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| Messages 1 - 18 of total 18 in this topic |
mountainlion
Trad climber
California
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Topic Author's Original Post - Feb 22, 2013 - 05:52am PT
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who has done the most impressive list of first ascents in Yosemite? Please include any stories of the ascents. Stories of the greats and thier routes are welcome as are any of the unknowns who have contributed.
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nutjob
Sport climber
Almost to Hollywood, Baby!
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Feb 22, 2013 - 11:30am PT
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Seems like Harding deserves a spot near the top of the list.
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can't say
Social climber
Pasadena CA
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Feb 22, 2013 - 11:43am PT
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I personally think Warbler has one of the best FA list's going. Maybe not so much in the big wall category, but Kevin has done some sterling lines.
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Spanky
Social climber
boulder co
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Feb 22, 2013 - 11:49am PT
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It terms of big walls you have to include Charlie Porter
Excalibur, shield, zodiac, the trip, mescalito, grape race, new dawn etc
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Feb 22, 2013 - 12:23pm PT
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This is my list from ~1950 to ~1980
Salathe
Steck,
Harding
Powell
Robbins
Pratt
Sacherer
Bridwell
Bates
Porter
Worrall
Kauk
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Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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Feb 22, 2013 - 02:36pm PT
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This is an odd thread. It's like saying 'tell me the history of climbing in Yosemite'. The short version of the answer, who has the best tick list, is pretty easy to respond to. But the tell me stories part? Isn't that what we have libraries for?
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Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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Feb 22, 2013 - 03:20pm PT
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Warbler, I totally agree with the oral history part of the thread and this site. That's the best thing about it IMHO. I love reading stories from Lauria, Higgins, Largo, etc., that you probably can't find anywhere else. My point was that the OP appeared to be inviting people to write long stories about some older FAs that are probably already documented elsewhere. Maybe I just misunderstood what he was asking for?
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KabalaArch
Trad climber
Starlite, California
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Feb 22, 2013 - 03:50pm PT
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I think it's a shame that Scott Burk's effort to complete the 2nd FA of The Nose was sullied by water at the Great Roof, forcing him to accept a TR. At least, that's the version I'd heard. He started talking about a free Nose as early as the late '70s; he must have been about 19 or 20 at the time. By the time he made his final push, he'd spent more than 250 days working the route, and it's possible that he has spent more time living on the Wall than anyone.
Scottie adhered to a very rigid, ground-up no-falls-allowed tradition. If his second slipped, or weighted the cord or any pro, Scott would immediately feed slack to the hapless follower. One of his charming techniques for keeping a whimpering second on his toes was: “Now you're going to try a 'simulated leader fall!' and, suiting action to words, would insinuate a 10 foot belly of slack into your belay from his perch above. Those who survived Scott's particular brand of Outward Bound boot camp often emerged broken in body and spirit, with long lasting scars impressed upon their psyche.
He never cared much for the outdoors camping experience. On the few occasions when he couldn't find an willing Park employee to oblige him with a roof over his head for the nights, Scott would lead us around Curry Village after midnight, in an unusually successful vision quest to score for an unoccupied tent cabin. This was in the days before padlocks were installed on the tents, and more than once we'd steal into the darkness of a WOB, only to be greeted by its very surprised occupants. The Curry Glacier tents rented for about $15 per night, but here was an ethical value to be had for free, at least until the door latches were upgraded to padlocks for some reason.
Scott was extremely sensitive some harsh criticism from the Crag Police, following the completion of the upper 1/3 of The Hall of Mirrors. People sneered at the 5.13 grading, and were openly skeptical of the “way homo” means deployed to arrange the bolt ladders set to protect cruxy sections.
Of course, nobody had actually gone back up the thing to substantiate public opinion, nor would they until Johnnie Woodward’s successful 2nd ascent, some 15 years after the FA. In fact, since the HOM was pushed to successive highmarks over the course of several seasons, by different but coordinated climbing teams who'd traversed into the previous high waterline from The Mouth, the route had never seen a continuous ascent at all until Woodward's.
I think Scott's subsequent FA “ticklist” gave voice to the armchair quarterbacking demons which haunted him after the HOM.
Just for grins, I sat down this morning with my outdated guidebook to assist the memories, and I wasn't too surprised to note that many of Scott's contemporaries had many more FA's on account. But during this interval, Scott was quietly posting big numbers on big lines, and short routes too, on his favorite medium: face. I'm sure we can agree that most of these routes have become classics – so classic, in fact, that few of them have yet to see a 2nd ascent.
Scott would usually devote most of a season, or even longer, preparing himself for his projects, and, in particular, familiarizing himself with the nature and properties of the stone geology at hand. He rarely had problems recruiting partners, who would eventually grow accustomed to Scott's trademark practical jokes and signature sense of humor, but his personal favorite belayer was a dude named Et Al.
This syllabus is woefully outdated; for example, none of his activity on the East Apron of LCR has been noted. Additions and corrections would be welcomed to this ticklist of one of the Valley's least heralded face and friction specialists.
Grade I:
Skunk Weed; Koko's area
Toxic Avenger; GPA
The Token; GPA
Afterglow; GPA
Shockwave; Chapel
Rainbow Bridge; MCR
Ticketmaster: MCRnorth apron
Grade III/IV+:
The Shining; RA's
The Rambler; RA's
Friday the 13th; RA's
Dreamscape; HDsouth face
The Fast Lane; HDsouth face
HOM; GPA
Tour de Force; MCR
Pieces of Eight; MCR
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mountainlion
Trad climber
California
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 23, 2013 - 03:21am PT
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thanks Kabalarch for the story about Scott! Just what I was looking for. I enjoy reading the history of Yosemite and the legends as well as the unknowns.
Fat Dad if you have any stories that haven't been posted I would appreciate them. Sometimes the same stories get told over and over while some others sit in the closet. For example I just read today that Coz had put up a route that Bachar couldn't do without altering with a toothbrush (route chiseler thread). I would like to read more of Coz's stories because I have had the pleasure of trying some of his routes and watching my friends do the same in JT.
I posted this thread because I was bored basically...
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PhilG
Trad climber
The Circuit, Tonasket WA
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Feb 23, 2013 - 08:25am PT
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mountainlion:
I just finished reading Going Up and highly suggest this book if you want to know more about Yosemite Climbing History.
One fact that I found interesting is that most of the routes put up from mid-50's to the early 60's were done by 9 climbers!
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martygarrison
Trad climber
Washington DC
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Feb 23, 2013 - 11:51am PT
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I think these cats at least deserve a mention if not for quanity but for pure quality of some of their routes.
Donini
Barber
Klemens
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Salamanizer
Trad climber
The land of Fruits & Nuts!
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Feb 23, 2013 - 01:55pm PT
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Sean Jones has (I think) the longest actual list of F.A's in Yosemite to date.
Alot of them are total crap to be sure, but there is also quite a few potential as of yet undiscovered modern classics as well.
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Todd Gordon
Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
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Feb 23, 2013 - 02:34pm PT
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How about Tucker Tech..
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
bouldering
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Feb 24, 2013 - 03:00am PT
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Alot of Eric Kohl's FAs have seen few (if any) repeats, and they are serious grade 5 and sixes. Something like Lost Again on SFHD puts him up there with all the renowned Yosemite FAists IMO.
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Melissa
Gym climber
berkeley, ca
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Feb 24, 2013 - 11:20am PT
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A few big contributors I haven't seen mentioned:
Charles and Enid Michael
Clint Cummins and Joel Ager
The Hubers
Eric Gabel's
The lists are valley-centric. Tuolumne has its own characters.
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can't say
Social climber
Pasadena CA
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Feb 24, 2013 - 11:28am PT
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The bottom line is there isn't "one" best. There are 25 or more equally badass folks on this list, a totally arbitrary number pulled out of my hat.
Should you differentiate between walls and free?
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Feb 24, 2013 - 11:38am PT
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There are important and well loved civilizations or communities with a rich history that did not have a written language and did not leave a detailed history for later peoples. The Aztecs, the Wari, the Inca are examples. Only by staring at stone are we able to conjure up some sense of how grand these people were.
Sadly, the Yosemite climbers in the 80s and 90s seem to be in this class.
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