Regional climbing rivalries: examples?

Search
Go

Discussion Topic

Return to Forum List
This thread has been locked
Messages 41 - 60 of total 235 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
aldude

climber
Monument Manor
Jun 26, 2007 - 09:18pm PT
Yellow Meyers Guide......?
Mighty Hiker

Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
Jun 26, 2007 - 09:39pm PT
Yellow Meyers guide also says "Loyd Price et al, 1967". The original (1976) green Meyer's guide doesn't have route credits.
aldude

climber
Monument Manor
Jun 26, 2007 - 09:42pm PT
I stand corrected.....still a contender though *
nick d

Trad climber
nm
Jun 26, 2007 - 10:19pm PT
Tahoe Climber, I am not disagreeing with you about the impact Todd had at Hueco, but I would like to say this. More than any climbers, it was local gangsters from El Paso who started tagging the whole area in the 80s that affected access the most. Their impact was so pernicious and destructive that I almost can't blame the powers that be for restricting it the way they have. The climbers who flocked there in great numbers when the sport climbing craze started were destructive of the vegetation and the rock art, but at least they did not spray paint everything within their reach. If you think tourists and rangers take notice of bolting, how do you think they reacted to all that graffiti?

Michael
bob d'antonio

Trad climber
Taos, NM
Jun 26, 2007 - 11:22pm PT
Rumor has it that Bridwell wanted to beat Henry with a hammer after the boy from back East did Butterballs??
bvb

Social climber
flagstaff arizona
Jun 26, 2007 - 11:33pm PT
rivalries?? RIVALRIES??????

woodson vs. roubidoux.

san diego vs. smell-a.

the war is over, and we won.

end of discussion.
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jun 26, 2007 - 11:42pm PT
Dah-reem-on venerable brother, BVB...
Henny shud be out any minute to pick up that gauntlet.
Mighty Hiker

Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
Jun 26, 2007 - 11:58pm PT
bvb: rivalries?? RIVALRIES??????

woodson vs. roubidoux.

san diego vs. smell-a.

the war is over, and we won.

end of discussion.

Tarbuster: Dah-reem-on venerable brother, BVB...
Henny shud be out any minute to pick up that gauntlet.

Bob now lives in Flagstaff, and Roy in Colorado. Looks like a draw to me - both teams had to retreat.
Mimi

climber
Jun 27, 2007 - 12:05am PT
Back in 1981, a few of us AZ climbers went to climb one El Gran Trono Blanco and upon arriving at the parking lot, we had to face the overseers from San Diego. I was in the company of Sir Stan of Mish, who engaged a young Sir Greg of Epperson, as I recall, to gain passage and permission to climb. I was ignorant of why all the fuss. Either the locals were a bit touchy or had been warned in advance of Sir Stan. After a loud exchange and finally laughter, we were allowed entrance to Canyon Tajo and The Throne. Sir Greg then summoned his wizard who conjured up a fine Mexican snow storm to dash any hopes of conquest. At least we were able to enjoy a couple of days of amazing boulder running and exploring before bailing for the calm clime of Tempe.
Ghost

climber
A long way from where I started
Jun 27, 2007 - 12:25am PT
Jello, who says of the welcome one can expect in other areas, "Really it's mostly a matter of getting back what you project, in these kinds of social situations" is dead-center right -- not only in the welcomes he has received, but in the welcomes he has given.

Jeff, I have no idea if you remember or not, but with a couple of kind words you turned the scariest "outsider" day of my life into one of my fondest memories. Here's the story...

Don't remember the exact date, but in the early 90s, I was invited to speak about "mountain writing" at some kind of climbing conference in Italy. Who's going to ask questions about a fully-paid trip to Florence? I gave it about one-tenth of a second's thought and said "Yes." I happily wrote out my thoughts on the subject and before long was on the plane to one of my favorite places on earth.

But the first morning of the event (up in the hills at Casa Machiavalli) after the Italian politicos had given their pro forma speeches and I was introduced to give the keynote speech, the insanity of the whole thing hit me and I turned to Jello. Sitting in front of me was a pretty fair sampling of the greatest climbers of three generations, most of whom had published well-respected and successful books, and I'm supposed to tell them about mountain writing? Not that I was a total gumby at climbing or writing, but it felt like just about everyone in that room was better qualified to be standing at the podium than I was.

Somehow I managed to talk for twenty minutes, and get throught the following Q&A discussion without fainting or sh*tting my pants, but at the end of it I just wanted to find a drain somewhere and disappear down it. Really. I was sure I'd made a complete fool of myself in front of a room full of my heros, and firmly believed that the best thing to do was to find a bar and drink myself to death.

But at the end of the session you were the first to come up to me with... not kind words in the sense of trying to make someone feel good about a bad situation, but with kind words in the sense of enthusiasm and enjoyment of a subject of common interest. Not because you knew me, or had heard of me, or because there was anything in it for you, but just because you are a decent guy. So, fifteen years later, thanks.

(In the end, that talk got some decent reviews, and Michael K re-published it in what was then a pretty fine climbing journal, but at the time, man, I was just scared sh*tless.)
Oli

Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
Jun 27, 2007 - 12:33am PT
I guess I'm wondering if the petty rivalry spirits are what we really want to remember. Are they what represent the best of climbing, in our memories? I rather prefer to think about the times of generosity and camaraderie, when people were warm and caring and those spirits who (or WHEN they) rose above the self-aggrandizement and competition. I'm sure most of us have suffered from the ego thing, the insecurity thing, the growing up immature thing, the vicious back-biting thing, the negating of others thing... but sometimes we move beyond and remember what climbing really is/was all about.
WBraun

climber
Jun 27, 2007 - 12:37am PT
So true, so true Pat.

Negativity only begets losing sight of the real goal.
Ghost

climber
A long way from where I started
Jun 27, 2007 - 12:57am PT
Tami talks about Bill Price's visit to Squamish in 79, and how Daryl Hatton helped make him welcome, even though he was an outsider coming to pluck some of our choicest plums.

In fact, Daryl was a good friend of the guy who came up with Bill. Daryl and I were drinking in the Chieftan (the worst armpit of a bar in the whole universe, but the best that Squamish had to offer back then) one night when a couple of strangers walked in. First thing I knew about it was Daryl jumping up and slugging one of them with a blow that would have left me on the floor. The victim just laughed and gave Daryl a similar shot. More laughter. More punches.

I eventually figured out this was friendship, not vendetta, and we all got back to drinking. The two strangers were Bill Price and Big Wally -- who's name may have been Mike Boris, it was never really clear. Daryl and Big Wally engaged in a few boat races, then got to arguing about who was tougher. They settled it by pulling up sleeves, laying their forearms against each other on the table and dropping a lit cigarette into the valley between them. Wally was tough, but he was up against the master of pain, and eventually pulled his arm away.

Anyway, you're right, Daryl made them seem like locals who just happened to be from somewhere else, and Bill went on to do what he did, and Big Wally became (I think) part of the inspiration for your archetypal "aid climber: recently released from prison -- has never free climbed." I know a lot of that character came from Daryl, but Daryl actually could free climb, and Wally couldn't. He was a "California hard man who had been on El Cap", but when we started up Uncle Ben's the day after that night in the bar, he wouldn't even lead the first 5.7 approach pitch. If it couldn't be nailed, he couldn't climb it.

D
Russ Walling

Social climber
Out on the sand.... man.....
Jun 27, 2007 - 01:25am PT
I remember when the "hotties" of JT (Largo, Bachar, Lechlinski, Hill, Gingery, et al) were shaking in their boots when the Mighty Sheep Buggerers of Sierra Madre descended on the crags. In short order we failed on all their projects, but injected some new language into the sport and reshuffled the deck for all those who dared to follow. I think the first openly gay climbers club (The Joe Boys) wanted a piece of that pie too.... Tarbuster? Is that pretty much what went down???

Oh yeah.. and all those Colorado guys that came out pretty much had no pull in them, save for Skip... even the BVB San Diego Boys could burn off those Eldo prancers.
Mimi

climber
Jun 27, 2007 - 01:38am PT
What Russ said.
guyman

Trad climber
Moorpark, CA.
Jun 27, 2007 - 02:24am PT
Stoney Point rules.
Oli

Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
Jun 27, 2007 - 04:07am PT
Eldorado prancers with "no pull?" That has to be one of the more ridiculous things I've read here of late. Yes Skip was brilliant but only one of VERY MANY who could pull plenty hard, and certainly as hard as anyone else in the country. I could give a long list, but it seems ridiculous now to even let myself be affected by such remarks. Must be that California superiority complex raising its ugly head again. It comes and goes. I hate to imagine what individuals such as Greg Lowe, Mark Wilford, Jim Collins, Jim Karn, Bob Candelaria, or a couple dozen others I could name, might have achieved had they spent any time at all in the areas named. But then of course there was the bouldering of Jim Holloway... simply unequalled anywhere, in its time. Why so much animosity? How about trying a little of the opposite.
Jaybro

Social climber
The West
Jun 27, 2007 - 04:14am PT
lol, Russ you troll!
snyd

Sport climber
Lexington, KY
Jun 27, 2007 - 08:48am PT
Oli said:"Eldorado prancers with "no pull?" That has to be one of the more ridiculous things I've read here of late. Yes Skip was brilliant but only one of VERY MANY who could pull plenty hard, and certainly as hard as anyone else in the country. I could give a long list, but it seems ridiculous now to even let myself be affected by such remarks. Must be that California superiority complex raising its ugly head again. It comes and goes. I hate to imagine what individuals such as Greg Lowe, Mark Wilford, Jim Collins, Jim Karn, Bob Candelaria, or a couple dozen others I could name, might have achieved had they spent any time at all in the areas named. But then of course there was the bouldering of Jim Holloway... simply unequalled anywhere, in its time. Why so much animosity? How about trying a little of the opposite."



I guess you lost your sense of humor along with your sanity.

BTW.. Jim Karn is from Ohio.
WBraun

climber
Jun 27, 2007 - 10:09am PT
Hahahaha LOL Russ what a classic
Messages 41 - 60 of total 235 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
Return to Forum List
 
Our Guidebooks
spacerCheck 'em out!
SuperTopo Guidebooks

guidebook icon
Try a free sample topo!

 
SuperTopo on the Web

Recent Route Beta