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thekidcormier
Gym climber
squamish, b.c.
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 15, 2012 - 08:20pm PT
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this rite of passage thing is bullshitt
okay im pretty sure that part was added subcosiously by me, while pondering the how honed the people who have ventured up ropeless on sight must be.
Elitests no doubt.
that croft quote is.timeless.
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Russ Walling
Social climber
from Poofters Froth, Wyoming
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Dec 15, 2012 - 08:23pm PT
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If you have a sound mind, you only really need to be able to climb about 5.9. It's all in your head man.
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Chief
climber
The NW edge of The Hudson Bay
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Dec 15, 2012 - 08:41pm PT
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This "rites of passage" stuff is BULLSH#T.
au contraire!
In fairness to Luke, I used this term when describing people on sighting SS.
Rites of passage can be very exclusive.
Valhalla as a qualifier to become a Stonemaster back in the day is a perfect example.
Left Ski Track at Josh for a very exclusive club.
The Grand at Squamish was certainly a rite of passage for me.
It may have been Fosburg who told me about it but the context was that a number of the strong young dudes saw on sights of the SS and NE and Higher as de rigeur for the aspiring Yosemite free climber. Not for me, ever, but I won't question their opinion.
A lot of great solo climbers have played to the camera and the reasons and the consequences of an on screen wreck, their own.
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ECF
Big Wall climber
The Frayed End of Insanity
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Dec 15, 2012 - 08:46pm PT
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Geez Werner, did I piss you off somehow?
Having friends die because they wanted to get sponsored made me think a lot about purity of motive. It is saddening to me that you of all people, think differently. Foolishly, I thought your proud solos of ironman were because you were dedicated to the lifestyle.
But hey, if it's all about getting famous, good job.
You are.
The reasons I admire the man you are, have nothing to do with climbing. Nothing at all. I have mentioned you several times over the last decade in conversation, and the fact you are a rockclimber never came up.
So if you think all you are is a climber, I guess I think more of you than you think of yourself.
I guess I really don't want to rejoin this community.
I climbed to experience nature and to test myself against an absolute and unforgiving medium.
But I have no idea what purity is if the goal of a hard solo is rad pictures.
If photographs are the reason for all of this, you are right, I don't get it.
Have fun picking up the dead bodies of all the kids your attitude encourages.
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WBraun
climber
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Dec 15, 2012 - 08:56pm PT
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You're over thinking way too much. ^^^^
And no you didn't piss me off at all.
I just like to rant sometimes for fun. :-)
Don't worry, what me worry .... :-)
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okie
Trad climber
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Dec 15, 2012 - 09:01pm PT
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I hear Jaybro,the Tarzan ledge approach is enough unroped adventure for me. I watched my partner slip on some gravel and slide down to a little ledge below which just happened to be there...
At the start of the slab pitch I grabbed a jug that turned out to be portable. Other than that it felt pretty solid, maybe why my guard was down there. It sure surprised me.
The chimney below the Narrows is as squeaky slick as the start of Midterm.
Didn't that onsight simul-solo by Potter/Oneill require an old-fashioned shoulder stand at the famous bottleneck in the chimney?
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RyanD
climber
Squamish
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Dec 15, 2012 - 09:56pm PT
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Foolishly, I thought your proud solos of ironman were because you were dedicated to the lifestyle.
Wow, Werner solo'd ironman traverse- no crashpads?! Wow I always thought maybe he was all talk but sounds like the real deal after all- too bad he brought a cameraman.
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Don Paul
Big Wall climber
Colombia, South America
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Dec 15, 2012 - 11:06pm PT
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I caught it with my toe and pinned it against the rock so I could try and reach down to retrieve it. The problem was that I was squeezed terribly and could hardly get my hand near my toe. I managed to touch it before it dropped into oblivion.
This makes me laugh, I was just thinking how I learned these weird habits I use in everyday life now, like putting something in my mouth if I need to use both my hands, maybe pulling on it to keep it in tension. Learning how to get your hand down near your toe is a skill to learn like any other.
I think the obvious danger in soloing is somewhat compensated, maybe completely compensated, by the intense concentration it demands, and gets. You're not likely to make a careless mistake soloing. But if we're honest with ourselves, many times in climbing we're in situations where if we fall, we die. Maybe its more dangerous to put in a string of useless rp placements, considering all the time you spend screwing with them.
For me, the risk of soloing was something else. The feeling you get from it is so powerful, I think its actually addictive. It must just be a massive endorphin release - like an orgasm when the the intense mental pressure of the solo is over. This is a seriously dangerous addiction, too. I think you might be better off as a heroin addict than as a soloing addict, in terms of life expectancy. When I had nothing to do, I would feel a pull to go soloing, and if I indulged myself, it was an incredible experience every time. I'm not sure what the actual danger of it is, but I thought it was kind of spooky and I had to tell myself not to do it anymore.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Dec 16, 2012 - 02:43am PT
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I hate clipboard totin labcoats.
never tooted one, nor wore one...
soloing is something you negotiate with yourself
you assume the responsibility and you pay the consequences
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Reeotch
Trad climber
4 Corners Area
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Dec 16, 2012 - 12:55pm PT
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First rule of Solo Club is never to talk about Solo Club.
I think there is a lot more to this statement than just a funny movie reference . . .
Internal vs. external motivation. All soloists have some of both. I'd say, the more your reasons are external, the more danger you are in.
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thekidcormier
Gym climber
squamish, b.c.
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 16, 2012 - 01:31pm PT
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First rule of Solo Club is never to talk about Solo Club.
I think that rule only applies to those in solo club. But if you're soloing just to be in a club then you've probably broken the second rule as well.
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Dec 16, 2012 - 01:43pm PT
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If you solo, it better be for you and only you since it would be terrible to die trying to impress people.
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bit'er ol' guy
climber
the past
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Dec 16, 2012 - 02:05pm PT
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I'm sure it gets done all the time by climbing tourist on a rest day from all over the world.
Not everyone needs to spray about their solos on the internet.
In fact, some (believe it or not) may not even find it newsworthy.
like those dudes claiming the oldest team to do nose in a day.
Maybe they are?
So what?
Seems like some tough german carps might come in and fire it off
without the need to post their time on facebook, twitter or ST.
Fact is........NO ONE CARES about your BS little ticks.
NO ONE.
Get used to it.
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Dec 16, 2012 - 02:29pm PT
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This makes me laugh, I was just thinking how I learned these weird habits I use in everyday life now, like putting something in my mouth if I need to use both my hands, maybe pulling on it to keep it in tension. Learning how to get your hand down near your toe is a skill to learn like any other.
So true. Every time I find myself halfway comfortable sitting in a contorted position on a small uneven perch, I'm reminded how years of being a climber have made that natural.
I think the obvious danger in soloing is somewhat compensated, maybe completely compensated, by the intense concentration it demands, and gets. You're not likely to make a careless mistake soloing.
It's true for soloing and climbing in general. I think more than once I've free soloed something somewhere and fallen on my ass on the descent where falling did not equal death and consequently my attention was not mindful and keen
Peace
Karl
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Dec 16, 2012 - 04:54pm PT
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Lots of mention earlier on in this thread about Derek Hersey.
He was a master soloist and certainly would not have
fallen from any pitch of the Steck-Salathe. A really brutal
rainstorm came roaring in right when he was about at the
lower narrows, and the wall was a virtual waterfall. We
always assumed that's what took him, some kind of violence
that simply washed him off. Imagine being on that slippery
stemming at the lower narrows, and the rock is suddenly totally
wet and totally slime, and a waterfall is coming down onto you
from above.... maybe you could fight through, maybe you could
find a way to hold on somehow and wait.... Maybe you had no chance.
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deuce4
climber
Hobart, Australia
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Dec 16, 2012 - 05:13pm PT
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Pat, I don't recall the details as the above.
The day before that fateful day, Derek had just gotten off El Cap, when a storm passed through. I was in the valley, and Derek and I were planning a Nose-in-a-day adventure in the coming days. That day he was soloing Sentinel was clear, but possibly still wet from the storm the day before. He hadn't told many folks that he was going up to solo it, and it took a day or two to realise that something was awry. If I recall correctly, it was still some days later until his body was found (no one could really believe he could have actually fallen), and the disbelief transformed into the sad reality. In fact, there was some speculation that he had actually been on Chouinard Herbert--I don't think it was ever completely resolved that it was definitively the Steck Salathe based on where his body was found.
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BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
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Dec 16, 2012 - 07:31pm PT
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I would solo just to get chicks.
Seriously. Why does soloing always get ragged on in that sense? The question of motive of a solo always brings out a bitchy attitude. Who cares? Why would you care?
Soloing makes you fast. Soloing makes you solid at a certain grade. I think that it helped me a lot when doing long alpine routes. You had to haul ass on 30 pitch routes, so I could just run 5.9 out and not worry.
It ain't like curing cancer. My most talented friend never soloed. There was never any doubt who was the better climber.
You can get whacked walking across the street, and most of my dead friends didn't die climbing. Pure rock climbing is pretty safe. You know what you are getting into unless you are a newbie.
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splitter
Trad climber
Cali Hodad, surfing the galactic plane
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Dec 16, 2012 - 08:21pm PT
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Never soloed it (SS) but, Dave Stutzman & myself down-climbed from the top of the flying buttress cordless. Not something that I ever wanted to have to do again (get into that predicament) b'cuz it was much harder than climbing up it, in my/our opinion.
edit: Dave Stutzman on sight free soloed "The Smokestack' (5.10/grade IV) on the eastside/Wheeler Crest around the same time we did the SS ('75/'76)! I'm pretty sure that was the 1st time it had been soloed, and certainly the 1st onsight free solo.
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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Dec 16, 2012 - 08:30pm PT
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Soloing is a blast, providing you don't f*#k-up. Pretty much eveything I've soloed was totally spur-of-the-moment. Look up, see it, get the itch, go.
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