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stonesong
Trad climber
santa cruz, ca
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i was a personal friend of yabo. i am one of the few who knew his family.
i worked for his parents for 6 years. yabo was like a brother to me.
he once offered to drink a whole bottle of tabasco sauce for my weight set.
i gave it to him. he took it to camp 4.
yabo was a big yes fan. we went to see the yessongs movie at century theater in 1978, yabo climbed up the walls of the theater and freaked out the staff.
he was a great friend. he had serious passion for for what he was doing back then.
i won't go into his family background, but his dad was one crazy dominating man.
i'll never forget yabo. he was a good friend. his passion and devotion to the sport will never be forgotten.
his legend is well deserved.
by the way it is spelled yablonsky.
shine on john. you are legend.
jeff altman, conrad van bruggen, simon king, jeff panetta, mark blanchard.. we had some good climbers from los gatos.
Yabo is the legend.
may his legend sparkle for many years to come
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MikeL
climber
SANTA CLARA, CA
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Why, though, do we seem to speak more fondly of those like Yabo who took their own life, or died doing something like soloing? Is it the music star / rock star syndrome?
Because we see ourselves in them.
It would seem that we are so very different from others, but we are the same. Men, women, republicans, democrats, climbers, Europeans, aborigines--what is different are only surface features.
You recognize yourself in flawed greatness in these people, but for the smallest of differences.
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phylp
Trad climber
Millbrae, CA
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I've always held off from posting on this thread since John was so well known to so many here, and I only knew him in the last year or so of his life. I had been introduced to him in the gym (City Rock) and after one day that we spent together bouldering with a mutual friend at Castle Rock, we would chat a little whenever I ran into him at the gym.
I found him to be a very sweet person. I always called him John, and he never said to call him Yabo. During the time I knew him, there was an undercurrent of melancholy. I remember thinking at the time that it was a good thing that I was married, because he would have been easy to fall in love with. He had these gorgeous eyes and sensitive aura about him. Physically beautiful.
Whenever this thread pops up I feel I little pang of regret in my heart. The last time I saw him I was coming into the gym and had just finished a hard day at work. All I wanted to do was get into the locker room, get changed and get climbing. I was full of antsy energy after sitting in meetings all day. I saw him on my way in and could tell he was sad. I asked him "why the sad face today, John?" and he made a vague reply about troubles. Because I was in a hurry, I just made some stupid comment like, oh everything will be OK, or some generalized crap like that, and went past. I've always regretted not taking the time to really connect in a genuine way that day. Not that I have the illusion it would have changed the outcome, but just because it would have been the compassionate thing to do.
Phyl
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Marlow
Sport climber
OSLO
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These lines from the Yabo part of The Stonemasters are among the best finishing lines I've ever read: "Ultimately, Yabo had to jump off himself. Into the void went a rogue prince and a strand of memories I'll laugh, cry, and tremble about for the rest of my life".
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Reeotch
Trad climber
4 Corners Area
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Not having read the thread . . .
I think we are wise when we are able to separate the accomplishments from the personality attached to them.
I definitely "idolize" Yabo's accomplishments. Ahead of his time, he was.
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rmuir
Social climber
From the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.
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I do like Peter's quote:
uh, we don’t idolize our friends, we love them in one way or another and fill up our days... I, too, knew John pretty well and I climbed and bouldered with him a lot. I lost touch with him a few years after he "moved" to the Valley. I remember him fondly but also recognize that his wilder side did not exist without a reason. As was said up-thread, he was a kind and gentle soul when he was very young; his life became more troubled as he matured.
When one shares parts of the remarkable thing called life, with perspective, love is the natural outcome.
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FRUMY
Trad climber
Bishop,CA
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I met John in the early 80's, had no idea who he was. I lived near Stoney Point & would go bouldering early on my way to work & we crossed paths several times. One day we were on the same path & started talking. We had a good morning workout & off to work I went. Next morning same thing & so on for a couple of weeks, he never showed off, I had no idea how good he was. He could do everything I could do but never did anything I couldn't & would say little things like "if you shift you weight a little it might make it easier." Then one morning there was a famous climber & his side kick struggling up Crowd Pleaser. John & I were up the hill. Yobo saw them & headed down to them to say hello, which he did as nicely as could be said. They both looked down & would not acknowledge him. After Bob the side kick came down from Turlock they both brushed passed us & left. I could see deep pain in John he didn't say a thing he just went & did Crowd Pleaser Direct & then we walked around & he did Fvking hard problem after hard problem many I have never seen repeated. I was completely blown away. From that day on we were more than friends.
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jgill
Boulder climber
Colorado
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Because he may have seemed like the innocent and the lost, and most of us have compassion for those souls.
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Mari Sullivan
Mountain climber
Hansville, WA
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Jul 16, 2014 - 10:27am PT
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Yabo was a tortured soul who was at odds with much about life but sure about his love for the rocks. We hung out a lot at Camp 4 and drove to Joshua Tree when the weather got too bad to climb there. Paula (my dear friend and traveling partner) climbed with Yabo a lot. I drove his blue Volkswagon bug to Joshua tree because he didn't want to drive it. He belayed us up some route I can no longer remember in 1978 and I was mortified to reach the top of the pitch and he was laying down holding onto the belay rope with one finger. Paula and I reconnected recently and were talking about that. He loved the song "Dust in The Wind" and ultimately became just that. He did not like working in his parents Greek restaurant. At all. There was conflict there although I was too young to understand it fully and am sure his family suffered greatly when he died. Such a wild spirit and a gentle soul...but tortured for sure.... RIP Yabo! Love and Peace, Mari Sullivan
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DanMan9
Trad climber
Jim Falls, WI
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Feb 12, 2016 - 02:39pm PT
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John Yablonski and I learned to climb together while in high school. Obviously his lack of experience at that time did not kill me, and my lack of experience did not kill him. My favorite climb, and the one that still makes my palms sweat, was a first ascent that John and I did in Pinnacles National Monument (now National Park). I led the crux pitch on-sight and without any protection other than the belay anchor. The crux involved a layback, which is very unusual for Pinnacles. After John followed the crux he told me that I was a better climber than what people said I was. I knew John well enough to know that he intended his statement to be a compliment, so I interpreted it as such.
Many people have difficulty anticipating how their words or actions might offend others, and perhaps John had this difficulty. There are also people who don't care if their words or actions hurt other people. I saw no evidence that John was this second type of person. While John continued climbing I got too busy breathed poisonous vapors in the semiconductor fabs in Silicon Valley.
I will try to attach an image of John's first climbing hammer, which has found a new life banging on metal in my shop.
John Yablonski sent a description of our Pinnacles climb to the person who was ostensibly the keeper of such information. The next revision of the guide book had the right climb description, had about the right date, but had the names of different climbers as the first ascenders. John just smiled his famous smile when telling me about this, but I felt righteous indignation. Such a coincidence seemed very improbable to me, both then and now. We never discussed the possibility of changing the record, and I won't try now. My righteous indignation has often cost me retaliation by people who wanted to take credit for inventions that were not their creation. Our experience regarding this climb should have taught me a cheap lesson of some sort.
The way John and I climbed this route was the best in terms of leaving no evidence behind; no piton scars, no bolts and no chalk. We also maximized the danger to ourselves, and did no decrease the danger for subsequent climbers. Lynn Hill knows the mixed feelings associated with climbing with John, outside the fuzzy bounds of safety.
My Dad deserves credit for driving John and I to Pinnacles since neither of us had cars. He climbed Mt McLoughlin in 2014 in spite of being 83 years old and with 3 stents in his heart. I should call my dad now and ask him what he wants to climb next.
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G_Gnome
Trad climber
Cali
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Feb 12, 2016 - 03:36pm PT
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Upthread someone said they thought it was amazing that John soloed without fear. Well that wasn't John, he always looked scared to death but did it anyway. That was probably what made him most different to all the rest.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Feb 12, 2016 - 03:48pm PT
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Cool. DanMan9, could you tell us more about your first ascent at Pinnacles?
What formation? Near other climbs? I've worked on Pinnacles guidebooks and I'm not sure if the climb made it into the guidebook.
P.S. My first hammer was exactly like that - got it from REI, probably in 1974 or so.
I met John once at Goat Rock (Castle Rock State Park, above Los Gatos), probably around 1988.
He was super nice and told me about some of the climbs on the lower and upper left side. I got up one of them a few years later, after *many* tries!
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AP
Trad climber
Calgary
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Feb 12, 2016 - 06:54pm PT
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I first heard about John in the Bugaboos hut in 1980.
Kevin Powell spent days telling hilarious stories about this Yabo character and other Calif people. At least the rainy days were fun.
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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Feb 12, 2016 - 07:43pm PT
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My first summer in the Valley, Yabo would throw rocks at my tent in the morning to wake me up. A good alarm clock is hard to find.
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WBraun
climber
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Feb 12, 2016 - 07:53pm PT
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One summer he did the LSD free soloing trip every other night or so for a month or so.
He dropped the acid in the late evening.
Then disappeared to free solo something from midnight on.
Every morning I had to look for him to see if he's still alive.
Some mornings I could not find him.
I figured he's toast and will have to get the body bag and everyone will be sad.
Buuuuttttt he always appeared at some time later, his hair all over the place and his face had the look of a psycho .........
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FRUMY
Trad climber
Bishop,CA
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Feb 12, 2016 - 08:13pm PT
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^^^^^^ that is classic.
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GDavis
Social climber
SOL CAL
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Feb 12, 2016 - 08:18pm PT
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fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck
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overwatch
climber
Arizona
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Feb 13, 2016 - 06:20am PT
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Fly on, Disaster and Yabo!
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mooser
Trad climber
seattle
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Feb 13, 2016 - 06:30am PT
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because he's the only dude who actually ASKED to see my bare breasts. politely i might add. you got to hand it to the guy.
Ha! I remember you telling me that story when we were over at the LaFlamme's house one afternoon.
Edit: Whoops! Just realized that I had you confused with someone with a somewhat similar name, but the same story. :-)
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oldtimer
climber
Concord,CA
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Feb 13, 2016 - 08:37am PT
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i heard a story long ago that Yabo was free soloing Short Circuit and fell near the top and turned and landed in the sapling (at that time) nest to the route. the sapling gentle bent and lowered Yabo nicely right to the ground where he stepped off like nothing had happened. is this a true story?
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