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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Jan 19, 2014 - 05:36pm PT
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hey there say, first:
welcome to jonny woodward.... (am not a climber, but my brother chappy is)...
then, second:
wow, to lynne and ron and mrs! looked like a wonderful time for all!
perfect timing and joy spreading for an overflow to the ol' taco, here...
very nice share... i really love the from olds-to-nowadays type share, :)
memories get renewed and shared again, that way,too!
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OR
Trad climber
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Jan 19, 2014 - 08:07pm PT
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Very cool. One of my early heroes.
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phylp
Trad climber
Millbrae, CA
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Jan 19, 2014 - 08:43pm PT
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Mr. Jonny, sir, I guess the only reason there are not hordes more people welcoming you is that, like me, we're all intimidated as can be by your rock prowess. I have finally overcome my shyness and thinking, who the hell am I to welcome Jonny Freakin' Woodward, so I would now like to send you a big welcome.
Phyl
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Sport climber
moving thru
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Jan 19, 2014 - 08:54pm PT
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Nice phylp. Good, honest thoughts. Expressions that come from realness mean much. Cheers on a beautiful eve.
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jonnywoodward
climber
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Jan 29, 2014 - 02:30pm PT
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A Dog Eat Dog request? OK, here goes. The story does have a few interesting moments, I suppose.
When I moved to SLC in 1991 I was surprised that the major roof on the most popular crag in Big Cottonwood had only the one line on it, an impressive Ruckman brothers route taking the obvious rail through the roof from R to L. There was another 'obvious line' of faint seams going straight out and with so many good climbers in the area there was no time to lose. Boone Speed was keen to take a look so I went up there with him, aided out on A2 wires and got the bolts in. See, If I was really the climber you thought I was, I would have led it off natural gear. I thought it was going to be a quick 12d. How very wrong that was.
It ended up being hard to find partners, which is interesting because the climb is quite impressive and absorbing with a series of very unique and complex moves, but eventually Dale Goddard went along with me regularly and ended up teaching me everything I know about working routes. In fact this is the only route I have ever worked in the modern sense of the word, and the hardest route I have ever done by some substantial margin. We linked sections from the end, slowly extending them back towards the start, so that every link ended successfully at the anchor. Dale, and every other person who had gone up there with me, said it was 5.14 for sure, and who was I to argue, since they'd done the grade and all I'd done was quick ascents of half a dozen 13-s. So we both eventually had it down to one hang, which in reality was still a long way off actually doing it, but it begged the question 'what am I going to do if he looks like he's going to send it?' I'm not mad.... so clearly the answer was 'pull the bugger off'. Anyway I never had to strain our friendship because I was able to sneak in a day with Stuart Ruckman and in great conditions send it after about 30 days spread over a couple of years.
As soon as I'd done it, the route mysteriously became easier.... most of the people saying it was 5.14 now said it was 13d, max - an interesting phenomenon that a psychologist could have fun with no doubt. A slab climber doing a 14 roof that nobody else in the area could do must have been strangely threatening. I tried to convince Stuart to put it in the guide at 13e.
I must admit I am very proud of this route, and I understand the allure of working something hard for a long period of time, though I personally found the persistent failures too demoralizing to make it a habit. It's only about 20' long, but the holds are so bad and there are lots of moves.
Sometimes it's nice to see your routes repeated, sometimes it's nice to see them hold out, but regardless of the current status (I have heard only 2nd and 3rd hand rumors) I have no illusions about today's climbers being able to do it if they put their minds to it. By this time next year Honnold will probably have soloed it.
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darkmagus
Mountain climber
San Diego, CA
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Jan 29, 2014 - 02:55pm PT
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phylp, those were my thoughts exactly: could a hapless n00b such as myself give any sort of meaningful welcome? So I'm casting off the shyness to say "welcome" to Johnny. I'm a Woodson local, but perhaps not surprisingly, I have yet to complete any of Mr. Woodward's routes there!
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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Jan 29, 2014 - 03:08pm PT
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