Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
splitter
Trad climber
Cali Hodad, surfing the galactic plane ~:~
|
|
|
Mar 25, 2013 - 08:43pm PT
|
When I here the name Hot Henry Barber, this iconic image 1st comes to mind...
|
|
Jennie
Trad climber
Elk Creek, Idaho
|
|
|
Mar 26, 2013 - 02:45am PT
|
Jennie, he was lean...
Thanks, Steve. Just curious about rock climbing aptitude relative to body type. It often appears the ultra slender climbers are the most exemplary in talent ...but then someone with a more mesomorphic anatomy appears and does as well.
I suppose it's problematic predicting proficiency by body type in a sport in which finger and toe strength are so crucial...along with mental faculties...
|
|
slabbo
Trad climber
fort garland, colo
|
|
|
Mar 26, 2013 - 09:50am PT
|
Henry has said he used to hang around the zoos in Boston to learn how monkeys and other critters moved when they climbed. Things like straight am hangs and such.. interesting
|
|
Gilroy
Social climber
Bolderado
|
|
|
Mar 26, 2013 - 09:53am PT
|
This last weekend on Sweat at Enchanted Rock where I introduced him to Texas granite BITD. Bet he still maintains all the camming action required from gear is provided by Hexcentrics.
Good to see Henri is still getting up and down in the climbing world though it appears he has progressed past mesomorph and his swami now requires a bit more 2'' webbing. His girth now matches the size of his heart. And grin, for a friend.
|
|
selfish man
Gym climber
Austin, TX
|
|
|
Mar 26, 2013 - 10:42am PT
|
He was rope soloing and probably wearing that wrong hat as a disguise so we couldn't recognize him. But his references to ice climbing with Gilroy gave him away
|
|
Gilroy
Social climber
Bolderado
|
|
|
Mar 27, 2013 - 09:42am PT
|
He wasn't using one of those devices that has a CAM in it, was he?
The horror....
|
|
RyanD
climber
Squamish
|
|
|
Mar 27, 2013 - 12:20pm PT
|
Seems like he made a lot of ppl jealous. I appreciate his dedication to style, quite profound actually.
|
|
Peter Haan
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
|
|
|
Mar 27, 2013 - 01:06pm PT
|
I always think of Kor and Henry B sort of in the same way. They were both very terrific climbers, were outsiders, had way more energy than anyone else had, and upset the apple cart, so to speak, of established climbing. Henry was quite a bit less civil about his process however but he surely had his friends as well. There can be sort of a torpor that descends upon a climbing period, in this case the earlier seventies, and HB was an aggressive injection of new blood and vigor that basically did a lot of good and ended that laziness in many CA. climbers.
|
|
Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
|
|
|
Mar 27, 2013 - 01:20pm PT
|
I met Henry at a small local crag near my home in New Hampshire. I was a 5.8 climber at the time. He gave me some advice and it changed my climbing and probably my life course.
|
|
jstan
climber
|
|
|
Mar 27, 2013 - 01:37pm PT
|
I can't speak for CA as that was a very long traverse from the East. In the sixties and seventies to a large degree the East had an inclusive feeling to it. Hans Fritz and Jim had a lot to do with that as did Dan Smiley in the Gunks. It was a very special atmosphere and we all could concentrate on enjoying the climbing - simply for the climbing. Besides his climbing what Henry brought with him was a powerful spontaneity. The minute he thought of something to do, he went out and did it. It was great.
|
|
Elcapinyoazz
Social climber
Joshua Tree
|
|
|
Mar 27, 2013 - 01:46pm PT
|
After reading the Breach Wall by Rob Taylor(IIRC), it's hard to hold Henry in high regard...but you know, there are two sides to every story and I've never heard Barber's version of why he basically abandoned his critically injured partner in some third world shithole.
|
|
chill
climber
between the flat part and the blue wobbly thing
|
|
|
Mar 27, 2013 - 02:07pm PT
|
Mark, what did Henry say to you? I'd like to climb 5.13 too.
|
|
Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
|
|
|
Mar 27, 2013 - 02:36pm PT
|
First climbed with Henry in the mid-70's at Cochiti Lake...he led a new 5.11c thin crack with maybe 4 to 5 pieces in 75 feet He downed a couple beers earlier in the morning as we waited for the sun to hit the west facing wall. Still to this day one of the most impressive leads I had the pleasure to watch.
|
|
Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
|
|
|
Mar 27, 2013 - 02:53pm PT
|
He said to keep climbing the 5.8 routes I was climbing at the time till I had them totally friggen wired and could do them effortlessly and make them look like a ballet. He said that once you could do that, you could climb 5.9. Repeat that technique on 5.9 and on and on. He told me to use my feet.
Ever since then I've been a "base builder". When I got back into climbing, after a five year hiatus, at Smith Rock, I climbed every 5.9 in the park, then every 5.10a, then every .10b, and on and on and on, until I climbed almost all of the .13b routes and a couple of the .13c routes.
|
|
Don Paul
Big Wall climber
Colombia, South America
|
|
|
Mar 27, 2013 - 04:39pm PT
|
I was taught to climb that way too, do all the 5.8s before moving on to the 5.9s. If you can't do a move, downclimb to a rest. Learning that way creates a kind of static climbing style that no one does anymore. (well, not NO ONE, but you know what I mean) Running it out when there are gear placements seems to make no sense, but after all isn't this sport supposed to be about confronting your fears and doing heroic things? Plus, when I fell on gear, it tended to come out anyway.
|
|
Boulderman
Boulder climber
St. Paul, MN
|
|
|
Jun 20, 2013 - 08:37pm PT
|
Henry's solo of Strand was part of a special 1 hour American Sportsman show on Easter Sunday, 1977. The first 15 minutes featured Red Foxx hunting. The last 45 minutes was Henry climbing in Great Britain.
|
|
RyanD
climber
Squamish
|
|
|
Jun 20, 2013 - 08:56pm PT
|
I'd love to see that footage!! Anyone got a link??
|
|
aspendougy
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
|
|
|
Jun 20, 2013 - 09:53pm PT
|
I had never heard of the incident on Breach Wall, so I looked it up on WIKI:
"In early 1978, Henry and partner Rob Taylor attempted the first ascent of the Breach Wall on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Taylor fell while leading steep ice, and broke his ankle very badly. The details of what happened following the accident vary depending on which of the two parties is telling the story. Barber's party says that Barber helped Taylor descend; got him to a hospital; and then left to fly back to the United States to keep a speaking commitment. Taylor's party says that Barber abandoned him on the mountain, forcing him to climb down alone with his leg mangled. He somehow reached the rainforest at the base of the mountain and was rescued by local tribesman. Taylor nearly lost his leg at the hospital, and felt abandoned by his partner. After he recovered, Taylor wrote articles and a book painting Barber in a very unflattering light."
I was just wondering if anyone who was there could shed light on exactly what happened.
|
|
Mike Bolte
Trad climber
Planet Earth
|
|
|
Jun 20, 2013 - 11:31pm PT
|
there was a long article by taylor and a quite different take on the situation by henry in an interview a year later.
|
|
Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
|
|
|
Jun 21, 2013 - 08:29am PT
|
I am a friend of Henry and have climbed a bit with him over the years. He was an amazing climber in his prime. He could visit a new climbing area, do the very hardest climbs, then put up his own that were harder. He did that all over the world and I cannot think of anyone who can match that record. They are still talking about his visits to Britain where he impressed the top climbers there not only his climbing, but with his ability to match them pint for pint!
The top performers in any field will always draw criticism and Henry’s brash personality probably contributed to the amount he received. I always found him to be genuine, energetic,and and I had great fun climbing with him.
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!