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| Messages 1 - 59 of total 59 in this topic |
Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Nov 22, 2009 - 02:56pm PT
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This account of a visit to Dresden is Roper at his hliarious best!
The prevailing style of climbing in Dresden stands apart from the rest of continental Europe other than in Czechoslovakia and other areas inside the so called Iron Curtain. This is the wild and unfettered roots of bold rock climbing and a fascinating historical counterpoint to the thrust of drilled and hammered development seen elsewhere. No place has inspired me more than this one.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Nov 22, 2009 - 05:18pm PT
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porn foot bump
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Cpt0bvi0u5
Trad climber
Merced CA
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Nov 22, 2009 - 05:19pm PT
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great post thanks!
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Urmas
Social climber
Sierra Eastside
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Nov 22, 2009 - 07:32pm PT
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We gotta go there, Steve!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 22, 2009 - 07:54pm PT
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It would be some big fun and I am way overdue for a Euro trip! Hmmmmm?!?
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Alan Rubin
climber
Amherst,MA.
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Nov 23, 2009 - 09:32am PT
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That article has always been one of my all-time favorites. I'd already been fascinated by the Elbe (Dresden) climbing scene since reading Thorington's equally-classic article about Oliver Perry-Smith in the '63 or '64 AAJ. Perry-Smith was a climber from the States who lived and climbed in Dresden in the very early 1900s, and was one of the top climbers in the region, climbing routes grades harder than any other American was to do for decades. Anyway these articles, and Henry Barber's later adventures, were the principal motivators for my too brief visit to Dresden a few years later. It lived up to expectations and then some...
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 23, 2009 - 12:52pm PT
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If Fritz loves the place, that is all I need to know!
Home to the best free climbers on the planet...
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Brunosafari
Boulder climber
OR
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Nov 23, 2009 - 09:59pm PT
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This is the article which first inspired me to one day become the old baldheaded climber I am now!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 23, 2009 - 10:10pm PT
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I don't think it hurt Fritz's chances, climbing or otherwise! LOL
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Brunosafari
Boulder climber
OR
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Nov 24, 2009 - 11:22am PT
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Dab
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Nov 24, 2009 - 02:10pm PT
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whoa! footwear in that pic!
I had apparently mistakenly thought that the use of climbing shoes in the Elbe hadn't occurred until the early 80s?
thx
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 26, 2009 - 03:06pm PT
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I bet the locals have a good laugh if you show up with a bad case of haole feet!?! Good thing it looks like airfall city!
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d-know
Trad climber
electric lady land
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Jan 31, 2010 - 06:32pm PT
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bump.
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d-know
Trad climber
electric lady land
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Jan 31, 2010 - 06:41pm PT
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trad climbing bump.
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Roxy
Trad climber
CA Central Coast
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Mar 24, 2010 - 10:23pm PT
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bump
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 11, 2010 - 03:39pm PT
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Thanks to Jim Phillips for this bit of Dresden from North American Climber Winter 1977.
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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Sep 11, 2010 - 06:15pm PT
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I recalled this article re: Fritz Wiessner as I approached my 70th birthday; he was ....what....in his 80s in this time frame!!!
Another Fritz Wiessner anecdote involved Steve Komito (Komito Boots, now...) as a guide from the Exum School and Guide service in the Tetons many years ago: All set at the start of Irene's Arete, as Steve got ready to lead the 1st pitch, Fritz simply stated--"I lead!."
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 11, 2010 - 07:22pm PT
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That shot of Henry barefootin' it is priceless. He of all American climbers would have had the least problem with that practice!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 18, 2010 - 11:09pm PT
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Knot jammed between two Bumps!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 28, 2010 - 10:29pm PT
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Kurt Albert Memorial Bump! He was the proud monarch of this place!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 4, 2010 - 01:13pm PT
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Anchorite bump!
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Vegasclimber
Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
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May 21, 2011 - 05:46pm PT
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Thanks for posting this up!
I am heading to Dresden in August for two or three days as part of a week long trip to Germany.
Have most of my knot rack together, and getting stoked!
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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May 21, 2011 - 06:08pm PT
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Jealous. Tried to go before the fall of the Soviet Union and after adventures in the East German consulates in Iceland and Norway we decided it was just too much hassle. So similar to SoIll climbing I still regret not making it over there - may have to make another go of it sometime even if I'm old now.
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Vegasclimber
Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
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May 21, 2011 - 06:23pm PT
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I'm sure you'd do fine!
I remember reading a TR in Rock & Ice years ago on the Czech side...at one point, one of the guides took off his shoe, rolled it up and wrapped it and a sling in duct tape for a large placement lol. I remember thinking that those guys were nuts and there was no way in hell I would ever climb like that.
Then I went to Germany last year, and I was in the climbing shop in Mainz, and the guy there showed me a guidebook with pictures in it of sandstone towers by the hundreds rising up out of the forest....pretty much all she wrote at that point, I knew I had to at least go once haha.
I still would love to climb at Stanage Edge too, but that will have to wait for a while. We get to travel once a year, and next year we are debating either Nepal or Thailand.
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Lasti
Trad climber
Budapest
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BUMP!
So Steve doesn't have to.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Sep 23, 2012 - 02:59pm PT
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[Click to View YouTube Video]
Alex Honnold ist eine kommunistche Sympathisanten.
I read about these pre-Commie era herren geclimben zie limestone tauren in the day. I allowed they were crazy to risk such long falls, but the truth is, I envied their free and easy appearing manner as portrayed in a couple old magazine articles I read.
First thing that appealed to me about limestone craggin like this? It's steep enough that the falls are not going to abrade the skin like on a slab, and THERE AIN'T ANY LEDGES! To speak of. I thought, no ankle breakers. Then./Now. All I hear in this video are references to leg-breaking! WTF but you need to try it to judge it, the proof is in the pudding, and experience is the best teacher. Can't go totally by say so.
Roper, lucky so and so.
We used to go play Tyrolean Traverse on the Rostrum Notch. Rather than use a piton or chock I used knotted runners (ring bends not grapevines) to secure the Rostrum side of the rope.
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Marlow
Sport climber
OSLO
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Sep 23, 2012 - 03:24pm PT
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Awesome!
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Sep 24, 2012 - 12:11pm PT
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Bump. Too good to miss.
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Vegasclimber
Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
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Sep 24, 2012 - 12:31pm PT
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Always a good thread to bump.
Climbing in the Elb is a super unique experience, for sure. We got rained out for part of our trip, but Berndt Arnold more then made up for it by inviting us out to climb our last day there. So amazing to watch him climb, and the views in the area are spectacular.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Sep 24, 2012 - 03:20pm PT
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What Marlow said!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 24, 2012 - 03:27pm PT
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Killer knots! Thanks for posting the modern rack shot!
Did you have a chance to visit a local climbing shop to buy them already tied and shrunk or did you have to do it yourself?
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Sep 24, 2012 - 03:40pm PT
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You could've designed your own Vegas-style spatel.
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Vegasclimber
Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
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Sep 24, 2012 - 03:51pm PT
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I built them all myself, and took them over. The local climbing shop in the area is Bergsport Arnold, that's Berndt's place. I got the spatel there and the "fuzzy sling" - they don't sell those in the States.
You can buy a rack there for about the same cost as in the States, with the exception of the monkey's fists - they are kinda pricey.
Mouse, that cracked me up :D cool idea for my next trip haha.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 24, 2012 - 05:36pm PT
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How much for that Baby Head in the window?!? LOL
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Vegasclimber
Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
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Sep 24, 2012 - 11:19pm PT
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Ya, der Kinderkopf ist gut! Haha. Cracked me up when I saw the name for those the first time. The fusselschlinger - fuzzy sling - is also a trip - you use it to sling barely positive features. And it works.
What's amazing is how well the knots actually place - once I got the lowdown on how to set them, I was pretty confident with them. I wasn't taking any falls to test them out though!
Just for kicks, here is another shot from the same trip - climbing a Nazi bunker in the middle of Berlin. Once in a lifetime opportunity for sure.
My ride for the last trip - had a governor on it and only did 125 :(
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Oct 24, 2012 - 02:13am PT
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Travis looks like one of every three Deutschers in Deutschland.
Except Berndt Arnold. Or Alex Honnold if he were Deutsch.
But he played Deutsch and so did Henry Flat-Hat Barber, back when the West and East Germans liked each other enough to build a fence.
Those days are gone. Czechs and Poles and Italians and Americans and maybe even some Japanese have had the opportunity to work out on these marvelous hunky rocks.
Let us proceed. This if for anyone who thinks he's a decent face climber.
These all came out of a Mountain Magazine and if they've been posted here before, auch verdammt schlecte!
they've hung on my wall a while, there's tape residue, and they may be slightly out of pagination. Again, AVS!
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
the crowd MUST BE MOCKED...Mocked I tell you.
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Oct 24, 2012 - 02:19am PT
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like
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Oct 24, 2012 - 02:59am PT
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Ich nin froh, Ihnen gefallt, Munge!
http://www.rockclimbing.com/routes/Europe/Germany/
More old Mountain mag. photos from their beta gallery.
It helps to know the area is known as der Pfalz. "Paltz" won't get you anyplace in a search. It's known for boulders, like that Frenchy place near Versailles.
Oakdale?
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
the crowd MUST BE MOCKED...Mocked I tell you.
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Oct 24, 2012 - 03:02am PT
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Elbsandstein ist sehr cool!
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Brian in SLC
Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
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Oct 24, 2012 - 11:22am PT
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Great stuff!
High on my list of places to visit. I've run into Czech and Dresden climbers in Italy a few times and they always speak well of both sides of the river.
Supposed to be an enormous amount of towers...a hit list might be near impossible to put together!
I have the Chouinard poster with BA leading barefoot...the pilgrammage would have to include trackin' him down for an autograph (photo by Barber too!).
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 15, 2013 - 10:15pm PT
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I got Kurt Albert crossed up with Berndt Arnold upthread though I bet Kurt climbed here.
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Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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Mar 16, 2013 - 12:32am PT
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That article about Henry Barber in Dresden was in the first edition of Climbing Mag I ever bought. I get bummed when I think about Dresden though.
In 1985 I applied to go on a climbing exchange to Dresden with the AAC, which was being organized by Ad Carter. The following summer, not hearing anything and just graduating from UCLA, I used the last of my cash to travel to Paris for a month to study French at the Sorbonne. I get back to LA and find this letter waiting for me saying I'll be part of the exhange and I need to be in Europe in two days. My parents never told me the letter had come. Had I known, I just would've stayed over there and taken the train. Out of cash and no way I could be in Europe in two days, I had to call Ad Carter and tell him the bad news. He was so pissed!
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RyanD
climber
Squamish
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Nov 10, 2013 - 05:06am PT
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Bump
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Blakey
Trad climber
Sierra Vista
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Nov 12, 2013 - 11:45am PT
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There's some wicked stuff in these tales.
A worthy Bump!
Steve
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 23, 2013 - 10:35pm PT
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Bump for webbing nuts!
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Lasti
Trad climber
Budapest
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May 26, 2014 - 09:55am PT
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More Sandstone BUMP
Lasti
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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May 26, 2014 - 10:13am PT
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So much has been made of the climbing style in Dresden...how pure, how bold....let us bow down and give homage.
It would be truly remarkable if they transported that style elsewhere....NOT SO!
Albert and Arnold's routes in Patagonia are anything but. Royal Flush was a multi day effort with fixed ropes and bolts at EVERY belay and on every pitch, sometimes next to cracks.
When questioned about this, and I paraphrase, they said that they wanted to make it a route that would be "comfortable" for people to repeat, one that would not require bringing so many cams. Christ...Fitzroy is a magnificent mountain not some little sandstone spire in a dreary part of Germany.
If you develop weird ethics and police them with religious vigor can't you respect other areas that are really significant?
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F10
Trad climber
Bishop
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May 26, 2014 - 10:24am PT
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I remember reading this when I was in the 12th grade.
For some reason the photo and statement "strapping on a device best left to a porno flick" made a lasting impression on me.
Even more so was the impressive climbing.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
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bump for the Elb
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Andrew Barnes
Ice climber
Albany, NY
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From Steve Roper's original article (at the top of the thread):
===
"It is often pure joy to watch the septuagenerian climb, a half-century of
technique behind him, every move precise and thoughtful, but then I feel
sad when I watch once-powerful arms quiver with the strain of a pull-up.
But, god, if I could climb like that in 2014 ... .
===
Great article, and appropriate for us in 2014 ... .
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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When Steve posted this article, it actually gave me some hope! And here I am, in the Dolomites...with RAIN, RAIN, and still more RAIN! Mother Nature is a bitch.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 3, 2014 - 08:36am PT
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The sun is always shining in the Calanques...LOL
I had the wonderful experience of climbing with Fritz in the company of John and Ila Rupley in the early 70s around the same time as Roper's visit. I had similar thoughts about him as I watched him artfully work around the lack of raw power in his arms.
On the drive back down to Tucson I asked Fritz what would happen if he couldn't climb anymore. He drew a slow, deep breath and with an utterly piercing look into my young eyes stated firmly "Ven I cannot climb, I vant to die."
It was a poignant glimpse into the depth of his alpinist soul and I will never forget it.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 8, 2015 - 11:04am PT
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Bump for 150 years of wild climbing history!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 25, 2016 - 02:38pm PT
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Merry Christmas Bump...
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 21, 2017 - 06:31pm PT
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Bump for the bold...
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 18, 2018 - 09:57am PT
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I recently had the opportunity to sit and go through the entirety of Ascent magazine with Roper and Steck and this article came up of course as Steve's experiences here were unforgetable.
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| Messages 1 - 59 of total 59 in this topic |
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