Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
| Messages 1 - 14 of total 14 in this topic |
Bad Climber
climber
|
|
|
Topic Author's Original Post - Jul 25, 2014 - 07:47am PT
|
RGold's cool post got me thinking about a recent milepost of my own: I did a 37th anniversary ascent of Bear's Reach at Lover's Leap this year. Back in 1977 (gulp), at the age of 15, I followed Chris Vandiver (sp?) up Bear's Reach. Chris was guiding for an Italian mtn. shop owner, Tony Sotile (sp?). I'd been doing some climbing for the previous months, including a class or two with Tony on Mt. Tamalpias. I was seriously hooked. My friend on the rope, Jim, commented the next year when we did a climb in the Matterhorn Peak range--one of the Three Teeth: "I think you're going to get into this more than I am." Before my 19th birthday I'd climbed a grade V on Liberty Bell and the West Face of El Cap. Jim had given up on climbing and become a professional musician--damn good drummer, btw. I kept climbing and adventuring.
It was a great pleasure to repeat a bunch of the classics this year at the Leap, some with my wife, others, incl. Bear's Reach, with a young friend doing some of his first multi-pitch routes. This year's tic list: Haystack, Scimitar, Bear's Reach, The Line, Corrugation Corner, Hospital Corner to Dead Tree Direct finish, Surrealistic Pillar + Direct Start (x2), The Groove, Hogwild and No Gaynor. So much great fun and history for me on those routes. I'm sure the same is true for many of you.
Below are a few pics of the climbing as proof. In a wonderful twist, my outing with the young buck was like the old days--virtually no one on the crag mid-week! On ALL our routes, we never had anyone ahead of us or behind--ever. What a treat. No pics of Bear's Reach, however.
Thanks, TACO people, for helping to keep this climber motivated
|
|
survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
|
|
|
Jul 25, 2014 - 07:53am PT
|
Nice. My early flashbacks are from that time also!
|
|
Brock Wagstaff
Trad climber
Larkspur
|
|
|
Jul 25, 2014 - 10:47am PT
|
Hey BC - It's amazing how many climbers did Bears Reach as one of their first multi-pitch climbs. I also guided for Toni Sottile's "Matterhorn School of Mountaineering" in the mid-70's, and took many of my clients up that climb including the person that I would eventually marry. Later took my daughter up Bears Reach as one of her first "big" climbs at age 13. Thanks for your TR. Brings back a lot of memories.
|
|
PAUL SOUZA
Trad climber
Central Valley, CA
|
|
|
Jul 25, 2014 - 11:01am PT
|
Wait, is that Trent the Shermanator?
|
|
Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
|
|
|
Jul 25, 2014 - 11:03am PT
|
Bad climber, good for you. Unfortunately, my first multipitch climb, the Trough at Big Rock, is not one I necessarily feel the need to repeat (though I may with my kids one day). I'd like to go back and revisit the routes I did on my first trip to the Valley when I was 16 (1980!): E. Butt. of MCR, Sacherer Cracker, and eventually the NW Face of Half Dome. Though I've gotten in lots of miles since then, those climbs are almost feeling like they were climbed by someone else in a different lifetime.
|
|
JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
|
|
|
Jul 25, 2014 - 11:45am PT
|
Great thread. It's 47 years for me (and 57 for rgold, as shown on a different thread), so there must have been something about starting to climb in years ending in 7's.
I only climbed at Lover's Leap a couple of times, and then never took a camera, so I particularly appreciate your picutres. Thanks much!
John
|
|
Ghoulwe
Trad climber
Spokane, WA
|
|
|
Jul 26, 2014 - 04:32am PT
|
Although I took my first climbing lessons at Donner Summit in the mid-70's, I spent much of my early career at Lovers Leap. Lots of good memories of running-it-out on the dikes! Celebrated my 50th birthday there too. And though I don't live nearby any longer, I still get there every few years to savor the fine rock. Love that place!
Eric Barrett
Ghoulwe Mountaineering Club
Spokane WA
|
|
local
Social climber
eldorado springs
|
|
|
Jul 26, 2014 - 08:14am PT
|
Right out of high school, almost 50 years ago. Note Williams and Hudson, the NY pranksters, the day before.
|
|
Bad Climber
climber
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 26, 2014 - 09:00am PT
|
@Brock:
Yeah, I, BAd, be Scott from Marin back in the day. We've bouldered some together and hung out--at the Leap of all places, although I don't think we ever shared a rope. I was a friend of good old Eric Brand's back then, too. I miss that guy. I didn't know you guided for Toni. Is he still around? Damn, I'm sure I annoyed the hell out of him, hanging out at the old shop across from the College of Marin, where I eventually went to school.
@Paul:
Hell yeah, that's Trent the Shermanator! The dude's rad, in every possible way. I feel super lucky to call him my friend.
BAd
PS: Fun fact: Trent's wearing a pair of classic Ace's I gave him a couple of years ago--still going strong, with a bit of C4 to keep things fresh.
|
|
rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
|
|
|
Jul 26, 2014 - 09:04am PT
|
Note Williams and Hudson, the NY pranksters, the day before.
And shortly after, Joe Kelsey, later to become the author of the main Wind River climbing guidebook, and Chuck Loucks, who in 1977 died from an leader fall on easy ground with no protection in on the upper part of the Jensen Ridge of Symmetry Spire.
|
|
Brock Wagstaff
Trad climber
Larkspur
|
|
|
Jul 27, 2014 - 08:11pm PT
|
Hi Scott! I certainly remember you, and I also miss our mutual friend Eric. We had a lot of good times together and hard to believe he's been gone almost eight years now. I still see Toni on occasion and he's doing remarkably well for someone 86 y.o. Tough as nails. Hope to see you somewhere in the near future. Take care.
|
|
DanaB
climber
CT
|
|
|
Jul 27, 2014 - 08:17pm PT
|
And Paul Ledoux of the MIT outing club, a long-time 'Gunks climber.
|
|
Bad Climber
climber
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 28, 2014 - 06:15am PT
|
Hey, Brock:
Toni is quite the character. He was always a strong dude, so I guess I'm not surprised he's still rocking it at 86. Good for him. It was the end of an era when he finally stepped out of the retail business. For about six months or so, I worked for Marmot Mtn. Works after they moved into Toni's new building. Then that shop closed. Then the Berkeley shop closed! What's wrong with this world?
Oh, well. Nice to hear from you.
Climb on.
BAd
|
|
| Messages 1 - 14 of total 14 in this topic |
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!