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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 23, 2016 - 12:45pm PT
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If anyone has difficulty getting tickets please let me know.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 25, 2016 - 09:37pm PT
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 27, 2016 - 06:58pm PT
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The good folks at Flagstaff Climbing are making available their gym space for a party Saturday evening 6-9 pm. Beer and snacks are being provided by several of the Festival sponsors for a small donation. This is a great opportunity to come and meet these amazing people.
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the albatross
Gym climber
Flagstaff
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Jan 28, 2016 - 02:32pm PT
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Steve,
I had trouble negotiating the Flagstaff Climbing website, but found the tickets on the other mind/body link you posted. Total cost was $20.75 for a Flagstaff local.
The awesome folks from BlueWater ropes have generously donated a couple of lead ropes and rope cauldrons to be given away at the event!
Anyone curious about one of Fly'n Brian's favorite routes should make plans to see this show.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 29, 2016 - 11:19am PT
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Albert- Thanks for the report. You have to go to the blog on the Flagstaffclimbing site to find the event so it isn't readily apparent how to purchase tickets unless you take the direct route via the link provided.
Sales tax will be added in once you by the ticket unless you are out of state as reported up thread.
Bryan climbed many, many vertical miles of stone so that is high praise that you guys found such an excellent route tucked away in the VC. I look forward to hearing about it!
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Vitaliy M.
Mountain climber
San Francisco
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Jan 29, 2016 - 11:23am PT
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Can't wait to hear the albatross spray about stuff he never talks about in his slideshow!!
WOOOOOOHOOOOO should be a hoot!
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the albatross
Gym climber
Flagstaff
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Jan 29, 2016 - 02:25pm PT
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Steve my bank is still showing $20.75 charged ten days ago.
Brian was definitely one of the great climbers and part of my reason for talking in this show is to honor his legacy. It is tough for me to think of other climbers who have established Grade V, 5.12+ free routes next door to serious A4 nailing routes. I feel so blessed to have been his friend to the end.
Oh, a little birdie told me there will be a nice write up about Brian in an upcoming Alpinist…
Vitaly bring your rain coat because I'll be spraying like Old Faithful! I look forward to meeting you. One thing I've learned in the last 33 years is that folks climb for all sorts of reasons. Some for fame, some for money, some climb for a religious experience, blah, blah. V - I've been deeply hurt in the past after sharing this area and I watched a dear friend take his own life in part because of abuse from certain aspects of the climbing community. It makes sense to keep a tight lip, but I support this project and want to get the information on the historical record. Mostly I hope that folks watching come away with a deeper sense of respect and appreciation for our few remaining wild places.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 29, 2016 - 03:25pm PT
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Hmmmm...looks like the sales tax has not been added into the billing as it should have been. Too many tickets sold to worry about that detail at this point.
I hope that you weren't buying a ticket as a speaker because you certainly didn't need to and I will hand you back some cash if so.
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sneezy
Social climber
Tucson, AZ
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Jan 30, 2016 - 02:53pm PT
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Hi Steve, stoked for the show. Can you/will you post a schedule? I can't make it for 16 hours of slideshows but there are some I definitely want to see. Got to plan some other activities around the show that weekend.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 31, 2016 - 11:18am PT
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I am fine tuning the program right now and will post up the results soon.
These Festivals are more about story telling and reflection than the blow by blow climbing slideshows especially here where just getting to the rope up point is often the crux. One route I came across is 5.4 with some 5.9 on the approach!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 1, 2016 - 04:46pm PT
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I need help with images to support some of the presentations so if you have good formation or climbing shots of the following please contact me.
Isis Temple
Wallace Butte
Hancock Butte
Thor Temple
Horus Temple
Temple of Ra
Tower of Set
Temple Butte
Awatubi Crest
Chuar Butte
Subject to last minute alteration, The Templed Horizon program is laid out in one hour blocks in the OP.
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the albatross
Gym climber
Flagstaff
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I see you saved the worst show for last! How fitting.
Have you contacted Sean Peters for images? I bet he has quietly climbed most every formation being presented in this festival.
Steve, as part of my professional life I routinely lead scores of men and women into complex and potentially deadly situations. That job rarely produces the amount of stress as the last few weeks of preparing for this presentation. In this shallow, selfish society we live in, how does one discuss humility or respect for the natural environment? I sincerely hope I don't live to regret the decision to share these adventures with the community. It sounds crazy, but we weren't out there for notoriety or recognition or money we were trying to escape all that nonsense. We did it for the challenge, the wildness, for the fun of it.
Long live adventure, long live mysteries and the unknown,
Albert
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 2, 2016 - 08:54pm PT
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We went through a lot of these same thoughts about Baboquivari and I feel like every one of us was heard and respected. Very few folks are of a mindset to take on the sorts of climbs that you have.
I wanted you to have the last presentation in order to set and keep the tone that folks will walk away with thinking about the present. A solid example is front and center. You can't make folks do anything but discussing your own approach and what you get out of it has merit and worth. Respect is the key and based on you working this problem so deeply that will certainly come through in whatever you choose to talk about.
Sean Peters is actively sharing images as I write this and helping me get the word out for more.
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Vitaliy M.
Mountain climber
San Francisco
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It sounds crazy, but we weren't out there for notoriety or recognition or money we were trying to escape all that nonsense. We did it for the challenge, the wildness, for the fun of it.
And to spray about it in slideshows. Maybe you will be hooked up with a sponsor after the presentation?! And groupies will likely follow it up too. There is so much glory in climbing it is unbelievable! Would be weird if you didn't specify your reasons in a post, as the whole community would think you did it all for the big money and fame, like the rest of us. Cuz that is pretty much what one is seeking when they share an experience. Make sure to avoid saying a climb you did was AWESOME or even good. Shows lack of humility. Actually, I'd advise you to stand there for an hour and tell everyone that back in the day no one sprayed. Don't show any photos and skip the stories about the climbs. Walk out, say 'I'm here to say real men don't spray." And walk away. Be the big man you dream to be.
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the albatross
Gym climber
Flagstaff
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Steve thanks for the support. Knowing some of your first ascent history in Southern Arizona I imagine that you understand some of the exact feelings we are going through. I am honored to share these experiences with my heroes and peers, not so psyched about the parasites which may be in attendance. Such is life.
We camped with an internationally known alpinist after his aborted attempt on one route on Tooth (the easiest and best protected on the formation). I seem to remember him sort of chuckling when I mentioned concern the area might get overrun. He told us the rock was too soft, it was too dangerous, that most people have no interest at all in that sort of risk. That was a big relief to hear.
Indeed the very real hazards of this sort of climbing would be driven home a year or two later when I initiated a complicated rescue of a dear friend.
Vitaly - thank you for your ideas and thoughts.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 3, 2016 - 06:00pm PT
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Back in the early 1970s everything about Arizona climbing was guarded and kept quiet. Guide books were kept behind the counter and very little was written about what went on in the desert. You had to hear about routes and then seek out the folks doing them to get information much as it is today in the Grand Canyon and Vermilian Cliffs. Anyone that has climbed on sandstone and drives by the Vermilian Cliffs is aware of the extensive nature of that formation and the potential that it offers if you can deal with the rigors and demands involved. That is always going to weed out the vast majority of climbers that aren't drawn to explore the place more deeply as you have been.
Even by discussing the climbs that you have done out there you are still the gatekeeper regarding actual route information. The knuckleheads won't likely overrun the place as your friend observed. There will be some in the audience who will hear the same desert song that you did after spending time out in that arena and come back to savor what the place is about. They will appreciate the presentation that you are willing to offer at this gathering as a gift rather than any sort of betrayal.
This is the fourth Granitica Festival and I don't think any of the folks here on the ST that have attended one or all of them would characterize the proceedings as spraying with all due respect. More like sharing tales of adventure with a room full of friends, some yet unmet, for everyone's delight rather than any sort of chest beating exercise. My Festivals are about the power of mutual respect and deep appreciation for the resource that gives us so much as climbers. It takes time and experience to develop these qualities in a human being.
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the albatross
Gym climber
Flagstaff
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Thank you Steve for helping remind me that the year of pilgrimage to the VC was mostly a grand time of discovery, of adventure and the unknown, following in the footsteps and dreams of those who came before. Few hear the exploration song as faint as it may be but for some the call is strong. I've spent some of the happiest and a few of the most physically grueling days of my life in the deserts. There is no doubt that some of the strongest friendships in my life are bound in part because of these random VC dreams.
The chance to tell a few stories and share some images with my heroes, peers and a generally receptive audience is an exciting prospect. I am thrilled to meet Spencer McIntire, the leader of the first ascent of Tooth, a truly epic 4 day odyssey almost 40 years ago. The LLR is a burly and dangerous route by most any persons standards. The slide show from George Bain is incredible and sure to please.
Here is a short poem published a number of years ago in Alpinist which sum up a few experiences as a bumbling climber trying to pass the time. Some will note a nod to SB, KK, PD, SG and other of my mentors, as well as a tribute to Layton and our time in the west deserts. Enjoy!
The Last Guidebook
1. I tiptoe up a sweeping slab. The quarter-inch bolt is a rust-colored spot only a dozen edges below. Dark granite leaves a chill on my fingertips while my stomach knots. A pair of ravens squawk from the cliff top; my partner is swallowed in tangle of brush. Something glimmers as I creep toward RP cracks: A new bolt on an ancient line? I crawl onto it, sigh, then clip several more. After a few ropelengths, we reach a shiny rap anchor forty feet from the summit. We climb on. Far off in the distance, a train whistles, and then the dunes are still.
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The full moon lies heavy on the eastern horizon. Warm Mojave air engulfs the truck. I look back toward the mountains, where the desert prophets of the Syndicato Granitica once chased visions across empty domes and unwritten walls. Driving down Route 66 beyond Peach Springs, I blare the oldies station in their tribute. I imagine them motoring along this lonely highway in the 1970s, years before the interstate—back when nuts were just coming into fashion and when chalk was still considered aid. What will it be like when it’s all been Bolted, Mapped and Published? Who will write the last guidebook? What will it be called? A boulder casts an enormous silhouette against the dull glow. I pull the truck over and walk into the velvet sky. I breathe in a million stars.
3.
Wind wails through the canyon, with the hope of spring. I’m climbing into the heart of a sandstorm on an unexplored cliff. Dust chokes ears, nose and eyes. Half-blinded, I hang on the crease where the sky and stone collide. The rhythmic tap of my hammer ends, and I prepare the bolt. Red powder oozes from the hole, then swirls out into infinity. Suddenly, it looks like blood. Am I, too, murdering the impossible? There’s a mark now, where before there was none. A pair of Bighorn sheep spot me, then sprint beyond the vanishing point. It’s as if I started the destruction of this secret wild land. Gumdrop-size hail bombards us. Is this my legacy? We race toward the overhang in search of shelter.
4. On a winter night, I stare into my computer screen. “Feds Plan to Remove All Bolts from Santa Claus Chimney,” reads the headline. “No Anchors Allowed in Powell’s Canyon,” proclaims the order. “Officials Remove All Bolts from Sacred Cave,” declares the blog. “Legal Concerns Prompt Landowner to Close Access,” announces the magazine. I weigh these lines against the memories of thick ripe air, sunlight on skin, hundred-mile views. Outside, snowflakes drift through darkness, covering fiery towers with a thick blanket of cold, new white. Can freedom be taken before it is even imagined?
5. I amble beside an elder mentor through a crisp spring morning. We marvel at the trickle of water in this wash—a rare gift. Quartz twinkles in the sun; we’re dazed by a wonderland of rock. Spires of desert junkoid form mute sentinels of our passage. When coyotes start singing, we giggle. Above our heads, a nameless crack floats for pitches into open azure. We whisper over lunch, gaze up once more—then walk away.
6. Desperate to beat the midday’s inferno, we’ve been awake for hours. Already a condor screams by in the infinite rays of the dawn fire. Almost extinct, this bird still manages to thrive in the stony nothing of the high desert. The night sky fades through finer shades of blue—at last into light. Morning splashes over rock with the promise of something simple, unmapped, ever new: another day. I tie in, match gazes with my partner and begin to climb.
—Albert Newman, Canyon, Arizona
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 4, 2016 - 06:43pm PT
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Bump for the Splendid Remains...
Beautiful shot pseudalpine! Thanks again for your help with such amazing images. Lots of very talented photographers have pitched in to make this Festival a Grand one!
Don't miss it folks as there won't be another Granitica Festival for a long time! I have a whole continent to cover.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 9, 2016 - 12:31pm PT
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I am pleased to announce that Jim Ohlman, Ken Walters and Robert Packard have been added to the list of speakers.
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