epic undertaking by climbing the north face of Mount Athabasca. After only a day's rest he next soloed Grand Central Couloir, then a few days later climbed a new route on the north face of Mount Cromwell. To complete his remarkable eleven-day visit to Canada, he made the second ascent of the Blanchard-Robinson test piece on the north face of Howse Peak in only twelve hours." if that wasn't enough during this same trip he backed off the north face of mt. alberta only to do a traverse of the mountain finishing with a solo of the japanese route.
and then as a kind of ten year anniversary he returned to canada in 2004. from the 2005 aaj and alpinist.com:
"[Frank Jourdan] warmed up on the Greenwood-Jones and the Supercouloir on the north faces of Mts. Temple and Deltaform, respectively, before moving on to the remote Mt. Assiniboine. There, he made the likely second ascent of the Cheesmond-Dick on the huge east face; a feat made especially bold by the summer heat and resulting intense rockfall."
"After some rest days and a twelve-day visit to the remote Waddington Range, [Jourdan] managed to solo three routes (the Flavelle-Lane route [TD+: 55 degrees 5.8, 980m] on Waddington; a possible new route [5.9+, ca. 650m], left of Perseverence, on the south face of Combatant; and the Southwest Face [TD+: 5.8, 1450m] on Tiedeman)"
all of this was, as mentioned, solo, afaik all on sight and even included a few first and second ascents for good measure.
for anyone that has dabbled in these pursuits or even laid eyes on these lines, the above are athletic performances that move far beyond "great" and firmly stake a claim on "transcendent."
and almost no one, outside of a few alpinists, has any idea about what he did, let alone the kind of mental/emotional/physical mastery and/or abandonment that it represents.
while there is no reason not to believe jourdan, these are the type of achievements that leave even dreamers twenty years later, shaking their heads and muttering to themselves:
"that's just not possible..."
|
|
guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2013 - 08:00pm PT
|
How about my mentor, Guido Pistachio-keeping his eye on the race no matter the distraction, now that is a great athletic performance if ever there was one.
|
|
Jennie
Trad climber
Elk Creek, Idaho
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2013 - 09:57pm PT
|
Exceptional performances by women track and field athletes are often slighted, if not neglected.
The 800M women's record ( 1:53.28) has prevailed for thirty years...how many remember the name, Jarmila Kratochvílová? (Jarmila, a 400M sprinter, entering the 800M race on a whim).
Or, Marita Koch's 47.60 in the 400M? ...a world record for 28 years...Florence Griffith Joyner's 100M (10.49) and 200M (21.34) from 25 years ago.
(These world records lasting longer than either Bob Beamon or Jesse Owen's)
Some say Florence's 100M time was wind aided, but similar claims were made about Jesse Owen's records. (And, of course, Bob Beamon's record was done at altitude with a 2 meter wind to his back)
Bob Beamon's record was an amazing 55 cm farther than the previous men's long jump record... FloJo shattered the 100M world record by an incredible 0.17 seconds, on an official windspeed of zero, making it one of the most phenomenal achievements in track and field history.
But the most neglected performances, both male and female, are probably non-glamor competitions like the triple jump and hammer throw...these events having seen astounding achievements, too...
|
|
ms55401
Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2013 - 10:10pm PT
|
Guido Pistachio? awesome name. Like "Randy Magnum".
|
|
goatboy smellz
climber
Nederland-GulfBreeze
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2013 - 10:13pm PT
|
Jennie, I think any women can say just giving birth to us all is probably enough to shut this thread down.
Outside that, add Kit Deslauriers to the lineup, she is all that and a bag of chips.
Restrained accomplishments are always appreciated.
http://www.powdermag.com/stories/giving-soccer-moms-a-new-name/
Giving Soccer Moms A New Name
WORDS: Sarah Ward
A typical mom, my mother always had orange slices, gummy snacks, juice packs, and a minivan waiting after every soccer game. However, she did not coach my soccer practice, then go set a record for the first female solo climb and ski of 13,775-foot Grand Teton, all the while getting back in time to pick me up from school. No this feat goes to distinguished ski mountaineer Kit Deslauriers.
On Thursday, June 6, Deslauriers became the first female to ski mountaineer the Grand Teton solo, adding to her remarkable achievement as the first person to ski all seven summits. The Jackson, Wyoming, resident makes an effort to ski the Grand every year. This year, though, she scheduled her Grand mission between coaching soccer practice and picking the kids up from school. Her record day went something like this:
Wednesday, June 5
5:30 p.m.: Coach kids soccer team
7:30 p.m.: Arrive at trailhead and hike to snow line
10:00 p.m.: Go to bed in tent
Thursday, June 6
2:00 a.m.: Wake up
2:30 a.m.: Hike through punchy snow
5:30 a.m.: Reach the bottom of the technical climb up Stettner and Chevy Couloirs
6:30 a.m.: Top out at Chevy, began climb up Ford Couloir
7:45 a.m.: Top out at Ford Couloir, take in the view
8:45 a.m.: Ski down Ford (half of which hasn’t softened up yet). Do four double rope rappels done Chevy and Stettner. And ski TeePee Glacier slush, dodging all the wet slides.
2:00 p.m.: Arrive back at the car.
3:00 p.m.: Pick the kids up from school.
Having done this climb and descent four other times, she elected to do the fifth attempt solo. Breaking and making records seem to be an afterthought for Deslauriers, though.
Jimmy Chin has solo climbed and skied the Grand, the Middle, and the South [Teton] in one day… So to think I did anything rad yesterday is kind of silly, the bar has been set so high,” said Deslauriers via phone on Friday. “I’m just doing what I love to do within my limits.”
Yet Chin believes Deslauriers’ climb was, in fact, different. “What Kit did certainly raises the bar for women and ski mountaineering in the Tetons,” says Chin, who climbed and skied Mount Everest with The North Face teammates Deslauriers and her husband, Rob, in 2006. “Skiing the Grand is committing, but going up there solo requires so much more psychologically because you have to free solo sections of steep ice. No chance for mistakes there.
Former Jackson Hole Mountain Resort alpine guide Eric Henderson agrees. “In my professional and personal opinion, no other female ski mountaineering athlete deserves this more than Kit.”
Since moving to Jackson in 2000, Deslauriers has been fascinated by the Teton triumvirate. “Looking up at the Grand, at that beautiful Ford Couloir… It compels me. I want to know what it feels like to be up in it, turned around facing out and skiing.”
For Deslauriers, the timing was on, the conditions just right, and kids in school long enough to make history.
|
|
Srbphoto
climber
Kennewick wa
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2013 - 11:19pm PT
|
Usain Bolt destroying Michael Johnson's 200 meter record was the greatest moment in sprinting I can think of.
|
|
Kalimon
Social climber
Ridgway, CO
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2013 - 11:45pm PT
|
No offense Goatbot, but your post is out of context.
|
|
Chango
Trad climber
norcal
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2013 - 11:52pm PT
|
In 2007 Martin Strel swam the 3272 miles of the Amazon river. Without a cage and amongst piranhas. Fantastic book and an incredible accomplishment by the then 52 year old Slovenian.
|
|
gonzo chemist
climber
Fort Collins, CO
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2013 - 11:58pm PT
|
^^^^^The documentary of Martin Strel doing that, Big River Man, is TOTALLY worth watching!
|
|
rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
|
|
|
Jul 11, 2013 - 12:16am PT
|
Pistachio staying in the saddle during titillation rivals Willie Mays over the shoulder catch...Amen brother guido...
|
|
Jennie
Trad climber
Elk Creek, Idaho
|
|
|
Jul 11, 2013 - 12:17am PT
|
Usain Bolt destroying Michael Johnson's 200 meter record was the greatest moment in sprinting I can think of.
Yes, Srbphoto, Usain Bolt breaking Michael Johnson's record by .13 second was impressive.
It's probably worth noting that Frorence Griffith-Joyner beat Marita Koch's 200 meter record by .37 second in the 1988 Olympics.
|
|
Seamstress
Trad climber
Yacolt, WA
|
|
|
Jul 11, 2013 - 12:53am PT
|
Touche Jennie!
I was astounded by Joan Benoit winning the American Trails in 1984:
In March 1984, Benoit injured her knee severely during a 20-mile training run, forcing her to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery just 17 days before the United States Olympic Women's Marathon Trials were scheduled. However, she recovered from the surgery much more quickly than expected, and showed up at the trials as the woman to beat. She beat runner-up Julie Brown by 30 seconds, winning in 2:31:04. Three months later, she competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and won the first Olympic Women's Marathon in 2:24:52, several hundred meters ahead of Grete Waitz, Rosa Mota, and Ingrid Kristiansen, all considered legends in their own rights.
I've had knee surgery. I wasn't ready to run in 17 days, let alone compete at that level.
Then there was Bill Rodgers setting an American record at Boston even though he stopped to tie his shoe.
Rodgers won both races (Boston and New York) four times each between 1975 and 1980, twice breaking the American record at Boston with a time of 2:09:55 in 1975 and a 2:09:27 in 1979. In 1977 he won the Fukuoka Marathon, making him the only runner ever to hold the championship of all three major marathons at the same time. Rodgers is also the last U.S.-born winner in the men's or women's open divisions of the New York City Marathon to date; the two subsequent American winners were born in Cuba (Alberto Salazar) and Eritrea (Meb Keflezighi).
|
|
Fletcher
Trad climber
The great state of advaita
|
|
|
Jul 11, 2013 - 01:05am PT
|
Wow, lot's of folks covering other athletes who came to mind for me:
Definitely Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz. Both superb in the context of their eras.
Walt Stack! I remember him. As a kid, I always looked up to him as a role model for my future years. I've been distance running for 40 years now (what qualifies as distance for me is much less now!) and he is *still* a role model for my future years!
I'm glad someone mentioned Bill Rodgers. He was one of my heroes of my late teens when I was into marathoning.
I don't think anyone has mentioned the 1980 US Olympic Hockey team. The film Miracle with Kurt Russell about that is engaging.
Not an athletic performance anyone would want to sign up for, but Joe Simpson's epic crawl is certainly a monument to human perseverance and endurance.
Many of the efforts leading up to the first ascent of the Eiger's Nordwand are up there too.
Eric
Edit: I second Joan Benoit's performance!
|
|
mountainlion
Trad climber
California
|
|
|
Jul 11, 2013 - 02:58am PT
|
Edwin Moses was undefeated for more than a decade...
Joe Louis Likewise...
Jack Johnson had to fight the man in the ring and "THE MAN"
ALI rope a dope...taking a beating from a guy who hits like BIG GEORGE and then asking him "is that all you got"...demoralized Foreman...
|
|
Todd Eastman
climber
Bellingham, WA
|
|
|
Jul 11, 2013 - 03:10am PT
|
Most of the US track sprint athletes in the 1980s and likely into the 1990s were doped...
... the times confirm this.
No heroes there.
|
|
Jennie
Trad climber
Elk Creek, Idaho
|
|
|
Jul 11, 2013 - 03:29am PT
|
Florence Griffith-Joyner never failed a drug test and protested her innocence of doping until the day she died.
The change in her physique was likely due to training with heavy weighted squats, lunges and plyometrics.
No proof of doping with FloJo...just hollow insinuation...
|
|
KP Ariza
climber
SCC
|
|
|
Jul 11, 2013 - 03:31am PT
|
Barry Bonds 2004 season. 362 batting average with 45 home runs, despite being walked 232 times (120 intentional), 812 slugging percentage, and a record setting 632 on base percentage.
He was by no means the nicest guy in the league and yes he was a doper, but so were most of the pitchers against whom he wreaked his havoc and the numbers don't lie.
Best pure hitter in the history of Baseball, and it ain't even close.
|
|
Gary
Social climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
|
|
|
Jul 11, 2013 - 09:57am PT
|
Best pure hitter in the history of Baseball, and it ain't even close.
Sorry, that would be Wee Willie Keeler.
K is for Keeler,
As fresh as green paint,
The fastest and mostest
To hit where they ain't. -- Ogden Nash
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!