Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
| Messages 1 - 17 of total 17 in this topic |
Bear
Trad climber
Colorado
|
|
|
May 30, 2013 - 05:47am PT
|
Does anybody know what happened to Peter Hubbel? I hear he passed away. I will never forget his willingness to show a Colorado newbie to wonders of the South Platte back in the early 1980's. Still my favorite place to climb, but I have sworn off ice climbing since a mini-epic in Officers Gulch with Peter. requiescat in pace, Peter. Keep climbing!
A memorial service and celebration of Pete's life will be held June 29th at the Hydro Plant Museum picnic grounds in Estes Park, CO from 11:00 to dark. For more information contact ctraufield@estes.org.
|
|
bhilden
Trad climber
Mountain View, CA
|
|
|
May 30, 2013 - 11:40am PT
|
Sadly, he took his own life last fall.
|
|
Decko
Trad climber
Colorado
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - May 31, 2013 - 09:24pm PT
|
That's pretty sad to hear.......
If the members of the Taco do not know, Peter is one of the folks that really loved and developed the South Platte climbing area South of Denver.
The South Platte is home to THOUSANDS of routes, and possibilities for more on granite domes located all on forest service lands, encompassed by hundreds of miles of dirt roads.
I would mention to "climbers" if they've ever been in the Platte and most people referred to it as a place that scared them.
When it is actually a place of beauty and boldness.
Climbers that were scared of Eldo,or Lumpy were horrified of the Platte.
1/4" spinner bolts were common, with 30-40' run-outs, all on speckled hard granite domes.
Pete when he was putting together his last and most comprehensive guide book to the Platte was living in my friends house, he used my buddies GPS to get coordinates for the tops of the formations.
But on purpose left approach descriptions vague as he felt that some of the adventure of getting to a crag had been lost.
One time while living at my friends house he was so frustrated with the laptop the publishing company had given him he took it into the backyard and smashed it repeatedly with a hammer.
My buddy claimed for months after, finding pieces of it in his back lawn.
Peter would at times set up camp deep in the Platte, find a place to live, (a cave) and set routes.
He once told me he was quite happy living off the meager royalties of his books and climbing in "The Platte".
If you are a Front Range climber you will have his guide, I believe the first one of Clear Creek and Table Mountain.
As well as both copies of his book on the South Platte.
Three years ago a good friend brought us way back into the Platte, a place he lied to us as having a 1.5 hour approach. It turned out to have a 3 hr one....
We hiked to a route that had been climbed once before, (after we inquired around) but on the way in we walked by countless formations, all the while I was thinking, I bet Peter has already been here.
My buddy whom hosted Peter one time pulled out a hand written tops of a dome that had no name, it was one of Peters lil projects.
We camped out for a weekend and climbed on it, just a basic topo, no names, some grades, just a fun lil valley of the many down there.
A historic part of Colorado climbing has passed.....
|
|
o-man
Social climber
Paia,Maui,HI
|
|
Peter and I started climbing together in the late seventies. We put up routes in the South Plate through the mid eighties.
We stopped climbing together due to some differences in ethics and style. Peter was on a more progressive/ modern path and I was holding true to my traditional values. I am truly sorry that we let those petty differences create barriers that should have never been established.
The man has a wealth of quality routes to his credit not to mention his guide books and magazine articles. Peter also had a line of climbing gear "Rhino Gear" (Packs,harnesses,draws and slings and more)
Even with our differences he continued to treat me with kindness and respect in his books and magazine articles.
I am sad to hear that his demons became so powerful that they finally consumed him.
|
|
goatboy smellz
climber
Nederland-GulfBreeze
|
|
Overall our passions consume us in ways that we can never really control.
Rest in peace Peter, your guide opened up brand new worlds and created neverending friendships.
|
|
Platte Rat
Trad climber
Colorado
|
|
|
Apr 23, 2014 - 09:59pm PT
|
Wow. I wish I had known last year. Life gets too busy and we forget to look-up old friends. Pete taught me how to climb in the 80's and I still love it today. He introduced me to a great group of people in the Platte and I still use the backpack he made for hiking into the crags. You'll be missed Peter. Cheers.
|
|
jhubbel
Social climber
Lakewood Co
|
|
|
Feb 12, 2016 - 11:16am PT
|
To any of you who were asking about Peter Hubbel, he was my big brother. Many of you may not know he had a sister, nor that he had a son, Karl, now 45,in California. I joined this Forum to offer just a little background for those of you who knew him, his rather quirky (to say the least) personality, and his immense talents. His private life was a mystery to most. Including me. We held a wake for Pete in RMNP the summer after his death and it was a celebration, which was also fitting. I had the wonderful chance to tell kid stories about Peter, which no one knew, and I also had the chance hear from his current friends stories of Pete's heroism, which I didn't know. It was in many ways a meeting of two very different worlds, while although I am not a climber, I have summitted Kilimanjaro at 60, the Everest Base Camp at 61, and like my big bro share with him a streak of sheer insanity for the love of sports ranging from skydiving to bungee jumping to kayaking to horseback riding all over the world. Like Peter I am also an author. Unlike Peter- who was a musician, an immensely talented artist, and so many other things, his skills were like extensions of himself and seemed effortless.
Peter battled drug and alcohol demons his entire life. Sometimes he won, sometimes they did. My sense is that he reached a point where he genuinely felt he had nothing more to offer anyone, which by anyone else's measurement was monumentally untrue, given what I learned at his wake. His impact on the climbing world in Colorado is quite unmatched, especially given his willingness to hike many hours to see what most folk couldn't be bothered to search for- new, undiscovered, challenging rocks. He drew them, originated them, photographed them, and gave them to us all. And taught many more how. He was wicked in his dirty tricks, quick to anger, but deep in his loyalties, and immensely passionate about the sport.
It gives me great pleasure to read the appreciation that I see on here for my brother. While we were estranged for years that did not keep me from loving him or in all ways appreciating his considerable accomplishments. He was a truly remarkable human being, one of a kind, and I appreciate your comments immensely.
|
|
BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
|
|
|
Feb 12, 2016 - 11:33am PT
|
Here's a photo of Peter's first guidebook to the South Platte. What a great place to climb!
|
|
neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
|
|
|
Feb 19, 2016 - 07:40pm PT
|
hey there say, jhubbel... oh my... i never knew peter, nor heard of him... thank you for your recent share, on your brother...
i DO love to learn of all those 'that helped pave the way' for others, in what ever ways...
i enjoyed your share, here, at the supertopo (taco) ...
thank you once again, very very much...
it was very kind of you, to share your heart, with us, here...
god bless you, and may your precious memories, continue to be
strong, now, as you move forward without your brother...
i have many brothers and they are very precious to me, even though i never got to know them all, as, i married young and moved to south texas, and they were ALL calif, guys, then... and--we were all still in the teen-starting-adult-life years...
thank you again for sharing...
edit:
BruceHildenbrand:
that was very kind, to share the pic of the book, for his sister...
:)
|
|
BLUEBLOCR
Social climber
joshua tree
|
|
|
Feb 19, 2016 - 08:16pm PT
|
^^^^Oh my goodness!
is that a 5.10 hand roof crack in the middle? Yummm
and that bottom pic,sick!
|
|
goatboy smellz
climber
लघिमा
|
|
|
Feb 19, 2016 - 08:39pm PT
|
That pic is a bit deceiving.
Not .10, not anything really since
It is still unclimbed after several attempts
by folks that have put up .13+ roof cracks.
Like decko said, the platte will scare you
then it will go to work on you.
|
|
BLUEBLOCR
Social climber
joshua tree
|
|
|
Feb 19, 2016 - 09:29pm PT
|
right on!
Like decko said, the platte will scare you
then it will go to work on you.
the hardest rte i ever put up was in the platte outside of CS. We were FA'ing on a lightening filled day, eyeing some flaring smooth quartz cracks that looked 5.10ish. i jumped on it! and the fear of the lightening bolts and not succeeding on 5.10 lifted my hearts pump. i still don't think i've ever tried soo hard at anything. Turned out to be 12c. Till this day i haven't equaled the amount of accomplishment from that day, not from the numbers, but from the amount of work i was confronted by and how much i had to rise to to accomplish that work:)
i love the platte.
|
|
Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
|
|
|
Feb 19, 2016 - 09:56pm PT
|
I have some of my happiest memories of climbing in the SPlatte, as we called it; not that I did all that much there, but the routes were always challenging and very aesthetic: Bishop Jaggers, Topographical Oceans; Classic Dihedral; Elusive Wapiti; Higher Education--and several others I no longer recall.
I DO recall how bad my feet hurt after the last pitch on Topographical Oceans! The Brown Book of Lies had it rated, I believe, at 5.11a, I seem to recall, but then the usual deal of downrating came along; last I heard was 5.10b/c. Still hard enough to get a person's attention, though.
I loved some of the climbs on Squat Rock, which is currently unavailable to climbers because of private property issues. I recall Elusive Wapiti introduced me to hangerless bolts with just a washer held in place by a nut. I was climbing with a bad headache, only because of the long drive from Boulder, and we were there; leading with the standard light rack for bolted climbs. The route is 5.9+ and spooky protection. I downclimbed from the washer equipped bolt to get a couple small wired nuts, and another party introduced me to the miracle drug Advil. Only 10 minutes later I went back up and cruised the route after looping a small wire over the washer and went for it.
I hope that Ricky A can get Access Fund to restore access to Squat Rock!
Added as an edit: I am saddened by the passing of Peter Hubbell, even though I never crossed paths with him. He was a pioneer in the truest sense of the word. Thank You, Peter, for your magnificent contribution to Colorado climbing!
|
|
BLUEBLOCR
Social climber
joshua tree
|
|
|
Feb 19, 2016 - 10:08pm PT
|
^^^^^ Cheers to your last statement!
i learned alot at Squat also:)
|
|
| Messages 1 - 17 of total 17 in this topic |
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!