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Doug Robinson
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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Feb 16, 2009 - 10:16pm PT
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Ran across Smoke's version of the anvil story:
"It's not true that I carry an anvil in my pack. Only this little piece of iron to put in the heel for replacing triconis. That's something these go-light boys never think about. Some gaffer is always tearing out some nails and needing repairs. And anyway, if I want to carry a rock in my pack to keep me steady down the trail, that's my business."
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Doug Robinson
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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Feb 16, 2009 - 10:19pm PT
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"To sum up, for me there can never be another human being so completely in tune with his chosen environment -- the mountains -- as Norman Clyde."
Jules Eichorn
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Charlie D.
Trad climber
Western Slope, Tahoe Sierra
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Feb 16, 2009 - 10:32pm PT
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DR thank you, pure gold, Sierra Heil indeed!
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Inner City
Trad climber
East Bay
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Feb 16, 2009 - 11:40pm PT
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Wow,
Awesome content here! Thanks Doug.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 17, 2009 - 11:00am PT
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Thanks for posting up, DR! You are mighty good at finding interesting tidbits to share.
Did Norman ever have a sweetheart besides the hills?
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#310
Social climber
Telluride, CO
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Feb 18, 2009 - 07:15pm PT
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Yeah Steve and Doug! You all got me inspired and I looked in Chuck's books and found Norman Clyde of the Sierra Nevada and am reading a climbing story each morning. I also found copies of Close Ups of the High Sierra by Norman Clyde and Mountaineering in the Sierra Neveda by Clarence King. I have a lot of reading to do and it will keep Chuck close to me. I am starting to wonder about why we didn't move to the east side 30 years ago instead of Telluride. AH summers in the Sierra Nevada.
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Feb 19, 2009 - 12:56am PT
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hey there all... say, here is some more great history stuff!... we may have seen the early part of it, and even posted... but say, here is some more...
bump!
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Feb 19, 2009 - 12:59am PT
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hey there DR... say, i liked that anvil story, his version...
:)
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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Feb 19, 2009 - 03:15am PT
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DR
Great shots-now that you have finally overcome the scanning learning curve, I guess we will all have to be a bit more judicious in what we post of you!
cheers
guido
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Feb 19, 2009 - 03:39am PT
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i'm not stunned by threads much anymore, but this is a stunner.
thx so much for posting up
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 19, 2009 - 10:45am PT
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Kathy- great that you are inspired to dig around! Not all is well written but the source material is usually very engaging. Norman is one of the most compelling characters ever and I can never get enough insight into his world. Curiousity lives on the ST!
You and Chuck landed in Paradise, it just doesn't match the description in the brochure. LOL
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 19, 2009 - 11:47am PT
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Any details on her life?
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Doug Robinson
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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Feb 19, 2009 - 11:48am PT
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Kathy -- your post finally prompted me to say something -- at least a little -- about Chuck over on his thread. I so honor the man, but I'm not sure why he has been so elusive for me to write about.
Guido -- That's a wonderful shot, and thanks. Of course there will be retibution, but meantime help jog my holy memory. Where? When? I like the background but can't quite place it...
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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Feb 19, 2009 - 05:08pm PT
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DR
You know what they say,"If you remember the 60s, you weren't there."
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Doug Robinson
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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Feb 22, 2009 - 03:30pm PT
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Norman and Winnie Clyde on their honeymoon in Santa Barbara, 1915
There is very little information about Norman's wife Winnifred or their short marriage. What follows is all taken from Wynn Benti's Foreword to his 1997 edition of Clyde's Close Ups of the High Sierra. (Bishop: Spotted Dog Press -- I think this one is in print)
We all appreciate his republishing Close Ups from its original 1962 La Siesta Press edition, now long out of print. Here's the cover of the original:
I may be stepping Wynn Benti's copyright here by reproducing both the photo and a few of Benti's words. I'm only trying to satisfy the curiosity of those who love Norman and are awed by his life. Wynn Benti writes:
"IN September of 1997, Walt Wheelock, who had revived and published Norman Clyde's "Close Ups of the High Sierra" thirty-five years earlier, stopped by my studio on his way back to southern California from Washington.
[One more aside here, because Benti refers to Wheelock's having "revived and published" Close Ups. Here's a reproduction of where they were first published, in June 1928 in a magazine called "Touring Topics" put out by the Automobile Club of Southern California, back when it was a two-day drive to get to Bishop. The magazine is now called Westways.]
"Walt quietly mentioned that Norman Clyde had asked him to dedicate "Close Ups of the High Sierra" to his late wife "Winnie." However, Walt never included the requested dedication to Winifred Clyde in either the original or later editions of "Close Ups of the High Sierra," quite possibly because he thought it "too sweet" for a mountaineering guide. Two months following his visit, Walt passed away at the age of 88, and whatever reasons he may have had for not including Clyde's dedication in the original book sill forever remain a mystery.
"Not much is known about Winifred "Winnie" May Bolster Clyde, born on May 1, 1890 in Johnstown, New York. She moved to Pasadena, California with her family in 1903. Ten years later, she went north to Oakland, where she studied nursing and worked at the Alta Bates Sanitarium. According to her family, it was in the Bay Area that she met Norman Clyde approximately one year before they married. They were married in Pasadena on June 15, 1915. They spent their honeymoon in Santa Barbara with Winnie's sister Roberta, ahd her husband, Ross Austin. Following their honeymoon, they returned to San Francisco by ferry, the most convenient form of transportation between coastal cities at the time. She continued to work as a registered nurse while Clyde taught.
"In odd contrast to the mountains that would later completely absorb Clyde's life until his death, much of his life with Winne, as documented by family photo albums, was spent near the sea. Before she met Clyde, Winnie was photographed in a fine had and coat, seated alone on the rocks at Land's End in San Francisco looking west, toward the ocean. Other photographs show the young couple strolling across the sand at Land's End, or sitting on the rocks watching the waves break upon the rugged northern California coastline.
"It is believed that Winnie contracted pulmonary tuberculosis while working as a nurse in Oakland. When she became sick, Clyde looked after her as he could, until it became clear that she needed more care than he was able to provide. They returned to southern California where she was admitted to the La Vina Sanitarium in Altadena, a small community located among the front range of the San Gabriel Mountains hear her family's home in Pasadena. According to members of her family, Winnie Clyde actually died on February 14, 1919, however her mother may have changed the date of her death to February 13 for religious reasons. There is much speculation among family members as to why the date may have been changed from Valentine's Day to the preceding day, but the real reason still remains unclear.
"Not long after her death, Norman Clyde lost touch with Winnie's family and never attempted to contact them again. He moved to the east side of the Sierra Nevada and became fully absorbed in his lifelong obsession with climbing. He never talked about Winnie to anyone and most people who knew him assumed he had never been married. In fact, only a few of the mountaineers who climbed with Clyde in the Sierra Nevada knew he had been married, but never knew what happened to his wife or what her name was. Clyde never remarried and was never known to have been romantically linked to another woman.
"It wasn't until 1990, on a visit to the Eastern California Museum in Independence, that the missing puzzle piece was put into place by Winnie's nephew, Mr. Walter Bolster of Sacramento. While visiting the museum, Mr. Bolster had a brief encounter with an individual who insisted that Norman Clyde had never been married. Following this somewhat unpleasant interlude, Mr. Bolster obtained a cop of the Clyde marriage certificate as proof, which he forwarded to the museum for their collection.
"Almost forty years after the fact, we honor Norman Clyde's request to dedicate "Close Ups of the High Sierra" to Winnie."
Wynne Benti -- from those of us who have followed in Clyde's footsteps and thirsted for more information about the enigmatic man, thank you for illuminating this mysterious and painful chapter in the life of our hero. Much appreciated.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 22, 2009 - 06:16pm PT
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I am looking for a copy right now! Thanks for the tip and the excerpts, Doug.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 4, 2009 - 07:20pm PT
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I just came across this wonderful depiction of the Young Gaffer in Joe Kelsey's Sheridan book.
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drljefe
climber
Old Pueblo, AZ
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SG- I couldn't help but to notice the time of your post, hmmmm.
Big thanks to DR and you guys for posting all this archival stuff- it's fascinating and inspiring, and stoking my fire!
I can't wait for some of that snow to melt...
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dmalloy
Trad climber
eastside
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someone made a timely bump here, and probably did not even know it. The Eastern California Museum, in Independence, will soon be presenting an exhibit dedicated to Norman Clyde -
http://www.countyofinyo.org/ecmuseum/ecmdexhibits.htm
Legendary mountaineer Norman Clyde roamed the high Sierra from his home in Independence and in the 1920 and ‘30s recorded more than 130 first ascents, and topped out on every 14,000-foot peak in California (all but one are in the Sierra). His legendary Sierra Club High Trips attracted notables such as Ansel Adams and the top climbers and mountaineers of the day. “The pack with legs,” is how Clyde has been described, a testament to his ability to traverse all types of terrain with an 80-pound pack. The Norman Clyde exhibit at the Eastern California Museum, which will run from mid-April 2009 until Fall 2009, will review those well-known aspects of Clyde’s life, but will also delve into lesser-known events that shaped the rugged mountaineer. The Museum is located at 155 N. Grant Street, in Independence, and is open from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on weekends and weekdays. Call 760-878-0258
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