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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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One reason for high survival rate among Golden Age pioneers could be the relatively stable nature of their Yosemite and Sierra medium, in terms of weather and things falling down. The big walls of Yosemite certainly have real dangers, but even so they must be about the safest big walls on earth.
Joe Simpson's book This Game of Ghosts well describes his own sense of loss regarding a whole generation of top British alpinists.
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
the greasewood ghetto
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Apr 28, 2009 - 03:33am PT
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bump
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Turkey Princess
Gym climber
Redding, Ca
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Clint,
Thanks for posting. Charles Stanbrough was my Uncle and died when he was 19. In fact the day he died was the day that my parents got married in 1973. I never knew my Uncle Chuck but I heard a lot about him. I've always wanted to learn more about him. Anyways thanks for posting about him and the climbers.
Susan Stanbrough
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Jerry, whatever "Golden Age" means, I don't think you can compare the American one to the European one, since Europe got such a big head start. Difficulties achieved in the Dolomites and Eastern Europe in the 1930's and before weren't seen in the US until the 1960's or later. The Euros were 30 to 50 years ahead, with corresponding increases in difficulty and riskiness.
Add to that the fact mentioned by Clint that the Yosemite environment, while not benign, is nowhere near as fraught with dangers as the Alps, most especially the huge rotten weather-catching walls like the Eigerwand.
I think it fair to say, without deprecating their achievements, that when it came to sheer risk (and so the probability of accidents), the Yosemite pioneers had it easy compared to the climbers attacking Europe's great north walls.
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Bushman
Social climber
Elk Grove, California
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It was the mid-70s when I made my first climbing trip to the Valley, and when I got settled into Camp Four I remember one of my partners had a dogeared, worn, and mimeographed copy of a document that was probably directly, if not indirectly, responsible for many of us who climbed back then being alive to post here today.
It was being passed around and read by each of us and was a list of the climbing accidents that had happened in Yosemite within the previous years. I don't remember if it was from the American Alpine Journal but it was quite descriptive and listed each accident in some detail, the investigations, and the causes for each accident, and the conclusions as to what might have prevented the accidents.
Many of the accidents described in this thread were listed there, and I remember that a majority of them were rappelling, descent hike, ascender, or single anchor failure accidents. I had my share of lead fall and bouldering mishaps during my climbing years but I always remembered that journal and the lessons I learned from it, and from the stories and lore about accidents I heard from climbers in the Valley.
Does anyone here remember it (the accident journal?) Painfully gruesome to read, it would be crucial for all who start out in the sport to have read a copy of it, or a more recent similar journal.
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
ne'er–do–well
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Rik Reider also comes to mind, 1975-ish? P.O. Wall? He didn't die.(May 1975 FA PO wall) ... Rik Reider on an earlier attempt, with Mike Graham, Billy Westbay, and Bridwell, was hit on the head by a large rock while on the fifth pitch. Reider ends up with a severe skull fracture and has to have emergency brain surgery in Fresno. (source: chicken skinner) http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/969891/Welcome-Rik-Rieder
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CF
climber
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Tim H and Dave, both good friends of mine. Dave worked in the 4 seasons as a waiter and lived across the way from at the annex. They were working on that route, jugging on 1 bolt
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BBA
Social climber
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We used pitons, single rope around the waist tied with a bowline, and hip belays. We had no guide to speak of as the red book didn't come out until 1964, and no real support in the event of an accident. No bolt rappel routes to get off in case of trouble. That combination makes one careful and may have been the reason for both the pace of development of climbing and the seemingly few accidents. The other reason for few accidents may have been the small number of climbers. Many times on spring and fall weekends the valley would be deserted, maybe a half dozen climbers around. During the weekdays no one was there.
I was in the valley when an accident happened in 1962 and wrote a letter to Guido about it. Excuse my youthful indiscretion. Even back then I was calling him a Guide.
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