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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 29, 2010 - 01:00pm PT
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Eyebolt History Bump!
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go-B
climber
In God We Trust
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May 29, 2010 - 01:05pm PT
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Bad Dude!
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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May 29, 2010 - 05:40pm PT
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I had the honor and pleasure to have met OP-S back in the late 1960s; he was very elderly and nearly blind with cataracts. At that time he was living with his son in South Denver, just across the street from my uncle. My uncle suggested one day that "Rodger would get a kick out of old Perry-Smith" to my aunt. I about fell on the floor when I asked if it was Oliver Perry-Smith, and the answer was "of course."
He was still in possession of his faculties and answered my questions with a glowing enthusiasim. He mentioned his membership in a club "Schwarze Kamin" and they had a flag that they would put on the new spires that they climbed in Dresden: a "Death's Head" Fahne, that showed that the climb had been done by the Schwarze Kamin.
He died in Denver not too long after I met him.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 30, 2010 - 03:34pm PT
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Thanks for the historical legwork guys! So no biners either for OP-S while he was most active? Wow! Proto-pirate even...
Rodger- What an honor to meet him. I hope that you are recovering from your mishap!
The OP ends with WWI but does anyone know if he climbed anything of consequence in North America after arriving here?
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 30, 2010 - 04:14pm PT
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A true contender without a doubt! The OP section about his racing etiquette in passing is hilarious. Nothing but a menacing roar would suffice to get the slackers out of the way! LOL
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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May 30, 2010 - 06:06pm PT
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According to O P-S, he did some "scrambling around" in Boulder Canyon and the Boulder area. He was a strong "Alleingeher" (soloist). This was back in the 1940s. He was awfully old when I talked with him, but still lucid. He said "never used any ropes." Pitons? Forget it! He described the rope-soled shoes that he used in Germany.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 30, 2010 - 06:14pm PT
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The Flatirons would have certainly have been irresistable!
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jogill
climber
Colorado
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May 30, 2010 - 10:02pm PT
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He mentioned his membership in a club "Schwarze Kamin" and they had a flag that they would put on the new spires . . .
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 31, 2010 - 12:01am PT
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Nice Death's Head! I wonder how psyched his chums were to go retrieve those grisly summit mementoes! Great stuff, John!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 17, 2010 - 12:58am PT
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Pondering OPS's accomplishments makes me understand the reserve and humility in Fritz Wiessner despite his considerable accomplishments and talent. Hanging out in Oli's world would tend to temper one's self estimation.
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TomCochrane
Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
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i learned to climb for several years in the late 1950s before meeting any other climbers, by digging up old european books from the boise library and looking at the pictures. I couldn't read either french or german.
there were several types of rappel techniques described in those old books. i had a hard time understanding the dulfersitz without a picture, and i adopted the salewa technique, aka guides' rappel. I still use that technique on slabs and short stretches.
the rope-soled shoes were known as espradrilles. someone once showed me a pair in the tetons in the early 1960's. (i think it might have been Joe Fitschen.) I don't know when Kronhoffer Klettershuen were introduced, but they were my first and favorite climbing shoes. I wish they were still available, as they have advantages over any of the modern shoes.
shoulder stand techniques were discussed in some detail; aka court echelles; as were stacked ice axes for short stretches of steep ice. my first ice axe was a charlet moser design with cutouts for stacking axes
a favorite discovery was an english translation of Herman Buhle's Lonely Challenge, read over and over. His description of some of his rock climbs became my guide in life. I find it hard to believe that he wasn't climbing at least to 5.8-.9 levels.
when i got to the teton's and got Leigh Ortenburger's guide, i studied the Grand Teton North Face extensively in the spirit of Buhle's climbing. another later favorite was Heinrich Harrer's The White Spider
when i met chouinard in the tetons, he referred me to some other european resources and he talked about how americans were climbing in the shadow of european accomplishments. Yvon was working hard to catch up
yvon's engineered ascent on East Temple West Face in the Wind Rivers with Fred Becky and Art Gran was intended to be one of the first such american routes in the mountains (i was there watching). Yvon and Becky were fresh off the north face of edith cavell. I was eager for the eiger, but yvon told me to count him out, as you only get to do one route like that in your life and his one was edith cavell.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 3, 2011 - 12:51pm PT
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Bump...
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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May 21, 2011 - 03:35pm PT
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Bumpity Bump!
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jogill
climber
Colorado
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May 22, 2011 - 01:30am PT
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I recently was in communication with OPS's great-grandaughter, Eleanor. She told me she was writing a screenplay about OPS's adventures in Europe. Wouldn't that be great!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 29, 2012 - 08:17pm PT
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Certainly a character worth celebrating!
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Ian Parsons
climber
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Jan 29, 2012 - 10:42pm PT
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In spring/summer 2000 I worked for a few months on a rigging job between Berlin and Dresden. A number of our crew were climbers from Dresden, and we routinely spent the weekends with them in the Elbsandsteingebirge. On one occasion, while perusing local guidebooks, I sought out the earliest reference that I could find to a route with the Saxon grade of VIIIa - equating to UIAA VI+, 5.10a/b. E1/E2, F6a/6a+, etc, or thereabouts; it was in 1900. A bit before OPS, but possibly an idea of the springboard he was launching from!
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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Aug 15, 2013 - 01:14pm PT
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This thread DESERVES a BUMP!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 15, 2013 - 09:06pm PT
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It would have been amazing if somebody had thought to do a documentary about climbing in Saxony back in the 1960s when some of these guys were still around to talk about their own brand of madness! LOL
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Aug 15, 2013 - 10:00pm PT
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Of course Oliver did use a rope, as we see in many photos, so
his "never used a rope" comment was either a slip or misheard or
whatever. He honed his skills with Albert Kunze, and their initial
ascent on the Falkenstein took place March 1, 1903. It is impossible
to say how difficult his climbs were, but if anything we should
err on the side of higher rather than lower, since he had no
chalk and used tennis shoes and or those rope-bottom shoes....,
and manila rope. To repeat some of those routes today is no easy
task, in modern gear. The consciousness was simply different
then, and he was far beyond the general standards of the day--as
has been noted. On occasion, as I understand, they used rope knots
for either belays or points of protection. In other words, a knot
was made in a rope and jammed in a crack.... It seems, while the
spiritual leader of Elbsandstein, Rudolph Fehrmann,
believed aid should not be used,
so that they could protect the daring, challenge, and beautiful charm
of the rock, a leader was allowed to fix an occasional "safety ring"
attached to a large spike driven into a drilled hole and epoxied in
place. Oliver was quite a master at buildering, chiefly on churches
and building facades of the east.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Aug 15, 2013 - 10:11pm PT
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I sought out the earliest reference that I could find to a route with the Saxon grade of VIIIa - equating to UIAA VI+, 5.10a/b. E1/E2, F6a/6a+, etc, or thereabouts; it was in 1900. Cool - I've wanted to see one of those Elbesandstein guidebooks.
The earliest such hard routes that I've known of, based on this AAJ article and other sources, are:
 6a (5.9, DDR VIIb) 1906 Teufelsturm Elbsandstein Oliver Perry-Smith, W. Huenig, Rudolf Fehrmann
Note: another grade VIIb was done a few days earlier, but this is the more famous route.
6a+ (5.10a, DDR VIIc) 9/1910 Kreutzturm, Suedriss Elbsandstein Max Matthaeus
from:
http://www.stanford.edu/%7Eclint/yos/hard.htm
and
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=1783404&msg=1785369#msg1785369
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