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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Mar 31, 2008 - 09:28pm PT
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The spirit of alpinism has no better champion than Peter Croft. Check out his favorite from Fifty Favorite Climbs by Mark Kroese, 2001.
Pure old school.
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L
climber
If only I could remember....
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Mar 31, 2008 - 09:36pm PT
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AF, 10b4me--Thank you...but truly, it's Peter who made the story so funny. I just sat there, laughed and took notes.
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Indianclimber
climber
Las Vegas
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Mar 31, 2008 - 09:59pm PT
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Red Rock this weekend with the nicest person you will ever meet
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WBraun
climber
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Mar 31, 2008 - 10:00pm PT
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Awesome and beautiful thread.....
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harihari
Trad climber
Squampton
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Mar 31, 2008 - 11:14pm PT
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OK I know Peter Croft (my hero) is Mr Pure Ethics...rejected sponsorship and all that in the early '90s bla bla bla...but...I think he's secretly sponsored by Peet's Coffee. I have seen the guy a few times (like in a Sierra trailhead parking lot at 3 a.m. making espresso on a stove on the hood of his truck) and he is the most massive caffeine junkie you will ever meet, and second, if he writes, he will also mention Peet's. So he's like a stealth-sponsored climber.
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GDavis
Trad climber
SoCal
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His sierras books has some pretty awesome writeups. My first sierra peak was Cathedral, and not long after I flipped through the guide. He recounted that after climbing the peak, you will be sitting in the Meadows store parking lot, eating ice cream, pointing your thumb over your shoulder telling passerbys "see that? I just climbed THAT!" Stuck with me ever since and I could just see him playing that scenario out in his head, hehe.
As far as great writings, my favorite TR's are actually our own CMacs (no I'm not a suckup! But I am.) What makes them interesting is the extreme humility, almost as if he is laughing at the fact that he is doing these, to the nonclimber, seemingly asanine stunts. You have to really read the subtleties to catch a glimpse of the super badass stuff hes doing. Same thing with Croft. Actions speak louder than words!
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Eggstele
Trad climber
Kings Beach, Lake Tahoe
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It was an article on Croft and how he started linking up climbs to satiate his endless appetite that inspired my first big link-up, Regular Route on Fairview to SE Butress of Cathredal to the 5.4 North pitch (?) on Eichorn Pinnacle.
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Tan Slacks
Social climber
Joshua Tree
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It was the late 80's when i first met Peter. He came through Idyllwild one summer, we did a stack of climbs and spent time hanging at the house and shop. He was really nice and I felt very lucky. Years later we move to Josh and have a daughter who loves to climb. She gets so bored listening to the "old" men talk about past glorys. But then she bought Peters east side book. I told her about Peters feats and how her mother and I spent time with him. She always wanted to meet him....
Then one day walking through the wonderland....
Her east side tick list is huge. I hope I can hang on.
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L
climber
If only I could remember....
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OK, another Croft story from when he was guiding for Vertical Adventures.
There were 5 of us in his class this time—3 women and 2 guys. I don’t remember much about anyone else except one of the women—she was big, I mean big in a husky way, like muscular, and big in a butt way, too, I guess. I can’t remember if her name was Bertha or not, but she looked like a Bertha, so that’s what we’ll call her. Big Bertha.
She had a big voice, too. Raspy and deep like you’d expect from a big woman, or a truck driver, with a laugh somewhere between Rosie O’Donnell and Joan Rivers. She talked loudly and laughed loudly as we trailed to the crags, flushing jackrabbits and quail and no doubt rattlesnakes, too, from 50 yards away.
Well, Bertha had a little climbing experience, which made her bold. Way bolder than any of the rest of us. So when Peter would string up a top rope on a crack for us, Bertha would be one of the first to jump right on. She was gutsy, all right. And aggro, too. Trouble was, she didn’t really have crack technique down. She was strong as an ox, but sometimes, as in the case of a slick-walled crack, strength might get you off the ground; only technique will get you to the top.
So there we were, at the White Cliffs of Dover on Popular Mechanics. It’s a beautiful crack, and when Peter soloed up it to show us how we were going to climb it, he did it beautifully. With the grace and ease of years of climbing and miles upon miles of routes under his chalkbag’s belt. He put the top rope through the anchors and climbed back down to us.
And there stood Bertha, hands taped like a fighter's and ready to rumble.
Well, the Big B got about a foot off the ground and could go no further. She wasn’t strong enough to dig grooves in the rock, and what little technique she tried to employ was counteracted by her...let's call it ballast. So she resorted to Plan B: Cursing like a salty sailor. I mean, what came out of her mouth would’ve made Sam Kennison proud.
We were all watching in a mute fascination bordering on the comical as Bertha floundered and fought and screamed four-letter words at an impassive, unperturbed crack in an unresponsive, unconcerned rock. All of us except Peter. His color was a bit on the rosy side, and the frozen grin on his face was more that of startled embarrassment rather than any form of entertainment.
“Bertha!” he whispered loudly, trying not to laugh. “You might want to watch your voice. There could be kids around here.”
There were no kids within 10 miles of us, as we all knew. Poor Peter. He’d never encountered a female like Big Bertha before, and his ears, not to mention his sensibilities, were getting scourged by an expert.
Bertha stayed pretty true to form for the entire day, and so did Peter. She would pummel up a crack, riding on a string of x-rated nouns and adjectives, and Peter would blush, grin self-consciously, and look anywhere but at one of us. Eventually she would make it up whatever climb she could beat into submission, and Peter would visibly relax while the rest of us scrambled up the thing in an almost deafening silence. Then he'd find another crack for us and the whole shebang would begin again.
I found it strangely endearing that this world-class climber was embarrassed by profanity—he was certainly the exception in his sport. In fact, in the many times I climbed with Peter, or shared a meal with him and friends in a restaurant, I never heard Peter use a profane word. Not once.
Not once, that is, until one night in Crossroads…after 2 glasses of wine…and no dessert…I distinctly remember him forlornly uttering the words, “Goddammit, I really wanted a piece of blueberry pie.”
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ron gomez
Trad climber
fallbrook,ca
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Man how refreshing to have a thread about someone and have NO dissing or pissing about the honored person! But then again, when there IS no trash, there is nothing to spread. Peter is a great example of what the love of climbing is all about and what a good person should be. Uh he has a great mentor in his wife Karine. What's the saying,"behind every great man.....is a great woman".
Keep the stories coming....
Peace
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Having passed through the fire many times already, I think that the lad is flameproof!
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rick graham
Trad climber
irvine,ca
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A glass of wine, a slice of blueberry pie, a cup of coffee or ……
… a cocktail after a day of shredding up and down Temple Crag. Check his entry (middle left) from 8/10/02 from the Temple Crag register. Climbed MG, DS, SR, VB and then on to that cocktail hour, ha! The man is very impressive and inspiring.
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tolman_paul
Trad climber
Anchorage, AK
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I dunno about the Peets sponsorship, I think the guy just has great taste.
I also think it isn't the secret to his abilities, I ground up some Peets this morning, had a great cup of coffee, but I still don't climb like Peter, likely never will, and am not nearly as nice a person.
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Mees
climber
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I met Peter only once in Hueco Tanks of all places. He was guiding someone there, and was about to head up a climb my partner and I had just done. I was star struck for a second when I noticed who it was and I remember babbling a bit about how much I respected his climbing etc etc. I distinctly recall his eyes starting to glaze over when I started babbling about, "WoW! it's Peter Coft" and I thought hmm, this guy really isn't appreciating this at all. So I stopped and asked him how he was enjoying Hueco and asked him if he had seen any of the rock art. His eyes twinkled suddenly, and he was all of a sudden really interested in talking with me. lmao. We talked a bit about the archeology of the tanks and I gave him some directions to some of the easier to find pictographs and said if he had time I could take him to some spots where we might find some arrow heads or pottery shards etc.. anyway, I left realizing he was really a salt of the earth kind of guy.
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10b4me
climber
hanging by a thread
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I remember hearing about Peters' ascents on Temple Crag shortly after they happened. very impressive, as usual.
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harihari
Trad climber
Squampton
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Ha, speaking of summit registers, on the top of the Hulk he has a bunch of entries. One of them is something like this: "Did Slipstream [5.12+ trad] and P. Vibes, kinda pooped." That's like 22 pitches. His partner wrote something like "I am along for the ride, how much hard trad climbing can one do ina day, anyway?"
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Fletcher
Trad climber
Varied locales along the time and space continuum
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L, you are a wonderful storyteller... yes, it helps to have good source material, but
not everyone can weave a tale. Memorable stuff! Thank you for your Peter stories.
I have been drinking Peet's coffee for almost 20 years now. Before I began climbing
and had even heard of Peter. Trust me, that's not his secret to success if you judge
my climbing ability!
I was at that talk that he gave in Griffith Park last year. Prior to that, he was
certainly a great inspiration, but at that event, just how down to earth he was really
came through. He told one story about starting out pre-dawn at Whitney Portal and
getting lost in the parking lot trying to find the trailhead.
Another thing he mentioned was that some of the best times he's had in the
mountains were when he set off for some climb, hiked in, got to the start and
decided, "nope, climbing's not right for me today." But because of the place and the
people he was with, it still was a great time.
My sense is that he is a very present soul.
Those last two annecdotes show how he really makes it easy for anybody to relate
to him. Hey, I get lost at the trailhead all the time!
And he does have a great sense of humor, especially about himself. With that in
your quiver, it's hard to go wrong.
Fletch
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seakri
Trad climber
Sierra Crest
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Apr 18, 2008 - 02:10pm PT
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Thanks for clearing that up Tami! He may not be flame proof, but he sure does stoke my own personal flame.
Lets hear some more!
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Apr 18, 2008 - 03:11pm PT
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Agreed, what an amazing climber. And every interaction I ever had with him was pleasant. I haven't seen him since the 80's or early 90's I think.
Question: Didn't he marry Karine? Are they still together?
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Anastasia
climber
Not here
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Apr 18, 2008 - 03:14pm PT
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Yes, they are presently very much happily together.
Big Smiles,
AF
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