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ydpl8s
Trad climber
Santa Monica, California
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Aug 20, 2009 - 12:51pm PT
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Thanks for the bump on this, I missed it the first time around. I also grew up with these articles as the holy grail of climbing. I was one of those sandbagged neophytes that started climbing in Boulder in 1972 and was coerced into "5.8's" like Grand Giraffe and Umph Slot, they sure made you question your abilities. Ament and McCarty's book High Over Boulder was always in my pocket, dreaming of new feats of daring doo.
With reference to some of the pictures of Michael Gilbert above, here is a shot of Michael on one of the early ascents of Jules Verne (courtesy of MountainProject.com, and my good friends Philo and Jimmy Newberry the Black Canyon WallCrawler). I didn't know Michael well but I was good friends with his little brother Scotty, a Gunnison legend that passed too early in an avalanche on Mt. Edith Cavell in Canada.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Aug 20, 2009 - 01:09pm PT
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Michael Gilbert's partner on that early ascent of Jules Verne was Wendell Nuss, a less-known
but excellent climber. I believe Wendell's the one who managed to lead the big pitch on JV, when
Michael and he first climbed it.
Hard to tell from the photo above, but that might be Wendell on the sharp end.
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ydpl8s
Trad climber
Santa Monica, California
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Aug 20, 2009 - 01:17pm PT
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Chiloe, interesting, I'll have to run that one by Philo. One thing is for sure, who ever's on the sharp end doesn't exactly have that thing sewn up.
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philo
Trad climber
boulder, co.
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Aug 21, 2009 - 08:15am PT
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I am sure that is Mike on lead and I think it is the second ascent.
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wack-N-dangle
Gym climber
the ground up
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Aug 21, 2009 - 09:21am PT
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Sorry to interrupt, but I didn't really read much judgment in what Pat wrote. If there was, it seemed balanced by the considerations that respect for each other, not taking things too seriously, and remembering both those who came before you, as well as those who are around you are all equally important.
Maybe also, if you exceed the limits of your predecessors, may it happen because you are pushing your own limits, like those who came before you did too. Perhaps, its all training and improvement. Once a teacher, always a teacher, no matter your relative ability.
Finally, I think the discussion about style is key. Maximum respect to those who worked to free climb those routes, as well as minimize their impact on the climbing areas. I believe that a style based in those ideas would likely develop the strength to reach some incredible places.
link: http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=936193
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Aug 21, 2009 - 10:51am PT
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I am sure that is Mike on lead and I think it is the second ascent.
Philo, I'm not so sure myself ... but the memories are old. Here's a similar photo I took about
the same time (in fall 1976) as the one upthread, showing Wendell Nuss and MIke Gilbert
on the crux pitch of Jules Verne.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Aug 21, 2009 - 10:51am PT
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But to Steve Grossman, Tarbuster or our other archive-scanners -- has someone got the issue
of Climbing, 1976 or 77, which had Mike Gilbert attempting the Kloeberdanz on the cover? I
believe there was an article inside that also had a pic of Mike on Jules Verne.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 21, 2009 - 11:32am PT
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From the Sept-Oct 76 issue of Climbing, as requested.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Aug 21, 2009 - 12:01pm PT
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Thanks, Steve. I'd forgotten what an impressionistic piece Mike had written.
Have you got a scan of the cover, while we're at it?
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ydpl8s
Trad climber
Santa Monica, California
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Aug 21, 2009 - 12:31pm PT
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All the photos of that climb....must have been a media event.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Aug 21, 2009 - 12:56pm PT
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No, I don't think it was a media event. Mike and Wendell were low-profile climbers at the
time, and they started up pretty quietly. Tom Gries and I joined them for the first pitch.
But when they began working the upper crux, people down in the canyon took notice and
grabbed a camera if they had one.
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philo
Trad climber
boulder, co.
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Aug 22, 2009 - 12:08am PT
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Chiloe that wasn't "about"the same time, that WAS the same time. Amazing, simply amazing.
Mike was and is a great climber and a good guy. But for my money Scottie had more raw talent. What a loss.
YDPL8S, Scottie died on Mt, Kitchner not Edith Cavell.
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jstan
climber
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Aug 22, 2009 - 01:24am PT
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My brother lives in Denver so I spent a little time in Eldorado in the late 60's. The climbing there is superb though I thought their taking down the high wire, in a weird way, tore its heart out.
It fit.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 22, 2009 - 10:33am PT
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Rich already posted that cover shot upthread. The tone of Mike's piece certainly resonates with my thoughts of late...
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Aug 22, 2009 - 11:51am PT
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Chiloe that wasn't "about"the same time, that WAS the same time. Amazing, simply amazing.
Philo, maybe we can meet up next month and trade recollections of the day.
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John Mac
Trad climber
Littleton, CO
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Aug 22, 2009 - 11:57am PT
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Thanks for keeping this thread alive and sharing your experiences...
i have one question about who soloed the casual route on the Diamond first. I thought Steve Monks did it a few days before Charlie Fowler. Does anyone know whether this is true. I know Charlie got the credit for it.
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Tom Gries
Trad climber
Olympia Washington
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Aug 23, 2009 - 10:35pm PT
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Mike and Wendell were both great lesser known climbers in the early-to-mid 70's. I really don't know who was in the lead in the color photo, but ... Wendell had longish red hair back in those days. I'd lay my $ on that being him in the lead. I hear Mike is still climbing hard stuff. I tried to hook up with him for the first time in 30 years in July while on a family vacation to CO, but it didn't work out. Why doesn't someone just contact either Mike or Wendell and ask instead of all the speculation? I can get in touch with either of them, but I never really thought who was in the lead on what climb was ever really so important ...
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Aug 23, 2009 - 10:54pm PT
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Hi Tom, welcome to the SuperTopo campfire. Hope you'll check in now and then, it's
sometimes a home for old climbers.
Which is why the discussion about Jules Verne really had less to do with who led
what, but more to do with the quality of our own aging memories. ;-)
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philo
Trad climber
boulder, co.
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Aug 23, 2009 - 11:17pm PT
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No speculation at all, that IS Mike Gilbert on lead. The only question is whether it was the second or third free ascent.
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Jello
Social climber
No Ut
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Aug 23, 2009 - 11:24pm PT
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Wonderful recollections of a wonderful time in Eldo. I lived in the Canyon from the mid-70's to the early 80's (from about 1979 to 82 in the "U-need-a-rest" cabin next to the one Chiloe lived in, and Hankster more recently.
Mike Gilbert was (still is) a great climber. I met him about the time of this article. He wanted to learn ice climbing, so we made a road trip that winter to Ouray and Telluride. Mike's first ice climb was a new route, Cascade Falls in Ouray. Then we went over to Telluride and made an early ascent of Bridalveil Falls. Obviously, Mike was pretty quick on the uptake!
If Wendell's and Mike's climb of Jules Verne was the second ascent, then Jim Collins and I must have made a very early ascent when we did it the next summer. The interesting thing about our climb was that I had recently returned from Alaska, where I'd fallen through a cornice on Mt Hunter and broken my ankle. Jim needed someone to belay him, and even though my ankle was not completely healed, I thought I could belay and follow with a tight rope. But Jim took two extra-long whippers off the crux, and it seemed that would be it for the day.
For some unknown reason, though, I asked if I could take a look. We switched ends of the rope, and up I went. My ankle felt fine, and the climbing never felt too hard, and shortly I found myself at the belay at the end of the pitch. Jim and I swung leads to the top.
-JelloSurprisedHimself
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