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MisterE
Trad climber
Canoga Porn, CA
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Aug 19, 2009 - 11:56am PT
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Thanks for the update, RRK
It's really nice of all of you to take the time to be there, I know it's not easy.
Erik
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jstan
climber
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Aug 19, 2009 - 11:56am PT
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May 29,2006
Quote
What you mutts don't understand, is that carrying too much gear is part of an art--
the art of screwing the parasitic second!
Consider, the second, who climbs the route on your dime, criticises your placments, carps about your speed, laughs at your weakness, short ropes you at a critical moment, forgets the beer, you name it.
But most importantly, he climbs without the extra weight of the rack.
So heres how it works.
YOU drag your huge rack up to the crux. YOU hang all excess gear at the crux. You pull the crux, and finish.
Now, when the slimeball smug second reaches the crux, he has to carry all the extra weight through it.
End Quote
Dirtineye
Thanks Curt.
JStannard
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Aug 19, 2009 - 12:27pm PT
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Irascible to the end...
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Mike Bolte
Trad climber
Planet Earth
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Aug 19, 2009 - 12:28pm PT
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Thanks RRK -
Fair winds for the next voyage Curt
best, Mike
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Brunosafari
Boulder climber
OR
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Aug 19, 2009 - 01:26pm PT
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This has been heart wrenching Jenny but thank you for keeping Curt present to us. Long ago I battled menningitus and not knowing what it was, it progressed until I could no longer speak or communicate. Yet my reasoning and inner thought was still very alive and vivid. I hope this is the experience of Curt, minus pain, and I hope that Curt is conversing with God on a level far beyond any of us here. God Bless our bright and gifted Curt and the greatest sympathy and love to his family and friends. - Bruce Adams
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couchmaster
climber
pdx
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Aug 19, 2009 - 01:27pm PT
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The D5 hammer project thread from 2008.
Feb 27, 2008, 01:44am PT
Author:
dirtineye
I'd like to bang at least a couple things with one of these wonder hammers before I die, then the hammer will go to Stegg or Corbett, or maybe Noffsinger. Stegg might lose it, Corbett probably won't apreciate it enough, but Noffsinger actually aid climbs as well as hand drills on free climbs so the stupid thing will have a happy home or at least the chance of one, if you get em done in time.
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Aug 19, 2009 - 01:35pm PT
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hey there jennie, say, thanks for the update...
he is not forgotten, that is for sure...
well, just a bump, for now...
and heart felt wishes for whereever they are needed now...
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Pappy
Ice climber
Warren, VT
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Aug 19, 2009 - 06:51pm PT
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Stegg, Arno, and Noffsinger went to see Curt on Sat. They called me so I could get in on the fun by phone, but I was out. Shannon said he was pretty well out of it, but I tried calling a couple of times on Sun. anyway, but, no dice. Talking to his Mom it was pretty clear that there isn't much time left and I may have missed my chance to say good bye when he could hear and appreciate it. Apparently I'm the butt of a good number of his stories in 'the Fine Art of Screwing the Second', which would be okay except that he failed to acknowledge that I taught him all that sh*t first. Certainly one of the more unique characters in a sport that has more than its share. never did get him out on the ice, though, that might have been a whole different experience.
Anyway Curt, Star went first, so she'll be there to lead the way again. Adios, amigo.
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jstan
climber
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Aug 19, 2009 - 07:15pm PT
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We must have a photo somewhere?
edit:
Thanks e.
Photobucket requires flash which I have avoided suspecting the application or the downloading of it makes one more vulnerable to hacking. I also run with all the executing scripts and connectivity turned off.
Anyway, still thanks.
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, Ca.
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Aug 19, 2009 - 07:46pm PT
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Curt, you're one of kind.
God bless ya, dude!
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RRK
Trad climber
Talladega, Al
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Aug 19, 2009 - 08:05pm PT
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Just got back from B'ham and Curt is still hanging in there. My guess is that the end will come when Curt decides it's time to go and not a moment before. If you have seen film of Stephen Hawking trying to communicate then you have a pretty good idea of where Curt is. He can hear and understand, though he is very medicated. When you listen to him for a bit then it gets easier to understand what he is saying.
I wish I had known that Shannon & Arno, etc were going over on Sat and I would have tried to hook up, though intervening medical emergencies in my family would almost certainly have derailed any plan. According to his mom their visit was very well received. I think that he may still have another day or two, especially if pretty ladies keep up the correspondence.
He's finished his album, and it's very good, though you can tell that his skills have suffered from the effects of the illness and medication. His mom had about a hundred at her house this afternoon, but I think that she plans on giving those out to visitors and well-wishers. Get in touch with her if you want to get one and she can tell you how to do it.
Here's a story on the ol' rascal and a picture if I can get it to post. A few years ago some of my buds came down to Tennessee from NC along with Jim Okel and Jim Corbett (Pappy on this board). We went to a beautiful little cove in East Tennessee on a spectacular spring weekend and found a big ol' hunk of rock where nobody had ever been. We were having an outstanding weekend, when at some point Dirt collared Pappy for a hike up the cove to scout some lines. They came back with Curt spewing about the best line since the invention of rocks. Pappy (wisely) missed out on the FA due to Curt's assessment of the need for at least thirty 6-inch cams, fifty pounds of iron and hammer, an anvil and forge, bivy gear, etc. That night he was hitting everyone up for the monster cams and wound up with a sack full. The next day Curt was partner-shopping for his historic first ascent. A climber's game of "musical chairs" ensued, and I was the one standing when the music stopped. Drats, I'd been conned again. Off we went, dragging a pack that was larger than I was. When I finally saw the line (dihedral fingers to a roof-crack traverse then a hand crack through the roof) I didn't see any place for a big cam, but said nothing since I wasn't the one taking the rope up. Curt started up and things started falling down - really big things like trees, tons of dirt and large rocks. I was being buried alive because he insisted on playing Martha Stewart by cleaning up everything within reach using a little wisk broom. I finally convinced him to let me climb above him and take the rope up so that he could finish mopping the floor. I got to the roof and it protected with 1 red camalot. Jeez - all that gear was just ballast. I don't usually name things but insisted on this one - "Sticks and Stones" - a monument to my suffering. The bushwack out was another adventure that put us late back to camp. My NC buds were due to be long gone back home, but when we got back to camp there they were, trying to decide if they should organize some sort of rescue.
Here's a shot from that trip, Curt playing a Dirtbag Serenade. What a great weekend.
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MisterE
Trad climber
Canoga Porn, CA
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Aug 19, 2009 - 09:49pm PT
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Glad to hear Curt is still with us.
Here's a picture of him with Shannon on his last trip to Laurel Knob, courtesy of Justthemaid:
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Aug 19, 2009 - 09:52pm PT
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hey there rrk... say, sometimes there is one last thing that a person is still not settled with, before they know to let go of life...
we can all be praying that curt's last thoughts are settled, so he will pass in peace...
perhaps tonight, we can all just give a joint effort of some sort... those of us that have seen this and read of his time being near...
*thanks for sharing about his music---i remember how much he wanted it all done...
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GDavis
Trad climber
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Aug 19, 2009 - 11:53pm PT
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Wow. How have I missed this thread...
Well, here is some perspective from someone who never got along with him (not even a teensy bit!) and just read the whole thread, all of his posts, from post 1 to 493.
Like I said, Dirt has always rubbed elbows with me in posts. I think we both enjoyed it a little bit too. We could always count on the other to say what we figured would be said, than point it out. "haha, I knew you would say that you curmudgeon/Rethug!"
I knew he was sick, a bit, but he didn't make any bones about so I figured it wouldn't be that bad. I mean, who could have that confidence? It seemed like he was at least at peace to himself, and I never thought much of the severity. It was when Ouch passed taht I thought about him again... I never followed the same posts as Dirt, and probably avoided reading what he wrote because I didn't like to argue with a guy who wasn't feeling to well.
Anyways... long story even longer...
If you read his posts, all of them, you get such a small insight into who this guy is, what he thinks, and most importantly how he thinks it. His music was beautiful too. That was the joke he pulled on me, for sure, because I did not expect that. And even with the obvious effects of chemo he was not a bad looking dude... in a strange way he seemed to still have his strength. It would not have surprised me much to see him walk outside after he played his guitar and crank a few pullups. He was built up in my mind maybe a bit like my Dad. Probably the same age, they both kind of... like to stir the pot, I guess. I don't love my dad any less, and its not something to judge, but it is the way life works. The wiring in his brain, programmed through whatever series of events in life, have made him who he is. Not even in very grim situations does he change who he is... he is as honest in the first post as the last. The difference is his understanding of intentions. He knew all along at least to some extent, but the kind things said by the group really meant a lot to him. I wish I saw this earlier, I would have said nice things too. I would like to think it would make him smile, maybe even laugh a bit.
Jello, RRK, Jennie, and those of you who have helped him out... maybe you don't believe in a God, that's beside the point. From my point of view, though, there is simply nothing on Earth which can reward such compassion. Its a simple, overused phrase, but for some reason a cocky, probably dumb kid with little or no perspective in life is brought to tears by a guy he couldn't stomach and by those who thought to take such great care of him... God Bless You.
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Hardman Knott
Gym climber
Muir Woods National Monument, Mill Valley, Ca
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Aug 20, 2009 - 12:18am PT
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GDavis wrote:
Its a simple, overused phrase, but for some reason a cocky, probably dumb kid with little or no perspective in life is brought to tears by a guy he couldn't stomach and by those who thought to take such great care of him... God Bless You.
I cried for the first time in years after talking to Curt on the phone - his predicament seems so cruel...
So many deaths these days., and yet pretty much all of them involved high-risk acivities
(including two best-friends I lost years ago),
but Curt's situation hit me in a way that is especially painful - and I don't really "know" him.
God Bless, indeed (I'm agnostic).
God Bless indeed.
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Aug 20, 2009 - 06:04am PT
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Some native americans had something of a war cry...a saying when anything could happen and probably was about to...
It's a good day to die!
It has to be so, because it comes down to that.
May it be a good day for Curt
Peace
Karl
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Norwegian
Trad climber
Placerville, California
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Aug 20, 2009 - 09:57am PT
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many times,
the encore is better than the show itself.
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Pappy
Ice climber
Warren, VT
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Aug 20, 2009 - 03:05pm PT
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bump
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RRK
Trad climber
Talladega, Al
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Aug 20, 2009 - 03:12pm PT
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Curt's still with us as of noon today. He had lots of company yesterday evening. I'm trying to clear things to go back over tomorrow. My best guess is that I won't be too late. I'll post up when I know something.
RRK
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