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Watusi
Social climber
Newport, OR
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Apr 20, 2008 - 01:26am PT
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Wow...I'm truly shocked to have just read this...Alan was a great friend, and I'm really sad to hear about this. I myself fell kind of out of touch, as happens in later life, and it's things like this that really remind you of how fragile this mortal coil truly is...Like BVB, Off, and others had said previously, he was part of our original core SD group and I'll always remember it seemed like every time I'd go to Mission Gorge in the '70's, he'd be there at the top of the trail always ready to crank! I went to RC.com to Alan's pics to grab these, with one he even had of me as well at age 15. These are his captions also.
Alan Nelson using a ground-down hook on a clean, hammerless, no-bolts lead of the forgotten A5 test piece "Misbegotten" in 1976. You can forget "bounce-testing" gear on this obscure testpiece. (Photo by: Unknown)
Alan Nelson onsighting the big roof of the Direct South Face in tennis shoes in February 1978. Shouldn't he be in school or something? (Photo by: Unknown)
Werner Landry established this 5.10 slab to roof crack in 1975. In 1976 Michael Paul played hooky from high school to snag an early repeat. Everyone was impressed, until we'd all done it too. (Photo by: Alan Nelson)
I'll always cherish his friendship, one of my fondest memories was doing Morongo Man in Josh with him completely blazing on acid and laughing our asses off! Or watching him float Equinox onsight! I'll be seeing you brother!
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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Apr 20, 2008 - 02:36am PT
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hey mike, good to know i'm not the only one feeling this one. i don't know what to say, my god, alan was younger than us. this ain't right.
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Off White
climber
Tenino, WA
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Apr 20, 2008 - 04:18am PT
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Here's a picture from that Thanksgiving trip to JT in 1973. Alan is seated with the hat and glasses, and to the right all stacked up are his dad, his mom, and younger sister Katie. His older sister Karen is in front of him.
I might have taken that picture of Alan on Moosedog Tower, perhaps with his camera since I don't think I have those shots in the archives. I think it was Alan, BVB, and me there that day. Alan's tennie ascent inspired me to try the same, but I got severely spanked.
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can't say
Social climber
Pasadena CA
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Apr 20, 2008 - 08:56am PT
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hey all...I've been MIA from most of these threads, but for some reason Alan's death has hit a harder note within me then I thought would be possible this far out from being a climber. But it only reinforces my own ideas of mortality, friendship and our very brief time on this orb. I think I only climbed with Alan once or twice and neither was that memorable. But this photo of Alan reading one of Shawn Curtis's manuscript's, on the Weenis's Mercedes with Russ in attendace, at Chris Cantwell's wedding hit me as very emblematic of our time on this earth..short, memorable and every second worth while.
Alan gone..
Shawn gone..
Yabo..gone
Walt..gone
Raligh..gone
Fish..still amomng the living..
who's next..?
It doesn't realy matter cause we're all lined up for the count.
you're all my brothers..whether you know it or not
cheers
Pat
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Apr 20, 2008 - 10:53am PT
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I just spoke with Crusher last night; he had been working on a Colorado climbing guide, with Alan's input on route information. He couldn't understand why Alan stopped returning his calls, but he had suspicions of the worst -so sad.
Today Crusher and Strappo will release Steve Dieckoff's ashes from the top of Yellow Spur.
From Climbing number 73, July -- August 1982,
Article by Alan with photos from Alan and Shawn:
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crunch
Social climber
CO
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Apr 20, 2008 - 01:58pm PT
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Hi Mr tarbuster,
You might have been pounding down more of the Chateau Collapso than you thought last night; actually I never really knew Alan, nor ever spoke on the phone with him. Maybe you talked to the other Supertopo crusher personage????? Was she there?
As for Steve's ashes ceremony, we have decided to delay this for a while (maybe a month), due to various scheduling problems (and my own crippled-with-indecision nature). I'll post an update on the Dieckhoff thread when we do get a date firmed up.
Sorry for the late notice about this.
I'm still up for Friday cragging...
Cheers,
Crusher
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Apr 20, 2008 - 02:12pm PT
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Very sorry to hear that we have lost Alan. Great climber, wonderful guy to be around. Had an enthusiasm for climbing like few others. Hope others can post some more pictures of him.
Rick
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Apr 20, 2008 - 02:23pm PT
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Crusher,
Chateau Collapso indeed.
We are loosing people at an alarming rate.
Must have been Fred Knapp who'd been working with Alan, come to think of it...
Yes Ricky, the pictures are real nice.
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Watusi
Social climber
Newport, OR
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Apr 20, 2008 - 03:33pm PT
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Yeah Bob...It is kinda crazy...I'll bump for my bro!
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Karl Mueller
Trad climber
Boulder CO
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Apr 20, 2008 - 07:23pm PT
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I knew and climbed with Alan as a teenager in San Diego 30+ years ago. For a few short years we were brothers, climbing whenever possible and figuring out how we were supposed to fit into the world. I got caught up in school and followed a more mundane path but Alan pressed on to do innumerable first ascents, many of which were very serious. His on-sight free-solo first ascents in Tuolumne were aptly reported in Climbing as “A Moth Drawn to a Flame” and reflected his intense drive and uncompromising attitude. Labeled a kook by an acerbic local in a community of competitive San Diego climbers in the late seventies, Alan embraced the label for the rest of his life as a unique iconoclast.
Mellowing later in life, Alan strove to create classic, safe well protected routes that the average climber could enjoy without risking life and limb. It is ironic that Alan died of natural causes, considering how close he came to getting killed in high-speed rollover car accidents and in a bike accident as a student at Berkeley. His most memorable brush with death had to be the time he had just finished a hard aid route on El Cap. Lifting a heavy haulbag over his head, he heaved it over the side. Incredibly a loose strap became caught around the back of his neck and pulled him to his hands and knees right at the lip with the 100 lb bag hanging in mid air by his head. Somehow he managed to shake the thing off and it sailed straight to the deck. Alan realized that he needed help with substance abuse while in his thirties; this and his near-death experiences led him to become deeply religious later in life and seemed from my perspective to give him peace. I contacted him a month after he was diagnosed with a huge tumor last summer. He was very positive at that stage and looked forward to getting through the chemo and working to get back into shape. He talked of the support his “church family” gave him in Ft Collins and how much he appreciated their help.
I have many fond memories of Alan and remember his thoughtful generosity in particular, always offering me the choice leads even though he was a much better climber, springing for tickets to concerts or meals after a day of hard climbing. I remember bouldering with him on sea cliffs in San Diego when we would run along the beach between sets, trying to get high enough on a problem to avoid getting creamed by a wave. We didn’t pay attention once and a sizeable wave started to curl about 20 feet from the cliff. I ran seaward towards the thing and dove into it. Snorting sand and salt water, I surfaced with a chalk bag full of milk to watch Alan sprinting towards an alcove in the cliff, trying to outrun the breaker. He didn’t quite pull it off and got flipped head over heels and absolutely pounded against the base of the cliff, twisting a knee in the process. Other memories include getting benighted with him in the middle of winter at the top of the shield at Tahquitz as seniors in high school, half frozen in thin cotton clothing, or doing the Edge with him in later years when he shouted encouragement as I slapped the corner, desperate to reach a sloping stance with a bolt.
I will mourn Alan’s passing but look forward to remembering him on warm sunny days in Colorado, clipping solid bolts he carefully placed so that others might enjoy his vision.
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Off White
climber
Tenino, WA
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Apr 20, 2008 - 07:57pm PT
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Thanks Karl.
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Rockin' Gal
Trad climber
Boulder
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Apr 21, 2008 - 10:32pm PT
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I read this thread with interest as I met Alan in Tuolumne in 1981 and was involved with him on various levels until 1989 or so. We did many great climbs, including the Diamond, Levitation and Hemispheres. I hiked to the top of the Trip when he soloed it in 1981.
My memories of Alan are of a man who never felt accepted or ever fit in with the ruling class of the climbing scene. I find that everyone’s glowing appreciation of the man to be, well, not hypocritical, but self-serving at a minimum. He did embrace the outcast role and reveled in it, perhaps not a bad choice for someone reviled as “The Kook”.
I realize that this will not be a popular opinion, but then I didn’t know Alan as a popular guy. I am simply speaking the truth as I know it to be. I have some great pictures of him, but they are on slides.
Alan, thanks for the great routes. The climbing motivation in me honors the climbing motivation in you. Namaste....
Sally Moser
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Apr 22, 2008 - 09:07am PT
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Um, Okay...
Now that you have that off your chest,
Sally,
I'd be happy to help you scan and share your slides of Alan.
-Roy
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Watusi
Social climber
Newport, OR
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Apr 23, 2008 - 03:30am PT
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I'll just bump this for my...Brother...
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Jim Wilcox
Boulder climber
Santa Barbara
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Apr 23, 2008 - 02:09pm PT
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Sally,
57 posts hardly represent the vast number of readers here, and even then they are not all unique posters. You'll notice most make up the San Diego group that obviously started climbing all about the same time.
At a time of loss it hits everybody differently, and pondering degrees of loss is taking time and energy away from honoring the individual.
Jim
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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Apr 23, 2008 - 03:41pm PT
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sally,
i do not know who you are directing you comments about alan to, but rest assured that those of us who grew up with alan, those of us who busted through the grades with alan, those of us who were in boy scouts with alan, those of us who were all part of his core san diego posse, have been mourning his death every day since we learned he passed on.
i cannot get the picture of him dying in a hospital room without his bros there out of my head. i do not understand how he could have been dying without me knowing about it. i would have dropped everything in my thoroughly messed-up life to be by his side.
your comments reflect a belief that there is a pecking order in the climbing world -- and there is one, for those who choose to pay attention to it. alan was a master climber, and he knew it, and anyone who climbed with him in his prime knew it. if he felt smited by a lack of public adoration or media attention, he never spoke to me about it. his early ascents of the hardest routes in cali, his solo of the trip -- the first person to solo that route -- speak for themselves.
but whatever his life as a climber was, i will always rememer alan as my friend, plain and simple. i knew his sisters and father and mother very well. to me, this is a death in the family. please do not color it with climbing world bullsh#t.
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Watusi
Social climber
Newport, OR
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Apr 23, 2008 - 04:45pm PT
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Here Here Bubs!!! We only want the positive here, OK? I'll always remember that Alan was my friend, not just a climber.
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shipoopoi
Big Wall climber
oakland
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Apr 23, 2008 - 06:50pm PT
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yeah, alan was a character, with that
bright red hair, and always hellbent on first ascent
glory. he was obsessed with climbing the
Bachar-Yearian route, the testpiece of the day...still
is. anyway, after he failed with my roomate, rob
oravetz, he went up there with somebody else. because
the bolts were 1/4" buttonheades, alan thought to
place screamers on the bolts. when he whipped the
screamer ripped out all but the last bartacks on the
screamer, and he got dinged a bit. it was a grand souvenir for the mantle. never giving up,
he came back a year or two later, and finally climbed
the route and joining "the club Bachar-Yerian".
alan was equally adept at establishing copius amounts
of first ascents, and then popularizing them with what
can only be considered the supertopo of yesteryear. i
would get out on his climbs just because they looked
so good on paper.
he also squeezed some routes in that pissed off
locals(cross reference on polly dome is a prime
example), and he even made the mistake of adding a
belay bolt on the bachar yerian so that the belayer
would be out of the way of a big fall. the next day i
spotted john bachar verbally berating alan for this in
the medlicott parking lot. i slowed down a bit, and
then just kept on driving by.
we shared many a campfire together, became good
friends over the years, and i always enjoyed the huge
hats he employed to avoid getting any more skin
cancer. i last saw him in my days at rifle colorado,
in the mid nineties, where he was again recieving flak
for overbolting and oversqueezing routes in the
area...and again with the best topos ever.
its sad he's gone. steve schneider
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Richard M. Wright
climber
Lakewood, Colorado
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Apr 23, 2008 - 07:23pm PT
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I had the opportunity to speak at length with the Pastor of Alan's church who was at Alan's bedside when he died, heroically I might add. Alan had a lot on his mind at the time, primarily things connected to his family and the church. It was no slight of the climbing world that he did not have any climbers present at the time. He had an important priority list of things he needed to do and people he had to see and to speak with. Typically, he did exactly what he needed to do, when it needed to be done, with no consideration that the strain itself was stealing time from him. I'll add more specific details in the obituary for the climbing mags, but do imagine that he knew exactly what he was facing and probably had a pretty good idea of the little time he had left.
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