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kevin Fosburg
Sport climber
park city,ut
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Topic Author's Original Post - Dec 13, 2005 - 06:50pm PT
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I've been thinking it might be cool to start a thread wherein people could contribute stories of times with Walt Shipley that are memorable and/or meaningful to them. I was thinking also of referring the thread to his folks, Mary and Karl as something perhaps uplifting.
For me Walt was not only a great friend but also a huge inspiration to climb my best. I thing that's probably also true for a lot of the people who tend to post here.
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WBraun
climber
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Dec 13, 2005 - 08:07pm PT
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Yes Kevin
We all sure miss our great brother Walt.
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Dec 13, 2005 - 08:12pm PT
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Walt was an amazing multi-faceted wild and unique being who was wired to 240 while every body else was running on 120.
He was hilariously funny, sharp as a knife, and full of life.
He knew all the beta for all routes and could reenact the moves for you with pantomine and running commentary.
The thing was, Walt was too smart and felt things too intensely for his own good. His mind was working so fast that he had to cook up trouble to stay interested. His heart was big enough to torment him as well, and sometimes he couldn't take the pain. Sometimes all that intensity he felt spilled out in harsh ways but lots of folks understood and loved him anyways.
I remember him telling me once about a trip to Soviet occupied Afghanistan. He was working for a news agency and had to help evacuate a coworker who got sick "behind enemy lines." Sounded like they were under fire too. I realized she was an old friend of mine from college. She didn't make it. Walt had seen too much.
I would be easy to focus on all the spices of his bold personality, but there was a lot of other faces beneath the surface. He was an engineer. For awhile he had a particularly sweet girlfriend and they seemed to love each other.
The guy was pretty indescribable.
It's a tragedy that Walt's dead. We miss him and the deli is not the same. I feel like I'd be doing him a disservice here if I didn't speculate that Walt, strong as he was, was also a little too sensitive for this world. I like to believe that he left us the way he wanted to leave us, going full on wild and extreme out in nature, and that everything is clearer and brighter for him now.
Fly high Walt
peace
karl
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elcapfool
Big Wall climber
hiding in plain sight
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Dec 13, 2005 - 08:38pm PT
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Very well said KB.
Can't type more, suddenly very sad.
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Jaybro
Social climber
The West
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Dec 13, 2005 - 10:35pm PT
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I can think of a bunch of stories, but I don't know that any of them really convey the feeling of what it was like to be around Walt. Talking, climbing, drinking coffee or old E, it felt like anything could happen. I would always come away thinking about, something, in a different light.
We could pick up the same conversation at the same point after a year's interuption.
he never forgot anything.
I think about him all the time.
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Dog
climber
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Dec 13, 2005 - 10:59pm PT
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..."I think about him all the time".
Me too.
When in the ditch, I always expect to see him riding around on his bicycle, at the deli or telling some wild ass tale at van side.
Upon meeting him through my climbing partner and old buddy of his,he learned that I was a BMW motorcycle owner and
I remember how excited he was to tell of his BMW motorcycle. He had a photo is his van and went on forever of all his antics as we all know and believe.I only remember thinking that this guy was sure full of energy. Little did I know.
Over the years I got to know Walt and enjoyed listening to his raving stories, epics and other adventures.
Are his parents still living in Sacramento? I believe he said they resided there.
People come and go it seems.
Walt seems to remain.
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T2
climber
Cardiff by the sea
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Dec 13, 2005 - 11:10pm PT
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Walt (along with the author of this thread,) I really looked up to in my fledging years as a wall climber in Yosemite. I had the pleasure of knowing Walt on a limited basis. Sometimes you would cross paths with Walt and make a distinct effort to stear clear because of his abvious Old E intoxication. Other times you would want to make an extra effort to hang around and pick his brain about any topic of conversation he was willing to have with you. I had just finished an ascent of Lunar Eclipse (Which at that time in 88' or 89' was not considerd a trade route) Walt had givin me a sincere complement in regards to my acomplishment. He had made me feel like I had actually done something. (Duece you may not remember but you had done the same thing for me and my partner Jim Erdman that same day. You may have even bought us a beer) Even though I had climbed El Cap 4 or 5 times by this time, the kudos from these two climbers I looked up to, finally made me feel like I had climbed something. Thanks Walt and Duece!
Great shot Klaus and thanks for the thought Kevin
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kevin Fosburg
Sport climber
park city,ut
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 14, 2005 - 08:35am PT
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The last time I climbed with Walt was around Jan. '99. Along with Pete Takeda, we went down to Santaquin canyon to climb some ice. Walt was way out of shape, probably about 15 lbs. overweight but was psyched to lead the second pitch of Automatic Control Theory, a grade 5 pillar. I don't think he'd ice climbed in a few years but he got up there and in classic Shipley style barely made it risking a huge fall. At one point in the lead he pulled his glove off to place a screw or something and the liner completely inverted. We could hear him up there snapping and were wondering what was happening. He later said it was ironically fortuitous because he was forced to find an unlikely stance in order to deal with the glove and he sort of depumped in the process enabling him to finish the lead. Way funny.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Dec 14, 2005 - 12:29pm PT
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Didn't know him but very few people come to Zion and do a big NEW route on their first trip. Shipley put up Forbidden Corner, and during the hot weather too.
Impressive.
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can't say
Social climber
Pasadena CA
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Dec 14, 2005 - 05:57pm PT
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Remember, the next time you have any doubts about ANYTHING at all, ask yourself this simple question.
"What Would Walt Do?????"
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WBraun
climber
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Dec 14, 2005 - 06:42pm PT
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Well? ...... what would he do?
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deuce4
Big Wall climber
the Southwest
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Dec 14, 2005 - 06:44pm PT
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Whenever someone got dumped, Walt would love asking, "Whaddaya expect, special treatment?" On the other hand when he got dumped he would go on a multi-month bender where the name of his former beloved could not be spoken (by anyone else). One time after he broke up with a woman named Tanya who worked at the Mountain Room Bar, her soloed a bunch of wild stuff in Red Rocks. Couldn't believe his stories. But Walt never lied. Then he came to Flag and I suggested a multi-week desert adventure to take his mind off things.
It worked sproadically. He didn't once mention Tanya on our ascent of Organ Rock, the most horrible rotten tower I think has ever been seen by humans. But on the top, after a while, the memories of Tanya came back, along with a continual string of unrepeatable comments about her, ending our summit moments.
By the time we did the Radiator in Zion together, things had calmed quite a bit inside dear old Walt Bipley (thank goodness).
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deuce4
Big Wall climber
the Southwest
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Dec 14, 2005 - 06:49pm PT
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Then there were those Valve Stems. On another trip, to Utah, Walt had gotten his tires replaced. One of his tires was installed with a truck valve stem (about an inch longer). Boy, he was so torqued about it he actually drove 100 miles out of his way to return to the scene of the crime to get the valve stem replaced.
I have never known such a perfectionist as Walt.
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WBraun
climber
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Dec 14, 2005 - 06:49pm PT
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Hehehe just remember that sorid Tanya affair, eh Ducey.
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deuce4
Big Wall climber
the Southwest
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Dec 14, 2005 - 06:51pm PT
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You know, it was Walt who came up with the idea of having a "hole count" chart on first ascent topos. I think it represented his high level of integrity. For the first time, first ascent bolts documented without any doubt, in a time when people would often claim fewer bolts than actually used. Before it was mostly guesswork and estimates on how many bolts were used.
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deuce4
Big Wall climber
the Southwest
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Dec 14, 2005 - 06:55pm PT
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How about the time when Walt learned how to breathe fire. He did it sucessfully to a small crowd in the parking lot one day. Then, of course, moments later, people heard that Walt was breathing fire and a larger crowd gathered to see it again.
Hesitant at first, Walt finally announced another round.
But it didn't go well. He failed to breathe hard enough (I guess, I've never tried it), and the flames returned to his face, burning his scraggly beard off.
Of course everyone was laughing and Walt just jumped on his bike and took off.
No one saw him for quite a few days. Turns out his face was really burned and his chin turned into a big Gobi. He didn't turn up in any of the public arenas (Cafe, Deli, Bar) until it all healed.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Dec 14, 2005 - 07:22pm PT
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Funny story, and don't want to hi-jack, but we need "hole counts" for piton placements. They are more rock altering than bolts.
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Dec 14, 2005 - 07:58pm PT
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Walt did have intregrity, and I hate to mention it here, but when folks pass we tend to think of them as perfect when they were inconsistent like the rest of us.
I was surprised to hear it on good authority that Walt actually added a bolt to the East Butt of Middle (since chopped) to make it easier to guide it.
Like I said, good authority, but If I'm wrong, I'll be the first to grovel.
There's a story like that for every golden character out there
peace
karl
Edit: There is some doubt. Singer said that the bolt in question was on the East Butt of El Cap.
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=77289
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WBraun
climber
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Dec 14, 2005 - 08:11pm PT
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Well Karl
Wasn't there a pin or some other horible piece of sh-it mank there for a long time. I remember him telling me he was going to do that. I told Walt to do whatever he needs to do.
What's so bad about that bolt Karl. You guys have a bolt phobia on this site. Another thing is all this holier than thou about these stupid fu-cking bolts, while everyone of those dumb ass anti bolt fanatics are breaking other rules and laws of our society.
Hypocrites
Walt and Steve Quinlin did the second ascent of a route of mine and added bolts at two belays because they couldn't figure out what I did there. Those belays did not have any bolts. I made the belays with pins and one of them was 7 or 8 pins all equalized, stuff I learned from Bridwell.
Big fu-cking deal! Now the route has much nicer belays.
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Dec 14, 2005 - 09:02pm PT
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I know there was a fixed pin for a long time Werner and the bolt didn't offend me either. In fact somebody asked Steck about it later and Steck said it was fine with him.
The reason it brought it up is because Duecy posted up higher in the thread something that made Walt seem like a holy anti-bolt guy and I wanted to add perspective.
I'm told Walt added a bolt belay to OZ as well. I don't give a crap.
See, when everybody looks back and see the hardmen of the past and think that they were absolutely pure they use it as justification for their own Taliban attitudes.
But let's not try to get in the eternal bolt debate here. There are plenty of nearby thread for it
peace
karl
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Paul Martzen
Trad climber
Fresno
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Dec 14, 2005 - 11:06pm PT
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It's hard talking about Walt. I miss his crazy calls, a couple times a year. I miss his complaints about the world. He was pissed off that no girls would seem to even look at him anymore. "We're just old crawdads, man!" I miss his craziness and I miss his pain. I miss our conversations, even though I can't remember what many of them were.
I always wondered what he was so frustrated about. Why he had to blast himself so much. I shouldn't assume too much, but he was focused and happy when he was climbing and kayaking. Like those things gave his brain and his heart enough to keep him occupied. Just like for the rest of us, i suppose. Maybe when he wasn't occupied he had to dull his brain to keep from being bothered by all the stupidity in this world. I could relate to that, but I never asked him.
A lot of people have remarked about how smart he was. It makes sense, though I never really thought about it. Just took him for granted.
I received an email from a college classmate of Walt's who said that Walt got him through a lot of Physics problems that would have otherwise defeated him. He also described how they would climb to the top of the pine trees in front of the dorm, get stoned and watch the traffic go by. I could relate to that.
I always thought that Walt might help get me killed someday, rather than the other way around. I had not climbed with him since the early 1980s, I think. We continued to kayak together occasionally even as I boated less and less and he got better and better. He and Bill boated a lot, but Walt really had the composure and the fearlessness to charge into the craziness that water can be. Water is as insane and weird as anything in this world, and yet its amazingly beautiful and fun. Life.
Water is more forgiving than gravity, but more unpredictable as well. Yet at times completely unforgiving. Lots of people who run whitewater have been in the situation that took Walt, but we were released, or got help in time. Or took the time to look at a bad spot and so avoided it.
I remember meeting Tom at the Creek and then Bill and Walt showed up! Wow! Great, hadn't expected them at all. Then the guy from back east, Chuck. The road through the campgrounds was closed, but Tom new an alternate route on the other side of the creek. It was fun driving the narrow lane till it dwindled away, then wandering on foot downhill to the creek.
The creek was full, but it felt like the perfect flow. Fast, exciting and fun. We were all totally up, leapfrogging down through the rapids. One person leading, then the next person and then the next in line. We bombed through the campgrounds, then under the road into a gravel bar section. A long rapid steepened and the water picked up speed to a horizon line. Everyone pulled over, considering the long walk to peer over and scout.
I laughed, "It just funnels together towards that big boulder, then blasts right. Go with the flow!"
Walt Charged. Then the next, then I. Down the funnel and into the boiling cushion off the boulder. I looked right and Walt had bounced too far right into a tiny eddy in a corner of the rock. He was fighting to turn his boat back out into the current. His eyes were huge, but his grin was bigger. A minute later, we all gathered in a big eddy and laughed histerically. The fun meter was pegged over.
Onwards and downwards, dropping over or sliding down one amazing drop after another. Through a mellow section past a girl scout camp till it steepened up into a long section of bedrock slides and ledges. I was back a ways for some reason. Tom was on shore waving me down the right side of a long slide.
Paddling around the corner I came to Bill, Walt and Chuck looking at a horizon line leading into the most serious section. Three ledges led to a short pool, then a slide and a big falls. The bottom ledge was a perfect crescent, 4 foot high and vertical. We would have to sneak the right edge, then get out on the left bank to portage, though knowing Walt, I figured he might run the falls if he had a look at it. One of them was starting to push up onto the shore to take a look.
I was the only one who had seen the creek from this point down, and I knew the routes from multiple trips. I paddled up to the lip, paused for a look that was only to get a sense of what was hidden. I charged over, punched a reversal and eddied out. Bill was up next. I held out my arm straight indicating the same line that I took, against the right edge. He paddled over the drop and into my same eddy. Chuck peered over but I signalled a different line, out farther from shore. He charged over but sank deeper into the foam, before punching through. Wrong route. Walt waited and I signaled a line back closer to shore. The same line as Bill? Or in between? I don't remember. Walt started stroking and simultaneously I paddled out into the current to make room in the eddy.
And that was it. That was all it took.
I ran the next ledge and did not try to catch the tiny eddy but paddled frantically for the right edge of the third ledge. I dropped over and relaxed in the pool below. There was steady current but not strong on the left side and I waited. Bill dropped over immediately behind me. He must have peeled out right with me and not seen Walt's run.
We were excited to be there. I started describing the whole situation, the falls below, the portage route, exculting in the beauty of the place. Bill started taking out on the left, when a paddle came down on the right. I paddled over to pick it up and realized that I couldn't pick it up without drifting into the next rapid and the falls. I felt stupid, let it go, and paddled back to the left shore to get out.
By the time I got out onto shore, Bill was heading upstream even the lowest ledge. I heard him shouting and it didn't make any sense.
"Walt's still in the hole! Walt's still in the hole"
I saw someone standing on the right shore, maybe in a pothole like depression. Maybe he couldn't work his way downstream on that side. Then something was floating downstream through the second drop. I couldn't really tell, but it could have been a lifejacket. "Shit!" But it was bigger and it came closer, then dropped over the ledge in front of me. He was face into the water perfectly displayed, spread eagle, suspended in the falls for an instant. Then into the foam, and up and back in.
I'm screaming at Bill,"Get him! Get him!" And then Walt was out floating toward my position. "Throw the rope! Throw the rope!"
Bless him Bill had his rope in his hand. Mine was still in my boat. He threw it perfectly along side Walt's path. I dove, knowing what was downstream, knowing that he had no chance if he got by me. Knowing what chance I had if I couldn't get back to shore.
I did get him and Bill did swing us in, but you know the rest.
Sorry if this is totally inappropriate or over the top.
Paul
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ron gomez
Trad climber
fallbrook,ca
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Dec 14, 2005 - 11:11pm PT
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PEACE guys!! This is about remembering Walt....a great topic(for a change)for this forum, some great stories about a great guy! Got introduced to Walt in Tuolumne years back and spoke with him about his chronic shoulder dislocation and kayaking, he had just returned from one of his adventures. He was most gracious for the advice and everytime after that I saw him he never failed to thank me for "helping" HIM. What a great, unique person, his spirit lives on in our memories.
How 'bout more climbing, kayaking and memories of Walt.
Great stories Paul
Peace
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WBraun
climber
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Dec 14, 2005 - 11:18pm PT
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Thanks Paul for the story.
Me and Merry went to Fresno and met his body just before the guy put him in the cremator. We bought some flowers and laid them over his body and chanted some prayers before the guy made his body into ashes. No one was there, I believe it was too much for his mom and dad to take, as they loved him so much.
Thus from that point on he became the legend that lives on as his spirit in these memories.
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deuce4
Big Wall climber
the Southwest
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Dec 15, 2005 - 07:46am PT
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thanks Paul
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kevin Fosburg
Sport climber
park city,ut
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 15, 2005 - 08:19am PT
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Thanks Paul for describing what happened that day.
I once heard an interview with Adria Belew (not sure how to spell it) right after Frank Zappa died. The interviewer was asking something to the effect of "Well it must be sad for you ..." and Belew said, "No, because I've got all these great mental home movies" basically affirming how lucky he felt to have known and worked with the man. That's how I feel about Walt and I know a lot of others do too.
There is a boulder near the Camp 4 parking lot where some of us would go to smoke occasionally. It has an easy 5th class route to a flat summit, about 15-20 ft. high. Somewhat ranger proof at least back then. There was a tree a few feet away from the boulder, far enough that you couldn't reach it, with a horizontal dead snag at right about eye-level. By way of descent, Walt would invariably leap out into the abyss, catch the branch like a trapeez artist while laughing like a maniac and then down-climb the tree. It seemed ill-advised and in fact the branch was broken off at some point though I don't know the circumstances.
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ron gomez
Trad climber
fallbrook,ca
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Dec 15, 2005 - 11:44am PT
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Leave it to you and Merry to do such a thing for him, hope I have people like you around when my time comes.
Peace
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Dec 15, 2005 - 12:20pm PT
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A beautiful thread.
Why can't we have more? As I said recently in a thread not expected to become acrimonious, couldn't we at least agree that Yoko can't sing?
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DirtyDave
climber
Colorado
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Dec 15, 2005 - 03:03pm PT
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I'm turning up the way back machine, as I spent the majority of my time with Walt in college. His antics were well in place at that time! I would best describe Amos as an exciting combination of a super brilliant mind, electrifying energy, and a devilish mischievousness that reveled in blowing other peoples minds by doing the unthinkable. I believe his mind typically operated out of the box that most of us confine ourselves to, and seeing that, he would regularly do that which he knew was going to rock your world.
As a fellow engineering student with Walt, I frequently found his poor study habits with his getting the high grade in the class on 2 out of 3 exams unbelievable. One night before a major physics exam, he approached me sporting a half quaffed six pack. After futlile attempts to convince me to join him, "f#@% physics anyway" he mumbled. The next morning I found him frantically reviewing the example problems in the chatpers he had yet to read. But to no ones amazement, he pulled off the high score yet again.
Or anyone who has had the dissappointing experience of watching a movie with Walt knows this one. Typically less than 15 minutes into the flick he would anounce "standard plot number XX" and we would try not to listen as he would ruin the show by detailing how it was going to end in excruciatingly accurate detail.
At a party in a second floor dorm room, Walt well on his way to a buzz any college boy would envy, disappeared. Soon some girl at the window was screaming. It turned out to be just Walt, hanging 2 floors up, upside down by his toes hooked on the lip of the roof, making wild noises to make sure his presence was known.
Another early Walt-Show. Just after meeting him, he brought me to his dorm room to demonstate his bat hooking route he'd developed (much to his roommates shock) around the ceiling with the crux move out the door into the dormatory hallway. He was soon there after tossed from the dorm when he pulled the hanging panel ceiling in his room to the floor. Of course Walt was no stranger to authority, as his mind blowing antics usually caught the attnetion of some suthority. Like the time he 'had' to climb the rock facia wall on the outside of the bank in Manteca. Of course the knew not to check for new routes during business hours, so he stealthed over early one sunday morn, only to end up arrested as a randon cop was driving the area and couldn't miss the young man on the roof of a bank!
God bless him, he had quite an appetite for life,
DI
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Dec 15, 2005 - 03:46pm PT
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Thanks for that Story and and a good description of Walt's "outside the box" world. He really did have a talent for blowing minds.
I got busted for a skyhook traverse outside a 3rd floor dorm window as well.
peace
Karl
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Dec 15, 2005 - 04:04pm PT
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Damn.
Now I'm really REALLY pissed I didn't get to know him.
A kindred spirit for sure!
(I got the belated boot from Hackley despite a 790 on the Math SAT thanks to a little climb I did the night before the Vice President visited the school...)
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Wonder
climber
WA
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Dec 16, 2005 - 12:56am PT
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one more thanxs to kevin, i remember walt as always trying some manky climb some where weird. but memories are what you make them.
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Dog
climber
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Dec 16, 2005 - 07:27pm PT
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Thanks for the story Paul.
I always wondered what actually happened on that day.
Hard to believe.
One story that Id heard a hundred times over was after one of these Walt style, all afternoon, liquid picnics he says, How about a Meatgrinder free solo? To my buddy he says, you go first so if I go, I dont take you along.The guy had a heart make no mistake.
Turns out,the story says, he skates and catches with a blood flowing head jam.Can you see him telling this story with all the dramatics? Just like yesterday for me.
He always had some crazy ass story that was a hoot!
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Paul Martzen
Trad climber
Fresno
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Dec 17, 2005 - 02:07pm PT
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Thank you to everyone who has shared their stories and to everyone for the kind reception to my tale. It has amazed me reading these stories and listening to people at the memorial, how little I knew about my friend, or maybe how little I paid attention. Thanks Kevin for starting this thread and to Karl and Deuce about being honest in trying to understand Walt.
Thank you Werner and Merry for being there at the last for him.
Thanks Dave for the wonderful college stories. I want to chat more with you.
There was a brief time in 82 or 83 when Walt and I climbed every weekend on a number of beautiful moderate grade 4 routes. I loved wandering off into the unknown heights with him.
Up on Geek Towers, the sun got to me bad. Must have been dehydrated, as I felt terrible and could not continue. But there was a hole in the route, big enough for me to crawl back into, where it was a bit cooler and shaded. Walt just stationed himself in the opening, blocking the sun and occasionally giving me sips from the little water we had. I probably slept awhile. As I recuperated we chatted just a bit. After a couple hours, I crawled back out of the hole and we continued on to the top.
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DirtyDave
climber
Colorado
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Dec 18, 2005 - 01:21pm PT
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Karl, I enjoy your thoughts on Walt, largely because its seems we both seek to understand what made Walt so different.
To say his personality was unique is a vast understatement. Of course we are all unique, but Walt pegged the meter in a very compelling way. I keep coming back to his love of doing the unthinkable, especially with an audience. For me I think its because I unconsciously fell pray to the social pressure of doing what was deemed socially acceptable, or else face the wrath of being rejected, while Walt didn't seem to have that same metal constraint. In fact he seemed to revel in it.
For instance (and I'll have to thank the Fish for jogging this memory in me with his telling of the 'Octo-penis' tale), oh wait.
DISCLAIMER, this Walt-Show tale may contain offensive material for women. Of course Walt was not sexist. Heavily bitter indeed, or as Sam Kineson once said, 'You would'nt want him to be the deciding member on a f*#king jury or anything'.
Anyway, here goes. Back at Fresno State, 1976-ish, in the warm spring days, the frat boys would regularly through huge 50 keg type beer busts Friday afternoons, TGIF. Oddly, these keggers were packed, and the hot weather brought out the skimpy outfits in the ladies. One such hot afternoon found Walt, myself, and Fred (another engineering nerd) in the middle of the sea of beer swilling kids. Now Walt of course had taken a different tack recently, and had taken to Two Fingers Tequilla. He had evangelically sold its superior qualities to Fred and I, but to no use, we stayed with the bargain beers. That preface was to clue you into Walt having a superior buzz at this point in the story. Walt out of nowhere says, 'I bet I can get that girl to slap me', pointing to a nearby babe. Now, knowing Walt as we all do, what do you think we said? He promptly trots over, says 'hi', and then places his hands over her breasts, about as close as you could get them without touching them, and starts saying 'Ma ma ma ma' (Walt speak for mammories). To Walt's credit he didn't even raise a hand to block or even turn his face, but took the open hand slap squarely on the face. Humiliation for most, was electrifying for Walt. He came back beeming with an evil gleem in his eyes, and told us to pick out his next victim! Stunned, and wondering what it was going to take to humilitate him, we picked the hottest girl in eyesite, and pointed to her. Instantly, without having to gather his nerve or prepare himself, he boldly stode off towards his next victim. Same lead in by Walt as last time, however instead of slapping Walt, she curses him, turns and yells to her boyfriend to get over there right away. A quick glance revealed the boyfriend to be a tall massively developed Bulldog football player, who began coming their way. Walt bolted into the crowd in a very necessary fashion, and was long gone by the time the boyfriend was briefed on what had transpired.
Now I know this story is offensive for women and traumatic on the ladies involved, and none of us would care to be on the receiving end of one of Walt's fabled antics, but I use it to demostate how his mind did not have the same limits as most of us do. When you were running with Walt, you never quite knew what might come next.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Dec 18, 2005 - 03:58pm PT
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Is it just me or does it seem that being interesting or inspirational often seems to act like a curse? Sort of the "only the good die young" kind of deal.
Even without the smart disclaimer it was a good story. Thanks.
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DirtyDave
climber
Colorado
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Dec 18, 2005 - 04:15pm PT
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Yes I agree, almost like a shooting star, very bright but short lived.
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nature
climber
Flagstaff, AZ
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Dec 19, 2005 - 01:02pm PT
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Paul - that was very appropriate. Thank You. I didn't know the whole story. As a boater maybe I was too scared to even ask.
And thanks to everyone else that has related stories. This is why supertopo is still worth the visit.
I didn't know Walt - never had the pleasure to meet him. I tried one of his routes once. You could tell when the tall guy (walt) established a pitch and when the short guy (klaus) established a pitch (Re-Animator).
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G-ville Climbing Club
Social climber
Nevada
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Dec 29, 2005 - 10:16am PT
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Well I ran into Walt in the Lodge Cafeteria, he had just returned from a solo of the south face of Half Dome. You know the time he almost died in the snowstorm. He was so alive and excited he was telling the story of his escape from the wall to who ever would listen. The description of him being wired was right on. I had never met him before or really even met him then. He just talked none stop about a very intense experience with a joy that was very inspiring.
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M3(mad moderate mtnr)
Mountain climber
Sac'to, CA
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Dec 29, 2005 - 12:49pm PT
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Never met Walt, but followed his story and then learned of his passing soon after relocating to Sac'to myself in '99. Although I can't claim to be NEAR the outdoorsman Walt was, I DID find in him a kindred (tortured) spirit reveling in the unconventional. The string of stories about Walt only confirm that sense of the shared.
While I never had the pleasure of spending time with Walt, I did meet his neighbor and long-time friend of his Mom & Step-Dad at a free Jazz concert in Sacto last year. I forget her name, but we had some interesting discussions about Walt. Both the family friend & I are nurses, and I had my two young children (girl 1yo, boy 3yo) along. She mentioned Walt's tortured childhood, his love for and from his Mom and sister, and how she appreciated his wild zaniness. She enjoyed my stories of wilderness adventures as a way of vicariously learning about this side of Walt, and enjoyed my thoughts on how having my own children had softened my hard edge, which I ascribed to a tortured childhood myself. Talking with her helped guide me to attempt to provide my children with a love for adventure and the great outdoors, while trying not to let my sharp edges cut them and callous them to the love that is in this world. Guiding them as their father through life is one of the toughest adventures of my life.
I am sure from my conversation with Walt's neighbor & friend that his mother would love to have this string of stories forwarded onto her. They will surely bring both tears & smiles, as I am sure raising Walt into manhood must have done. As a father of children struggling to understand this wonderful world, I sense that she would count as precious treasures the best & the worst memories you've each described in this string.
May we all find that bit of love that Walt's mother had for him, hold it dear, hold it near as we too pass through this amazing journey called life.
Namastae!
M3
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Scott Cole
Trad climber
Jackson, WY^
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Mar 20, 2006 - 01:05pm PT
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Walt was a sick puppy. One of the most brilliant climbers I've ever met. In 1987 Walt, Paul Gagner and I climbed the compressor rt. on Cerro Torre. Walt was an awsome partner who always got the job done. Walt stories are like Yabo stories, there are hundreds.
Listening to Walt describe some desperate lead, or solo, always left me with sweating palms and searching for the chalk bag. His ability to re-live a situation and not just remember it put you right there with him at the moment.
Scott Cole
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Mar 20, 2006 - 01:27pm PT
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Scott:
Walt's appreciation of detail was a particular facet of his character which I enjoyed.
Here he is on Tis Sa Ac, a year before his Solo.
Walt was like a Jekyl Hyde. On the ground, or free soloing, he was wild. On a wall, you couldn't have had a more thoughtful, attentive partner than with Walt.
That trip up the Torre you guys did, he remarked how much he liked the slim 10mm rope he brought "hey roy, that thing snaked all around and through things and avoided getting caught". He remarked how cool it was to do 5.10 edging in his plastic boots, fingers in thin cracks. Walt was very enthusiastic about the details of good living.
Winter '87/88 in Josh, Walt and I did a mess of new, sparsely bolted routes and a few crack lines. "Get the Boot", "Too Steep to Climb", "Automatic Tiger", "Weenie Roast". Of course all ground up.
At the same time that season, I was doing Rap Routes with The Fish. Walt, Billy and I were putting up 2 routes in the Hall of Horrors, I recall one on each side of Jessica's Crack. We used crude anchor materials, rawl 5 piece, with burly chain as the hangar, hence the route names "Chain Gang" and "Avant Cave" (a play on avant guard and cave, as in very crude). So here I am, standing atop the belay of a route I have just lead, ground up, and Walt comes up on the follow "See Roy, see what you can do ground up, if you just put your mind to it?".
Well I said, "Walt yer Preaching to the Choir, Bra. This is ground up Territory here. Those other things are much steeper and would require senseless bolt laddering. Hey, you don't even climb stuff like that, Walt". VOILA! THAT WAS THE KICKER. As The Fish later devined, I had just told Walt that he didn't climb hard enough to have an opinion!
There were some 20 people accross the way TR'ing the Exorcist. Walt, at the top of his lungs, berated me up, down, sideways at a very LOUD clip. I stood by, sipping off an Old E, taking it all in! The folks accross the way were totally appalled. This was a Shipley Fest at its finest.
Years Later, when Walt did a ton of sport climbing at that Sonora Limestone area, he was really excited to describe to me his Sport Climbing experiences, as if to say, he remembered that total screamfest and while finding no need to apologize, he was cool with it.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Mar 20, 2006 - 02:15pm PT
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Dirty Dave,
Thanks for the reportage on Walt's Last Trip.
Not too short of that, I was at TPR with Walt and he was describing to me his latest boating challenge. He had the Salt and Pepper shakers set up as the obstacles and used his bread knife to show how he worked his way through a very tight passage. The manic and enthusiastic way in which Walt would portray his outlandish feats!
I'll have to read the earlier threads. His Free Solo of Keeler needle is a good Walt story and I know that's been told. He desribed to me with glee, how he stepped out of his approach shoes, left them side by side in the snow, and climbed up and away from the shoes, into a storm...
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Mar 20, 2006 - 04:36pm PT
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kevin Fosburg
Sport climber
park city,ut
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 20, 2006 - 10:23pm PT
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Hey Tardaddy,
Thanks for the resurrection of this thread. I remember the "brewhaha" when you told Walt he "wasn't good enough" to have an opinion re: rap bolting/sports climbing. Pencil in the mid-week of May 15-19 for the Black. It will be a party.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Mar 21, 2006 - 01:24am PT
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Ya, Mid May?
I'm there.
Hey Muss Man.
Pop in some Walt Snaps.
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Wonder
climber
WA
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Mar 21, 2006 - 01:35am PT
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"Walt stories are like Yabo stories" yeah bring more of these back threads out.
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Russ Walling
Social climber
Same place as you, man...... (WB)
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Mar 21, 2006 - 01:49am PT
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Here are couple from the BUBS saga....
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Jobee
Social climber
El Portal
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Mar 21, 2006 - 01:10pm PT
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Emotions run high, the photographs were like a punch in the belly..my heart...thump,thump,thump, choked and thankful all at once. Hearts to everyone, had'nt seen this thread.
Walter was larger than life sometimes for me it's like he has'nt departed (when the door blows open we say "hey Walt") A friend will start a tale of him it just goes on for hrs.because there's so much to tell and he's just damn everywhere. He visits me in dreams occassionally and as Werner put it..he lives on in legend and truth! I am honored to have known him.
Walt had incredible hands, I used to look at them and think this a man who can do things. For all of you who knew Walt you know what i'm talkin about. He towered over me yet looked me squarely in the eyes and treated me with respect even when he was schooling me, which was often! I was'nt one of the boys (never wanted to be) but I was part of the mix perhaps, and it was PROUD!
I always called him (Bonatti) I think it kind of flattered and pissed him off at the same time. I'd say "Hey Bonatti whad'ya doing over there"? He'd kind of growl at me, smirk and squint like Clint Eastwood and answer "Yeah right Jo, F..off"!
He'd rip on me about all my boyfriends calling me a man eater, school me on my wildness with drink, berate me on my guiding technique, then give me shove and LOL cuz he knew I could take it!
Once in front of Yosemite Lodge I was standing/balancing on two bench's (the old bench's which were father apart from one another) so it was a kind of spread eagle thing. We'd all been drinkingthe guys had their challaces of malt liquor and I had had a number of Kamakazi's which was my tm.(Russ) Lord help me!
Hint..( for the record neither Walt nor I were known for our predictibility when on the sauce) so i'm tippsie see, yet steady cuz the drink makes it so, when out of the black comes this wild-animal and it SLAAAMMMS into me HARRDD knocking my breath out! It's Walt who has taken me out for no apparant reason in a full tackle! I jump up like a savage with fists waving and start swinging even though im numb and reeling from the impact, Walts completely ready and we almost come to blows but we're laughing and i'm yelling that i'm hurt but it's all okay cuz it was just standard proceedure! You see i'm lucky.."i've been tackled by Walter Shipley".
Another time and I hope i'm not boring ya..
..When I was new to the Guide School I had taught a RockII class yet had missed showing the students the back up prussik on a rapple. Unlucky fo me Walt had my clients for RockIII the next day. So i'm feeling pretty dialed and cocky as a Mt. Guide cuz i'd made the cut and all and I run into Walt...He says "did you teach Rock II yesterday"? I say "yes".
Two hrs. later I go back to my housing cell #5 at the train wreck and taped on the door is our RockII curriculum, highlighted is "back up prussik on rapple" then in Walts angry hand writting
JO READ THE F>>>>ING PROTOCOL. I was shaking in my panty-hose and you can bet I never missed that again or any thing else for that matter. The guy was an amazing teacher,mentor,guide and he did'nt coddle anyone.
The last time I saw Water (Bonnati) Shipley..(my heart is pounding right now).
We were chatting about boating, our sobriety, and the fact that he was once again tipping a few! I said "i'm not touching the stuff....UNTIL I DO" in a Walter menical voice! He LOL.
He was way into boating with Bill and fired up about his new boat. He also told me I should take up boating cuz I was a wild chic and would become addicted..I secrectly wished I had the (B...lls)cuz I missed being with the boys but knew better cuz I swim like a Rock.
I was to due to work with Walt in a few days so I said "have fun out there and i'll see ya when you get back"
He looked me square in the eyes and stated in that diabolical Shipley way.."YA NEVER KNOW"! Those three words.. with me ever since he departed. I'm sorry this is so wordy, I miss him so much, guess it all just had to come out.
jo whitford
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John Vawter
Social climber
San Diego
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Mar 21, 2006 - 02:39pm PT
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Not too wordy. Very poignant words. Thank you Jo.
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kevin Fosburg
Sport climber
park city,ut
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 21, 2006 - 02:53pm PT
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Thanks for taking the time to share those memories Jo. You have a gift for paying attention to the important things in life. You are an awesome individual and a true inspiration.
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Jobee
Social climber
El Portal
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Mar 22, 2006 - 12:11am PT
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...and it is you Kevin who has the gift of speaking highly of everyone and all!
Thank you John V. I almost hit the delete button for fear of offending someone.
jow
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snakefoot
climber
cali
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Mar 29, 2006 - 03:05pm PT
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I walked by walts' van the night before he went up on the zodiac with Muggs.....he offered some lentil soup and i eagerly accepted...just sat there in peace with two giants, both of whom i had the utmost respect for....always laugh at the thought of the deli art that proliferated with his presence
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jclimb
Trad climber
Durango, Co
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Apr 25, 2006 - 09:41pm PT
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I just read the Born Under a Bad Sign TR on Russ' website and thought I'd post a topic asking for Walt Shipley stories...glad I thought to search the post history first. I should have known there would be an abundance of stories and threads.
I never knew Walt but everything I have ever read or heard about him has been pretty inspirational. What a great human - in all our folly and wonder.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Apr 25, 2006 - 09:51pm PT
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I just recalled this in a recent thread:
One of my favorite Walt Shipley lines concerning our 80's antics and his in particular: "Ya Roy, Our Lifestyles Are Like, Killing Boredom With a Sledgehammer!"
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Apr 25, 2006 - 10:34pm PT
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Never - EVER - was there a finer night for Walt than during Deuce's slide show at the Cliff Room in the fall of '96 - do you remember that JM? It was a real Who's Who of climbing that night. Warren Hollinger also gave his Polar Sun Spire show - brrrrrrr.
Walt and Bill Russell gave the most impressive show of Big Wall Heckling I have ever seen or heard. They were merciless and hilarious!
Does anybody else remember that night? Bill and Walt were the Yosemite version of Tatler and Waldorf.
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phil
climber
eastside
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Apr 26, 2006 - 01:51am PT
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Jo
I was hanging out one afternoon at the grill, resting, eyeing girls...not sure. Then I spotted Walt for the first and only time. He rode by on his bike and you called him over. you talked for a bit and I went to grab some food from the grill. Walt came in behind us, and I leaned over to my climbing partner and said in a wisper "hey, you know who that is?"
This was in August of 99. He was gone very soon after that.
Jo, you just brought back this little memory and how much the stories of his wild life encouraged me to climb and explore years ago.
Thanks
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BASE104
climber
An Oil Field
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Apr 26, 2006 - 10:56am PT
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Walt in Snell's field Chamonix, 1984. First one is the start of summer. Second is end of summer. It stormed a lot. So we drank a lot. He stayed a friend forever, and if we lost touch, we would somehow bump into each other again. I still have some hilarious letters that fill both sides of the page and then wind around the edges. He couldn't fit all of the words.
I met Russ and him on top of BUBS. They were totally whipped but their eyes were on FIRE.
He redlined life more than anyone I ever met.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Apr 26, 2006 - 11:34am PT
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one day at our place in Josh, Walt was crawling around under his van, doing some work and ranting on about all that is unjust.
the mechanicals were giving him trouble "happiness is not with machines roy!"
then, he said, he loved his old bmw motorcycle and when swooping full speed through turns, he imagined its lateral cylinders as wings...
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BASE104
climber
An Oil Field
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Apr 26, 2006 - 11:41am PT
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Hah! I heard a story second hand about Walt's motorcycle, so I don't know if it has been embellished. It went something like:
Cop: "Mr. Shipley, why are you always in such a hurry?"
(I assume this was by no means the first time he had been caught speeding)
Walt: "No hurry. I just like to go fast."
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Apr 26, 2006 - 02:04pm PT
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i'm a bit of an existentialist and favor a sense of urgency about life.
Go Bipley!
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old toad
Trad climber
yosemite, Ca.
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Back in the day, Don Reid and I were trying to tick off the new Shipley routes in the valley!! For some reason I had not met Walt yet and did not know what a wild and crazy guy he was... Well it did not take long for me to find out! After a few run out terrifying leads I said to Donny "Who is this guy"!!! These routes are BOLD... Well when I finaly met and climbed with Walt I understood why "Walt routes" were the way they are. We all miss him but as someone else said "As long as we remember him he is still here"
Toad
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Magumbus
Mountain climber
Fresno, CA
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Oct 20, 2010 - 06:35pm PT
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Not sure why but the other day I thought of Walt and decided to search him on Google. I wound up here and found out that that he was gone, so here are my thoughts on Walt.
I met Walt in college in the 70's and even shared a rental house with him for a semester until he decided to get more efficient and live in his converted van. In his quest for efficiency he would park in in the dorm parking lot and run an extension cord to an available electrical outlet to power his abode. He would go so far as to gouge out a line in the asphalt so the wire could be concealed from the campus cops for a time.
Once during a huge Halloween party at the house and after quite a few trips to the keg, a crowd had gathered in the garage. I looked up to see Walt hanging and spinning from a webbing ladder attached to the rafter, bellowing something profound at the top of his lungs. Another time I found him manteling onto the roof of another party house soon having to evade the football players who lived there. Crazy times, but he always stayed on track with his studies and made the grades too. Also he was as mentioned very conscientious and would not hesitate to offer assistance, give a kind word or help solve a problem if queried. His laugh was infectious and was preceded by his quick sideways glance and electric eyes that gave way to his wide grinned outburst.
I was attracted to his effervescence and intelligence. He introduced me to free climbing in the late 70's first showing me all of his buildering routes on campus at Fresno State. Walt partnered my first rock climb at Tollhouse Rock and I was hooked. I would question him for hours about gear, technique and route details. For the next few years I would tag along with Walt and Dave (he posted earlier) on trips to Matterhorn Peak, Keeler Needle and into Tuolumne.
After college we all went to work and I remember Walt describing his engineer duties with a defense company telling me with disdain that the unofficial company motto was "kill a commie for mommy". He did not last long there finding his way back to his first love the outdoors and exploring his physical and mental limits.
I ran into Walt several times after making may way to the Valley and looking around C4 and each time it was as if no time had passed and nothing was forgotten. He was like that and had the unique ability to form intense and meaningful relationships with many people. Sometimes his intensity was focused on total strangers and that was always a wild ride for everyone within earshot. He was a master at the uncomfortable question.
Soon for me was marriage and children and my meetings with Walt were no more. I did find his name in the summit register on Mt. Gayley only 30 days before my ascent but that was as close as I ever came to sharing the same space with him again.
Perhaps we will meet again my friend and I am sure you will explain to me in detail all the wonderful things you have discovered.
Thanks for all the memories and the jog of the brain that I'm sure will extract a few more details in the next few days as I reflect on his passing.
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Rob Roy Ramey
Trad climber
Colorado
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Oct 28, 2010 - 11:28pm PT
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Walt, a man of many talents, had a role in reestablishing peregrine falcons in Yosemite as well.
The El Cap Peregrine team at the base of the North America Wall in 1984 after recovering peregrine eggs thinned by DDT and replacing them with two healthy peregrine nestlings:. Cliff Neighbors, John "Yabo" Yablonski, Walt Shipley, Bill Rose, Rob Roy Ramey, Lee Aulman, Jeff Keay, and Mike.
Yabo and Walt speed climbed to the nest, while the nestlings were being driven up from Santa Cruz and hiked to the base. I followed on jumars up the 1,200' of (mostly 9mm) fixed lines, with the nestlings in the homemade plywood backpack (at lower left), leaving the ground as Yabo and Walt approached the nest. (As I was in graduate school at Yale at the time, I trained by doing a 100+ pull ups a day hanging from dusty door jambs at the Forestry School and Osborn Lab. I didn't want Yabo telling me that I was growing soft.)
Yabo and Walt broke into a mock piton hammer fight for this iconic photo. The NPS biologists, Jeff, and Mike, (and later Steve) and John Dill (SAR) has a world of patience working with such wild men.
Yabo and Walt, we miss you.
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deuce4
climber
Hobart, Australia
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Oct 29, 2010 - 01:10am PT
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Hi Rob-
That particular year I worked on the bird project too, though as a subbie of Yabo and Walt. I went up with Walt the first day and we fixed the first four of the NA for the project. I remember it well, because we didn't take a bolt kit, and there was a place on the second or third pitch on the NA where an old rivet had pulled and there was no way to pass. Normally we would have gone down to either get a bolt kit to replace the missing bolt proper but Walt just chiseled in a #2 head into blank rock. He later replaced it I believe.
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Wade Icey
Trad climber
www.alohashirtrescue.com
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nice shot Dan.
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shipoopoi
Big Wall climber
oakland
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i still think of walt every time and look down into the maw of what bill russell and i came to call walt's hole. walt would go in there willingly just to see what would happen. bill and i cowered from a distance in the eddy. after awhile it became walt's hole. and there it still lies, still gnarly at nearly any water level, lying innocently enough just a bit below the hanging bridge, churning and boiling, with tight escape routes on either side. and i look, and i think of walt, go walt go.
shipoopoi
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wildone
climber
Troy, MT
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Nice one Steve. I'll go look at it some time.
Base104, Walt's reply to the cop reminds me of some lyrics of an Eagles of Death Metals song "I Came to Make a Bang":
Don't move, don't speak, even whisper
There's something happenin' but don't be scared
I'm too smooth, you never see me coming
I'm never in a hurry, I'm just movin' fast
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcNNwF56Cmk&feature=related
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dadodeaf
Mountain climber
Portland, OR
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Oct 22, 2011 - 02:16am PT
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I used to work with Walt from 1980 to 1982. We climbed a couple of routes together, including Fairview Dome in '81. Walt was a good friend, though a little crazy at times. We hung out a lot together in those early days, both having been dumped by girl friends. We ended up climbing, riding our bikes all over the Bay Area, playing endless hackysack, and just trying to figure out life.
The link below is a letter from him I just found from after I left Lockheed (where we both worked) to go back to graduate school. Walt carried on, though he eventually dropped out of Lockheed and moved to the valley to live.
The letter contains some pretty vivid descriptions of some of his climbs up to 1988, for those that might be interested.
He was a good man, though at times he was looking for answers that he may never have found.
I miss him a lot some days.
Letter from Walt
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Cancer Boy
Trad climber
Freedonia
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Oct 22, 2011 - 04:48am PT
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Thanks for sharing Walt's letter to you. It made me reflect on my own choices in life. I recall Walt giving his Tisaack solo slide show to about 5 of us on the Lodge stage shortly after he got down. He borrowed the electricity for that too.
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Oct 22, 2011 - 09:49am PT
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Dadodeaf,
Thanks for sharing the letter. That brought back many memories.
Ken
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Oct 22, 2011 - 10:13am PT
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Fantastic letter
sometimes I almost forget how Walt could demonstrate the universal, through introspection of the particular
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Conrad
climber
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Oct 23, 2011 - 09:27am PT
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Thanks for sharing Walt's letter. His written voice reflects his wild energy. All this before the internet and cell phones. The fall of '87 Troy and I worked the Stanislaw Complex Fire from a camp at Evergreen. I was in total awe of their adventure on Native Son.
Hey Walt, you continue to inspire.
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zip
Trad climber
pacific beach, ca
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Oct 23, 2011 - 09:15pm PT
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The only time i ever climbed Snake Dike was with Walt, and his sister, Viela.
This was near the top of the route.
The month before he died, in Joshua Tree.
Me, Bill Russel, Jeff Perrin, and Walt.
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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Oct 24, 2011 - 12:11am PT
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Thanks for sharing and reviving memories of Walt.
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Paul Martzen
Trad climber
Fresno
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Mar 31, 2014 - 09:27pm PT
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Woke up from a dream this morning. Was skiing at a dream changed Badger Pass, then it closes. I make arrangements to climb with McTwisted. I find his truck and throw my gear in the back. Open the passenger door and Walt is eating breakfast in the seat, waiting for Dan. He says they are climbing at some cliff which I have not heard about. Dan does not show up so Walt and I go hiking to kill time. Then he starts climbing through these trees, traversing from one to another, me following right behind. It is easy but super fun. Walt is as crazy as ever and has not aged a bit. But it is sure nice to spend time with him, even in a dream.
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couchmaster
climber
pdx
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Mar 31, 2014 - 10:13pm PT
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Holy smokes, what a great thread. Thanks all who pitched in to make it so. Wowzer.
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BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
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Out of all of the old buddies that I had from the old days, Walt is the only one that I think of fairly regularly. We had a lot of good times, and this thread has captured those qualities, good and not so good, about him.
Sean's death will be like Walt's. It will never go away with time.
I still miss him. A lot. He was really special.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
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Thx for bumping this Russ. Every mention of Walt I heard about has good stories and remembrances.
I re-read some of Deuce's posts above, and I'm off to search the interwebs for "Organ Rock" route info...
+++ for inspiration
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Did Walt and Blitzo ever hang out together?
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kunlun_shan
Mountain climber
SF, CA
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Dec 21, 2017 - 04:26pm PT
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Some great stories here!
Wish I'd known Walt.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Dec 21, 2017 - 05:27pm PT
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I never knew Walt or of him, basically because I got out of mainstream rock climbing very early on. My loss, or so it sounds.
I see Paul Martzen put on page two of this thread what happened that day on Dinkey Cr.
Here's what the web turned up after typing in his name, just so those who know nothing of him can see how he passed.
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.boats.paddle/LoOXbpuwHQE
Drowning in front of companions sounds like a real bad way to catch the bus outta town.
RIP, WS.
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MH2
Boulder climber
Andy Cairns
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Dec 21, 2017 - 05:59pm PT
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Drowning in front of companions sounds like a real bad way to catch the bus outta town.
For the companions, yes.
I came very close to drowning in a hole I got trapped in. Towards what looked like the end I became very relaxed. A little regret but no anger, terror, or even fear.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Dec 21, 2017 - 06:15pm PT
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Thanks, Andy. I was hopin'...
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Tom
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
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Dec 21, 2017 - 06:29pm PT
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Right now, Whipley, Potter and Brutus are in a Better Place, trying to outdo each other with amazing tales of their incredible exploits.
EDIT:
WVB - Of course I am dreaming. We are all just dreaming . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . even the Yozenite Master is dreaming.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
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WBraun
climber
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Dec 21, 2017 - 06:47pm PT
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How would you even know this?
You are dreaming .....
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| Messages 1 - 88 of total 88 in this topic |
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