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Ottawa Doug
Social climber
Ottawa, Canada
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It was my harness on the Nose in '83
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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BBBBST.
BB bumpin' for a better ST
Tami, are you ornery yet? :0)
I'm 49 now. You got one more year of starting troll threads before I get really ornery.
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Woody the Beaver
Trad climber
Soldier, Idaho
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I got one in '74 or so. I traded a bunch of beer to Chouinard rep Tex Bossier (the late he) for a shopworn tradeshow demo model he was bringing back from a trade show in Chicago or somewhere. It was a little grimy from trade show fingering, but it looked like hot stuff to me. I used it for a decade or so, maybe longer, taking the odd flyer and sitting in it for lots of rappels. I don't recall any particular genital damage, and I seem to have managed to spawn a child since then. But I do remember that it felt pretty awful during rappels, like I wanted to rotate briskly backwards when hanging free in the Whillians. A disturbing feeling. The worst time was when I was on the gaily free-hanging last rappel out of Behunin Canyon in Zion, when my shirt-tail got stuffed into my rap brake big time, and I was air-beached there 120 feet above the Emerald Pools, panicking trying to stay upright while I labored on the fused glob in the brake. Ick. I still don't like rappelling, but my newer harnesses seem to be less rotationally wacky.
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rmuir
Social climber
From the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.
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Yep. They work.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Yep....Joe Brown helmet to, I'm glad that technology has moved to better (MUCH BETTER) gear. I've never had the slightest bit of nostalgia about old gear....mystifies me that so many do.
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soaring_bird
Trad climber
Oregon
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Had friends who used the Whillans harness in the late 70's, but I bought the Forrest harness instead.... very glad I did as it was very comfortable. I think the Forrest was a much better design.
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carlos gallego
Ice climber
Spain
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1977/80... Whillans harness and terrordactyl hammer (Sierra de Gredos. Spain)
1990 ..... Whillans harness (Alps. Droites Ginat)
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G_Gnome
Trad climber
Cali
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We were all good friends with Rich Lake in that era and he sewed us all swamis that were like the waist of a harness with loops on each end to tie the rope into. Saved us all the horror of using a Whillans.
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Rolfr
Trad climber
La Quinta and Penticton BC
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My friend Brent Ash and his brother were climbing on the Mt Baker glacier , they crossed a snow bridge then simultaneously fell in crevasses on opposite sides of the bridge. They hung there for a considerable time before being rescued, Brent in his Willans harness .
He actually severed his urethra! The worst pain he had ever endured, only bested by the first time he had to pee.
I threw mine away in 1975 after climbing Red Shirt on Yamnuska. I was stoked after freeing the 5.8 bolt ladder only to be terrified on the next overhanging pitch after my partner took great glee in telling me" just last week, a climber on lead, slipped out of his Willans harness on an upside fall, and plummeted 600 ft to his death! " Probably an exaggerated story, but believable enough to scare the hell out of me.
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7SacredPools
Trad climber
Ontario, Canada
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Apr 15, 2016 - 09:16pm PT
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Rolfr's story is pretty horrible, I never thought that would happen...
Liked mine well enough, sure beat a harness made of webbing. Easy on and off was nice.
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TomCochrane
Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
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Apr 15, 2016 - 09:31pm PT
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yes, still got it
also got two sets of Joe Brown nuts and gave one set to Royal for our second ascent of the Chouinard Herbert on Sentinel
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Andy Fielding
Trad climber
UK
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Apr 16, 2016 - 04:31am PT
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Bought one in 76. Went from the rope just being tied around my waist to one of these bad boys.
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steveA
Trad climber
Wolfeboro, NH
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Apr 16, 2016 - 05:49am PT
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I was wearing a Whillans Harness in 1971, when I took a 100ft+ fall on Washington Column. I zippered an entire A4 pitch.
I was lucky in many ways, since when the rope came tight, I was partly upside down. I remember a pretty violent jerk, as the rope caught me, whipping me around upright. My back hurt for a while, but I wasn't hurt.
I was lucky I didn't lose any crucial gear, or my private parts, and was able to finish the climb. I discarded the harness a few years ago. I was amazed how small my waist must of been back then, since I couldn't even get the harness half way around my waist, when I tried it on a few years ago, just before I threw it away.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Apr 16, 2016 - 06:14am PT
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Steve, I don't recall you having any parts back then that could be called private......seems to me you shared said parts with many a comely lass.
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overwatch
climber
Arizona
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Apr 16, 2016 - 06:41am PT
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Anybody have a picture that actually shows the thing? Mr. Fielding I think your hexes are slung too short
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Blakey
Trad climber
Sierra Vista
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Apr 16, 2016 - 10:58am PT
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They were ubiquitous back in the day.
1975 Somewhere opposite Asgard.
Steve
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Apr 16, 2016 - 05:09pm PT
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Oh, just bight me, Dwain.
Ab just seilin'.
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Apr 16, 2016 - 06:17pm PT
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I know I had one for a while. I'm not sure if this is it. Right color, but it might be some Chouinard rig from back then too.
I'm sure someone here can set me straight.
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Marlow
Sport climber
OSLO
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A new old Whillans harness.
There's surely someone out there who knows who Elaine, AS and EB (see the third photo) are...
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slabbo
Trad climber
colo south
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ONCE ! The swami was better..
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SuperTopo on the Web
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Let us know!