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oldguy
climber
Bronx, NY
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Oct 21, 2015 - 05:06pm PT
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Well, I was just going to pass by this thread in silence, but the previous post needed a gentle reply. I thought all of us on the 2nd ascent of the Nose made it clear that we could not have done the climb but for all the labor that Harding and Powell and Dolt and later Merry and a few others put into it. Our goal was not just to repeat the climb but to do it in one push. We had planned on ten days, did it in seven, and it was one of the best weeks of my life.
And a few thoughts about Warren. It should be (more)remembered that when RR and crew topped out on Half Dome, Warren was there with sandwiches and water. And that when Warren ran into really bad weather on the South Face of Half Dome, Royal went down on a really thin cable and got Warren and partner off the wall. It is hard to explain, but these two big wall pioneers, and Pratt as well, were very complex personalities, so that whatever inconsistencies in there attitudes and behavior to each other were to be expected. What they had in common was that they wanted to leave a mark in climbing, which was a little odd given that in that time only a few climbers were impressed, certainly not the general public.
By the time of the WOTEML, things had changed, and Warren always was more on the lookout for ways to make a little money from his climbs, usually through selling photos to magazines, but also early on he could be seen on billboards promoting a beer whose name I have forgotten. Some could say that as a working man he didn't have a lot of money, but none of us did then, and some of us didn't even have a car let alone a Jag. Warren wasn't an especially good free climber, and he didn't seem interested in repeating some of the classic routes. I don't think he ever did Sentinel, for instance. Better to just figure out what seemed most improbable if not impossible and have at it until he somehow got up. Driven.
Warren drank a lot as has been amply pointed out, but most of us, Frost excepted, did too. The wider world didn't seem made for us, and, frankly, drinking made us feel a lot better. Until it didn't.
My last memory of Warren was at, of all places, the AAC where he gave his El Cap slide show--very funny, very Warren, although he seemed manic and driven to get to the bar. One thing about booze, with both Royal and Warren, and me and Pratt, too, and most people, it makes it easier, at least for a while, to be comfortable with other people, to even display conviviality and, possibly, wit, to tell epic tales deep into the ember-strewn night.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Oct 21, 2015 - 05:44pm PT
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Let's not forget that he had times when he felt redeemed. I think it was December 8, 1984 in Oakland.
Royal and Yvon shepherded him allowing him only 3 drinks in order to loosen up, and he more than nailed it, he knocked it out of the park.
He had the crowd alternately doubled over in laughter or on their feet applauding.
My favorite was when he said, "many of the valley locals were unhappy with our climb," and then showed a slide Galen had given him of more than a dozen Balti porters on strike and scowling bitterly at his camera.
EDIT
looks like I cross posted with oldguy and may have explained the reason that AAC annual meeting show was such a hit.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Oct 21, 2015 - 05:50pm PT
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Humor and wit win out and Warren was a master.
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Darwin
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Oct 21, 2015 - 07:06pm PT
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Thanks "oldguy".
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Oct 21, 2015 - 07:34pm PT
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hey there say, oldguy...
i enjoyed your post... thank you very much...
said very nice...
also, as to this quote of yours:
One thing about booze, with both Royal and Warren, and me and Pratt, too, and most people, it makes it easier, at least for a while, to be comfortable with other people, to even display conviviality and, possibly, wit, to tell epic tales deep into the ember-strewn night.
i HAVE seen this, as to a few folks that i know, that deal with the public, at special times... times that they love, but, are a bit hard, as to the very reason that you mentioned...
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Oct 21, 2015 - 09:16pm PT
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"Oldguy" is well, oldguy, one of he most talented and least known of that small, small group of Valley pioneers. We are blessed to have Joe and Wayne come up on ST and enlighten we peons.
It was a Golden Era for those few pioneers who often times had little concept of the future and the impact of their endeavors.
El Cap in a day? You friggin crazy?
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Oct 21, 2015 - 10:29pm PT
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hey there say, guido... say, thanks for filling me in, on that...
thank you so much... you know me, i don't have a clue, as to all these great guys...
but i am learning, just a bit, :)
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Gary
Social climber
Hell is empty and all the devils are here
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Oct 22, 2015 - 12:01pm PT
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What a world...
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Oct 22, 2015 - 12:05pm PT
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Hi Neebeeeee-Oldguy is Joe Fitchen or "Big Joe."
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ron gomez
Trad climber
fallbrook,ca
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Oct 22, 2015 - 04:19pm PT
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So very well said "OldGuy"! One of my all time climbing hero's, as is all of you from that Golden Era......I still always try to stop by the "Harding Museum" when I'm up the Eastside, such a comforting place to be in alone to just sit and soak it all in!
[photoid=129879]
Peace
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Fossil climber
Trad climber
Atlin, B. C.
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Oct 22, 2015 - 05:43pm PT
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Harding could be sensitive when the occasion called for it.
Just after I got on with the NPS - would have been the summer of ’60, I think - a young fellow went off the end of his rappel and fell down the Arrow Chimney. I got Harding to accompany me. We went up to the base and he wasn’t there. We finally located the body with a spotting scope from the falls trail. He was on chockstones maybe 800 feet down.
I took Harding and went to the Chief Ranger, who was Elmer Fladmark at the time - a good old guy. Told him we could recover the body. We were really keen to help. But the Superintendent at that time, John Preston, said absolutely not, it was too dangerous.
He was, technically, correct - in government practice you don’t risk a life to retrieve a body. But we were furious - I guess we felt it was an insult to our competence. That was compounded when the Supt. called us into his office and asked us to explain to the parents that recovery was too dangerous. I almost strangled on that, but I had just started what I thought would be a career in NPS so I chickened out and mumbled something which was apparently acceptable. At this point you might have expected Harding to contradict the man, as I’m sure he wanted to, but he was sensitive to the parents and to my touchy position, and went along with it, and the parents accepted the verdict.
I was so angry I almost quit right there, but it took another ten years before another non-rescue finally disillusioned me for good. That’s another story.
A year later Warren and I went up to the base, collected whatever fragments had come down, buried them under a talus boulder and put a little plaque on it for the family. Pretty fine headstone, the Arrow.
While we were up at the base it was terribly hot and we ran out of water. There was just a warm trickle coming down the chimney, which we drank gratefully. I couldn’t help it - I just had to say it - “This vintage has a lot of body to it, don’t you think?”
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Oct 22, 2015 - 06:34pm PT
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Interesting story Wayne. That was Irving Smith from Fresno who was going for the youngest person to climb the Arrow Tip spot in history. We certainly remember the Roper escapade concerning the body and I believe you read Steve the riot act over that?
On another note I climbed the Tip that summer to become the youngest which was a big thing back then. Most of the Valley climbs has so few ascents that it was common knowledge who and when a route was climbed.
On a side note Harding use to power walk from Camp 4 to the rim and back for "exercise."
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Vitaliy M.
Mountain climber
San Francisco
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Oct 22, 2015 - 06:41pm PT
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One of my favorite threads of all time. Thank you so much for sharing the stories. Harding, like many other pioneers, is an inspiration. Too bad I had no chance to meet him and talk about climbing in person. Seems like he had a good attitude towards it. Busting his ass and not taking people too seriously.
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Fossil climber
Trad climber
Atlin, B. C.
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Oct 22, 2015 - 07:13pm PT
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Guido - another time Harding wanted to set a record speed going up Half Dome by trail. He'd heard about a magic fuel - orange juice mixed with honey. He knocked it back and took off, and got sick as a dog and slunk back. Don't think he ever tried for that sort of record again.
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Oct 22, 2015 - 07:40pm PT
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hey there say, guido! say, thank you again, and most kindly, :)
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Oct 23, 2015 - 09:25am PT
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Layton told me that when he did the Lost Arrow Chimney (in '63 I think) that he kept finding little bones, mostly digits, in the crack from that guy.
Whole new meaning to finger crack,...
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Inner City
Trad climber
East Bay
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Oct 23, 2015 - 12:13pm PT
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This thread is spectacular! Thanks to all who have made it so wonderful to enjoy.
My only in person viewing of Harding was at a small slide show I attended with Dolomite in McGee Creek in the mid 90's I'd say.
The event was lightly attended and Harding was funny and drunk and I remember feeling lucky to be in his midst, which was surely winding down.
His wit was evident even as alcohol was dulling it. He must have been hilarious back in his sharper days...what a character!
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bhilden
Trad climber
Mountain View, CA/Boulder, CO
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Oct 23, 2015 - 12:57pm PT
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I think I have told this Warren story before on ST in another thread. Here goes:
In the late 1970's I was in the Mountain Room Bar having a late night drink with a bunch of friends. Warren comes by our table slightly(!?!?) inebriated on red wine. My friends introduce me to Warren as one of the Valley 'young guns' and that gets him all agitated. He pulls me up from my chair and starts mumbling something like, "the East Face of Washington Column doesn't go free. I want to see you do it!"
So, here we are in the Mountain Room Bar with Warren trying to drag me out of the place so I can go show him that his route goes free. He is sloshing red wine out of his glass all over my white painter's pants (standard Valley hardman attire of the day) and just will not relent. Finally, my friends subdue Warren and I escape his clutches.
Pretty funny and no harm done.
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dee ee
Mountain climber
Of THIS World (Planet Earth)
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Oct 25, 2015 - 06:25pm PT
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It's an honor to have met and partied with The Man.
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