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wayne w
Trad climber
the nw
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Thanks so much for posting that link, Katie!
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Katie_I
Mountain climber
Wyoming
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Thanks for asking!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Feb 10, 2015 - 05:23am PT
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Much thanks to Walleye and Katie Ives!
Bachar, from the Alpinist article on the FFA of D1:
Still in my early twenties, with only a few seasons in Colorado, I had yet to gain experience on longer mountain routes. Making the first free ascent of the D7 had seemed quick and easy, so I didn't really count that. One afternoon I got up the nerve to ask Billy. He flashed that playful yet astute Westbay grin and said, "Sure, let's go for it." Secretly, I almost regretted speaking: I didn't know if I could hang with him on a climb of this stature.
Let's see, 1978. Bachar had freed Astroman with Long and Kauk in 1975. He was the shizzle by 1978. Yet, Bachar could be given to a sort of feigned humility when speaking of just a few other climbers. But he didn't dole it out lightly and always with a modicum of truth.
Bachar stated, more than once: “Kauk was the most bad assed climber there ever was" (competitive & comparative humility on Bachar’s part and also worth believing) ... and: “Kauk was the gun on Astroman" (truth).
Bachar was a few years younger than Westbay. So this regaling of Billy Westbay, although of a piece with subtle brinksmanship on John's part, is also definitely genuine and it says a lot about Billy's climbing artistry.
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Steve Hickman
climber
Norwood, CO
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Feb 18, 2015 - 11:09am PT
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I spent some fun times and serious times with Billy when I was the climbing and rescue ranger in Rocky Mountain National Park. Komito's was a favorite gathering spot. I seem to recall that he worked rigs in Wyoming during the winter -- he was one tough and remarkable human being. Steve Hickman
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Nick Danger
Ice climber
Arvada, CO
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Feb 18, 2015 - 12:41pm PT
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Billy was my friend and climbing partner in high school in Colorado Springs. We ran cross country together, learned climbing in the Garden of the Gods together, and experienced our first climbs in an alpine environment together in Pikes Peak's North Pit. We were just major buds who loved doing the same things, without a clue of what either one of us would become. I especially liked Billy's self-effacing humor about the time he got drunk, lost his house keys, and wandered around in the snow barefoot until they were frostbit. What a goofball. God how we enjoyed doing things together, especially those long runs together on cross country team practice.
Years later I met up with Billy on Broadway on Longs Peak when a late-season snowstorm forced so many of us off the Diamond, and there was Billy with his client, setting up rappels and generally bailing everyone's chestnuts out of the fire. That was SO Billy.
Years later still I met Billy on the slopes of Copper Mountain, where we made a date to climb some frozen waterfalls. By this time Billy was quite famous in climbing circles for his incredibly bold ascents. Neither his fame nor my obscurity meant a thing to us; we were just old friends getting together to stab a little ice. What really impressed me about Billy came later that evening jawboning at his house; he was so spiritually mature and self aware that it was just a huge delight to share time and space with him.
Billy was, and is, an utterly remarkable soul, and a great friend when we were both so young...
RIP Billy,
Your friend,
Robbie Dickerson
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Jim Pettigrew
Social climber
Crowley Lake, CA
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Feb 19, 2015 - 11:47am PT
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Billy always was the true friend and supported me through me periods of troubles! They called me from the hospital on his last day and with great sadness I was able to say farewell to our great friend! Even got a chuckle out of him at the end! Such a sad day!
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Old Dude
Trad climber
Bradenton, FL
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Feb 20, 2015 - 05:11pm PT
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Climbed with Billy a couple of times in Garden of The Gods. He was far out of my league, but by trying to replicate his approach and moves, I found that the climbs were suddenly doable. I mentioned this to him and he said, "Climbing is 85% mental." Another time I drove Billy & Mike Dudley back to Colorado from Yosemite in my '62 Volkswagen bug. It was filled with gear, so Billy sat in the back seat the whole way with one of those old, big, round, scotch coolers between his legs. In between the bowls we smoked the whole way, he said he was developing a very weird relationship with that cooler. A cop stopped us out n the desert, leaned his head in and took a whiff, and just said, "Have a nice night", and went back to his cruiser. We stopped at Lake Powell and Billy and I dropped acid about 11pm and then climbed out in the girders under the bridge 700' or so over the Colorado River, chimneying between the I-beams way out there. Later, Billy dragged a huge, flat stone out to the middle of the bridge and trundled it. It hit flat on the water and sounded like a bomb. The lights came on all over and by the time the cops arrived, we had climbed back out under the bridge under them and were watching the show. Great time, cool Dude, Billy was The Man.
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johntp
Trad climber
socal
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Feb 20, 2015 - 05:29pm PT
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old dude- cool story and thanks for the share. we got away with so much back then which would land us in jail today.
bump for Billy
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Feb 20, 2015 - 06:53pm PT
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Thanks for that recollection, Grewtipet! Awfully poignant.
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Billy was a roughneck, and could be intimidating to approach as Bachar noted in his piece. A “roughneck” is defined as a rowdy person, but it is also slang for a worker on oil rigs-- hard, dangerous work, especially 40 years ago. Billy was a roughneck in both senses of the word, the kind of guy you would like at your side if a bar fight broke out, but he was really a gentle giant when you got to know him.
In 1978, Gerry and I visited Colorado for the first time. We camped the first night after the long drive in Doug Snively’s yard in Estes Park. I was eagerly casting around for a climbing partner to make my first visit to El Dorado canyon. Billy said he would climb with me so we met up in the canyon the next day. He steered us to T-2 as a warm up and then suggested the Northwest Corner on the Bastille.
I led the crux pitch, which unbeknownst to me, had a bit of a reputation back then. When Billy got to the belay, I mentioned something about the protection being kind of sparse. Billy only grinned and said, “You know, I’ve been wanting to do this climb for quite a while.”
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"Otto"
Mountain climber
Buena Vista
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Nov 19, 2016 - 08:29am PT
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Working with Billy at Copper Mt was always a breath of fresh air.Clear and sharp his ideas were enlightening and forward looking.We shared many a morning smoke while heading up F&E lifts to our respective work stations usually complaining about the lack of good steep Mogul runs.He had climbed and skied with friends I knew in Garmisch.We sat together outside Patrol headquarters late one night during a full moon,I was working he was camped out,it was before he got sick, full of life and the future.As one of our favorite couples we were crushed when he passed and more so when we lost Angela.Two days previous she had helped prep our house in Dillon for sale.They are missed.He was a true fighter.
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SC seagoat
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, Moab, A sailboat, or some time zone
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Jul 29, 2017 - 09:30pm PT
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Bump
Susan
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Jul 30, 2017 - 11:32am PT
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Amazing thread! I knew almost nothing of Westbay except of course NIAD which I heard about a week later from a climbing partner who happened to be bivouacked high on Middle Cathedral and watching their headlamps in astonishment.
This thread is a great tribute to one of the lesser known giants of climbing. Thanks to Susan for bumping it.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Jul 30, 2017 - 04:10pm PT
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Billy, even when he was older, always had the mischievous grin of a kid caught with his hand in the candy jar.
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