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Messages 1 - 38 of total 38 in this topic

Fletcher

Trad climber

Pasadena, CA

Nov 21, 2009 - 11:15pm PT

That's awesome!

Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber

Will know soon

Nov 21, 2009 - 11:18pm PT

Agree Eric,

What gems are out there !!!! Thanks to All who take the time to share the ones they have. Peace, lynne

guido

Trad climber

Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific

Nov 21, 2009 - 11:30pm PT

Wonderful!

What a treasure.

Classic Nelson, please get someone to scan that for you and post it up. There are enough "old boys" on here that spent time with him and it would be a treat to hear more of the man.

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Nov 22, 2009 - 12:39am PT

Very special letter indeed! Your dad is a bright guy to make such a request. I would also like to see a scan and you might consider an archival sleeve for that letter if you haven't been storing it flat.

What is the Kilimanjaro Mountain Club connection about?

neebee

Social climber

calif/texas

Nov 22, 2009 - 12:44am PT

hey there say, randisi... what a wonderful peice of history, thanks so very kindly for sharing this...

kind of like a treasure map from part of one's soul...

leading another onward...

thanks again... :)

Evel

Trad climber

Slartibartfasts Newest Fjiord

Nov 22, 2009 - 08:53am PT

Yo Randisi! Thanks for sharing that letter. When are you going to be in Boulder? Mix

guido

Trad climber

Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific

Nov 22, 2009 - 01:58pm PT

Nelson lived in Kenya for many years after his Valley days.

On return to Berkeley he worked as a Contractor and built a number of houses. Harper worked with him for a spell on some new houses near Tilden Park and always had tales to share.

Ax? Don't really know the origin. Perhaps if Lauria would return in earnest to ST we could find out?

Of course Roper would know, but he is most likely off bird watching.

Jaybro

Social climber

Wolf City, Wyoming

Nov 22, 2009 - 02:14pm PT

Thanks!

Jingy

Social climber

Flatland, Ca

Nov 22, 2009 - 02:50pm PT

Very Thoughtful letter to get....

True advise

Thanks for the nostalgia!!!

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Nov 22, 2009 - 02:59pm PT

Birdwatching!?! There goes his Zone 10 status...LOL

Urmas

Social climber

Sierra Eastside

Nov 22, 2009 - 07:48pm PT

I had the good fortune to accompany Ax on a Sierra Club outing as a teenager. My memory is of driving with him in his old pickup, up the Kings River Road above Pine Flat Resrvoir. He drove that twisty road with his torso hunched over the steering wheel - forearms in full contact with the upper half of the wheel - And talking the whole time! I wish I could remember the stories, I just remember the man...nobody else like him!

Brunosafari

Boulder climber

Nov 22, 2009 - 09:06pm PT

Shame on you, Randisi, for keeping this to yourself for so long. We could have died!

Bruce A.

Poway Mountaineers
Quakers Anonymous

Ray Olson

Trad climber

Imperial Beach, California

Nov 22, 2009 - 09:37pm PT

that is a really neat thing Randisi - thanks for posting

"Gag"

Mountain climber

San Francisco, CA

Feb 27, 2010 - 06:39pm PT

Heh - I was in that pickup with you Urmas, on that trip...! : ) And what I really remember about Ax, aside from his super-human endurance and incredible energy is that old Ax almost gave me a heart attack several times the way he drove that truck on that road. : ) lol

I think he was telling us about his (the) first ascent of Lost Arrow Spire... and about climbing Spanish Mountain all the way from the bottom at the Kings river? Something about 8,000-12,000 feet of lose shale, and of course probably many other tales.. an amazing time that was.

Garo

Fritz

Trad climber

Hagerman, ID

Feb 27, 2010 - 08:16pm PT

Randisi and all: Great stories. Very Cool stuff, you don't see in the books or mags. Thank you!

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Dec 3, 2010 - 06:03pm PT

Wonderful....he reminds me of Glen Exum who I had the privilege to guide for in the early 70's.

guido

Trad climber

Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific

Dec 4, 2010 - 12:33am PT

Thanks Randy

What a treasure! Would be great to make a copy on archival paper and send it off to Ken Yaeger, aka Chicken Skinner, in Yosemite for the Museum to be.

Porkchop_express

Trad climber

Back in the Gunks for the winter

Dec 4, 2010 - 12:39am PT

that is SO awesome! Thanks for sharing that...lots of down to earth good advice, as true today as it was at the time of its writing for sure!

couchmaster

climber

pdx

Dec 4, 2010 - 12:42am PT

Super! I'm glad you transcribed it, the script is difficult to read.

Jaybro

Social climber

Wolf City, Wyoming

Dec 4, 2010 - 12:43am PT

"If one meets "that of God in every man," as Quakers are expected to,"

Roughly the same as "Namaste".

jogill

climber

Colorado

Dec 4, 2010 - 12:50am PT

Great letter, Randi. Thanks for sharing. I bet the AAC might like to put it in their archives, but then so would the Yosemite museum (I suspect). Decisions, decisions. Were it mine, it would be hard for me to part with!

tom woods

Gym climber

Bishop, CA

Dec 4, 2010 - 11:03am PT

I was curious- he said that the young climbers can afford to more than he ever did, yet there he is in Africa.

What does he mean? I always wonder if we are more wealth than our grandparents or is stuff cheaper and more available? I mean, my grandparents didn't have a lot of neat stuff like computers and digital cameras, but they could afford a home.

This letter is a time capsule of climbing history.

I certainly don't think of the 70's climbing bum as being able to afford more than a guy in the 50's. But maybe ropes, shoes, and biners were far cheaper?

I don't think of homemade pins as being expensive in money, though time is a factor.

I get interested in this stuff because I wonder what we will be able to do in the future.

survival

Big Wall climber

A Token of My Extreme

Dec 4, 2010 - 11:15am PT

Randy, How did I miss this before?? Maybe it has a title similar to something I thought I had read...I don't know.

Wow man, this is absolutely priceless. Thanks so much for sharing this.

I got a nasty letter from animal control, wanna trade? HA!!

PhilG

Trad climber

The Circuit, Tonasket WA

Dec 4, 2010 - 11:42am PT

Excellent post.
Thanks so much for your contribution to ST's history collection.
Bergheil! How many years has it been since I heard that expression?

guyman

Trad climber

Moorpark, CA.

Dec 4, 2010 - 12:02pm PT

Randi thx for posting this.

I have been very lucky, and have been able to see the mans name on some summit registers.

Spanish Mt. from the bottom.... outrageous!!!

He sure could climb.

Ksolem

Trad climber

Monrovia, California

Dec 4, 2010 - 12:06pm PT

I recall that Anton Nelson was among the early pioneers who climbed many summits in The Gorge of Despair, Kings Canyon. So I pulled out my Secor guide and found this. Keep in mind that this place, especially the north side of this formation, is truly a wild and remote area.

Northwest Face of the Cobra Turret, F.A. 7/26/1951 Dave Hammack and Anton Nelson. 5.8. Follow a ramp past two fixed pins to a bolted belay, and take the crack or knobby face from there to the summit.

Secor also records them doing three significant climbs the previous day, a 5.4 up the Crystal Turret and a 5.7 up El Commandante and a route up Corporale.

Then on the 27th they climbed a 5.7 up The Fang, and the remarkable 4th class ridge to the summit of The Silver Turret.

They were the first climbers to visit this place, and they bagged the F.A. of every significant summit in three days!!

Bergheil!

klk

Trad climber

cali

Dec 4, 2010 - 01:16pm PT

wow, awesome, i missed this first time around.

you in town right now?

mooser

Trad climber

seattle

Dec 4, 2010 - 01:21pm PT

Thanks for this thread, Randisi! This is one of the kinds of threads that really sets ST apart.

Disaster Master

Social climber

Born in So-Cal, left my soul in far Nor-Cal.

Dec 4, 2010 - 01:29pm PT

Anton "Ax" Nelson

Was he involved with a small climbing journal caled "THE CLIMBING ART"?

Bergheil!

The editor I corresponded with at that mag in the early '90's used that same expression. The same person? Some relaationship?

Curious. Here is a link:

http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/1335110/Magazine-The-Climbing-Art-Remember-it-Got-copies

Evel

Trad climber

Nedsterdam CO

Dec 4, 2010 - 01:29pm PT

BergHeil Randy!

I remember you sharing your letter with me years ago. I agree with guido that you ought to consider donating to the Yosemite museum.

Cheers buddy!

Mix

tom woods

Gym climber

Bishop, CA

Dec 5, 2010 - 07:42pm PT

Bump for a classic. Ksolem- I noticed the same thing for the gorge of despair. Nelson got around on those west side crags. He has an ascent of castle rock spire too?

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

May 11, 2011 - 11:41am PT

Wow, that is so cool! What a treasure.

"By experience I learned to avoid those who need the stimulus of tobbacco"

When Fridtjof Nansen did his ski traverse of Greenland in 1888 he forbade
tobacco and coffee. He wanted good steady level-headed guys. He did allow
them a cup of hot cocoa on Sundays!

nutjob

Gym climber

Berkeley, CA

May 11, 2011 - 03:22pm PT

This caught my eye immediately, but I never noticed it before! I guess sometimes the really cool stuff slips down the pages too quickly.

Thanks for sharing Randisi

LilaBiene

Trad climber

Sep 9, 2012 - 05:46pm PT

Wow wow wow. Thank you for sharing.

My favorite story out of all of the books I've devoured so far is his article "Climbing the Lost Arrow" (from Steve Roper's Ordeal by Piton). Talented climber, for sure; I'm already a great admirer of his ability to write, as well.

Risk

Mountain climber

Olympia, WA

Jul 12, 2013 - 11:22pm PT

I couldn't say it better myself. This is exactly how he was. I too was once scrunched in the middle on a drive with Ax in his old pickup on a Sierra Club outing out of Fresno about 1967, and I too heard the stories and felt the vibe.

Found this one, too.