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micronut
Trad climber
fresno, ca
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Jan 12, 2011 - 04:58pm PT
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Looking forward to a great read! That piton shot above made me dry heave.
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TomCochrane
Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
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Jan 12, 2011 - 06:04pm PT
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That placement actually looks more secure than ones I had to place repeating the Denny/Sacherer route on El Cap Tree Direct; which Royal had also done.
Edit: Whatever placements I had to contrive on that route were probably easier than what Denny and Royal did on the earlier ascents.
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Jan 12, 2011 - 07:31pm PT
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Even if what you said were true, and why would I ever want to doubt it, I could care less, but
I do wish I had a photo or some shot of the six half-placed RURPS that
followed above... and then a feefee hook on a potato-chip flake that didn't seem it should have held the weight of the hook itself. Royal is
what this thread is about, to whom I take off my hat (if I wore one). Yeah, we all did hard aid routes... Frost too had that same piton genius...
Find attached a photo of Cochrane aiding away...
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TomCochrane
Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
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Jan 12, 2011 - 08:38pm PT
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Thanks for the picture, Pat. That section looks like it would go free; and I have often wondered whether any of those old aid routes on Rixon's had been freed. You did say that you have a number of pictures from when we went up Rixon's when you first came to the valley. Was that your first route in Yosemite? Rixon's was a favorite and I did all the routes on it, some several times. But my only pictures are with Kim Schmitz on the Direct South Face route when he first came to Yosemite. I was happy that both of you had showed up, so there were more of us from outside California.
Anyway, I still don't have a good guess how Denny or Royal made it past that placement on El Cap Tree Direct. It's not so much the hard aid as the ingenuity they must have used for that placement. And then standing high in hero loops to place the first bolt on the vertical or slightly overhanging wall. I now understand Glen did it first (which explains the long reaches between bolts), with Royal doing the second ascent, and me doing the third. EDIT: When I talked about it with Royal recently, he doesn't remember much about the route.
The previous placement was a RURP that took me a long time, but still just a RURP in a thin crack. That's the one I fell from and ripped the RURP ladder when the parachute cord sling broke and the carabiner hit me in the face and broke off my front tooth.
However that last placement before the bolt ladder must have required some serious ingenuity for them. That's why I thought of it as an example of Royal's ingenuity (and Glen's?), somewhat comparable to the picture you posted. (I wish film had been affordable back in those days.) In retrospect it was an obvious hook placement, but I don't know that any of us had hooks at the time. Fifi hooks were not strong enough to place on a ledge like that and were completely the wrong shape anyway.
So there was a very small solid horizontal ledge (not a flake)with a couple of tiny quartz crystals stuck into it. Someone, perhaps Royal himself, told me they had tucked a RURP vertically between the crystals and the wall and looped a piece of parachute cord over it.
When I jumared back up there and re-climbed the RURP ladder the next day, no structural integrity was left to the crystals; which stopped me cold until coming up with the idea of using Jim Baldwin's old claw hammer as a hook on the ledge behind the crystals. EDIT: perhaps I could go search the rubble at the base where the route fell off, and find the piece of rock with that little ledge and send it to you for analysis. The claw-hammer hook that I used was actually pretty secure.
Back in Camp 4, Royal and Chouinard and I worked awkwardly using a rock and hammer to bend a long dong into a functional hook. Then John Salathe showed us how to do it with a few well directed whacks on the right rock. For a long time Chouinard disagreed with me as to which way the bend should be made, either towards the eye or away from it; with Royal abstaining an opinion.
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Joe Metz
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Jan 12, 2011 - 09:18pm PT
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Congratulations on completing the second volume, Royal. Looking forward to reading it!
~Joe
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Jan 12, 2011 - 09:59pm PT
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First of all, you didn't take me up anything, Tom. I led the hard pitches and have photos to prove it, but that's of no matter, just a minor mis-remembrance. And yes I later led the first free ascent of the West Face of Rixon's (which is the route you and I did, not the South Face). They rate it 5.10c, as I recall. And no that wasn't my first climb in the Valley. Those were a couple of 5.10's with Royal and then Sentinel North Face with Fredericks.
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TomCochrane
Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
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Jan 12, 2011 - 10:42pm PT
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Cool!
Edit: Not sure who first free climbed Rixon's (by the East Chimney); either Royal or Chouinard? I was the second or third with Margaret Young.
Have some of the other Rixon's routes also been freed?
What were those 5.10 routes you did with Royal before we went up Rixon's? There were not many at that time.
And do you recall when you did Sentinel with Chris Frederics? He and I backed off it some time prior to your arrival. I didn't realize he'd gone back to it. Chris and I also did the east ridges of Middle, Lower, and El Cap together. Also Royal and I did the Chouinard-Herbert Route on Sentinel prior to when you arrived.
I think you are the only person with quality pictures of me climbing during the early 1960s; hope you will share all of them
This exchange is probably a good example of why Royal is afraid to put anything down. When someone like Royal talks about what happened, he is playing upon the memories and heart strings of a lot of people. Royal has told people that they should ask me what happened, as I was there and have a better memory. There are certain advantages to having been a participant without being a contender to the pantheon.
However I look at this as a great way to refine our collective memory of events; by sharing our multiple viewpoints. Ultimately such exchanges may even be easier on egos and reputations.
I find it much more interesting to see how various people perceive events in which I participated, rather than just wallowing in my own memories and sense of righteousness. And this type of interactive forum exchange is much better than depending upon authority figure dictatorial representations as to the ultimate truth.
We all have much to learn.
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CAMNOTCLIMB
Trad climber
novato ca
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Jan 14, 2011 - 01:04pm PT
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I have had a chance to read part of the book. It was lent to me by Bill Derr who is mentioned and has a photo in the book. It makes me just want to grap a rope and a rack and go climb.
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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Jan 14, 2011 - 04:06pm PT
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Pat-
I like your comments about "growing up."
My comment: "Growing up is optional; getting older is mandatory." What are you going to do when you grow up? For myself, I haven't decided yet.
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dogtown
Trad climber
JackAssVille, Wyoming
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Jan 14, 2011 - 04:25pm PT
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HOW DID THE THING WITH YOU YOVN AND FROST GO SO BAD?
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Brunosafari
Boulder climber
OR
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Jan 14, 2011 - 09:56pm PT
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that is way runout dogT, esp. the yovn part!
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PhilG
Trad climber
The Circuit, Tonasket WA
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Feb 13, 2011 - 08:54am PT
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Good Job, Royal!
Just finished the book, and like the first volume, I enjoyed it immensely. Not only did it bring back memories of the days of swami belts and kronhoffers, but it allowed me to imagine the wonder of what it must of been like to stand at the base of an unclimbed Half Dome.
Looking forward to volume 3!!
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steveA
Trad climber
bedford,massachusetts
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Feb 13, 2011 - 09:17am PT
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Royal,
Any chance you would be visiting the East Coast on your tour? There are a slew of climbers in New Hampshire, who I'm sure, would welcome your visit.
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Johnny K.
climber
Southern,California
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Feb 13, 2011 - 11:58am PT
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Very interesting reads as always!Much respect Royal.
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shady
Trad climber
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Feb 13, 2011 - 01:19pm PT
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Hello Mr. Robbins:
Back in the not so distant past, you admonished my friend and I, then 9 years old, for scrambbling around ropeless at Stony Point. Little did you know you had sent me off on a nearly 50 year love affair with rock climbing.
Thank You for taking the time to scold me.
A few years ago an accident ruined my shoulder, grounding me permanently. While reading Fail falling, I found my mouth had gone dry and my hands were wringing wet.
Thank You for letting me climb with you through your book(s).
Shady
P.S. Fail falling is the only way!
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Spider Savage
Mountain climber
SoCal
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Jul 27, 2011 - 10:34am PT
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Just finished reading my copy of "Fail Falling." Great read!
It was wonderful to read about Royal's early climbing adventures around the LA area in this and "Be Brave."
For those into the SoCal obscura: Royal mentions a crag across from Mt Waterman Ski area in book 1. I immediately wondered if that was on Mt Winston or the big choss pile at Buckhorn Campground. I asked him about that at the Sierra Club event 2 weeks ago. He was pretty sure it was the choss pile at Buckhorn.
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AP
Trad climber
Calgary
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Jul 27, 2011 - 10:43am PT
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A former climbing partner was living in Philadelphia back in the 80's. His roomate was a paddler and was very surprised to learn that Yvon and Royal
were climbers!
Thats like "Mom did you know that Paul Mcartney had a band before Wings?"
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Mar 16, 2017 - 08:40pm PT
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RR thread!
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SuperTopo on the Web
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Let us know!