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John Vawter
Social climber
San Diego
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Through the wonder of the internet I find that Sibylle is alive, well, writing and climbing.
http://funclimbsaroundtheworld.com/
I encouraged her to post here. Maybe one of you can persuade her. DE, I was told it was you and Sibylle I saw topping out on Keeler in late July or early August 1977.
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hashbro
Trad climber
Not in Southern California
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Thanks Dave, I think I'll post a Largo story also, now that you have, and the slander has begun.
Back in 1977, 1978 or(something) I was bouldering in around camp 4 with largo and a few other locals and this young fellow walks up and announces to John that he has some strong herb he'd donate to the group. John immediately volunteers to roll one up and we all scurry over to Bridwell's tent for the procedure.
Bridwell is home, and we all make space for ourselves onm the dirt floor. John grab's a porn mag off a pile of periodicals and begins to break up a huge bud out of the young climbers little bag. Once Largo had rolled the massive splif, he announces he will do the honors and light the thing up.
At that moment, Largo takes the large pile of unused herb on the porn and tosses the entire load into the soil outside of the tent.
The young newby looks on in amazement, his $20 dollar bag gone, as we all get wasted and head back to the boulders. Largo has never been a man to worry about small amounts of anything!
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de eee
Mountain climber
Tustin
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Yes John, it was the end of the second week of July '77, second free ascent. Did we talk to you that day? Seems like I remember snow flurries as we hit the summit of Whitney on the way down? I've never forgiven myself for not having a camera that day. Murph's shots of The Red Dihedral reminded me.
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hashbro
Trad climber
Not in Southern California
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Dave, did Largo give you some bad beta (otherwise known as a sandbag)?
Nothing unusual about that!
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John Vawter
Social climber
San Diego
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Yup, snow flurries in the afternoon. I've got a shot of Ed standing by the tent in his cagoule looking worried. But it cleared up and we had four days of spectacular weather. I don't think we met your guys. I would remember that. But we were there to do the same thing and someone told us it was you and Sib who were up there when we arrived.
Had no idea yours was the second ascent. That makes us the third. Rowell's article in Outside was about a year old at that time. We didn't have a topo, or anything else. Just knew that it went up the left side. We third classed Whitney East Face to acclimate. Next day we did Day Needle, free, not traversing off to the left, but going up the way that Burns and Porcella later went, up a steep, fluted face. The next day we did Keeler, but not in a day. We bivvied on that shoulder above the 4th/5.easy pitches, one long one below the Red Dihedral. Incredible sunrise. One of my all time great climbing memories. I gotta get me a scanner.
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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ok people. let there be peace in mississippi. group hug?
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Dave Tapes
Trad climber
Silverado CA
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Jeff-Yes I used to wear cutom made climbing tennis shoes. My foot wouldn't fit in EBs. I went to a local shoe repairman and selected some generic black rubber from his collection and had him put that on the bottom of running shoes. They worked well but wore out fast, I think I would get about 4 Josh weekends out of each resole. I'm still waiting for those royalty checks from Charles.
Hashbro-I'm sure I was sandbaged but there wasn't much beta flowing just a lot of Ho Mans and keep going from John. I was pretty stoked when it was over.
One other thing, I remember that most of us called you "Stonemasters" "The Hotties" most of the time. Though in todays lingo that would have only applied to Little Linnie.
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rmuir
Social climber
the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 4, 2006 - 04:02pm PT
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And bvb said, "let there be peace in mississippi."
Or at least peace in the Alabamas:
Robert Bolton, esq., not too long ago. The King of Slander™.
And Vanbelle also said, "group hug?"
Are you outa your mind?! Imagine the possibilities, should a photo of that ever surface!
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de eee
Mountain climber
Tustin
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John, we were actually going in to do the big face on Mt. Hale which we knew even less about (less than zero?). About half way into the hike I had a revelation that Keeler probably wasn't any harder than Hale AND a shorter hike. So, mid hike we switched plans to Keeler (which had been a dream of mine since the cover shot on Ascent mag.) and set up camp at the tarn at the base at 12,000'+. We acclimatized by spending the next day reading and ..uh.. other stuff. It took us 9 hrs. to climb the 18 pitches, 15 of which I led. I botched it slightly nearing the top and ended up missing the spectacular inverted flying buttress ledge where the classic cover photo was taken.
Richard Harrison and Jay Smith did it a week or so later.
I had been in to Keeler with Robs Muir a couple years earlier. On that occasion we tried an FA starting on the right side. I wasn't ready for that type of outing at the time so Robs and I only did a pitch or two before I convinced him to bail.
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rmuir
Social climber
the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 4, 2006 - 04:56pm PT
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Actually, Dave, it wasn't an FA attempt on Keeler... As I remember it, our goal was a repeat of the Direct East Face (which, at that time, had only been done in Winter). We hauled the MASSIVE big wall rack up to the base, and were nearly gassed just to get the tent pitched that night. (It probably didn't help that you had imbibed some interesting pharmacologicals that day, or that we were lugging 70+ lb. packs at 12,000' having just driven from sea level.) And, since neither of us had been up there before, we didn't know the approach. (Remember walking DIRECTLY up the watershed until we got to the second water crossing that the modern trail now intercepts?)
I recall fixing one pitch, and you woke-up the following AM quite mountain sick. We cleaned the wall, and I took that opportunity to solo the East Face on Whitney before we walked out. T'was my first time on that summit. Still had to walk out with the huge pig though...
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John Vawter
Social climber
San Diego
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DE, re: Keeler. Ed Connor and I were on a roll. We met in the Valley, where I had already been climbing for five or six weeks. We went to Tuolumne and climbed for a week or two, then spent a couple of days at Pine Creek, Pratt's Crack, etc, and the Smokestack. After that we figured we were ready for Keeler.
That picture on the cover of the '72 (?) Ascent inspired a lot of us! I have a slide of that I used in my slide show. (Giving credit to Rowell, of course!) And it was not at all obvious how to get to that ledge from below. When you get to the big ledge covered with debris (P 16?), if you look up and right at the skyline, you'll see a faint rail leading out right. Improbable as hell, but easy when you get to it. Around the corner is that famous ledge with 1700' of exposure, and a clean hand crack or two leading up from there. Nice!
But our shot of the ledge is anticlimactic: by the time we got there, it was in the shade. We wanted to free the Direct on Whitney too, but ran out of food, and motivation.
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de eee
Mountain climber
Tustin
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Yes Robs, and that trail was not as well defined as it is now. It was a BRUTAL bushwack.
Although there were no pharmacologicals, it was a thick paste derived from a northern Mexican cactus.
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rmuir
Social climber
the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 4, 2006 - 07:35pm PT
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Back in the Day, Gramicci got quite hooked (for a time) juggling. For a while there, Ski Mart was filled with young punks throwing three, four and (eventually) five objects of various sizes across the room. (It fit pretty-well with our other diversions, such as the hacky-sack and the slackwire.) And Largo and I can tell stories about tossing sharp kitchen knives back and forth down on Balboa Pennisula. Circus freaks, all.
Had we really worked at it, we could have maybe gotten as dialed as this guy... Check this out:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4776181634656145640 (Flash required. Sorry.)
This guy is well and truly in the Zone!
(Plus, his choice of music neatly ties this all back into the Stonemaster Pre-1975 discussion. And, of course, there's the hook back to de eee and I humping loads up the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek... Boy, you're going to carry that weight, carry that weight a long time. See... It all fits.)
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rmuir
Social climber
the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 5, 2006 - 09:35am PT
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OK, de eee. I stand corrected. ...should have said psychopharmacologicals.
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Todd Gordon
Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
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Poaching routes.....(Snagging someone else's project , idea, line, or climb before they finish, start, complete or get a change to complete)......it CAN be irritating.....but not as irratating as getting your routes chopped........BUT actually.....both of these events don't happen that often, and, fortunately......climbs are like streetcars.....wait long enough and another one comes by sooner or later......move on to the millions of other unclimbed routes, and let the punks stew in their own spew........route poachers and bolt chopper are mostly lazy and find someone else to bother quickly....
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TC
Social climber
No matter where you go, there you are.
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Dr. F
Let'r rip. It's all part of the never ending story. You're not slandering and purging is a good thing.
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can't say
Social climber
Pasadena CA
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thread drift: I've been a lurker in this long-assed thread since it began. But since Largo started this rig, I suspect he needs a few more shots of him on here.
The Man
The Mission
Ho Man, the Dude
sorry for the large size, I'll shrink em now
I reduced em at photobucket but it doesn't seem to take effect to fast. Hmmm might have to redo the shots
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looking sketchy there...
Social climber
Latitute 33
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Since we are baring our souls here...
Here's what I recollect about old Guns' (aka Dr.F, Kinfeblade, Crag, Monty Montego, etc.) beef -- poaching. Having spotted a new line on the Astro Domes, I head out with DE, Guns and Hashbro to check it out. Think DE drills the 1st bolt, its late and we leave.
DE and I return next week or so and finish the rig (Figures On A Landscape -- aka Monkey On My Back [another story]), sans Crag and Spencer. Spencer (as per his personality) takes it all in stride; Knifeblade however seems more than just a little bent.
Crag and Stahls mention some new crags (the Bighorn Dome area) which they had scoped out. I went out with someone else and started up Poaching Bighorn, late in day. Get up near top of corner, run out of light, leave a stopper and bail. Crag apparently still PO'd returns and climbs the thing bagging stopper. [Seems I bagged a stopper on Paradise Lost on MCR that Crag left as a bail that year -- which seems poetic in some way]
I'm not happy (Poaching Bighorn is a classic), but frankly, after 25+ years, who gives a damn. Apparently someone does.
The Poodle Smasher area is not involved in this little "drama" at all (totally different time frame), but apparently these things get all muddled up when they stew for years.
We were all young and full of piss, vinegar and youthful angst (I was no picnic). In more recent times, I'm in it for the fun, new friends, old friends, try to live and let live and can only hope that others feel the same way -- most do.
Now that we have dispensed with that sordid tale...
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G_Gnome
Social climber
Tendonitis City
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Houser and I were looking at putting routes up on the back of N. Astrodome. Houser isn't around the next weekend but Laeger is, so we go bag 'Lead us not into temptation' which is exactly what Herb did to me. On the walk back out we pass what is to become 'An eye for an eye, a route for a route' and Herb comments on wanting to do it. Well Dave and I have been looking at it too so the next weekend Dave is around but Herb isn't so we go put it up and Dave picks a particularly apt name. It's all in fun for us though, nobody got bent from any of those shenanigans. There were so many lines to put up that it was all good.
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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damn. never realized you guys were such drama queens back then. me and my posse, we just lurked around bagging 5.12's, highball B1's, and smoking loads.
so....which one of you guy is wearing the tiara? heh. heh.
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