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Inner City
Trad climber
East Bay
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Aug 28, 2015 - 08:03pm PT
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This thread is great. Best thoughts to all who knew Mort.
Life is so short and some folks do so much.
Mort sounds like an interesting person.
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Aug 28, 2015 - 08:26pm PT
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Aug 28, 2015 - 08:50pm PT
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As a kid in the Tetons, I always thought Mort was much older than I was, since he was so much more accomplished at both climbing and...life. Now it seems that, all along, he was only 18 days older than me.
But still so much more than that in many ways. Rest in peace, Mort.
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Fuzzywuzzy
climber
suspendedhappynation
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Aug 28, 2015 - 10:18pm PT
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I met Mort through Allan Bard way back in the 70's. He always treated us youngsters as equals and shared wonderful stories with us- He listened to ours as well and encouraged us to follow our dreams.
I remember A.B. climbed S. Buttress Rt. on Moran with Mort, and said they laughed their way up the route!
We will all miss those two.
TC
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Aug 29, 2015 - 05:49am PT
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Mort stopped by the guiding school in the meadows a few times to visit with TM, play his guitar, and hangout. We also crossed paths through our mutual friend Jani Roper. Great guy. My sincere condolences to Mort's family and friends.
This photo is so evocative. Galen and Mort's stances, with their hands in their pockets, are absolutely spot on. Mort on the edge, leaning in, captures him perfectly. Guido, who is in the red shirt, and the two lovely ladies?
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Yeti
Trad climber
Ketchum, Idaho
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Aug 29, 2015 - 09:47am PT
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If this photo was taken at Buttermilk at Doug Robinson's wedding as I believe it was, it is more evocative than meets the eye. But, then, it was an evocative day.
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Aug 29, 2015 - 12:46pm PT
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Yes, it was DR's first wedding and that is Nancy Chambers on the left, then General Dennis von Hennck, Guido and his first wife Trish the Dish-Galen and Morten.
I think the wedding celebration at the Buttermilk lasted several days, almost as long as the marriage.
All in good humor and DR gave us many more opportunities in the future to attend his wedding ceremonies.
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Beryl Knauth
Mountain climber
Fall City, WA
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Aug 30, 2015 - 11:14pm PT
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I have so many memories of Mort, don't know where to start. I've been in touch with a lot of people who knew him and us (when we were together). There's so much sorrow over the loss of Mort along with a realization of how much he meant to many of us as well an appreciation for having had him in our lives. I posted the following response to Joe McKeown's notification of Mort's death.
Hi Joe and to everyone else that loved Mort,
I am devastated to hear about the news of Mort's death. We had been emailing each other in the last several years. He was my first true love when we were both very young. Our relationship was deeply important to me (and to both of us) when I was 17 until he had his mental breakdown when I was 19 and he was 21. We hung in there together for several more years. We continued to stay in touch and I have never wanted anything but the best for this wonderfully talented, sensitive and tortured fellow human being who persevered in spite of all he endured. I loved his parents, especially Birgit (Mort's mother). The last I heard from Mort she was still alive and he spoke of his siblings.....Anna, Jasper, Karen, Lisa and Britta. I hope they are all well and moving forward in their lives in a positive way. I would love to hear from anyone who knew and loved Mort. I want to pay tribute to him and connect with others who cared for him.
Blessings and love to all,
Beryl Knauth
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Jan
Mountain climber
Colorado, Nepal & Okinawa
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 31, 2015 - 07:00pm PT
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I've just come back from Mort's memorial service. The climbing tribe was represented by myself, Pat Ament and his daughter Maren, Sibylle Hechtel, and Andy Lichtman, who flew in from California. The event took place in a Lutheran church so a lot of religious content, which the minister explained had been selected by Mort himself, several years ago. There was also plenty of time for people to remember Mort, memorial style.
What came across was the unique nature of Mort's journey through life. The many disparate threads woven together from being born Danish in Copenhagen, to immigrating to the U.S. at the age of 3, high school in Berkeley, to climbing and Camp 4, the psychedelic scene in the '60's, his migration to Boulder, and his life here when he became very religious (it turns out he had a grandfather who was a bishop).
At first it seemed he had done a complete turn about in life styles, but the single strand woven throughout was his sensitivity and gentleness, first through his singing and later through his spirituality. The phrase purity of heart was used several times. Throughout life he also had a keen sense of humor and a mischievous streak. His sisters told stories that made us laugh. Clearly the Lutheran community in Boulder was very fond of Mort and had given him a lot of support over the years, becoming an extended family for him. They knew vaguely about his climbing and singing career as there were photos from that time displayed, but were surprised that some of his friends from that era had come in memory of those days. Beryl's note, posted above, was read as the last tribute at the end of the service.
At the reception afterwards, we received copies of his music to take home and left feeling that his very different tribes had given him a good send off. Of course, it also made the rest of us ponder how our life would be summed up when done.
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sibylle
Trad climber
On the road!
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I was at the service yesterday, and was glad I related the story of meeting Mort. I was at the Tenaya Lake Beach in the early 70s with my parents. My father had plans to climb with Roper, and Mort showed up with Steve. Mort suggested we also climb south Crack on Polly dome. I'd never led a 5.8, but Mort encouraged me to lead the second pitch. He was very positive and supportive, and a big help at the start of my climbing career.
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Fossil climber
Trad climber
Atlin, B. C.
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Sorry you're gone, Mort. Great guy, great part of Valley history and old friends.
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Zachary Barr
Social climber
Denver, CO
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I met Mort once in the summer of 2014. I was helping produce Valley Uprising, we wanted to use Mort's guitar music under the scene when Royal and Liz Robbins meet in Camp 4. To ask his permission, I visited him at the care facility where he lived. I ended up staying a long while. We chatted a lot about his life and regrets, not so much about climbing. He could not have been warmer or more open. My condolences to his family and loved ones.
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Bill St. Jean
Trad climber
Bishop, California
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I met Mort and his sister Anne (who lives in Denmark, both were Danes) through Chuck Pratt in "69". (Thank God for the Ski Hut). I had the pleasure of climbing with Mort on several occasions, mostly in the Valley, Smooth, very, very smooth, something a lot of "Old Timers" seemed to have in common. He held out in Bishop one winter and I heard him play and sing, like having Gordon Lightfoot in your kitchen, only better.
Yep, he'll be missed. God dammit
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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As BBA said this is so sad to read all these but then again so heart warming to have the feedback from our friends of yesterday.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Mort Hempel's Valley FAs
North Dome, South Face Route, FFA, 1960 Mort Hempel, Irene Ortenburger, Steve Roper
Camp 4 Tree, FA, 1960 Mort Hempel, Bob Kamps
Crack of Doom, FA, 1961 Chuck Pratt, Mort Hempel
Middle Cathedral Rock - East Buttress - regular, FA 1961 Yvon Chouinard, Mort Hempel
Split Pinnacle Lieback 1961 FA Dave Rearick, Mort Hempel
C.S. Concerto, FA, 1967 Yvon Chouinard, Chuck Pratt, Mort Hempel
EDIT to include a couple more, thanks Urmas
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Urmas
Social climber
Sierra Eastside
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Ed, I seem to recall that he also led the 5.10c lieback variation to the summit block of Split Pinnacle.
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PapaDrew
Trad climber
Idyllwild, CA
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To answer Urmas' question, Dave Rearick told me this history of the Split Pinnacle lieback.
He first climbed it by top rope. I don't know who was his belayer or when the bolt was placed midway to protect it as a lead. Roper's guide book reports that Rearick placed it from a rappel, a method of protection that still was frowned upon then by some of his free-climbing colleagues.
Planning to attempt the first-ever lead, Rearick lost some weight over the next week before he returned and sent it with Mort as his belayer.
The next lead of the pitch may have been Galen Rowell's. When I spoke with him soon afterwards, Galen expressed admiration for Rearick, because Galen nearly came off so high above the belay ledge that the bolt might have not helped: just as Galen no longer had the strength to sustain the overhanging lieback, he threw himself into a jam behind the flake, averting disaster.
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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bump for Mort
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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I had the pleasure of doing an interview with Mort before he passed and got a good sense of his life and talent. He had made peace with his demons and was very happy to have some informed company to talk about climbing which was certainly the best thing that life offered him.
His sense of humor and perspective was very engaging and I got some great footage. He was talking about climbing as safely as possible at one point in our discussion when I looked him straight in the eye and said "There are always exceptions, so let's talk about the Crack of Doom". He let out a very deep and knowing laugh before going into his recollections of doing that daring route with Pratt.
Had he not been forced to deal with serious mental health issues he would have been as prolific a climber as virtually anyone active at the time since he certainly had the ability.
I found Mort when an interview with Dave Rearick was postponed because I was having technical problems with my microphones. Once I was able to sit down with him, I asked Dave about the Split Pinnacle Layback and he recalled aiding up to place that controversial bolt as the flake wouldn't take pitons good enough to hold a fall in his estimation even if he had been able to stop and place them. Roper got that detail wrong in his guidebook.
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