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Chris McNamara
SuperTopo staff member
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Topic Author's Original Post - May 11, 2004 - 02:52am PT
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Here is some more beta on a Red Rocks route sent to me by local climbing historian and author Larry DeAngelo:
On page 45 of the Red Rock guidebook is a dramatic
photo by Greg Epperson. The caption reads, "Peter
Kohl on the fabulous 8th Wave, Calico Basin." Many
Red Rock veterans have noted that this is the same
route that has long been known as "The Fox." What is
the source of the discrepancy? I have run down the
history behind the route, and you may want to post it
on the Supertopo forum just to set the record straight
(BTW, I have never been successful in becoming a
member of the forum, so I could post; I've tried...)
Anyway, here is the story:
The route was climbed in 1970 by local high-schoolers
John Williamson and Bob Logerquist. "It was pretty
intimidating," recalls John. "We did it a few times
on top rope before we got up the courage to lead the
thing." John and Bob named it "The Fox," which was in
keeping with several other routes names that referred
to children's stories. The nearby "Riding Hood" and
"Over the Hill to Grandmother's House" shared a
similar reference to children's books. Soon
afterward, John left Las Vegas to attend college. At
the time there was almost no other climbing activity
in the area, so the ascent was essentially unknown to
climbers who were not personal friends of John or Bob.
Over the next few years climbing activity picked up
considerably as Joe Herbst began to make a more
systematic exploration of the area. Interestingly,
Joe's early activity started mainly in the south part
of the range, while John was working from the north
end, and the two climbers never met. One of Joe's
apprentices was the later-to-be-famous Red Rock guide,
Randal Grandstaff. A young Randal accompanied Joe on
the first ascent of Tunnel Vision in 1974, and soon
emerged as an accomplished climber in his own right.
At this point the story becomes a little muddy. In
the middle 1970's, Randal claimed a first ascent of
the Fox dihedral, and apparently named it the "7th
Wave." This was the first name that Joanne Urioste
heard when she arrived in Las Vegas at about that
time. Some other climbers who were active then also
recalled the "7th Wave" name. In the 1990's, Randal
was still claiming a first ascent when he was talking
with author Todd Swain. Randal made his claim with
such vehemence that Todd recorded the route as "first
ascent: unknown" in order to not step on Randal's
toes. The thing that makes the situation sticky is
that, even in the 1970's, Randal had developed a
reputation for exaggeration about his exploits, so
many local climbers simply did not believe him. His
case was not helped by the evolution of the name: was
it still 7th Wave, or was he now calling it the 8th
Wave, or something else? Some of the locals expressed
their doubt by putting up a route that was facetiously
named "No Wave," (this was the first couple of pitches
of the route that was later expanded to become the
Bighorn Buttress in Willow Springs).
In the late 1970's, John Williamson returned to Las
Vegas. By chance, he met up with the Uriostes and did
a few climbs with them. It was, coincidentally, on
this trip that they teamed up to climb the now popular
Olive Oil. John told them of his early climbs, and
pointed out the Fox dihedral. Since John's ascent
predated any possible Grandstaff ascent by several
years, Joanne credited him with the first ascent and
used his name, "The Fox," when she authored the 1984
guidebook. Before the 1984 guide gave the Fox name
any kind of official status, there was a period where
both names were circulating, and the one you heard was
dependent on whom you heard it from. Since the
Epperson photograph in the Supertopo guidebook dates
back to early 1980's, it is probably safe to conclude
that the route name came from someone on the Randal
Grandstaff side of the story.
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Demented
climber
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May 11, 2004 - 06:24pm PT
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wow. i remember andy. he was something of a minor JT first ascentist. he also wrote an article in climbing magazine back in the day about the routes at christmas tree pass...
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Scary Larry
Trad climber
Las Vegas
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May 12, 2004 - 09:50am PT
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Does anybody have any contact info for Andy Solow?
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