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splitter
Trad climber
Cali Hodad, surfing the galactic plane
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Oct 10, 2012 - 07:47pm PT
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So, does anyone know the date of JB's first free solo of ND? Or at least the year!
edit: see the edit on my last post!!
btw, the GM i was referring to is none other then George Meyers (in case ya hadn't figured it out).
Ihateplastic - thnx! Bridwell was in Mammoth & working on the mountain the winter of 75-76 cuz i recall him coming over to our apt and giving a slide show on the POW, etc! I am sure of that. And the year it went down he was in Patagonia (i think) like I said. Pretty sure it was the 74-75 winter & also pretty sure it was posted in Mountain magazine as a 'news flash' or whatever they called them little updates. I never questioned the veracity of his statement, as far fetched as it seemed. He said exactly what I posted above and it was sorta shocking. We both just sat there in silence pondering the whole scenario, and that was it. I wasn't really part of that inner circle but he (GM) was, so I just left it at that and never said a thing to another soul until now! Thought about it every time this thread popped up, but decided against it.
"People thought I was..." Yeah, I recall reading, hearing that same thing from JB. I am not doubting that he did solo it some time after. We all know that happened. Maybe the same year. So, what difference does it make, other than it would be a bit bizarre if it is true?
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Ihateplastic
Trad climber
It ain't El Cap, Oregon
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Oct 10, 2012 - 10:02pm PT
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Splitter... not 100% sure of the credibility of the referencing site but it seems about right in my hazed memory.
1976 Free soloed New Dimensions (5.11) in Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, California. Bachar had previously top-roped the route, including the crux pitch with its thin hand and wide finger crack over 300 feet off the ground. News of his risky ascent shocked the climbing world. Later Bachar told the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, Colorado: "People looked at me like I was very weird for a couple of months. They thought I was crazy or something."
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splitter
Trad climber
Cali Hodad, surfing the galactic plane
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Oct 11, 2012 - 12:40am PT
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Crickets!!!!
Ed - Thanks!!
edit: Sounds about right. Bridwell might of been in Patagonia during "the late season." (Yose) He wa in Mammoth during the Spring of '76! But that isn't really here nor there (just what i thought the situation was). The point is, was it truly a hoax? Or some false info on GM or someone else's part? Only they know. I stand on what I heard George tell me that day. I don't believe he would've been attempting to circulate an untrue rumor. Only he can answer to that! Whatever!
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Oct 11, 2012 - 12:59am PT
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Perhaps the most audacious piece of rock-climbing in the late season was John Bachar's solo ascent of the last three pitches of New Dimensions (5.11). This is the first 5.11 to be soloed in Yosemite; the last pitch is particularly precarious, involving wild finger-jamming and laybacking in a flared corner.
Mountain 47 p13
1976 January/February
(note correction on issue)
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Ihateplastic
Trad climber
It ain't El Cap, Oregon
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Oct 11, 2012 - 03:01am PT
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Just to further confuse matters... Pat Ament in his book Wizards of Rock writes that John climbed New Dimensions in "March or April 1976."
That doesn't jive at all with the Mountain reference, especially since they would need the news before publication. Since they reference "late season" I wonder if it was late in 1975.
All of this is of no real importance since the fact is John free-soloed New Dimensions! Whether it was a Tuesday after 3:00 or on St. Patrick's Day matters not.
I knew John back then and, while he could be bold in his statements he would not have lied about this. Not to impugn Meyers... I just gotta go with JB on this one.
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Oct 11, 2012 - 03:33am PT
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I used to do ND annually from 1977 to 1987 or so, and I did fall off the last pitch while leading it on sight with hexes and stoppers in October 1977. Kinda fun lunging for the last horizontal ledge and flying down the dihedral instead.
I do remember doing ND in maybe 1987 and watching Bachar solo the last pitch. He seemed to do it quite regularly as part of his soloing routine. He was back down on the ground near the base of the route where we were and it was startling, I remember, to see the same guy walking around with just shoes and a chalk bag that we'd seen finishing off the crux dihedral a few minutes before. Like having a time traveler materialize in your midst. Like a visitor from an alien planet . . .
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splitter
Trad climber
Cali Hodad, surfing the galactic plane
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Oct 11, 2012 - 03:34am PT
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Since they reference it late season I wonder if it was was late in 1975?
That would seem to be the only plausable conclusion. Yose season, as I'm sure you are aware, generally goes from sometime in March through October/mid Nov, depending on the weather.
not to impugn Meyer's
Of all the character's I have known in my life, I would put GM at the top in regards honesty & straight fowardness, his veracity and integrity was impecable, imo! Not to say there isn't, wasn't another reason behind that claim. Maybe someone else passed it on to him and they were mistaken and it later got cleared up and I didn't here about it, or whatever. George did have a good poker face, but if it was a joke that face would desolve within seconds. And I stared him long and hard in the eyes and he didn't budge. His expression looked a tad bit soured in fact! Like I said, we sat there in silence for quit some time. George would not have intentionally maligned anyone, let alone JB or any other climber.
We all know that "John free soloed New Dimensions" that is not what is in question here. The question is when did he first free solo it. And, furthermore, I am sure that he was the first one to free solo it. And he prollie did it many times afterward. As did WB & Croft. I saw both of them do so in the mid eighties. But that is not the issue!
I truly hope that I wind up looking like a fool, maybe I was/am so f'n gullible that it was an obvious joke and I took it seriously. But I do not believe so. George did joke about things, so I do hope I somehow missed the punchline on that one, but i doubt that.
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Oct 11, 2012 - 03:54am PT
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Thanks, Survival, for the insight. I don't recall ever
saying the Slack was in a league with New Dimensions, or ever
would I think so. New Dimensions is a much longer climb, more
elegant, a real morning or afternoon out on a nice piece of rock,
a real ascent. But for one who is/was a dedicated boulderer, I take
seriously shorter climbs. There are many good and grand climbs
of a smaller nature. Thousands of short pitches just off the
ground have given much pleasurer to unbelievable numbers of
climbers. One could name these short routes, but the Slack Center
was always for me that kind of enjoyable challenge. It got
dramatically easier when it changed, and no one can be expected
to know how difficult it was in its original form, but I say
it was a fair bit more difficult in the purest technical sense than
the crux of New Dimensions. Those who tried but failed to do the
Slack back then, Robbins, Pratt, Kamps, Higgins, Sacherer, Bridwell,
Chouinard..., the best climbers in California, knew it was a
breakthrough at that time. Higgins just cruised New Dimensions,
after it was done free by Bates and Wunsch. So let's just say the Slack
was a small, obscure climb that broke into the newest high grade
of the day. That's why it's important, because it is historical,
not because it is some striking and gorgeous Yosemite line.
It was a step beyond, however small a step. Good point, Roger, on how
New Dimensions is there for people to look at now, although even that
is not what it was. Climbers didn't have "Friends" and cams to easily
slide in, didn't have sticky rubber (try some of these slippery
Yosemite cracks in a pair of Cortinas, as Pratt and Kamps used).
Most didn't use chalk, although Gill and I had started certainly
by that time. I can't honestly remember if I had chalk on the Slack,
possibly not. Climbers today don't comprehend the realm of that earlier
consciousness, what a big difference it made. So when people go
up on New Dimensions now, they don't have the same situation as
Bridwell did or even Bates and Wunsch. That was a profound achievement,
and it showed how great Bridwell was, whether or not he did the route
all free.
It was always my impression that the business about Bev Johnson
climbing New Dimensions' first pitch, and then Jim down-rating it,
was a later thing, that it came about somewhere in conversation
but not exactly at the time of her ascent. Bridwell had great respect
for Bev, by the way. I think I was wrong in saying the first pitch
never was 5.11. Yes it was originally thought to be.
Again, no Friends or modern gear, and Jim simply led up that
long crack. One can see how things might have been quite a bit
more difficult back then, and if he got
a little off or whatever, or the gear didn't go in as well as it
might, or any of a hundred possibilities, the pitch could seem harder
than many of the 5.10s at the time. But I think even before Bev climbed
it Jim got to thinking it might not be 5.11.
Contrary to the silly statement by someone that I insist on my
place in history, the Slack would never be enough to do that for
anyone, nor would I have thought it would. Yet one has to realize that
we all were at the brink of 5.11. A few had been done in Colorado
and the East and Utah and City of Rocks, and Yosemite was about to
have its own few. If it hadn't been me it would have been one of
the other guys. It was a big deal back then. Pratt told me about
how he and a bunch of others had worked on it, and he mentioned
names of those he knew had tried it, and he said frankly, "That will
be the first 5.11 if done." I was curious and walked up to look at
it. I was with Larry Dalke, and I climbed it. When I returned to Camp 4
and told Chuck, he said, "That's the first 5.11 in Yosemite." If
anyone knew what was going on in the Valley then, it was Chuck. Roper
had given Chuck the assignment to collect all and any information on
new routes, for Roper's guide. Thus when the guide came out, the Slack
and Higgins' more impressive route, Serenity Crack, were the first and
only 5.11s. For many, 5.11 was a new consciousness. It was a turning
point. Of course it wasn't a big, spectacular climb like New Dimensions
or Crack of Doom. It was certainly much harder than the hardest
part of Doom. It got much easier when the block broke out.
At that time, that same trip, I led Crack of Doom, Rixon's East,
Ahab, Left Side of the Remnant (first ascent and free ascent), and
a dozen other 5.10 climbs. Some people think the Slack was the only
thing I ever did in the Valley. I had previously done the West Face
of Sentinel and Nose, and a number of other walls and hard free
climbs.... The Slack was just a little blip on the screen of
history. But it remains a detail worth knowing, if we care about
the history in any finer, more accurate sense. It's not in a
league with anything other than itself. It was a unique little
climb, minor even before it changed. By the way, at that time I
also did a few other climbs most don't even know about, such as
the free ascent of Limbo Ledge, a solid 5.10 route, and the
first free ascent of the West Face of Rixon's.
I always had the utmost respect for my friends Bridwell and Bev and Bates
and everyone back then. Each had his or own blips on his or her own
history screen. For Pratt, the Twilight Zone (in 1964, as I recall, without
looking), was a phenomenal achievement that remains a climb no one does
in anything that resembles how Pratt did it, no chalk, no big bros, no
giant Friends, no wonderful modern shoes.... and, again, the consciousness
of that time.... Pratt was always gracious, at least with me, and
knew the difficulty of the Slack. He also expressed great admiration
for Higgins and Serenity. He understood the significance of these
small climbs and the fact that the majority of people in the community
did not quite want to believe such a thing as 5.11 existed yet.
Even Roper down-played both climbs a little in the guide, leaving
the A-1 ratings and mentioning the 5.11 free ascent almost as
an aside.
Yosemite has always had the most amazing individuals, Bridwell,
Bates, Beck, Sacherer, Robbins, Pratt, you name it. I was in awe of
all of them, even less known names such as Lauria and Powell and
Fitschen and Frost and Chouinard. Each had a unique personality and
talent. Higgins and Kamps were unequalled in my eyes. My Slack was
nothing in and of itself. But in the context of its time, and under
the circumstance of that moment in history, it was the 4-minute mile
of a sort, however short the route was.
By the way, I begin to think I have no right to question that Swan
Slab climb. I have been thinking, and if someone says a climb was done,
unless we know otherwise and have the facts, we should give
them the benefit of the doubt. I had heard all sorts of stories and
such, and more said it was 5.10 than 5.11, and some said this and some
said that, and I finally just more or less dismissed it in my mind. But
that would be to do the same as those who dismiss the Slack as something
too small to be considered. I only wish I knew more about the Swan
Slab thing and what really happened and who did it, exactly.... If I
recall, I did some route right there myself about that time. But I
don't remember anything more than that. Whatever I did back then
on Swan Slab must not have been something worth remembering.
Finally, what is important is that we remember all these climbs,
all the nuanced histories, and not conform to the mediocrity of
modern-day historians. That's one of the things so great about
SuperTopo, that we can work together to talk about some of these
events of long ago. Supertopo is a virtual history forum, and there
are some really precious treatises about any number of interesting
climbs and people. The alternative is to let all the history go,
let memory fade, give up, and not care.... I prefer to remember,
as best I am able.
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Oct 11, 2012 - 04:06am PT
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Seriously foreshortened..., from below.
One can see about half way up where a block
once existed and now mighty
handjams... It appears so easy from this angle...,
but it's steeper than it looks.
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splitter
Trad climber
Cali Hodad, surfing the galactic plane
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Oct 11, 2012 - 04:26am PT
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Contrary to the silly statement by someone that I insist on my place in history.
Pat - I don't know who made that statement, but as I recall, your place in climbing history was firmly established by the time I started climbing in the winter of '70-'71!
edit: interesting history lesson, btw! thnx
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survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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Oct 11, 2012 - 03:28pm PT
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Pat, you're welcome.
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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Oct 11, 2012 - 04:18pm PT
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This is a fascinating thread. I have read every word. I admit that this post is a bit off topic, but please bear with me.
And further down I want to show my appreciation to several climbers.
I never climbed New Dimensions, probably every other pre-1977 climb at Arch Rock, but ND was on my tick list. Still is but… (And I cannot imagine doing ND or any of the climbs mentioned in my old blue RRs.)
I was never a strong 5.11 leader. Good follower, but I have lead some nice/good 5.11s, primarily in Yo Valley, The Meadows and here in Ireland (5c/6a E3/e4).
After I did a summer on fishing boats in Alaska, I went back to my second love soccer, (climbing is always my first) and played at college, university a couple of semi-pro teams.
So I went to Europe at 26, stupid and foolish enough to thinks that I could break in when most football players start apprentices at 14-16, or even younger.
But I figured why not, I could always climb in my 30s and off-season (football).
Well, at the expense of my climbing, I tried several years on teams in England, France and Ireland. Never became a pro.
I write this for two reasons, firstly, while never a super gifted climber I had some talent, but I some ways never a natural like some people.
Secondly, one of the people I climbed with and hung out with back in the mid-1970s was David Yerian.
Dave recently started a Werner appreciation thread. I only climbed with Werner (and Bridwell) once, Lunatic Fringe. Bridwell led, Werner followed and I was up fourth while the Bird and Werner were rapping off.
I was never in their crowd or at their level.
But there are three people I would like to show my appreciation to, actually more, but Ron Kauk, Rik Rieder and Kevin Worral. These three were at the top of the game but never talked down to me (like some did) when around C4 or Degnans, the lodge cafeteria etc) when I would mention I managed to lead a middling 5.10 that these guys could cruise up.
Ron, Rik and Kevin were always gentlemen to me. I partied some with them but never climbed. (I actually did do a climb with Rik, and for the life of me I can’t recall what it was, imagine that, you’d think I would, something over by the Arches).
So my hat is is off to these three. Genuine people. Also Roger Breedlove, George Myers, Ed Barry, Donny Reid, Dave Hitchcock, Charlie Porter, Lou Dawson and a number of others… they were always willing to chat with me and give me the time of day, some I even climbed with.
And of course Peter Barton, a lovely bloke, who I was going to do the West Face of El Cap with until Dale stepped in (I don't fault Peter for switching to Dale, as he was a far more experienced climber than I was, I would have probably done the same). I remember talking with Dale in C4 parking lot after, he was choking through his tears. Very sad and a tragedy. RIP Peter.
I write this because there were several mentions on the thread about Rik being a gentleman. I heartily agree.
And Pat, I still have yet to win the Irish or EuroMillions Lotteries, but if I do (fingers crossed but not holding my breath) I’ll get you over here on the lecture circuit as we talked about several years back.
In the meantime, I climb a bit in Ireland but being a full-time carer is not easy, but had I not taken the football dream, and stayed focused on climbing, I never would have met Jennie, and her doctors agree that she probably would have died from drink if I did not come in to her life.
And she is very well worth my time.
Happy climbing folks.
Now if I could just be a solid 5.11 leader.
EDIT
I did not mean to hijack this thread.
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Oct 12, 2012 - 09:59pm PT
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Thanks Patrick. You mentioned some great names, great people,
and I would add/include all of them, in my own rambling list of people
who in some way or another touched my life. I gave the merest few
examples.
My friend Bruce has pointed out to me how I talk so much about the
Slack, and of course he's right. When I don't chime in on certain
subjects people want me to, and then other times they wish I said
less. I think one could easily determine
that I am obsessed with myself. I hope I can say that's not in fact the
case. Why I write so much. First of all, I am a writer. We tend to
be profuse, even when we're not submitting polished writing. I
personally like long entries, if they are halfway intelligible, such
as Roger Breedlove's. He is a good writer, and though Roger
and I have a few disagreements I like the way he thinks and writes,
the way he is always respectful, and what he says means something.
Roger is like me, in that it feels there is a lot to say on
certain subjects, even subjects that are not terribly important
in the big spectrum of things. The Slack is about the smallest
subject on the planet, really, and it only has significance as a
historical detail, something about which I am able to speak
because I did the free ascent at a rather important time in our
humble history. I would be last to hang my reputation on the Slack
or think it would prove anything about my ability. Over and over again,
people tell me they like what I write, they like the history, the
detail I am able to provide at times. I'm not always right, but I get
pretty close a lot of the time, with the help of those who also
participate in such discussions. I do not write about the Slack because
I insist on it as some momentous event or to draw attention to
myself. That would be pretty silly, since it's such a tiny climb.
It's a pretty osbscure detail of that history. Much more important was
Higgins' Serenity Crack.
I was a guidebook editor/writer for years and more or less conditioned
myself to look at the finer details of climbs, to visualize rock and
remember. A climb might be likened to a Shakespeare play. There are
scenes and discourse and many characters, and if one later gets into
a discussion about the play it's important to have a reasonable
memory of all those things. Of course as time goes by, the memory
of such things weakens, unless one continues to talk about such
things and keep them at the forefront of memory. That's a tool of
mine. I write about and talk about all these things over and over,
and the memories stay pretty fresh. One can take the "play" analogy
into smaller climbs as well, even boulder problems, and the
very minutia of a piece of lichen, even if it's no longer there.
It was, once. Strangely sometimes I entirely forget an experience.
People have reminded me of some climb we did, and I have no
recollection of it at all. Most of the time I can tell you far more
than you would ever want to know about even the most obscure and
seemingly meaningless piece of stone. I remember facial expressions
and moods. Maybe that's why I am a decent historian. I even
remember what people tell me about their own experiences. As I age,
and with these illnesses, I find that sharpness, that clarity, of
memory is under pretty severe attack.
Royal and others often send me their writing, because I am pretty good
at checking the facts. Royal tells me he forgets much about most of
his climbs, and so do other friends say that. It scares me to think
that will happen, and it WILL happen, to me soon enough, I'm sure.
But I keep at it. I apologize for being profuse, but as long as
people say they appreciate what I have to offer, and there aren't
too many who just find my words annoying, I will continue, when I
feel like it, to write....
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ImplicitD
Trad climber
Boise
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Oct 15, 2012 - 07:49pm PT
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Weeg asked for a personal account of falling off of NewD.
Nothing too crazy here...I went up there and sent the route up till the last 20 ft or so...then fell off. My belayer fed out slack thinking I was gonna clip and thus I just kept falling for a while.
A great climb that I havent been on since that first time. Those 5.10 pitches were classic and lots of fun.
I think it should be rated 11a as ratings are too soft nowadays and egos inflated.
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splitter
Trad climber
Cali Hodad, surfing the galactic plane
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Oct 16, 2012 - 12:02am PT
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i think it should be rated 11a...
the 1st pitch could possibly be rated 11a if ya avoid the chipped toe hold. the chipped hold (for your left foot) comes right after you switch cracks and is the crux move (along with the hand/ fingertips jam that compliments it), imo! there is another small natural hold for your left foot just a bit above it. like i previously stated, i did them both ways several times and neither one seemed much harder than the other to me at the time. but you do have to look a little harder for the natural hold since it is not as evident/obvious as the chipped hold! try it that way some time and report back!
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CalicoJack
climber
CA
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May 21, 2013 - 09:07pm PT
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New Dimensions bump!
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mountainlion
Trad climber
California
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May 22, 2013 - 09:02am PT
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I didn't see when the chipping occured...am I blind?
Also was it chipped prior to Bachar soloing it?
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le_bruce
climber
Oakland, CA
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Jan 30, 2014 - 04:31pm PT
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Bump for one badass route.
Things I couldn't find on New D, now after three goes on it:
-A chiseled hold on p1. There is that one smooth, flat edge off the blunt right side of the crack, tiny, useful, but part of a larger horizontal imperfection there, doesn't look like it was crafted from scratch.
-A chiseled hold on p4. That bending, helix-like corner is so clean it hurts.
-Any way to get the p4, pre-crux tight hands climbing to feel 5.10. Bodylength "crux" fingerlocks up top are cake comparatively. How the hell do you climb that long rattly section @ 5.10, from where the decent hands end to where the good fingers begin? Felt desperate and I dogged it all three times I was up there. The .11a pulls up top come as a relief...
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Apr 12, 2014 - 12:51am PT
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New D was my first 5.11 lead in Yosemite and it took everything that I had to not butterfinger right off the final jugs.
The crux pitch on a rack of nuts was pretty interesting with one fixed angle in place when I was there. I was beyond impressed when JB free soloed it because it is a bad size for everyone in the last corner.
Still the standard for 5.11a after all these years.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
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Jun 18, 2017 - 10:14pm PT
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New Dimensions bump and a quick Brutus reporting of the '5.11' grade...
"I've seen 5.11 divided into 11 different grades of increasing
difficulty, as follows:
5.11a 5.10d 5.11- 5.11b 5.11 5.11c 5.9 squeeze 5.11+
5.10 OW 5.12a 5.11d
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