Moments of Crisis Michael Borghoff Summit 1963

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Messages 1 - 54 of total 54 in this topic
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Original Post - Nov 27, 2009 - 08:56pm PT
An interesting essay about sorting out the harsh and nasty aspects of climbing by the father of our own MisterE. From Summit July/August 1963.


neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Nov 29, 2009 - 10:06am PT
hey there, say... here's a bump... hope for some more folks to show... :)
cintune

climber
the Moon and Antarctica
Nov 29, 2009 - 10:43am PT
Dab.
Gobee

Trad climber
Los Angeles
Nov 29, 2009 - 01:59pm PT
Thanks Steve for all your cool mag articles!
To be in the now, and open to your choices and going with one, adjusting, staying focused, movement, rational, and commitment, how cool is climbing! And all this with strength, flexibility, endurance, power, and a pump!


If you want to once a week, on some climbs you can train for these moments, where your at the moment of crisis, to push your own boundary even on sport routes, by never grabbing gear, saying take, go tell you blow, the more you do that pumped out of your mind the more you can do!
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Reply - Nov 30, 2009 - 09:16pm PT
MisterE Bump!
Zander

Trad climber
Berkeley
Nov 30, 2009 - 11:14pm PT
Good read.
Z
hoipolloi

climber
A friends backyard with the neighbors wifi
Dec 1, 2009 - 12:41am PT
it hurts my eyes to strain for that.... let me try downloading it and blowing it up...
MisterE

Social climber
Across Town From Easy Street
Dec 1, 2009 - 01:20am PT
Thanks, Steve - much appreciated. I was one year old when he wrote this...

Dad always could wax poetic with a robust splash of the aesthetic and spiritual. Always leaving you wondering about references you MUST look up, and told with one foot firmly anchored in personal adventure and experience.

Hope you don't mind I cleaned the pages up a little for easier reading:



Dad:


Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 1, 2009 - 11:26am PT
It is an extraordinary essay. Most of us don't look at the big picture when pondering the value of the climbing experience. Usually some disaster or calamity forces this kind of self examination rather than measured contemplation. I really like the lack of desperation in the tone of the piece as it clearly comes from a calm center and is really a meditation.

Would you care to share anything else that your talented father has written about climbing or life at large? He is, as you say, a very gifted writer. First time reading this one?

Cheers
Fuzzywuzzy

climber
suspendedhappynation
Dec 1, 2009 - 12:57pm PT
I have always loved the Borghoff poems in Roper's Guide. I am still effected by the images. What a romantic!!

Here, on this rock, the climber finds his Mecca: the compact, interlocking simplicity of slab on slab, shard and flake and crack and hold; the burning left and right of granite infinity; his essential: the down-reflected dome of August’s sun, lips parched and cotton-flecked; the ting-ting of well driven steel or the hollow thump of exfoliation slab; the faraway spice scent of a bay tree . . .and most splendid of all, the huddled summer bivouac. . . .

- Mike Borghoff, 1959

And of course -

Look well about you, wanderer! There is but one Yosemite on the face of the earth, and through the myriad moods, the shifting cyclic patterns, will always sound this, your need: simple joy and certitude, the face of life itself.
MisterE

Social climber
Across Town From Easy Street
Dec 1, 2009 - 02:25pm PT
Yes, that was ther first time I had read that one.

He submitted a piece to Summit that was never published, but Steve Roper sent me a copy. It was a tale of a mad rush from Yosemite to Wyoming with Jim Donini, among others, but it is unavailable for sharing. He also wrote a great poem about Yggdrasil the Tree of Life, that I really liked, I am not sure if I have a copy still. I'll see what I can find.

Thanks for the addition Fuzzywuzzy - those were new to me as well.

Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Reply - Jan 14, 2010 - 11:20am PT
Bump for Bong-bongs and Salamanders!
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Reply - Jun 12, 2010 - 02:11pm PT
And here they are! From Summit June 1962.




donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
Jun 12, 2010 - 02:19pm PT
Mr. E,
The trip from Yosemite to the Tetons with your dad and Craig Shantholtzer was a WILD RIDE that would put Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas to shame.
jogill

climber
Colorado
Jun 12, 2010 - 05:24pm PT
Mike once agreed to critique my poetry (pathetic) if I would instruct him in the art of bouldering. Problem was, he laughed so hard he couldn't stay on the rock. So I agreed not to read to him as he toiled on Cutfinger Boulder. I think he was on leave at the time from some sort of special forces or ranger unit, and had a nice looking 1911 .45 that I admired.
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Boulder Creek CA
Jun 12, 2010 - 07:42pm PT
My first experience with trying to climb El Capitan was with Mike Borghoff. It would have been the third ascent of The Nose, but we didn't get very far...
MisterE

Social climber
Jun 12, 2010 - 08:40pm PT
^^Tom - nice! Here's a Glen Denny picture (from the web) that may have served as a partial inspiration to your effort? My left arm, Dad in center looking at the rack for the second ascent of the nose, and Mom on his right, behind Roper. You Know the other players...


Thanks for the bump, Steve - visited the Batso Museum yesterday with Radical and F10, and talked quite a while with Mr. Perryberry(?) - he knew Dad as well.

We all got Semper Farcissimus shirts on our departure. Schwag! :)


Where's those pictures, F10!?! ;)
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Reply - Jun 13, 2010 - 11:07am PT
Roger Derryberry is on the inside of Batso looking out!
F10

Trad climber
e350 / Bishop
Jun 13, 2010 - 11:45am PT
Here ya go Eric,

Radical and MisterE visiting Harding Memorial, went inside and got a tour by Roger Derryberry, thanks

MisterE

Social climber
Jun 15, 2010 - 02:37pm PT
Thanks, James!

Michael Borghoff passed on to the land of Poets 2 years ago - RIP, Dad.
Largo

Sport climber
The Big Wide Open Face
Jun 15, 2010 - 04:19pm PT

Michael Borghoff passed on to the land of Poets 2 years ago - RIP, Dad.


Can you say a little more about this. I used to read MBs stuff a lot when I was a kid. Curious about his life. Thanks.

JL
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Reply - Jun 22, 2010 - 01:51am PT
Do you have any recollections from being around in those Glen Denny C4 days?
MisterE

Social climber
Bouncy Tiggerville
Jun 22, 2010 - 01:58am PT
I promise that I will write you both personally John and Steve.

Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Reply - Jun 22, 2010 - 10:45am PT
No pressure, Erik! Just an abiding curiousity...
Fuzzywuzzy

climber
suspendedhappynation
Jun 23, 2010 - 10:46am PT
MisterE -

My very good friend Bob Locke and I met your dad in C4 in the mid-70's. Bob and Mike shared a love of lit and poetry - they had a real connection. When Bob and Dale and Mike climbed what is now called the Red Dihedral on the Hulk he/they named it "Yggdrasil the Tree of Life".

Steve thanks for posting this stuff - those poems and prose were the foundation for me in the early 70's in Yosemite. I was swept away by the valley and those romantics who were during that incredible period.

Thanks,

TC
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 27, 2010 - 12:03am PT
A rather dark little ballad to go along with a fairly cute cartoon!

From Summit June 1960.

A bit of darker cartooning from Summit July 1960.
Tradmedic

Ice climber
Thunder Bay, Ontario
Aug 27, 2010 - 03:48am PT
Oh wow, bump for a great thread!
justthemaid

climber
Jim Henson's Basement
Aug 27, 2010 - 10:32am PT
Great read.. Thanks for posting Steve.
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 28, 2010 - 12:15pm PT
A dark and brooding bump!
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 28, 2010 - 04:15pm PT
Mike wrote regularly for Summit magazine in the early sixties. This account of climbing the joyous Crestone Needle appeared in the August 1960 issue.


Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 6, 2010 - 04:36pm PT
Borghoff Bump!
BBA

climber
OF
Sep 6, 2010 - 09:41pm PT
Mike was a great guy...couldn't climb in the valley, but knew it and came to grips with it in his way...like loving someone who will never love you back...what do you do...write...and I still remember some of our conversations but they are mostly X rated...
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Sep 7, 2010 - 02:43am PT
hey there say, steve... erik and all...

i enjoyed all the feedback here, and the post...

here is another bump...
:)
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 19, 2010 - 03:04pm PT
Joyous Conglomerate Bump!
Kiwiclimber

Ice climber
Kiruna, Sweden
Nov 4, 2010 - 08:40am PT
Was over in USA in Sept-Oct on a climbing road trip with a friend from Bishop and we were talking about Mike Borghoff's writing (seen only in snippets in e.g. Roper's guide) and wondering how to get hold of some more of it - so thanks to all for your contributions to a great ST thread.
survival

Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
Nov 4, 2010 - 11:36am PT
What a great thread. I remember a bit of that stuff from the waaay back machine.

MrE, I had no idea he was your dad.
You must be proud.
MisterE

Social climber
Bouncy Tiggerville
Nov 12, 2010 - 11:49pm PT
Just found this quote looking through James' "Camp Four" book by Roper:

The bears that visited Camp 4 actually caused us more grief than either the rangers, the tourists, or the Curry Company. Many of these beasts roamed the Valley, originally attracted by the garbage dump near Camp Curry. When the dump was shut down, the bears, denied their daily fix, became brazen. Being black bears, and not huge, they posed little real threat to people, yet they ate our food, ripped our tents, and broke into cars. Mike Borghoff put it perfectly:
the ursines were "fat, tourist-fed, insolent, monstrously facile at stealing food, contemptuously impervious to indignation, rage, terrified screams outraged threats, or supplication."
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Sep 22, 2012 - 06:17pm PT
Ten days back Mr.E talked to me about Mike Borghoff. I mentioned to him that Mike and I climbed The Flakes, III, 5.8, on MCR's faar right side, next to the Gunsight Gully, in 1971.

The Flakes had become my favorite in that grade. I suppose it still is. I loved "airy/hairy" things. Roper called it "airy," a perfect description. I wasn't quite the cracksman that the Reverend (Jeff Mathis) had become, but he wasn't the face guy I was, so it worked very well, generally, when we teamed up, which was about half the time. Mike dropped into our site one morning for early coffee, we talked a bit, and since Mathis was committed to something else, I invited him to go do the climb with me. I may have done it twice by then, so had few reservations about the outcome. He jumped at the chance. He had not climbed in some time and had virtually no gear with him but boots. We finished the coffee klatsch with the rest of the group and then jumped in the DORF.

The Flakes is a serious undertaking for aspiring hardmen. No flakes need apply, especially if it's done clean, Old School clean, that is, with no camming. Cunning placement (your ass is puckered, try there) is the key.


Unfortunately, Mike had a semi-flakey reputation, climbing-wise, both among the residents of Camp 4 and historically. I thought about the term Flakey Mikey, but that is not appropriate nor the least bit "cool" for such a hip guy, one whose other accomplishments, outside of climbing, were sophisticated in comparison to my own feeble efforts and those of many others. (I needed to look up the exact meaning of "contingency" in reading his essay on crisis, not to mention a few other words.) It would be an injustice, Erik, to bestow it on your dad, per our discussion, simply because it doesn't do justice. His own generation, those who occupied the Camp 4 sites just prior to my era saw fit not to nick-name Mike, so far as I know. He's just Mike Borghoff the wordsmith for most of us, and an unknown quantity for me, except for this one all-too-brief, but enjoyable, encounter with what was then "Old School." Not to mention his writings. Brilliant guy all-around.

"Whymper never climbed 5.10."--Sheridan

But I saw to it that Mike got his ass up and managed to help him get some measure of satisfaction, though he was not truly happy with his performance. I wish I could say I made him laugh so hard he fell off, but that's not what happened. I can easily overlook his "for real" faux pas, which was in deriding his own efforts. Modesty is only becoming in virgins.

The climb went smoothly, until the beginning of p4. I led and he tried to make the step-across but couldn't commit to the move despite a nearly-vertical upper belay. I could relate, because it's not very easy and it's trickier than it seems the first time. He hacked it. There's no other way to describe it. He just said F it and relied on the rope to allow him to complete the passage.


I liked his attitude. He seemingly would rather do that than hold us up. He was the experienced one, so who was I to judge? And I have thought of this need to get on with the climb rather than to fiddle-fart around with a meaningless step-across or other tech-a-nique a fussy individual might try to look good. it is a sensible attitude when speed is necessary to avoid crises.

Not all have the grace in the vertical plane of a Comici. The Flakes seems more Dolomite to me than Yo, IMO. Not having climbed the Dos, but seen lots and lots of photos of guys doing the "Co-Do" style and grinning into the camera, I feel not far wrong in that assessment. I beg correction, those who've been there, or corroboration.

I suppose I am rationalizing Mike's rather selfless act. I truly don't wish to make him look bad. I try to have as much fun as possible on a climb, and I shared this ideal with Larry Moore and Dillis, but not so much with the Reverend. We were rather more serious as a team. More bent on giving it our damnedest and playing "tech-a-nique" to the max. But I know Mike enjoyed the rest of the climb. It was just that one sequence. NBD, really, in terms of having accomplished our goal. And it serves well to categorize Mike's ability. It gives me no better satisfaction to say we did the climb well enough together that it was enjoyable, memorable, and satisfying. Only two things missing there, money and sex. Plenty other places to find them out of the realm of verticality.

I remember he wasn't too sanguine about his ability to keep up with me. I'd been hitting it hard for months and he was not in good form, to put it politely, but he was more than willing to go on it, since he admired the hell out of Sacherer and Powell. For my part, I was eager to lead all the pitches rather than swing them. And I wanted to be able to say that I had climbed with someone who had climbed with those giants, since I had lost the chance to climb with either of the first ascensionists: It would be a small feather for my cap, but very validating for my career as a climber.

He was in old Krons and I was in RDs. We both wore moss green downies and Levis. My long hair, his golden coiff. Near twins, except in brain power. I wish I had taken the Instamatic. Pictures. Sigh. Always the same old story.

Having read the article Moments of Crisis (and I really thank you for steering me here, Erik), I have more of an ikling of what may have been going on in that great brain during our climb. I will look forward to climbing The Flakes with you and Skip, Erik, should the chance ever come our ways, and chooting the chit about the Man and his thinking. Kind of the Circle Game. Round, up, down.

And Happy Anniversary, Lovebirds!

This is my gift.


Small edit: The description of Yobears could extend to the dirtbag climber as well with some reservations. I never begged.



MisterE

Social climber
Sep 22, 2012 - 11:03pm PT
Thanks for the wonderful post MFM - it jolts some long forgotten memories, and creates a whole new perspective at the same time.

A really wonderful gift you have given me/us - given well beyond any reasonable time allowance of recollections for this post, and one of the best.

Erik Wolfe Borghoff

Edit: The poem he wrote "Yggdrasil: The tree of Life" was given to me by my mother at a very young age. Hand-written, with a picture of me and Mike.

It made me try to be a poet, which I was never very good at.
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
Sep 22, 2012 - 11:42pm PT
Mike Borghoff was one of the most interesting, intelligent and enigmatic characters I met in early 70's Camp 4.... and that, ladies & gentlemen, is saying something!
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Sep 23, 2012 - 12:29am PT
Mr. Donini, excellent trib from a venerable "wiseguide."

I am so favored to have written this vignette at such a propitious time for the couple that I am almost laughing. It is more of what Mike might have known as "the Synch." (See What I'm listening to right now.)

Who The F needs acid? Really. Sixty-four times later.

It is only responsible for so much of YosLSD's history that it cries for absolution. Which is no reason to try it. I am not advocating, just stating. Purely for the record. Windowpane. Clearlight. Owsley. White Lightning. N-Lightning. Bhodioh. Unicorn. Begins to sound like a climbing guidebook. Honestly, my last tripping was on psylocybin in 1979. No mas, said the Mouse. I know nothing of Mike's tendencies or grief or joy. I only know we got to climb together and I hope he remembered the experience positively.

Mike is and always will be an eloquent and "meaningful" voice in our "hobby." I would like to hear him vs. Kendoll. Hoowhah!

Likewise, he was a voice for semi-seriousness, but then again able to really point us gently in the right direction, however cock-eyed it may have seemed when we took it.

My road led me to Yosemite where it intersected with some real doods. I hope to live another forty and have similar recollections of the people I have met lately on this little island of turmoil and serenity, the People's Camp 4.

Say "Goodnight," Jim, you devil. I wish we could have more of the More Fierce than Loading expedition, aka your trip eastwards with Mike and Stanholtzer, but...



mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Sep 23, 2012 - 04:39am PT
Mr. E told me he was unfamiliar with the Flakes.
With a little help from our friends I'll try to make some amends.

The route goes up from the lowest section of the Gunsight Gully on the right hand side of the MCR Apron to the Gunsight, finishing in 4th Class. The start of the route lies near the intersection of the notch's shadow with the talus near the tall trees. The first pitch.[Mini TR for the curious or those tired of waiting for the Frenzy. Get Flakey!]
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Nov 1, 2012 - 12:26pm PT
MrE. and justthemaid, more hapiness that I latched on to, from the December, 1959 SCB.
PM me and give me your address, please.
justthemaid

climber
Jim Henson's Basement
Jan 11, 2013 - 08:23pm PT
Just a shout out to Mouse. Thanks so much for mailing Erik the Sierra Club article for his birthday (Sunday);)

I just got done reading it. It's a beautifully written piece about Yosemite. Mike was a great writer. I scanned it and zoomed in a bit so folks can view it easier since it's worth a read.

...Look well about you, wanderer! There is but one Yosemite on the face of the earth, and through the myriad moods, the shifting cyclic patterns, will always sound the cord of this, your need: simple joy and certitude, the face of life itself.

Michael Borghoff


Sierra Club Bulletin December 1959

Photos by Ansel Adams








MisterE

Social climber
Jan 11, 2013 - 09:08pm PT
Yes, a heart-felt thank you to Mouse for the wonderful birthday gift. Glimpses into a long ago family past are real treasures to me, thanks to people like you and Steve and others.

Erik
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Reply - Mar 24, 2013 - 01:47pm PT
Bump for the Book Mouse!
MisterE

Social climber
Mar 24, 2013 - 07:12pm PT
I think a trip up The Flakes might be in order this fall!

Mouse, I will be holding some family history in my thoughts at the beginning of p.4.
MisterE

Social climber
Apr 29, 2013 - 02:34pm PT
Another route I have to put on the bucket list:

http://www.mountainproject.com/v/borgoffs-blunder/105758739
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Reply - May 31, 2015 - 11:51am PT
Bump for the love of climbing...
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 24, 2016 - 11:50am PT
And another...
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 22, 2018 - 10:24am PT
Holiday pleasure bump...
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Dec 22, 2018 - 03:40pm PT
Always a reference with Mike the Erudite Airhead...

Ding an sich
/diNG än ˈzik/ (In Kant's philosophy) a thing as it is in itself, not mediated through perception by the senses or conceptualization, and therefore unknowable.
Aeriq

Sport climber
100-year Visitor
Dec 22, 2018 - 05:34pm PT
Nice to read through this thread again - thanks to all who contributed.

I wish I had known the man better.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Dec 22, 2018 - 06:12pm PT
So, Mr E, I’m thinking yer esteemed pa didn’t bother with a trip to the woodpile, not that I’m
implying that it ever would have been called for, mind you. I’m guessing that there were some
transgressions but that a steady stare followed by “So will it be the Kant or the Hegel?” usually
sufficed.
Messages 1 - 54 of total 54 in this topic
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