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Bushman
Social climber
Elk Grove, CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Oct 5, 2014 - 05:47am PT
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Was reminiscing with my younger brother, Tom, about our big bro yesterday. It's been thirty four years since losing Tobin October 5th, 1980. We talked a little about how things might have turned out differently if he was alive today. It's was his life we still celebrate, but all miss him just the same. I took some time to myself and wrote these lines.
'Old Tobin'
Back in the day,
When the anchors were thin,
There was hardly a lad,
Who could even begin,
To keep up with a boy,
Who thought failure a sin,
And challenge he would,
In his company dear,
To lay down their all,
Let their conscience be clear,
With his cadre of friends,
So boldly they'd tread,
For some dared not to follow,
As often was said,
There was Largo and Bachar,
Gramicci and Rick,
And one hundred stonemasters,
Now you take your pick,
But Tobin stood out,
And he would embark,
On the cold alpine alpine routes,
Where he made is mark,
On the Eiger and the Dru,
And Matterhorn north face,
Not the least which he'd do,
Without head heart and grace,
And was humble enough,
To lend you his ear,
For god knows he borrowed,
More than his gear,
And to step up the pace,
As those driven will do,
Was a crazy endeavor,
This might have been true,
But to him there was more,
Than a passion to sate,
For to climb was a gift,
And to him was innate,
To be closer to god,
Was his fuel and his fate,
Living life on the edge,
And tried as he might,
To keep demons at bay,
All through the night,
And try as he did,
To appease mom and pop,
Who had probably hoped,
He'd be fireman or cop,
But climber he was,
And climber he'd be,
For no prouder were they,
As he reached for the top,
And reaching he would,
For all he was worth,
From his earliest days,
'Til his last days on earth,
And it's many years past,
Since that bitter wind blew,
How things might have gone,
Did we not say adieu?
We can't turn back the past,
But miss him we do,
And imagine him old,
With grand kids in tow,
What would he do,
And where would he go?
Would he be bald on top,
Or a beard would he grow?
Would he frown or he smile?
Would he walk with a hunch,
Or still boulder with style,
Eating ice cream for lunch?
But theres one thing for certain,
And I'd bet you a fin,
That if Tobin were still here,
He'd be wearing a grin.
-Tim Sorenson
10/04/2014
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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Still miss that grin.
Always thought I'd see it again
Till that day on that hill
with your mom's face full of tears.
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Gnome Ofthe Diabase
climber
Out Of Bed
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10/5/80;:;:
:;:;:;10/5/2014!!! The years of my maturity 34 and more to go
Tobin was not the 1st but the first my age to go and he knew his way
That is what, still to this day makes me crane my neck to see
The clergyman when he bends his head to say peace be with you
Feeling the healing
It is the only way
Peace
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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That's a real nice picture, a real nice poem, and a real nice guy.
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survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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Wow.
This is why Supertopo still rules the roost.
Thank you very much Tim, for making us all think.
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guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
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Tim...
thank you so much for the poem.
I think often of your brother, sometimes when I go climbing I see his face with the goofy smile. and hear his voice going "come on - do it"....
Do think his hair might have fallen out?
Do you think he would have grown a ice-cream gut??
To me Tobin was and is one of the greatest climbers ever.
He had the right stuff.
peace
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Handjam Belay
Gym climber
expat from the truth
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Being at least a generation younger I never met Tobin.
Hearing of his exploits and style I always admired his spirit.
My secret internet name is Tobin Jourdan
1/2 Tobin Sorenson
1/2 Frank Jourdan
-------------------------
From a generation downstream...a tip of the cap good sirs.
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Thanks Tim. Very clever writing too!
I remember you and Tobin. We all spent some time in the lounge just after you and Tobin did the first free ascent of The Cobra on the Arches. I don't think I ever saw him again, though years went by before he left us.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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I read of Tobin's passing at the Lembert Dome picnic area in a climbing mag...I was shocked having attended a slide show presesntation by Tobin the year before...
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Tim- Thanks for sharing your wonderful poem and thoughts about the amazing Tobin. He remains an indelible Stonemaster and we appreciate your stoking his memory for us again.
Any stories about him from the family perspective would be welcome. How did you lads get introduced to climbing?
A Cobra story would be fabulous should you have written anything about that Big Adventure.
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BLUEBLOCR
Social climber
joshua tree
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Wow,, i Love surprises and ur full of'em!
i can only hope my life someday be deserving of a poem..
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Ward Trotter
Trad climber
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Deepest respects to Mr. Sorenson's memory. Always a good thing to see a family still cherish the memory of their loved one in a way that is profound and still endures.
Does anyone know what part of Covina Tobin lived in, the street ,and the period he lived there?
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steve shea
climber
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Bushman I found some photos of Tobin from the summer of '77. After Rick left Chamonix, Tobin camped with us. We left to try the Eiger later on. These photos are from that trip. The slides have not seen the light of day in 30yrs. I'll try to post them up for you. They are very soulful shots of the young man as he started his alpine tour de force in '77.
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Steve, very much looking forward to seeing your photos!
Bruce, at the very least, Tobin was not used to encountering failure very often. I think to many of us back then however, failure was a sin on some level or another. It had to be that our climbing was kind of a life's report card, or thereabouts.
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mooser
Trad climber
seattle
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That's a beautiful piece of writing, Tim. Having only spent some time with him once, he left a powerful impression on me. Thank you for this.
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Yafer
Trad climber
Chatsworth, California
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Nice tribute.
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TYeary
Social climber
State of decay
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Very nice Dibbs. When stars shine so brightly and then go out, they leave an equally dark space in the sky. And so it is with Tobin.....
TY
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jgill
Boulder climber
Colorado
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I think to many of us back then however, failure was a sin on some level or another. It had to be that our climbing was kind of a life's report card, or thereabouts
Very good point, Peter. And one that is rarely made these days in reflection of those times.
Tim, I wasn't aware of the family connection. A terrible loss.
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Bushman
Social climber
Elk Grove, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 5, 2014 - 01:18pm PT
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Will get back with a few answers later today.
Bruce Kay, regarding your question; is it true in any sense that he considered failure a sin?
That was purely poetic license on my part, nevertheless, it was Tobin's nature to be relentless in the face of failure, at times to the edge of disaster. I do remember that as Tobin got further along in his achievements his humility only grew. I don't remember any stern or judgmental words from him beyond my first climbing debacle on Tahquitz when I first started climbing, even considering how many times I surely deserved them.
Steve Shea,
My family along with many others would be grateful beyond words to see more photos of Tobin.
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johntp
Trad climber
socal
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Hard to believe so much time has gone by.
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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A conversation I had with Tobin some 40 odd years ago. I don't remember is it was ensconced in my friend's aunt's shed in Idylwild,camped at J tree or Granite Mountains. It had to have been in his first dozen or less climbing outings.
It went something like this;
Tobin,
You know I really admire your climbing.
Befuddled silent pause.
Me,
What do you mean?
You just started doing this and you are already better at it than I'll ever be.
Tobin, not grinning for once.
No you don't understand.
you can do this and are just having fun.
I HAVE to do this.
There was something driving him from the very beginning.
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steve s
Trad climber
eldo
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Tim, very nice words about your bro. I never met him but always looked up to his accomplishments in the climbing world. I climbed with you in Yosemite sometime in the 80's. We did some long run-out route on the royal arches apron (shakey flakes ? Or something else) had some beers and etc. afterwords . You styled the cruxes and we had a great climb. Thanks. And thanks again for the kind remembrance of your brother. Peace , Steve Sangdahl
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Bushman
Social climber
Elk Grove, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 5, 2014 - 05:01pm PT
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A few facts about Tobin;
He was born in Pasadena, California, June 15th, 1955.
Our parents travelled for a year with us in Europe when Tobin was four and I was two. We rode through the Alps and camped out of an Opel station wagon purchased during the trip in Germany. Tobin remembered and was obviously inspired by his exposure to those majestic peaks.
We lived in Covina, CA on E. Level St. near E. Puente and Glendora Ave. from the early sixties until the early seventies.
Our favorite movies growing up were 'The Great Escape' (Steve McQueen) and 'The Mountain' (Spencer Tracy).
Tobin loved the Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, and classical music.
Male pattern baldness is hereditary in our family, but ice cream consumption is optional and Tobin was spared the former but preferred the latter.
Thanks to everyone who posted for all the fond memories and accolades.
-Tim
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WBraun
climber
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Bushman?
I didn't know you were Tim.
We met like a hundred years ago remember?
What are you doing these days ???
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Ward Trotter
Trad climber
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Bushman:
Okay ,you guys lived right around the corner from Royal Oak High School ( otherwise known as the school where Tommy Lee and Vince Neil of Motley Crue attended and hung out together in the early to mid-seventies)
Maybe you guys went to Badillo Elementary School? Did Tobin or yourself attend Charter Oak High?
Remember "the Plunge" at Covina Park near downtown?
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john bald
climber
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Wow Tim! Very nice tribute.
Tobin and I hit it off so well because, I too, did not drink. From a time and place where indulgence was part of the landscape, Tobin always respected my choice in life, as I understood his.
Remember picking your brother up several times in Covina.
A special friendship that will stay with me forever.
Wishing you and your family all the best!
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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Tim,
I still remember the stink eye I got from your mother when I returned that tent.
Seems to me Tobin was grounded for sneaking off to Yosemite and the tent wasn't his in the first place.
I did go to Badillo for a couple of years in the 50's, but the Sorensen's were on the Charter Oak School district side of Grand
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Ward Trotter
Trad climber
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TGT:
Badillo Elementary is also in the Charter Oak District, it's at the corner of Badillo and Reeder. Royal Oak High is now a Middle School.
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Bushman
Social climber
Elk Grove, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 5, 2014 - 06:00pm PT
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Yeah Werner,
I remember you well.
I was just another weekend warrior after the seventies.
Climbed until around 1996. Been a tree service contractor for thirty years now out of Sacramento, been married to my sweetheart, Cathy, for 29 years. My climbing days over for now, bad shoulders, bad back, ankles, knees. Not complaining though, life never ceases to amaze...ha ha! How are you?
Ward,
We both went Royal Oak High. Tobin went to Charter Oak his first year or two.
John Bald,
Was it you and Fred East who tutored me on fist jamming on Strawberry Jam at JT in the early Seventies? My taped and benzoined hands were a bloody pulp.
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Studly
Trad climber
WA
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Hi Tim
A good friend of mine says hello, Jim Opdyke. He climbed a bunch of routes with you in the Spring of 1981 thereabouts, including east buttress of El Cap and Seperate Reality. Hes not internet connected, but he says he still remembers the good times climbing with you, and says hello and wishes you the best.
Tobin may be gone, but he is certainly not forgotten by the climbing world.
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Ward Trotter
Trad climber
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That's right it was called "Royal Oak". Okay.
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Nick
climber
portland, Oregon
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Wonderful words for you brother, Tim. He was one of a kind. Hope you are well.
Nick B
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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That's right!
I was thinking of Barranca School.
My mom taught at Badillo, Would have been in the 80's some time.
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Bushman
Social climber
Elk Grove, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 5, 2014 - 07:27pm PT
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I'll have to be careful here,
my memory's not half as good as my imagination.
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Ward Trotter
Trad climber
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Yep, remember what Mark Twain said:
When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not.
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Sport climber
moving thru
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My husband Dan knew Tobin and climbed a bit with him. Dan was crazy, but he led me to believe Tobin was more so. Much Respect from the Leichtfuss Family.
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
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Never knew Tobin, but he left a f*#king mark....
He wasn't a Bachar or a John Long, he was unique. I've read the stories of his exploits.
He was himself. I can identify with that. He was on a different frequency,
Rest in peace, Tobin!
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bhilden
Trad climber
Mountain View, CA/Boulder, CO
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It's a bit cliche, but Tobin was a climber's climber.
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WBraun
climber
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Thanks for the update Tim.
I'm doing good.
I work on fleet vehicles here .....
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Bushman
Social climber
Elk Grove, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 6, 2014 - 10:43am PT
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Studly,
Tell Jim Opdyke I said hi and hope he's doing well.
Thanks.
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limpingcrab
Trad climber
the middle of CA
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I used to curse Tobin because when I was learning to climb on the central coast I accidentally ended up on one of his routes and scared the poop out of myself!
I read about him after that and came to greatly admire who he was. Climbing lost someone special for sure.
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hashbro
Trad climber
Mental Physics........
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anyone who has ever clipped the anchors on the Edge (at Taquitz) understands a little bit about Tobin......
thanks for the post Dibbs
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Brock Wagstaff
Trad climber
Larkspur
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Met Tobin in Chamonix in the summer of 1977. Lots of good American climbers there then including Rick A, Muggs, Steve Shea, Dick Jackson, and Dave Roberts, to name a few. Lots of climbing and lots of down time playing chess in the Bar Nat. One of the shops sold a massive ice cream sculpture called "The Tunnel". It was meant to feed 4 - 5 people but on a whim we offered to pay for it if anyone could eat the whole thing. Tobin took the bet and polished it off easily in one sitting. Rumor had it that he was smuggling bibles into Bulgaria, but who knows. He was a special person and an amazing climber!
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Tim,
Greatly enjoyed your poem since it expressed well some of my same thoughts about Tobin. I quite often wonder what he would be like now, but no doubt the grin and his appetite for life (and ice cream) would not have changed. I am sure he would have a family and would be a doting father and even grandfather by now.
Great to see you here on ST and hope you can tell some of your own climbing stories. You were an accomplished climber in your own right, back in those days.
Rick
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Charlie D.
Trad climber
Western Slope, Tahoe Sierra
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Thanks for the post Tim, great poem and great quote (they call it a creative memory):
I'll have to be careful here,
my memory's not half as good as my imagination. I am so very sorry you lost your brother, our community still weeps. Best to you and your family.
Charlie D.
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Avery
climber
NZ
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In August 1979, Tobin Sorenson teamed up with English rock climber John Allen for a winter ascent of the Shelia Face of Mt Cook (NZ's highest peak)
What follows is John Allen's account of the climb.
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Todd Eastman
climber
Bellingham, WA
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I was fortunate to meet Tobin late in the summer of 1977 in Chamonix. I had done some fine routes with my friend Jack Hunt and as Jack planned on heading off to explore Europe I was at loose ends about what the next adventure might be. Jack and I had met Tobin and discussed the stuff we had been doing while he calmly described the massive walls he had been climbing.
Tobin and I decided to do a climb that had been suggested to me by Rob Taylor and to Tobin by Chouinard. It was on the Col du Requin and was an unclimbed ice route. We took the train to the Monteveres (sp?) station and scrambled up to the hut. Being late-September the hut was empty and dark with the shutters latched for the winter. We talked and talked over food and discussed things great and small with climbing not being discussed as everything else was so much more interesting.
We got up the next morning tromped up this route, had a great time, and the only issue came up on the descent with a nasty jammed rope on the rappels off the backside. As we yanked, tugged, and otherwise stretched the rope, it became evident that other means would need to be considered. Tobin without a moments hesitation, jugged up the rope that was fixed to, well, whatever it was caught in. There was a certain acceptance of some form of possible outcome that Tobin was clearly more comfortable with than I was. I had never seen such faith(?) played out in the mountains. We finished the descent and returned to the hut.
Before descending to the train, Tobin suggested a brief "service" in the darkened hut. This seemed an entirely fitting way to rejoice in our adventure, the settings, and life itself; even to me, an agnostic. To me it was similar to the kinship shared around a campfire at Seneca or over a pizza at Chez Joey's in New Paltz after a successful day of climbing. We shared the joy of a shared adventure in slightly different ways.
Tobin's faith was the most powerful of any I had seen to that point or ever since. What it displayed was a deep personal confidence with no need to project that belief at me. That left a huge impression on me that lasts to this day; the power of things not spoken.
We descended to the train or hiked down... I can't remember, but upon getting back to town, Tobin began figuring out his plans for going up on the Harlin Route on the Eiger with Alex. I was was really happy for their effort and success when I heard later.
I learned of Tobin's accident at the Boulder Mountaineer while on a road trip in the fall of 1980, it hurt. I had hardly spent any time with Tobin, but his perspective of balancing climbing with other elements of interest still seem valid, and perhaps more so as I get older.
Best to Tobin's clan and extended clan!
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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Todd E...You're a climber too , eh ?
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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It's natural that we would think of Tobin almost purely in terms of his climbing accomplishments, but there were somewhere between 100 and 250 people at his standing room only funeral and maybe a dozen or so climbers standing in the back.
He had a powerful influence that went far beyond this crowd.
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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Oct 11, 2014 - 08:57am PT
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Tim, your poem is great!
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Avery
climber
NZ
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Oct 11, 2014 - 10:21pm PT
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Tobin Sorenson on the Eiger Direct, October, 1977.
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