Indulging in the Mother Sport, once again.
What the heck it worked with Callaghan.
So tonight I posted again looking for John Mallory.
I don’t need to try to locate John Strand.
Callaghan is going to see him in a few weeks
and in the mean time send me his contact info.
Tom Callaghan is one old friend I had tried a few times to locate.
I tried google’n this/that possibility, but no go.
So I took a flyer.
About a week ago I posted on a New England climbing site.
Somebody posted back that they sent Tom my email address.
Long story short:
I spoke with Tom Last night at legnth on the phone.
It was great to talk with he and his wife.
It’s been over two decades.
We will certainly be in touch from now on.
Hopefully at some point in the future,
we will be able to do some fun climbs,
for ‘ole time sake’.
Faulty server migration/ many lost posts starting mid Dec.
Therefore I will simply do a recap of ‘07.
I just don’t have the motivation,
or time to redo those posts.
Serves me right, I am always the one chanting ‘back it up’
For myself, I recognize the camaraderie as being a huge part of the climbing experience. Before we go any further I would like to recognize some of the friends I made, and some that I lost.
“I’ve been meek and hard like an oak.
I’ve seen pretty people disappear like smoke.
Friends will arrive,
friends will disappear…”
Bob Dylan
2007:
Passed and certainly will be missed,
Deborah Slevin, climber’ess extraordinaire.
March/ uterine cancer
Emerson Roads
Not a climber but a good friend and the son of a childhood buddy.
The first time I met young Emerson,
just the mention that I was looking for his father and I was invited in to eat more fresh caught, baked Cod then a small army could ingest.
How do you not love a man like that ?
The brother will be forever in my memories.
New climbing friends from ‘07
from going out climbing:
Gil Rivera
Larry DeAngelo
Henk and Issy
Ninfa ‘Indian climber’
Tim Standing
Richard A. Piotrowski
Sheryl Bennet
Tina
From the gym:
James fuller, Jeremy, Lucas, Steve, Corkran, Brian the ‘cave Man’ and Robbie
From the net:
Andrew Solow (of Christmas tree pass, fame)
Steve Grossman
Hye and Ho Young
a bunch of folks at:
supertopo, mountainproject, RC.com and a few other forums.
Climbs I got my arse up this season:
(go easy on me, remember, this is my first year in over 20)
with Dave Miller:
-’Physical Graffitti‘ 2p 5.6
(he lead both pitches)
with Gil Rivera:
-’The wallow‘ 5.7, ‘The ring leader’ 5.8, ‘Bolt route’ .10a, ‘Miss hesitation’ 5.7
(all top rope)
-’The cel‘ 1p 5.9, ‘Bonaire’ 1p 5.9, ‘Bon Ez’ 1p 5.9
(all top rope)
-’Physical Graffitti‘ 2p 5.6
(Gil lead 1st pitch and we rapped)
with Larry DeAngelo:
-New route in ‘Mossy ledges’ area. 3p 5.9
(Larry lead all 3 pitches)
I don’t know what Larry decided to call it ?
-New route in ‘Mossy ledges’ area. 3p 5.9
(Larry lead all 3 pitches)
I don’t know what Larry decided to call it ?
-’Blood bath‘ new route at ‘Blood wall’ area
(Larry lead the crux pitch after I backed off)
Larry decided to call it ‘blood bath’ perhaps 5.9+)
-’Johnny Vegas‘ with Larry and ‘Bruno the Frenchman’
(Larry orchestrated while Bruno and I swung leads)
-’Going nuts‘ with ‘Bruno the Frenchman’ 2p 5.6
(swung leads with Bruno)
with the LVMC:
-’Panty wall‘ everything 5.8 and under
(top rope)
-with Mark Grant:
-’Squamish Chief‘ to many routes to mention idividually
(I lead all pitches with the exception of what was top roped)
-with: Tim Standing the Lone Pine ‘hillbilly’
-’Alabama hills‘ to many routes to mention idividually
(I lead a few pitches, most climbs were lead by Tim)
with Pat Donovan:
-a few routes at ‘Moderate mecca‘
(I lead a few, he lead a few, finnishing with ’stew on this’ .10a)
with Keith Kim:
-a number of short, easy cracks in ‘Willow springs‘ area
(I lead all the pitches)
with Henk Morgan:
-’Kemosabe‘ 1p .10a
(Henk lead)
-’Geronimo‘ 4p 5.6
(we swung leads)
-’Tunnel vision‘ 4p 5.7
(we swung leads)
with ‘Iggy‘ Ignacio:
-’Black track‘ 1p 5.9
(Iggy lead)
-’Peaches‘ 1p 5.6
(I lead)
-’Stupid‘ 1p 5.7
(Iggy lead)
-’Save it for a rainy day‘ FA 1p A3
(all mine, I found it, and lead it)
with Richard from SLC:
-’757 2×4‘ 1p 5.7
(Richard lead)
-’Ragged edges‘ 2p 5.8
(Richard lead)
-’Plan F‘ 1st p .10a
(Richard lead)
-with James Fuller:
-’Mans best friend‘
(swung leads)
-’Johnny Vegas‘
(I lead all pitches)
-’Physical Graffitti‘ 2p 5.6
(I lead both pitches)
-Everything on ‘Cut your teeth‘ and ‘Hide and seek‘ crags
(I lead all pitches)
-’Mans best friend‘
(James lead both and I followed in down jacket/gloves)
-with Lucas Krajnick:
-’Olive oil‘ 5p 5.7
(I lead all pitches)
-’Bird land‘ 5p 5.7
(I lead all pitches)
-’Karate crack‘ 1p .9/.10a
(I lead with one snivel fall)
-’Ghouls just want to have fun‘, 1p 5.7
(I lead)
-’Bottoms up‘, 1p 5.7
(I lead)
-With Jeremy and Steve:
-’Chicken gumbo for your dumbo‘ 1p 5.6
(jeremy lead)
-’Physical Graffitti‘ 2p 5.6
(I lead both pitches)
-’singing love pen‘ 1p 5.9
(I lead first with a hang and returned to flash it)
-’Valintines day‘ 1p 5.8+
(I lead)
-’Fleet street‘ 1p 5.8
(tope roped)
#################
Not bad, I rough count approximately 120 - 130 pitches climbed
not including a bunch from Squamish and Lone Pine.
I am feeling pretty good leading,
now (bummer) that winter is here.
I am highly aware of and at times ashamed of the gap between my leading and top rope abilities.
Being hard, I tell myself:
“Leading 5.7 - 5.8 onsight, clean, no sniveling, no groveling…
and top rope/following easy 5.9+ /easy 5.10
-WHAT A W0000s!”
Being compassionate, nurturing and trying to promote the stoke:
“Just one year ago where were you?
1. 40-50 lbs overweight
(couldn’t do three chin ups with shoes on)
2. Hadn’t climbed anything of note in over 20 years.
3. Had spent the past 4 years glued to a computer chair
(sucking up copious quantities of cheap beer)
4. Had never been to a climbing gym
5. Gear, neglected, in ill repair/maintenance
(and spread from new England to Hawai’i)
A year later, staring at the end of 2007.
One year after I first walked into a climbing gym for the first time…
1. Lost 35-40 lbs
2. Can do sets of sit up, chin ups etc,
(with out a mandatory 5 day convalescent period)
3. Can say -Leading 5.7 - 5.8 onsight, clean, no sniveling, no groveling…
and top rope/following easy 5.9+ /easy 5.10
W0000 frick’n H0000ski”
#########
I am so stoked to be climbing again!
Like hearing a hit song from your teens and getting a memory flood,
I climb and I get these barrages of memories.
Memories of climbs and climbers from my days of yore.
People, places and emotions that are both locked in my memory forever and older ‘archived’ ones I apparently stored, now to be reawakened.
Part of the reawakening process is painful.
Realizing the mental commitment it takes to climb was an eye opener.
At first it was all to easy to just rest or back off, yet I knew most of the ‘towel’ that was being thrown was not physical, it was mental.
As a reawakening climber I have been confronted with:
“The only way you are going to get it…
Is by really wanting it!”
This is not simply saying that you have to make a commitment to physical conditioning. To climb anything, of any substance you have to have the mental tenacity and stamina. You can be physically powerful and just whine every time you get a little gobey. I am seeing young beginners, not in the most buff of condition, getting up some demanding stuff, mostly powered on pure desire/stoke.
Like Bob Rotert told me years ago:
(with his Carolina accent)
“hey John…
Yah wanna know how yah get up this thing…?
It’s easy…
Yah just gott’a really want it.”
Well…
I feel “I want it”
It is an undeniable addiction.
I can’t get enough.
#########
A lot of the memories are of the fear factor.
I don’t like the gap I have between my leading and following standard, however it is tightening up with time back on the rock. I am feeling more comfortable with climbing on sandstone. I am getting my legs back so I can actually rest my arms when I get to a stance. I am beginning to relearn to climb (especially when leading) with much more planning of my movements. Relearning to climb ’sequentially’, but most importantly relearning to trust my gear, trust my feet and the hardest of all, when to say ‘damn the torpedoes’ and punch out a couple moves (regardless of moving further out from pro) when it means attaining a stance as opposed to hanging around in a ‘time bomb’ situation.
#########
Some of the emotional aspects of climbing (again) are completely new to me.
You can’t climb well if you don’t go climbing, and you won’t get much climbing in if your attitudes is “I have nothing to prove, I have done all this before.”
I can (forgive the pun) easily maintain a 12 once standard with that approach, but not any respectable climbing standard. I will all to easily just slide my way back to the valley floor, plop my arse down with a cold one and start telling antiquated stories.
There are a few expressions that go through my mind when I think about my reawakening:
“I am not as good as I once was, but once… I am as good as I ever was”
Cute expression but don’t expect it to hold true for to long with no maintenance.
My dear, sweet ‘Aunty Nona’ has told me many times:
“Darling, your only as good as your last performance”
My mom and dad, in recounting their disbelief at finding me ,
crawling around the upstairs hallway… long after being ‘tucked in’:
“We couldn’t understand it, so one night we did a ’stake out’ on your crib and that’s when we figured out how you were able to climb out and crawl around the hall. You would climb with your hands for balance and you would pinch the vertical rungs between your big and second toes… you’d just shimmy right up, roll over the top and slide down till your arms were extended and drop to the floor, then off you’d go cruising for the night.”
A lifelong friend and climbing partner:
“Though shalt not forsake the mother sport!”
#########
My first couple years climbing were spent top roping.
After two years of putzing around I spent a summer in N.Conway New Hampshire. It was at the start of that summer I decide that by the end of the summer I wanted to be able to lead solid 5.9.
I feel like I just finished my first year of climbing and I am ahead of the game.
Instead of top roping and practicing with gear, I am taking beginners out and leading them up 5.6 - 5.8 single pitch climbs. I am comfortable and seem to keep the pace when I go out and do multi pitch routes with more experienced people.
Dec. 21 is the solstice.
After that the days get longer (and warmer)
When you say it, often your held to it.
I am going to say it… 
“By this time next year (X-mass 08)…
I want to be solidly, onsight, leading, easy tens.
At my best I was solidly leading, onsight:
easy 5.11 friction/face
hard 5.10 finger and hand cracks
hard .9 - easy 5.10 fat cracks.
That was just about 25 years ago.
I am going to top that, yah know why ?
“Because I want it”
I have not been keeping up with my posts.
I need to go back in time and fill in a few posts.
Yesterday I was out climbing with a couple younger (pretty much noob) climbers from the gym. One was James Fuller, the other guy’s name is Jeremy.
It was a good day out with some good climbing. I’m sure we would have done more except it was a little nippy and being a three man party, two of which are beginners, we moved rather slowly.
As it were though we did manage to get in about six single pitch climbs at Moderate Mecca.
We worked our way from right to left.
James lead the little unnamed bolted route at the right side, while I scrambled up and met him on top.
After watching him setup an anchor I had him snug his tie in and body belay Jeremy up.
James is a beginner and quite avid so I thought it was a good opportunity for him to learn a little old school. James is a great guy I really enjoy climbing with him. He is advancing quickly. No doubt, we will be doing some multipitch climbs soon, so I thought ‘It’s about time this guy knows what to do the day he drops his ATC.”
he blayed while I ‘tailed’
After climbing a few easy pitches I tried leading ‘Singing love Pen’.
I just was not confident enough to commit to the pull over the roof.
Sure enough, as I expected, later I totally cruised it on a top rope.
Well… boon/bane
I am highly aware of and at times ashamed of the gap between my leading and top rope abilities.
Ahh… I will continue the thought on the next post.
No pictures as yet.
It rained all day (and 1/2 the night) Friday 11/30/07.
I went out to the crags with my Friend ‘Iggy’
We were headed for ‘Willow Springs’ to go crag’n.
From the top of the scenic loop we could see precipitation in the N.W peaks and Iggy said “the weather looks awfully grumpy”
And grumpy it was.
At one point the gray lighting and wet upper slabs on the crags actually looked like thin ice, which got us talking about alpine conditions, Neve, Verglas etc.
From Willow Springs parking area we managed an approach to the base of the area around ‘karate crack’ just before it started raining,
and rain it did.
Misty, breezy, schplooey…
No free climbing today.
We did a little recon in the rain on the way back to the car, which meant by the time we got there we were soaked.
So it was Homeward Bound!
About two miles from the exit gate of the park, Iggy said something about:
‘bummer I really wanted to go climbing, any kind of climbing, anything…”
About a mile from the exit gate of the park Iggy said something to the effect of:
“well it’s 10:30 am (or so) we can go to the gym and get a pump at least it’s something”
About 3/4’s of a mile from the gate I said:
“yah know what you do on rainy days, is go to some short, brutal, ‘he man’ route that is under an overhang”
Iggy agreed but neither of us had any bright ideas on that one.
About 1/2 a mile from the gate I said:
“well, and then… the last resort is yah bust out the ‘foulies’ and the aiders and go nail something
Iggy agreed and said he had good foulies, but no aid gear.
I told him I had every/anything we needed to aid something and…
I had an idea in mind (nurk nurk) and…
it just might be steep enough to stay dry.
About 1/8 of a mile from the gate Iggy said:
“If you have the gear I am game, I just want to get out and do something with my time.”
I reinforced to him the nature (boring) of:
what it is to belay a leader on an aid pitch, in the rain.
He didn’t seem to care!
At the gate we looked at each other and Iggy asked:
“Best way to your house? Left or right?”
I had him turn right and go the back way, ‘Blue Diamond’.
Enter town traffic and fade scene/ resolve to:
Standing in the parking lot in the rain,
I am dumping out a duffel and saying:
“I just grabbed everything, we can sort here real fast. We really don’t need a lot, basically a light rack, a few small to mid-sized cams and a 1/2 dozen blades and…
Iggy laughed and holding up a biner asked:
“what are these?”
I said “Oh grab those, I only have three of them, Hope to God we don’t need them but they’re wicked light sooo…”
Iggy asked again “what are they?”
“Realized Ultimate Reality Pitons, or in slang ‘rurps”
“Whoa… ok” he said.
Off we went into the hills.
In the rain, backpacks loaded with a moderate arsenal befitting of small crack battle.
The climb was for me a total gas.
Iggy, well he, as expected, belayed and was half miserable.
We got to the base and Iggy trundled a bunch of loose stuff away from the belay stance and threw a sling on a nice beefy thread while I racked. Iggy’s belay position was outside the drip line and as I started off we joked about how he could duck into the pocket/hueco that his thread was on the lip of.
Off I went.
I sunk the ‘magic stopper’ right off.
Nice directional, and hell yes I stood on it…
“It’s aid baby anything goes”.
I stepped off that and smacked a 1/2 blind placement of a thin Arrow, tied it off and slithered onto it. Basic ground fall scene, but it has nice tone going in and seemed solid, low pucker factor.
Thought process:
Rain, sandstone, “I have the iron”.
There is no ethical debate here, I have asked around, none of the few but knowledgable people know of any activity in this area. There is no trace of earlier activity, other than my own. This is a 110 degree wall, even in the best of conditions the crack I am nailing is not going to go free at anything less than 5.ridiculous, which means not without:
1. superhuman effort, of clairvoyant levels.
2. Pre fixed (bottom down) gear
3. Monster rehearsal sessions to pull it off free, clean
I am ’stepped up, daisy’d off’ looking at:
It’s going to be a very small RP (in damp sandstone)
or another tied of Arrow.
If I fiddle in an RP and it blows it’s a ground fall.
Thought process:
Rain, sandstone, “I have the iron”.
I sink another Arrow and tie it off.
’stepped up, daisy’d off’
Sweet
a primo mid-small cam.
‘full high step, daisy’d off’
sweet.
Could fiddle an PR perhaps.
It’s raining and my belayer is not smiling.
Thought process:
Rain, sandstone, “I have the iron”.
I tie off another Arrow and move on.
Could perhaps fiddle with:
-a logan hook
-an RP
-low gain, with low placed micro cam
It’s raining and my belayer…
is hiding, shivering, under the hueco, out of site.
(poor soul, I haven’t hit the drip line yet)
Thought process:
Rain, sandstone, “I have the iron”.
belayer shivering,
I tie off another Arrow and move on.
Didn’t want to get to freaky on the top step stuff.
It’s raining, belayer no where to be seen, off shivering.
From a moderate position in the aiders I make a reachy, blind wired placement.
After I oozed into it and got up eye level with it,
…it was ‘the bomb’.
Descision time:
- ‘Bitch’n thin continuation up right.
recon and pic analysis tells me:
In the rain especially, this way ends in a couple hook or even ..
lets just say it gets thin, tenuous.
- Belayer, hiding, hunkering, shivering
- damn I want to go right
- Belayer, hiding, hunkering, shivering
I can’t see the wash below
It’s raining in full scale
mist is swirling and I feel like… lol
‘Gaston frick’n Rubberfat’
or what ever that frog’s name is?
LMAO
(sorry but this is my own little world here)
Any way.. moving right along…
I cam’d a few more moves and stepped out of the aiders into the rain.
Not before a previous attempt to do so,
where in my stiff, blue RR’s, stepped on a nice, descent sized flakey (damn sandstone) thing…
Snap-frick’n-awaongah = “W00_Frick’n_H00ski”
I opt to yard off yet another cam placement.
Topping out tied a monster block…
lit a smoke and rapped back to see if Iggy was still conscience.
Was he conscience?
OOh yeah…
Trying to be polite,
While I was making the rap anchor he 1/2 heartedly scolded me for speed.
By the time I hit that ledge he was already 1/2 gone,
Bless that poor kid
He was shiver’n, wet, but gung ho’.
Had the jugs set up and was ready to go.
In a flash he was in, and off.
Jug’n for his first time,
and he wasted none of it.
Iggy cleaned it in no time,
dragging extra web to tie off a block at the top,
in no time he was back on the deck and warmed up,
time to pull ropes…
No easy task.
wet rope, no rap rings on anchor slings,
knots, sandstone edges…
We fiddled some engineering with the ‘jugs’.
About 8 feet apart we would hurl ourselves in a unified effort,
down the talus slope,
avoiding cactae and calf bust’n cracks.
Slowly but surely we won the ‘pull’.
Ropes coiled, we were gone,
back to the warmth of a petroleum fueled vehicle.
Reaching site of the parking lot,
warmed from the hike, up on a knoll,
Iggy turned and said:
“This was an awesome climbing day!”
I asked him:
“why because the climb?”
he said “That as well, but look, look at the swirling mist below us, the parking lot is 1/2 obscured, the crags above disappear into the mist, this is a one in a million day at Red Rocks”
I looked around and added:
“Oui Oui Jacques, zeez is fahb-you-less to be on zee some’ette of zee Aguille Du Midi. as zeez, at zeez time, life is good”
We jogged the last 200 yards too the car, but…
Bummer 
Iggy can’t find his Blackberry.
We suit back up, in light highly mobile mode.
Under headlamp,
Blaze it 1/2 way back to the climb, as I call his phone.
No outbound signal for me and it’s been dark for almost an hour now.
We blew it off.
It was a great day and a good outing with:
No injuries, no arrests.
Iggy went back the next morning and found his Blackberry,
so that was resolved relatively painlessly.
I still have rust stains on my ‘Dickies’ to remind me of:
the first time I stood in aiders,
first time I smacked a pin with a hammer,
and the first time I have climbed in the rain, since…
Well let’s just say…
What a joy:
to be climbing once again!
First day out with Iggy (no, not ‘Star Dust’)
a fella from the climbing gym, whose name is Ignacio.
Nice guy and super avid climber. We got to talking in the gym Tuesday night and made plans to go out early Wednesday.
We went to the ‘Willow Springs’ area.
On the drive out to Red Rocks,
I learned Iggy works at the local indoor sky diving place.
It was interesting to learn about all the different type of chutes and their various specialties.
First climb we did was at ‘Sumo Greatness’ crag. I lead the 5.8 ‘Book ‘em Rudo’ variation to ‘Peaches’
Then after a walk off, I lead a crack that I thought was the first (#1 in the Brock guide) ‘unnamed’ crack on the left side of the cliff. I thought I was climbing a 5.10a crack but it was either the wrong crack or the rating was way off. What I lead was a short (barely) overhanging bulge with a hand crack in it.
It was probably 5.7 maybe 5.8. Not very engaging yet…
When we rapped off we noticed that the rap was a perfect top rope set up,
for a couple short roof problems.
So that we did.
Because the scrub oak was very close the base and wanting to be able to see what happened above the lip of the roof, I moved the belay end of the rope outside of the base veg’.
So the belayer actually stood about 30′ from the base of the crag in a open pocket amongst the scrub oak. It was shady, free from prickers and gave the belayer a view of the whole climb.
‘Iggy’ went first and got the first roof, top rope problem, clean first try, I did as well.
When Iggy flowed through the usual side turning, weight shifting, roof turning move, and cruised up a couple meters above the lip, he turned around, looked at me with a huge smile and said “man, that was really, really fun, not all that hard but a challenge, man you have got to give this a go, it’s really fun, well worth it and I am glad we threw a rope on it.”
Right there…
That classic bond.
Two climbers, new to each other,
Challenging each other, watching, observing, critiquing…
Now with fraternal appreciation,
it becomes supporting with beta and verbal encouragement.
Now it was my turn to have a go at it.
I was tying in and Iggy expresses from the bush belay stance,
“how old is this Stitch belay plate?”
With a chuckle I answered honestly:
“I don’t know, but it’s certainly older than you”
Responding Iggy chuckled and said “OK then your ON!”
##########
A note about Iggy and my relationship with him:
The first time I met Iggy was perhaps my 3rd or 4rth visit to the climbing gym,
March 07′.
I did take it as a compliment that…
Iggy felt compelled to give me the attention unsolicited, however…
I was climbing around the gym with my ‘Fire’ shoes and a blue Swami.
Iggy was watching me like a hawk, I could readily sense it. Finally he walks right up to me and almost starts interrogating me for my basic ID info. We got to talking and he started right in with climbing technique advise. One of the things he said was “I think you could benefit from climbing much more dynamically” and added shortly after “you seem like you are almost afraid of falling, you should push yourself more and be willing to take short falls”. “Well, really now sonny…” I thought !
I did not say it but I wanted to express that …
“Kid… This is my my 3rd or 4rth time ever in a climbing gym, and the first climbing I have done in almost 25 years. I am exercising again, yet just, and I am 50lbs over weight, can’t do but 2 clean chin up’s (I will fail on the 3rd or 4rth)… I used to climb 5.10 + - 5.11- onsight, but that was a quarter of a century ago. Right now I would snivel and whine leading hard fourth class…
And you suggest I start to sing and leap like a sports wanker and spend time taking flyers instead of climbing? Wrong!
I knew what I needed.
Exercise, climbs, and time back on the rock.
I needed to do long slab boulder sessions to get my feet/toes back in shape so I could stand on them!
I knew I just needed to be that 15 yr old JR again. That is, to put in the unglorious hrs and hrs of just bouldering around on balancey face holds, frying my feet all the while shedding weight. Once I could stand on my feet again then I would think about upper body strength and stamina.
The gym was doing little or nothing for this progression and later I came too the realization that climbing in the gym was doing very little for my actual climbing.
Another huge realization for me, was that there were plenty of these gym monkeys that could climb a 5.11+ pre protected sport route, on a gym wall, yet have never climbed outside, can’t build a gear anchor or successfully climb a sustained 5.7 hand crack.
I was already beginning to see the pronunciation of differences between the ‘new to me’ terms of ’sport’ and ‘trad’ climbing/climbers
(mentality).
Back to Iggy and our first encounter:
AS we conversed I felt I was being challenged. Of course running through my mind was all the typical ‘has been’ defensive crap like “Kid you might flash 5.11 in the gym, but if you were to go to the Valley and climb for 2 seasons fall and spring, you still would not rattle off my tick list (from the valley alone)…
How many walls have you done ? Have you ever climbed frozen waterfalls or done any alpinism? etc etc..
At about this point Iggy brings up the point that I am wearing a swami belt.
He asked “would I like to see the new way to tie a swami belt with webbing?”
I was all ears.
He proceeded to sit down and go through these funky little twists and contortions and finally stood up wearing your basic webbing diaper sling.
I had enough at this point… thinking “look kid I may be a fluffy has been, but enough of this attack”
I said “you want to see the ‘good ole’ way to tie your new swami style?”
I stood, put the weebing at mid length in my teeth, reached behind my legs for the tails and baddah, boom, baddah bing… Diaper sling.
It needed no sitting, twisting, turning adjusting… the 10 second belay harness/diaper sling.
Now with a bit of retaliatory ‘tude…
I looked at Iggy and said “how old are you?”
Instead of a direct answer, he started in with the typical word game/skate “much older than I look… etc”
When pressed he resisted, finally I said “Look it’s a simple question between two men, one young, one not, I am 47 I am asking you a direct question, how old are you?”
He answered, somewhere around 27.
“Ahh, the hook is set” I looked at him and said something to the effect of “well I might be fluffy and a bit stuffy, but yah know… I was teaching your ‘new technique’ in ‘OutWardBound’ climbing classes when you were three years old!”
Pretty much end off conversation, I skated away immediately after.
It was time to go home for the night at the point anyway.
So…
When Iggy aksed me Tuesday night if I would like to climb Wednesday ?…
I was very apprehensive. I said sure thinking and hoping for the best.
I tried not to project any negativity.As much as I wanted to go climbing, I actually thought of calling him and bailing on the plan.
I awoke Wednesday morning and as I was going to the gym to meet Iggy to head out to the crags…
I found myself muttering to myself things like “I hope this goes smooth, no dramas, I hope we can find a mutual respect for each other’s attributes and find a way to make them co-enhance in the form of a good, productive, days outing.”
##########
The second problem was harder.
Iggy took a hang on his first attempt, then flashed it on a second go.
I was not able to do it (back to the chin up bar)
After these few climbs we went back to the car and ‘regrouped’.
Iggy grabbed his rack and off we went to the ‘Big Foot’ area.
Iggy lead and I followed ‘Black Track’ in fine style.
We used the rap set up, to once again top rope. We top roped ‘Big Foot’ 5.10a
I went first and failed about 3/4’s the way up (just pumped out).
Iggy cruised it on a top rope, and off we went
(looking at the clock)
back to the harshness of ‘Sin City’.
It was a really fun day of climbing.
No pictures taken unfortunately,
next time out with Iggy I will make a point to get some images.
I look forward to climbing with Iggy again.
We, I at least really enjoyed the outing !
I have two climbs added to my “attempted” list.
The top rope, roof problem and ‘Big foot’
I love having a couple of roots on my “return to” list.
Not to many, I don’t like having lots of stylistic “loose ends”.
However, it is cool to have a couple roots you toss the oppourtunity of doing clean, onsight for the sake of improving and slowly pushing yourself upward.
I feel good.
I can confidently say:
“After eight months of climbing again, I am confident in saying I can lead solid 5.8 and follow 5.9 and occasional 5.10, no worries, no falls or even any serious snivelling.”
And yes, I can do a lot more than three chin ups now.
Great day.
Nice sunrise on the way cross town.
I meet up with the aussie chap, ‘Henk’
We met in the morning at Red Rock Casino.
I was a little early, as was he, so we got a jump on the day.
Riding up the hill in the ‘Pimp Mobile’ (as Issy put’s it),
I picked up a gear catalog and started leafing through it.
Henk exclaimed “Aw man I am stoked yesterday I bought some new nuts”
Asking what kind he replies “I bought 4 Tri-Cams”
< stoked ?
Ok, I always hated those things.
But to each his own.
Larry 'D' likes his round 'Peck' nuts.
I have a couple hanging on my 'yuck, and never get used‘ sling.
along with some of those old Forrest symmetrical hexes and … a few Tri-Cams.
I said to Henk, “you like those things ‘eh… I have couple you can have.”
Tri-cams are actually Ok I guess.
I never liked them much, but they do seem pretty good in these little desert huecos.
The route we were headed for was Henk’s novel idea.
He had it in mind to do ‘Johnny Vegas’ with Johnny from Vegas.
It didn’t work out quite that way,
seems Henk’s GPS was faulty.
Actually his route location beta was from a guy,
from a guy,
from New Jersey,
or Idaho or…
No wait…
Idaho is were the people we bumped into while wandering… looking.
A man and his wife and their dog.
They knew just were they were,
we knew, we didn’t know.
Turns out we were no where near the right crag for ‘Johnny Vegas’.
We weren’t even in the right canyon it seems, lol.
Apparently in our search for ‘Johnny Vegas’…
We walked right to the base of ‘Geronimo’.
Well ? “Good enough” we figured.
We had done ‘Kemosabe’ together last weekend.
This would be in keeping with doing a climb by ‘theme’.
We had the right ‘tude.
“A rope a rack and the fleece on our backs”
Off we went, Henk leading the first pitch.
Henk is a jovial type character
He is a great guy to climb with, very solid and conscientious,
(He has a lot of guiding experience back in OZ)
while at the same time, he is quite lighthearted and good fun to be around.
Following his lead of the first pitch
I climbed through and linked 2nd and 3rd pitch.
One of those deals, not worth stopping on top of a 100′ pitch,
to belay a second 60′ pitch. But the rope drag was inevitable.
Up came Henk and off he went on the 3rd pitch.
He went off belay.
Because the belay ledge was large and bush covered,
I had started up the pitch before I was on belay.
I was about 1/2 way to Henk’s first piece when I hear “ROooooope”
Sure as shit, the man and wife party ahead of us,
had chucked a rope to start their descent rappel.
It comes flinging down, I see it coming.
Yep, sure as shit, I get the tail of an 8mm whipped up side the ‘beany’
Well it was no big deal, I had my ‘Hippie Helmet’ on.
So off I go,
by the time I reach the first piece Henk has me ‘On’.
The third pitch of the climb was nice, I would say the first was the nicest,
and then this 3rd pitch next best on the climb.
I get to the belay,
It was one of those sweet belay ledges.
The kind of position where you feel like,
you are on a much more committing climb than you are.
Exposed enough, flat’ish but not palatial by any means…
Here I am,
reaching the ledge,
telling Henk about the inherent dangers of rock climbing.
As I am telling him about getting snapped in the head by a rope,
while basically soloing, 20′ off the ground…
I look and … WTF ?
Henk nice anchor M8 !
He laughed at me and says with exuberance…
“I knew you’d love it Johnny,
I saw the crack and I saw the perfect anchor…”
I interrupted him.
“I don’t care how bomber,
three Tri-cams strung together with some old 6mm perlon cordellete, WTF ?
you had the gear, why the heck yah didn’t just drop in a couple mid-small cams,
clove’m off and be done with it?”
He was almost giggling and said something like…
“because if you look at the next pitch it doesn’t look like there is that much gear on it.
Yah never know what’s up ahead,
I wanted you to feel real comfy,
if you wound up staring at a 40 footer onto the belay” Ha Ha.
No really M8,
I just couldn’t help myself,
I was just dying to make an all Tri-Cam anchor”
Thanks Henk, your a charmer.
Set up an anchor off an oversized boot lace,
and glorified ‘Art deco’ chandelier hangings.
To imagine, I thought he was cool because he had some old drilled hex’s?
I got about 12′ above the belay and I told Henk to “watch me”!
He chuckles and says:
“Why M8, you not gripped? Don’t worry I got you covered…
but don’t worry about the belay it’s solid
and you will just hit this ledge and break your ankle anyway.”
I love the way climbers…
are always so pragmatic in their descriptions of
the inevitable outcome of basic physics.
I get a small wired in some crappy little desert choss slot.
And Henk heckles me some more.
“Rawhit ahhn M8, from there you might bust your leg,
but that will might you down enough…
that you still might get off with just a busted ankle,
but at least you know the belay is bomber…
… all these Tri-Cams.”
Ahh the brotherhood!
Ahh the comraderie of the climbing fraternity!
We had plenty fun.
On the top of the climb was the strangest little box.
It looked like a summit regi type thing.
It was on a sling, on the rap anchor.
Henk opened it and it was full of little letters,
pictures and apparent memorabilia of some teenage boy ?
Henk said “I don’t know what this is, but I don’t care to have any business here”.
I agreed and he closed the container.
The rap’ off was gladly uneventful with a minor exception.
We cheated one of the multiple single rope raps with a double.
Of course the rope got stuck on the pull. Henk climbed back up to free it.
I was actually hoping the scurry back up would be more taxing.
That way I could heckle Henk about leading on my quick body belay
and the 8mm for lead line
Not that, that was any big deal, but something… anything,
just to harrass the boy back,
after his ‘rough and ready’ treatment
earlier on the top of the climb.
####
We slid down the hill in the ‘Pimp Mobile’.
Grabbed ‘Issy’ at the Library where she spend most off her day,
and off we went to the west side climbing shop.
The climbing shop/gym was sponsoring the Bachar slide show.
This was a benefit for the local re bolting efforts, so even ‘dirt baggers’ like myself could easily rationalize the $10.00 entry donation, which included BBQ outside before.
When I had passed by the shop in the morning, I had wondered…
“where are they going to have the BBQ?
certainly not in that alley way with a dumpster at the end?”
Yep’ sure enough.
The wind was pumping…
so hard it was blowing over unoccupied, metal, folding chairs.
You had to hunch over your plate and hold everything on it down, or it WOULD fly.
The BBQ was not particularly to my liking.
Hippie, tofu stuff.
OK, the humus was good, but the burgers….?
Dry, crappy, garden burgers…. where’s the beef man?
After almost 2 decades of indoctrination by the Hawaiians,
into proper planning and prep of outdoor festivities…
I realized when it comes to creating communal comfort
(wind/rain protection, music, lights etc..)
and high volumes of tasty high calorie grinds,
climbers –> are on the myopic side.
The slide show was a great contrast to the scene in the alley.
It was great to see all the faces.
I bumped into Larry ‘D’, Kartsen and Pat Donahue.
I saw many other people I recognized from the crags and gyms.
There was some question in my mind.
Was Bachar actually presenting this slide show ?
Well I looked behind me and I see this guy autographing a gals sweatshirt.
Ok so there he is, I guess he is presenting.
He finished the autograph, stood up and said:
“well there yah go, but I think you may have just ruined a perfectly good sweat shit”
As he said this, he turned toward me and smiled.
That just blew me away!
I remember plenty times,
at the ‘rescue site’ gym, in Camp 4,
when Bachar would be hanging out.
I had been around him enough.
Not just in the Valley but a few times in ‘Josh’ as well.
In ‘rescue site’ gym, he was always cool at lending info about routes, building a “Bachar ladder”,
or he might come zinging past a belay ledge you are occupying on the ‘Cookie’.
Once again, due to getting back into climbing,
I got to:
look in the eyes, here the voice,
of somebody I had not seen or heard,
for almost two and a half decades.
I thought his slide show was excellent.
However it had incredible personal meaning for me.
The slides he showed (and stories he told)
were from the late 70’s through mid 90’s, with the bulk of them being from the early to mid 80’s.
What memory jogs:
The man presenting the slide show, his appearance, voice, demeanor.
The slides themselves, the people the climbs.
A picture of ‘Yabo’… ensuing flood of memories.
A picture of ‘Rick Cashner’… ensuing flood of memories.
A picture of ‘Pete Croft’… ensuing flood of memories.
Many pictures of Josh climbs such as:
… resulting in a flood of memories.
Many pictures of Valley classics such as:
… resulting in a flood of memories.
Bachar essentially talked about soloing.
How he got into it and how it developed for him.
Bachar was funny as he talked about his early Josh solos,
he said “most of these early Josh solos were really just giant boulder problems,
if you fell there was a pretty good chance you might survive!”
I love the way climbers…
are always so pragmatic in their descriptions of
the inevitable outcome of basic physics.
At the end of the slide show the sponsor did a raffle.
after a few minutes and heaps of gear not going my way…
I handed my ticket to ‘Issy’ and headed for the door.
Bachar was at the door…
I had a few minutes to talk to him.
With a chuckle I told him how I still have (in primo ‘just broken in’) pair of original Boreal ‘Fire’ shoes, which I bought off him in Camp 4, in ‘83, the year he took the NA distributor ship and was actually peddling them personally.
He laughed and said:
“Oooh gawd those things hurt so much…”
We talked about a few Camp 4 personalities from the early 80’s
I asked him if he was still playing horn.
When I said I was 6 - 8 mos. into my return to climbing after a very long hiatus he said “welcome back” with a smile.
I asked about his car accident. He told me about the injuries and what new hardware he is packing. He mentioned that he had stopped climbing for a few years a couple of years ago.
I got to return the “welcome back”.
Experiencing memory sense overload, I went outside.
Shortly after, said my Aloha to Henk and Issy.
Just as I was swinging my leg over the saddle of my bike
on the east bound sidewalk of Charleston ave.
getting ready to start the ride home, cross town…
The bus pulls up w000t!
Tossed ‘Mr. Fischer’ on the rack and off we went.
Caught the Pecos transfer with perhaps an 8 minute wait.
Boogie’d the last block home fast enough to sweat
and make it look like I just had a long grueling day out on the mnt bike.
I got home and walking passed my copy of “Yosemite climber” I thought:
< should've brought my copy to the slide show,
and had Bachar autograph the picture of him
working on "The razor’s edge“.
< Gott'a get Henk and Issy over,
for a proper BBQ before they split.
What a great day...
Got in a good moderate trad climb,
saw a Bachar give a slide show,
bumped into some climbing chums.
No injuries, no arrests !
It was a great day.
The only thing I could grumble about all day long…
(besides Henk’s incessant heckling, grumbling and whining
would be those crappy, dried out, flattened, building material like,
Garden burgers.
So if that is the sum total of my complaints ?
I must be a king
Midday I exchanged a couple emails with Larry DeAngelo.
He in formed me about the Bachar slide show tomorrow evening.
I Got a call this afternoon from Tim Standing
he wanted to thank me for sending him two books.
The books were my thanks to him,
for being such a gracious ‘Hills’ host.
Later I called back to a number I got a text from:
Henk and Issy’s number.
…were going climbing tomorrow.
Yep’ got plans to meet them at the Red Rock Casino parking lot.
I guess Henk has been climbing hard lately,
and is willing to take an ‘ole fut’ in tow.
Henk says he has a nice 4-5 pitch moderate trad route picked out.
I asked’m if he had done “The fox” in Calico Basin ?
Damnnit…
he said he did it yesterday.
I mean shit,
if the young lad is willing to
take an ‘ole fut out, in tow for a day…
I might as well opt for getting towed up a classic right?
The weather is becoming much more civilized.
I went out to Red Rocks today with my roomie Keith Kim. We got to the crag around 11:30 am and the temp was perfect. It was the type of weather were you could wear shorts or pants. Perhaps a little chilly in shorts, in the shade if you were inactive.
I lead a couple of easy cracks at the south (left) end of the cliff which Keith followed.
Keith, is a total beginner. He only had a half dozen or so gym sessions and one previous day on the crags (two very short sport routes) under his belt before yesterday. ‘None the less’ Keith did a fine job following the two pitches we climbed together.
On the first climb we did, we were closely followed by another party. That party was lead by a fellow I met a few weeks back at the ‘Panty Wall’. Super nice guy, his name is Steve. We exchanged emails and I hope to get out climbing with him sometime.
At the belay ledge/rap station of the second climb Keith and I did, we were greated by a gregarious young ‘Ausie named Henk. We got to jaw’n and met back at the base of the crag. Henk and his girlfriend ‘Issabelle’ were great to socialize with.
The two have been on the road for a few months, doing all the typical classic areas. The have been to Tuolumne, Yosemite, Joshua Tree, Red Rocks etc.
A personable Ausie couple if ever there was one.
I already knew I liked them but when I noticed that Henk had on his rack,
one of the old style ‘drilled’ Chouinard hex’s,
I deemed him totally cool.
Keith pretty much had, had his fill for the day, and Issabelle as well. So Henk and I did a few climbs together. Henk did a brilliant job of leading ‘Kemosabe’ 5.9+ which I followed.
In parting at the end of the day I took a couple (fuzzy) pictures
and bid Henk and Issy a warm aloha.
