My, how time flies... 21 years later, Wolfagng Gullich

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Messages 1 - 13 of total 13 in this topic
Loomis

climber
Svět
Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 31, 2013 - 12:19pm PT
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Aug 31, 2013 - 01:40pm PT
Bump for a stellar guy!


I have a spot in his book to share thanks to Lynn Hill sending me this classic scan. Hackeysacking along with Lynn, Yabo, Bullwinkle and the fellow on the right that I can't name but damn is his face familiar from BITD.

I met Wolfie back when he first showed up in the Valley and spent day after day throwing himself at the Crimson Cringe with no cams. He was part of Team Teutonic- Wolfgang, Hans (who was huge) und Richard.

I tried to explain to him that 1000 meter walls were waiting for him but he was obliged to do the Cringe and add to its Crimson-ness with no way out but up."You don't understand. We must climb the Crimson Cringe" he said with a sigh of resignation and his heavy accent.

The pressures of Stardom...

FRUMY

Trad climber
Bishop,CA
Aug 31, 2013 - 04:42pm PT
Thanks Scott nice post.

Man has time flown by.
Dapper Dan

Trad climber
Menlo Park
Aug 31, 2013 - 04:50pm PT
Any details on the car wreck that took his life , did it happen here in the states ?
Spider Savage

Mountain climber
The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles
Aug 31, 2013 - 05:02pm PT
Best climber in the world in his day.
MisterE

climber
Aug 31, 2013 - 05:15pm PT
Dapper Dan,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_G%C3%BCllich

I believe he was driving back from an early radio interview when he crashed.

A huge loss to the climbing community in the day.
WBraun

climber
Aug 31, 2013 - 06:05pm PT
Best climber in the world in his day.


No ....

You can't make statements like that.

Even Steve Grossman could do climbs Gullich couldn't ......
BASE104

Social climber
An Oil Field
Aug 31, 2013 - 07:56pm PT
He was such a nice guy. I remember a quiet day in Eldo and he came up to climb with a couple of us that were exchanging burns on a route.

When he spent all of that time in the U.S., you would run into him all over the place, and he would slide right up and tie in when we were working on something or other.

He was a super nice guy. Soft spoken and very kind.
jgill

Boulder climber
Colorado
Sep 1, 2013 - 12:47am PT
Sad to be so talented and die so young. Rest in peace . . .
Chief

climber
The NW edge of The Hudson Bay
Sep 1, 2013 - 12:52am PT
Wolfgang always seemed approachable, gracious and positive and working with him was a pleasure.
He was a true champion in my books.
What an awful and untimely loss.
Marlow

Sport climber
OSLO
Jun 17, 2015 - 10:18am PT

Wolfgang Güllich

[Click to View YouTube Video]

Güllich was more than a one-dimensional climber, rather he pushed its limits on all fronts. He put down hard routes in the Frankenjura, at legendary French crags of Buoux, Verdon, on the Gritstone of the UK’s Peak District and at our beloved Mt Arapiles. He trad climbed in Yosemite, which culminated in the striking solo ascent of Separate Reality (5.12a/24), and made expeditions to Trango in Pakistan and Patagonia, where he established iconic routes including the Yugoslavian Route, Eternal Flame and Riders on the Storm.

With similarities to what he found at Yosemite, Güllich thoroughly enjoyed the laid back nature of the climbing community at Mt Arapiles in the mid ‘80s, which was a far cry from increasingly competitive scene in Europe. Sleeping in and spending quality time at the pub with a little bit of climbing thrown in was a lifestyle he revelled in. And the more casual pace of life obviously didn’t affect his performance on rock with an onsight of Yesterday Direct (at 28 perhaps one of the hardest onsights in the world at the time), first ascents of Wisdom of Body (30) and, of course, the technical and powerful Punks in the Gym.

Apart from Ben Moon’s Hubble – which, though graded 8c+/34 Wolfgang always thought of as a soft 8c – from 1984 to 1991, Güllich established every major grade from 8b (31) to 9a (35) making him one of, if not the most successful climber of his time.

http://www.verticallifemag.com.au/2013/08/the-anniversary-of-the-death-wolfgang-gullich/

Vertical Life Magazine, Australia

Wolfgang Güllich/Kurt Albert - Den Fels im Griff
[Click to View YouTube Video]

September 1992 Wolfgang Güllich im MDR-Biwak
[Click to View YouTube Video]

Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber
Out Of Bed
Jun 17, 2015 - 10:32am PT
I remember how when I told him, that I had gotten a blue and yellow Marrmot Alpinist jacket,
He corrected me - he said
Teal and sunflower with his lyrical German I did not at first understand
"Not bluuuu ant yallow - Teal ant sunflower. The girly colors"
We both laughed .,
Rollover

climber
Gross Vegas
Jun 17, 2015 - 04:30pm PT
Marlow...
Thank you for posting those videos!
Great footage of Wolfgang in Yosemite.
The Phoenix, Midnight Lightning and a solo of Wheat Thin.
Also Separate Reality except WITH a rope..
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