The Lurking Fear

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Messages 1 - 12 of total 12 in this topic
Jim Pettigrew

Social climber
Crowley Lake, CA
Topic Author's Original Post - Apr 11, 2014 - 12:25am PT
I got curious about an old quote that Phil Bircheff made often back in the day and came across a 2005 thread on super topo that cracked me up! Funny how things are intertwined. We named the the climb Lurking Fear because it was a hilarious name for one thing. Yes it was a title of a short story by HP Lovecraft. Sheridan Anderson mentioned it to me once upon a time when we were discussing the legitimacy of ownership to name routes. Curiuos other subject!

The thread that I refer to is one that WBraun and Roger Breedlove discuss the naming of the climb and who was on the first ascent. That would be Phil Bircheff, Dave Bircheff, and myself.

The quote that Phil is tagged in is "all I want is a new life and a day without fear". This quote comes from a movie that starred Dustin Hoffman and it is called "Who is Harry Kellerman and Why is He Saying Those Things About Me?" 1971.

You guys crack me up!
ms55401

Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
Apr 11, 2014 - 12:27am PT
congrats on the FA!!!
Kalimon

Social climber
Ridgway, CO
Apr 11, 2014 - 12:32am PT
Tell us more stories uncle Jim.
Wayno

Big Wall climber
Seattle, WA
Apr 11, 2014 - 12:47am PT
I think Phil has gotten the fear thing dialed in by now. At least it seemed that way to me when I met him at the first Oakdale fest. I had met Phil a couple times in the Valley over thirty years ago but I never climbed with him and never really got to know him. In Oakdale he seemed to remember me and I surely remember his face but we seemed to know each other in some strange kind of way. Maybe I'm reading too much into it but he sure seemed like a truly personable human being, not someone that I would suspect had some kind of lurking fear.
ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
extraordinaire
Apr 11, 2014 - 01:52am PT
Potter elaborating on his solo of the upper pitches of freerider:
"I down climb a route called Lurking Fear then come across Thanksgiving Ledge and traverse further via a magical passage I discovered, out a bucketed roof and finally end up on the top quarter of the Freerider without using a rope,"
couchmaster

climber
pdx
Apr 11, 2014 - 09:32am PT
Great story !!!!! Thanks for sharing it.
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Apr 11, 2014 - 11:10am PT
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=113877

tfpu!
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Apr 11, 2014 - 11:27am PT
In the last several weeks, I had begun to stew,

"Was it Phil or was it Dave on 'Fear' with Pettigrew?"

And now the climbing party just grew by fifty percent.

You were in skilled hands, young man, so it's no wonder it was sent.

Fear is just a faithful friend, always lurking in your mind,

Whose job it is to help you out if you get in a bind.


Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
Apr 11, 2014 - 04:55pm PT
There are also a couple of threads in 2008 with photos from the first ascent.
http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/669703/Bircheff-Climbing-pic-captions
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=658634&tn=20
Rick A

climber
Boulder, Colorado
Apr 11, 2014 - 05:11pm PT
Jim,

Long time!

LF certainly seems to be a popular El Cap route these days, a really proud FA.

I was up in RMNP last week and I thought of you while looking up at a certain cirque :)

Hope you're doing well.

Rick Accomazzo
Jim Pettigrew

Social climber
Crowley Lake, CA
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 15, 2014 - 12:12am PT
Doing excellent Ricky!
I loved the RMNP!
kunlun_shan

Mountain climber
SF, CA
Oct 9, 2017 - 06:50pm PT
I'd never read the OP before.

Interesting story!
Messages 1 - 12 of total 12 in this topic
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