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deuce4
climber
Hobart, Australia
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Jul 18, 2018 - 04:14pm PT
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Another Charles story comes to mind.
One day Charles asked me if I wanted to do 50 routes with him in Joshua Tree the next day. Prior to this, Bachar had been doing “Half Dome days” (20 pitches), and El Cap days (30 pitches), all as solos, but Charles had an idea of doing both solos and some roped climbs, whatever was fastest and most efficient. He had it all planned out, which crags we would go to, where we would take a rope, where we would solo, all bike riding between crags. This was well before doing maximum routes became a “thing”, and nobody had ever done 50 routes in a day.
It was a super fun day, the routes averaged 5.10b, mostly solos, lots of miles traversed on both the horizontal and vertical. At route 47, we were passing through camp and Lechlinski and others were doing the evening mass solo of Left Ski Track. I opted to pause on the 50 routes and join the splleef session on the summit (but asked for a rope for the bottom part of Left Ski Track as I was pretty worn out). That was my day. Charles ran off and did another 3 routes. Then it was dark. Charles gave me quite a bit of ribbing for not completing the 50, but I was secretly glad he got all the glory as it was his idea. He later went extreme and I think did 100 routes in a day, and in the next few years Todd got into the game and I think got up to 200 routes in a day! For me it was good training, for Charles I think the achievement was the goal, even though he already had so many other more significant achievements to his credit. Yet another thing Charles started and inspired with his fun and competitive energy.
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Edit—Note to Largo about the kayaking mentioned above— I will never forget that day I joined you and Charles sea kayaking in SoCal that day. I’d never done it before, you made it sound easy. Huge waves, you guys busted out right away and were surfing and having a grand time. I must have wiped out a dozen times trying to get my boat through the initial surf, meanwhile you guys were surfing the waves, cruising in and out and laughing at me. After a couple hours of getting munched and repeatedly dumping all the water out of my boat, I finally broke through and joined you in the deeper water. Then you guys immediately announced you were done and were heading in. I couldn’t believe it, as I was hoping to learn to surf! Super sandbag! But it was fun just to hang with you guys.
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chappy
Social climber
oakhurst
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Jul 18, 2018 - 05:27pm PT
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Difficult and shocking to hear this. Had a lot of fun with Charles. Great positive energy. He was at the top of my list of people I wanted to reconnect with. Unbelievable, really. A life well lived brother.
M
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Jul 18, 2018 - 06:04pm PT
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Beth Leebolt in the photo in Nancy’s article in R and I, not Elizabeth Cole.
What ever became of Mike Leebolt. Man, I could tell you some wild and crazy tales hanging out with that guy. Among many talents, he's a great uni-cyclist.
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Mike Leebolt
Big Wall climber
Redlands, CA
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Jul 18, 2018 - 06:19pm PT
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I'm right here Kris.
As you well know, Charles was an important person in my life. Beth and I will gather our thoughts and post soon.
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BLUEBLOCR
Social climber
joshua tree
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Jul 18, 2018 - 07:19pm PT
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He took a lost arrow and the hammer and proceeded to try and drive the piton directly into the rock. Not into a crack mind you, he tried to drive it directly into the rock.
😂
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AMB
climber
CA
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Jul 18, 2018 - 08:26pm PT
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Somebody may want to check this fact, but I'm pretty sure that Charles was the only person ever to do solo first ascents on both El Cap and Half Dome. The El Cap route is called Space, and I can't remember the Half Dome one which is near Arcturus/Regular route. R.I.P. Charles, you were always cool to me.
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Mike Leebolt
Big Wall climber
Redlands, CA
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Jul 18, 2018 - 08:40pm PT
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Queen of Spades
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JMC
climber
the land of milk and honey
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Jul 18, 2018 - 08:53pm PT
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Gone too young, I wish you had more time ahead of you on this mortal coil. Thank you Charles for your innovations. I think more than anything, his advancement in climbing shoes and rubber has had the biggest impact on climbing. (Well, other than mindset and removing perceptions of limitations, but that is another dimension entirely).
Favorite Five Ten shoes:
UFOs, 2nd gen. I bought these for $40 at the factory, from Reed Bartlett. Probably the peak of my physical ability in climbing too, another reason for why I loved them, and wished I had gotten a 2nd pair.
5.10 sandals/Teva style. sticky rubber sandals, what could be better? (genetic flaw, they kept splitting apart under the ball of the foot. Maybe that is why they were short-lived).
Velcro Anasazis. The best.
Mocasyms. 2nd best.
Newtons. After a series of Sportivas that didn't' fit me that well [took me a long time to realize or admit it], these opened the doors for me into what a good fitting shoe could do.
Mountain Masters. Best approach shoe I have ever owned - great blend of cushion, stickiness, and style.
Thank you again Charles. Bon Voyage.
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Jul 18, 2018 - 09:24pm PT
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I'm right here Kris.
kristianunderscoresolematverizon.net
I would like to get back in touch.
My sympathies are strong for the loss of Charles Cole. Sad days indeed.
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mynameismud
climber
backseat
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Jul 18, 2018 - 09:28pm PT
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Here's to sweat in your eye!!
God Speed and thank you for the shoes
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Esselte
Trad climber
Woodbridge, Tasmania
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Jul 19, 2018 - 01:25am PT
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RIP Charles, heartfelt condolences to your family.
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Mick Ryan
Trad climber
The Peaks
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Jul 19, 2018 - 01:58am PT
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Thought some might like this pic from 2008 in Germany.
Very sad loss and way too early.
Mick
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rmuir
Social climber
From the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.
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Jul 19, 2018 - 06:41am PT
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AMB: For the record, Jimmy Dunn did the FA of Cosmos on El Cap, solo, back in 1972. Though, unlike Charles, he didn't do a solo FA on Half Dome.
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Mike Leebolt
Big Wall climber
Redlands, CA
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Jul 19, 2018 - 07:32am PT
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Alois
Trad climber
Idyllwild, California
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Jul 19, 2018 - 08:21am PT
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So sorry to hear this. I met Charles in J Tree in the early 80s. We were fighting with some 5.9 at Echo Rocks and Charles just scrambled up it. My partner Miguel knew him from hanging around his store in Redlands, so we chatted about all these pitches that he and a few others did daily in J Tree. In those days, 50 or so pitches in a day was some kind of climbing, we were impressed. He was such a nice guy. Over the years we saw him a lot in J Tree and he always remembered our names, very refreshing. I have done some climbing before his rubber compound hit the climbing world, and when it did, the difference was incredible. This man was a genius. RIP.
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Jul 19, 2018 - 10:06am PT
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So many great times with Charles; I will miss him. My thoughts go out to his family who must be devastated to lose him at this relatively young age.
I called Charles a couple of years ago after losing contact with him for some time. It was great fun to chat, just like the old days. He had sold the company and told me he was a now a serious tennis player. He delighted in telling me about his connection to Italy through his wife, and of their frequent trips there.
In the seventies, Charles was a blast to climb and hang with. He had a rapier wit and would rattle off puns, insults, and come-backs at a machine-gun rate. He would perform spot-on impersonations of leading Stonemasters that brought down the house around the JT campfire.
I last climbed with Charles in the seventies, probably in 1978 on our first ascent of Flying Circus at Tahquitz. As Rob mentioned above, Charles was a key part of that team and also took a couple of great photos of Rob and I in mid-air when we fell off the free climbing sections.
Gib Lewis climbed a lot with Charles, as they had a lot in common: both were engineering students, Gib at UCLA and Charles at USC. Both shunned the JT nightlife in order to climb all day. The two of them teamed up to do an X rated 5.11 traverse called New Wave that connects to the free climbing on Flying Circus. It is probably still unrepeated.
Then there was an epic spring attempt at the Wall of Early Morning Light by Charles and Gib which ended in a winter-like storm and a terrifying rain of house sized ice blocks, some of which narrowly missed them. They managed to traverse over to the Nose rather than continue trying to rappel the route, where the bulk of the ice was falling. On the upper Nose, they met a soloist hunkered down to try to wait out the storm. They both urged him to tie on with them. But he refused and they fought their way to the top without him. The soloist died of exposure in the next couple of days, a tragic tale told in Farrabee’s Death in Yosemite Book.
When the Access Fund held its board meeting at the Phoenix Bouldering contest in the nineties, I wasn’t climbing much. Charles was there to promote 5.10 and we met up during the bouldering contest. Charles insisted on seeing my score card, and he laughed at my pitiful point total.
True to form, he mocked me without mercy: “Oh, no! My idol has feet of clay!”
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JelloFellow
climber
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Jul 19, 2018 - 11:53am PT
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I think it was the second Snowbird contest (1989). I had an announcer lined up, but Charles was insistent he could do a better job, so I either turned the microphone over to him altogether, or split the duties between Charles and my other guy. At any rate, I do recall Charles doing a colorful job of commenting with some of the wit and tongue-in-cheek humor some of the posters here have mentioned.. Does anyone recall that event?
Aside from Snowbird, Charles was a long time fixture at the trade shows and always friendly whenever we bumped into each other in the aisles or when out to dinner with our respective crews.
He was a large presence that added positive energy to my life. Wish I’d gotten to know Charles better; glad to have gotten to know him tangentially, at least. My love and best hopes to his family and close friends.
Jeff
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