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Jay Wood
Trad climber
Fairfax, CA
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Jun 13, 2009 - 12:40pm PT
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I am so sorry to hear this news.
Bruce embodied much that I aspire to be, as a climber and as a person.
His caring, understated competence,and good humor were clear.
Bruce stands out to me as an individual, in this main-streamed world, he set his sights on the far peaks and was little swayed by the modern madness.
His wit, really, was deep beyond fathom. Not used to impress- just what he was made of.
Em, my heart goes out to you. You had a partnership that is rare.
Jay Wood
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murcy
climber
San Fran Cisco
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Jun 13, 2009 - 12:41pm PT
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Wow. Horrible, horrible. Respect to Bruce and sad sympathies to you who knew him best.
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Wade Icey
Trad climber
www.alohashirtrescue.com
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Jun 13, 2009 - 12:42pm PT
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Sorry for our loss. Bet you're already up and rolling sushi for the gang. Tell them we'll be along soon.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Jun 13, 2009 - 12:42pm PT
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I first met Brutus of Wyde, Bruce Binder, online like so many here, over at rec.climbing. His byline "Old Climber's Home, Oakland, California" was a favorite thought as we all seemed to be headed that way. It is comforting to think that time will just go on and on, and somehow we will sit around in our rocking chairs on the porch, talking to each other, quietly, letting eternity wash over us.
The avatar Brutus of Wyde was known to me for many more years than the man Bruce Binder. It wasn't until the 2007 Yosemite Face Lift that I actually got to meet Bruce and Em for the first time. I drove into the Yellow Pines Campground, Doug was there Ricky D and Bruce and Em were helping with the sushi prep for the anticipated droves of people.
There was a complete naturalness to that meeting, as if we had been around each other for a very long time. Bruce was very open, with a quick wit which was disarming. I don't believe that they stayed long at the Facelift, at least I didn't get a chance to spend much time with them there.
As with many things in life, I had decided that I would have time to sit around the parking lot after doing some climb with them, have a beer and a chat.
The idea of the wide crack training was something that caught Bruce's and Em's attention. The "Bay Area Wide Crew" BAWC, coined by Russ, started with a group of us deciding that we could get better by actually practicing the art. Bruce got into the email loop and we started a long process of synchronizing schedules. And one day Bruce and Em show up at Gary's for a Wide Wednesday session. Everyone signs Gary's machine... the natural tendency is to sign it once having gotten to the top in whatever chosen style you adopt... and so it was that Bruce did satisfy his own style and declared it "Owsome!"
Looking back on it I regret my often hasty departure from the Wide Wednesday sessions, rushing back home, and thinking about that now I have such mixed emotions; how do you spend your time, with whom, how can you possibly decide?
Getting older really is a race to get everything done, to do everything that needs to be done, with less and less time. There seemed to be so much time when we were young, and now there seems to be so little time.
The next encounter with Bruce for me was the 2008 Vedauwoo Boogaloo, which promised, finally, to be a week of climbing and enjoying each other's company, with Jay and Mike and Em, and any other demented soul that thought scraping up offwidth problems at 10,000 feet on a flat mountain plateau somewhere in Wyoming would be fun.
We all talk about sitting around the "virtual campfire," a nice image, but we have a need to sit around the real campfire. A metaphor, though, as the events there are fleeting and unrecorded except in our very being, our conscience. There is no thread to refer back to, no search engine to jostle the memory. What was said there? I can't recall, but the ease of companionship, the tribal ties of climbers, the ancient act of building a fire and watching it at night, probably hundreds of thousands of years of human experience. Nothing has to be written, it is written in our very fiber.
The next day we go our ways, of course, Jay and Mike and I out to Blair rocks, Bruce and Em to a closer destination, their first time. We show up later and solo Edward's Crack and then catch a ride down Bruce and Em's rap lines... we will climb tomorrow, together, our plan.
But tomorrow arrives and there is rain and cold. We get together for a Vedauwoo "brunch" and have fun none the less
Jay, Mike and I go into Laramie to hang at the coffee shop and visit with the old climbing crew, we get back and find Bruce and Em have departed, the next morning I recover a soggy note
on to another climbing area, new adventures and a spot in the sun.
"Glad to at least RAP with you!"
and if I didn't say it at the time, or later,
I am glad, too, at least to have rapped with you, Brutus.
My heartfelt wishes for the best to Em, this has got to be unimaginably hard times for her. And for the rest of the climbing brothers who knew Brutus so much better than I did.
It was my honor to have known Bruce. And a great sorrow that there won't be another time, another place for us to sit around the campfire.
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msiddens
Trad climber
Mountain View, CA
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Jun 13, 2009 - 12:49pm PT
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Very sad news. My thoughts are with the passing and the friends and family left behind. Never had the pleasure to meet the man but I've enjoyed his online persona. My loss, RIP friends.
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CAMNOTCLIMB
Trad climber
novato ca
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Jun 13, 2009 - 12:52pm PT
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Damm. This hurts. My prayers go out to all.
Brian
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Russ Walling
Gym climber
Poofter's Froth, Wyoming
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Jun 13, 2009 - 12:55pm PT
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Oh wow... how terrible!
My deepest condolences to all in his wyde circle of friends and especially to the good Nurse. So sad.... He was a good man and will be greatly missed.
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Carolyn C
Trad climber
the long, long trailer
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Jun 13, 2009 - 01:02pm PT
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Most heartfelt sympathies to all who loved him. Thank you, Ed, for the very moving tribute - so much truth in it.
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graham
Social climber
Ventura, California
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Jun 13, 2009 - 01:25pm PT
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Wow… really sad to hear this, so sudden, and final. Through his stories I pictured a great character!
Deepest condolences to his family and friends.
Mike Graham
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Jello
Social climber
No Ut
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Jun 13, 2009 - 01:32pm PT
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Ahhhhh......NO!!! Barely got to share a few words with Bruce at the first SushiFest. Knew we were friends before we even met; didn't feel the need to hold back the flow of folks clamouring for more sushi, so figured I'd talk with him sometime in the future, share some impressions of repeating a climb or two of his. Hairline on Whitney - now that's gotta be full-value in anyone's book. His climbs were solid, but his personna was exemplary, in print and when I met him in the flesh. Absolutely a person of warmth, humor, generousity and strength. A wave of love wells up from deep within, spilling over for Em, and Dingus, and the rest of us, too.
-Jeff Lowe
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GDavis
Trad climber
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Jun 13, 2009 - 01:36pm PT
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This is very sad news, my deepest condolences to all those he's touched and influenced, and fond remembrance for those he continues to influence. Good people never go away.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Jun 13, 2009 - 01:43pm PT
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Through almost twenty years of chats around the virtual campfire, starting back on rec.climbing, eventually meeting Bruce at a real campfire somewhere was always something I looked forward to. Now it will never happen.
To all of his family and friends, and to Craig especially, my deepest sympathy.
David
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mooch
Big Wall climber
The Immaculate Conception
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 13, 2009 - 01:48pm PT
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Ed, the words you conveyed openly really dug deep and hit it the best about Brutus and the man he was. Thanks for posting that B&W photo of him.....it speaks volumes of his character. I talked to Em earlier this morning and she deeply appreciates the love, support and warm vibes everyone is putting out there.
I'm still in utter shock over this. Been an emotional train wreck since the moment I got word from Em. I couldn't even stay in the park last night...just didn't feel connected to them unless I had my good friend there. All that potential energy and the excitement of sharing the experience to come.......ripped away; stolen....robbed. I don't know what else to say....I can't see the screen now.
Bruce wrote this to me in an email two days ago as we prepared for CRS:
"....One climb. one pitch, one move at a time."
Dingus......I GET IT NOW!
Feelin' for you Brother!
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kunlun_shan
Mountain climber
SF, CA
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Jun 13, 2009 - 01:48pm PT
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This is such sad news. I've skied a couple weekends with Bruce and Em, never climbed with them. Bruce is an extremely hilarious guy with a huge heart. And tougher than nails! My love goes out to Em and everyone who else who is dealing with the shock of this, this morning. Bruce had quite a life and I'm grateful that he shared so much with us all. Rest in peace, dear Brutus.
Terry
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Roughster
Sport climber
Vacaville, CA
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Jun 13, 2009 - 01:48pm PT
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I only knew Brutus through swapping spit on rec.climbing, but the passion he often wrote with and significant contributions he made both there and here made it clear he was a kindred soul in the never ending search for adventure. It is a sad day :(
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johntp
Trad climber
socal
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Jun 13, 2009 - 01:50pm PT
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Oh man. I have not read all the posts yet. Will go back and do so. I climbed with Bruce a bit in the ditch and JT in the 82-83 season. Good guy. RIP brother.
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hobo_dan
Social climber
Minnesota
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Jun 13, 2009 - 01:53pm PT
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This is sad. I am sorry to hear this.
I'll offer a prayer
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Larry
Trad climber
Bisbee
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Jun 13, 2009 - 02:02pm PT
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I only just met Brutus and Nurse Ratchet a few weeks ago. What a shock.
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