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j-tree
Big Wall climber
Classroom to crag to summer camp
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I very distinctly remember only one exchange between my father and myself regarding climbing:
We were hiking in the Pinnacles National Monument on the Upper Peaks Trail. I noticed a couple climbing on one of the formations as we walked by. Stopping, I pointed them out to my father who harrumphed and said only, "what a selfish user group." before continuing on the trail.
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Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
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mom used to climb, on dad,
if he wasn't drunk
which was never,
up and down, up and down, hear the bed go up an down,
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Yep, mom and dad both. Though to paint a more accurate picture we all got intoclimbing at the same ( it was my brother's fault) fifty years ago. Not easy to do in Vhicago, back then!
And yeah when I met Russ' dad, a fascinating person in his own right, I didn't recall his name being Ritner. I would have remembered that
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justthemaid
climber
Jim Henson's Basement
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I think Banquo's dad get's the bad-ass award and Kris Kristofferson definitely get's the casting call when they film "the movie".
Me.. neither parent climbs. They both think it's nutty. Both parents were educators, but were fairly active. They were avid skiers when I was a kid, but we did some hiking too. Dad was a lifeguard in New York in his youth. Mom grew up on a Kansas farm. My mom took up mountain biking lately. She's all bruised and scratched every time i see her.. and she thinks climbing is dangerous...?
Fortunately, they encouraged me to be pretty independent. Only child growing up in a kinda isolated area.. they gave me a horse and let me roam the entire Santa Monicas unsupervised. I didn't start climbing until I was 30.
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AP
Trad climber
Calgary
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High adventure for my dad was golfing. My mother wouldn't even go camping.
How I became a climber is a mystery. Maybe because I was athletic but didn't like conventional sports.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Neither.....nor did they camp or backpack. I do remember my dad teasing me in 1953 (after news about Tensing and Hillary) that I wouldn't be able to do the first ascent of Everest.
Nice photo Micronut!
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Alan Rubin
climber
Amherst,MA.
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Neither climbed nor did anything the least bit "outdoors"--other than look from the car. Same for all of my relatives. The family always wondered where my "outdoor mutation" came from. Wherever it did come from, I remember from a very early age being fascinated by the few wooded, hilly areas we'd drive by in northern Westchester County,NY---they seemed to be a true wilderness that was beckoning me. A bit older in the Scouts, hiking and camping were my favorite activities, likewise in summer camp--and hiking up mountains was best of all. What my parents did do was take me on a trip west when I was 14. I had alreay hiked summits in the White Mountains, but that trip I saw the Tetons and Yosemite and became a climber---well, a wannabe climber, in that I didn't actually have the opportunity to get on the rock until almost three years later. But inbetween I devoured everything about climbing I could find in the local libraries---a habit that still persists. Once I did start to climb, my folks, while always worried and still never quite understanding my obsession, never discouraged me and at least tried to pretend some degree of interest in my "adventures".
Even with both her parents being climbers, our daughter, despite trips to the crags and gym when younger, is not a climber, but she does share our love of camping and the outdoors.
Clint, I love that picture of you. Given the date and your appearance, it must have been taken not long after we first met.
Russ, I, too, knew Ritt, and share the consensus that he was quite the "character". Amongst his other accomplishments he was a pilot and was know to buzz the Gunks at quite a low altitude.
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can't say
Social climber
Pasadena CA
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Both of my parents were academics and as far from having any inclination or desire to do physical things, albeit my dad loved his garden. The closet either of them came to climbing or hiking was when my mom worked for the Curry Co. in the summer of 46 and hiked to the top of Half Dome. That was about it for my family.
I was introduced to it via a month long California Outward Bound class in 1971 my parents sent me on in the hope I would get a clue about life. I got a clue about climbing, but it took much longer for the life thing.
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jgill
Boulder climber
Colorado
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Ever hear of Ritner Walling?
A friend and climbing/bouldering companion in ancient times in the Tetons.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Clint, I love that picture of you. Given the date and your appearance, it must have been taken not long after we first met. Alan,
Yeah, I'm sure glad my dad took some good photos on the family trips! And then my parents scanned their slides a couple of years ago to share with everyone.
1972 is indeed close - I think you and I first met in the fall of 1975.
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Dave Davis
Social climber
Seattle, WA
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Mr.E,
I Remember meeting your dad in Yosemite sometime back in the early seventies. We were both on a rescue to yank a couple of future luminaries off the prow. Your old man was quite a character with a very keen wit. Is he still around. Neither my father or my son are climbers(dad's 95).I guess common sense skipped a generation.
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R.B.
Trad climber
47N 122W
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BOTH ... and they were instrumental to my yearning for Rock Climbing at age 5. By age 10 we summitted Mt. Whitney East Face/Shakey Leg Var. ... and around the same time they established jointly with others CAMRA (Central AZ mtn Rescue Assoc.) an MRA chapter which still does Mtn Rescue to this day in the Maricopa County/Phoenix AZ area
(hey it's been 45 years now!)
Also to all those folks "we" used to teach how to climb!
Thanks to both, for giving the gift of climbing!
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mooser
Trad climber
seattle
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Sep 11, 2013 - 04:51pm PT
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My mom has never approved of my climbing, even though she approves of me. She's made the promise to never buy any of us (who climb in the family) any climbing gear for Christmas or birthdays, and has held to it quite well.
My dad (and mom, really)instilled in us a great love for the outdoors. He was never a climber, but he did go bouldering with me once at Woodson, and found the whole thing pretty fascinating.
At this moment, my dad is struggling in a Sacramento hospital, having undergone emergency surgery for a subdural hematoma. It's wrecking me pretty bad seeing this loving, scrappy, Nebraska farm boy who became my dad in such a helpless state. I'm hoping and praying for the best, and am having a pretty tough time imagining the worst.
Thanks for posing the question, micronut, and sorry for the rambling. Just feeling pretty raw, and your thread brought out the weepy in me.
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Fletcher
Trad climber
The great state of advaita
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Sep 11, 2013 - 06:08pm PT
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Neither for me either. My dad was very interested in backpacking. Read the Complete Walker, bought an Optimus Stove and other fascinating gear (to me as well). I remember the EMS catalog back in the 70's filled with weird (to me) pitons and such. But he was somebody who gets interested in something but would rarely, if ever, follow through.
I wanted to do all of these kinds of adventures with him. I remember him getting USGS maps and plotting a hike along the length of the Connecticut River. But planning in the living room was as far as it went. The only backpacking I did as a kid was with another friend's dad!
But my dad had planted a seed in me. I read the original edition of Colin Fletcher's The Complete Walker when I was about 11 (and read each update as they came out). I dreamed of doing such walks. Around 30 I realized I was in danger of being like my dad and "thinking about doing it" instead of "just doing it."
So I pledged to get out at least once a month to the backcountry. I was fortunate to have the Sierra just 3 or so hours away, I fulfilled that pledge. I remember my first camping trip, with long day hikes around the Kirkwood area. Even bagged the summit of Round Top and felt scared to be up there, loving it at the same time. Solo backpacking lead to an interest in feeling safer going off trail and up peaks. That lead to YMS classes and the rest is history...
My Mom has a fear of heights and gets vertigo (such as when driving over some pass in the Great Smokey's with my brothers (but not me) and when I took her on a tour of the Marin Headlands). So climbing is most certainly not her thing. But she enjoys being outdoors and hikes regularly, year round, in the Blue Hills near Boston. She even uses snow shoes!
All my kids (four) I have taken camping, hiking, backpacking, skiing and climbing (when they show interest). I never push, just expose. If they want to come back later, I know something latched. They usually do.
My oldest, now 24, is a theatre actress and very busy with that life. She is very selective about guys. Right now she's dating a guy who is both an actor and climber (he was very minorly sponsored for a bit). Oh, if that relationship works out, they're going to be raking in the big bucks with those lines of work!
Thanks for all the great stories.
Cheers,
Eric
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ontheedgeandscaredtodeath
Social climber
SLO, Ca
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Sep 11, 2013 - 06:35pm PT
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Neither of my parents did anything remotely associated with the outdoors. The only time I even camped as a kid was one time with my cousins--at the Indianapolis 500!!!
I did join the boy scouts later and finally got a summer job in Wyoming when I was like 15. A guy I worked with was super into climbing (nicknamed Quatro, from Boulder--anyone??) that finally took me after a couple of years of nagging.
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jgill
Boulder climber
Colorado
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Sep 11, 2013 - 08:00pm PT
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My dad was too busy getting our prairie schooner across the Oregon Trail, protecting my mother and me from hostiles, and keeping the larder full. As we rumbled through the Granite Mountains in Wyoming Territory he pointed to a prominent dome and said, "Son, some day men will climb that for sport."
;>)
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hooblie
climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
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Sep 11, 2013 - 08:14pm PT
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good one gillbo! and second the kudos on thread concept.
my dad blew out of the house at 13, step mom probs. went vagabundo all over the states, a travelling dandy by thumb with country club sensibilities. zeroed in on socal by way of the lifeguard, body builder, '39 santa monica body surfer, hotel cabana boy style. said i'd never make the jackson hole server scene cuz i was not "obsequious enough."
mom signed onto the new jersey girl scout nature trail developement plan and had no pretentions about maintaining dirt free status. hitched with brand new hubby out to cali and called it a honeymoon. sent only son to tree tops without trepidation, and made the old man tow canvas, white gas and trot line till the smores started smokin'.
she totally got the climbing scene, as an unfulfilled gymnast behind the apron anyway. but not pa, no way.
he grasped the concept of taking in the view across the range though, i'll give him that
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moacman
Trad climber
Montuckyian Via Canada Eh!
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Sep 11, 2013 - 09:02pm PT
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Thanx Dad.........
Stevo
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rockermike
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Sep 11, 2013 - 10:54pm PT
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yep, my dad started climbing while at Reed College in Portland. Later became a Mazama climb leader and instructor. I think he climbed Mt Hood maybe 50 times. (more than me - ha), and all the rest of the Pac Northwest peaks at least once. His technical ability topped out at about 5.4 with soft iron pins and hand forged biners.
took me on my first rock climbing trip to Horsetheives butte in 1964 when I was 10.
My mom also made it up Mt Hood, St. Helens and Adams at least once. But never really seemed to be too thrilled.
(edit), she was on the Reno High School ski racing team in the early '50s. Tells stories of boot backing the race course on Mt Rose, back before there were lifts. I guess I got good genes on both sides, though interestingly I've always been a better skier than climber relatively speaking, though I identify more as a climber and have spent a lot more time at it hmmmm
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LilaBiene
Trad climber
Technically...the spawning grounds of Yosemite
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Sep 12, 2013 - 01:46am PT
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I really love reading this thread. Not sure how many times I've taken a spin through it, but it makes me smile every time. (Mooser, I'm so sorry to hear about your Dad & will be wishing for the best.)
My mom and dad both love to be outdoors, and aside from the forced-marches-I-mean-"hikes" I recall with horror from when I was very young, they had me outside at every opportunity. The closest thing to climbing my Dad ever attempted was Mt. Katahdin, incl. Knife's Edge. I was literally dragged across -- it defied common sense to me at the time. But we did go camping and hiking frequently, as well as downhill skiing, windsurfing, sailing, canoeing (ugh!) and fishing, and probably a whole host of other adventures I'm not able to recall @ the moment.
My birth parents were both climbers, which probably explains why I spent a large portion of my childhood up in trees and endlessly swinging around on monkey bars. ") The muppet is following suit, attempting to climb everything in our apartment. She draws pictures of rocks to be climbed on a daily basis. I'm not sure whether to hope she inherited the adrenaline junkie genes...though life wouldn't be the same without them for me.
So, thanks moms and dads! (Gee, with all that magnificent input, you'd think I would have turned out better!!!) :D
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