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hamie
Social climber
Thekoots
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Topic Author's Original Post - Sep 17, 2017 - 12:44am PT
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"Yvon Chouinard, Going His Way" by William Stratten. Hardcover, $26-
Stratten has been his neighbour and good friend for many years. This is the ultimate American Dream story. Climbing bum to billionaire. Yes, that's billion, not million.
I haven't read it yet, but hope to when the price goes down, or in the unlikely event that it shows up at the local library.
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
ne'er–do–well
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Sep 17, 2017 - 01:10am PT
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Sep 17, 2017 - 08:43am PT
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Sep 17, 2017 - 12:11pm PT
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Just a few to add to the biography.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Sep 17, 2017 - 12:16pm PT
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Yvon on the Chilean Fjords just after he turned fifty.
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Rollover
climber
Gross Vegas
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Sep 17, 2017 - 01:00pm PT
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Royal Robbins
Dennis Hennek
Tom Frost
Yvon Chouinard
Fritz Wiessner
Mort Hempel?
Really amazing historical photos Don!
You always come through.
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jgill
Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
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Sep 17, 2017 - 01:18pm PT
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A long way from riding around with Yvon in his old jalopy in Jackson Hole in the 1950s, visiting dumps, looking for abandoned stovepipes to take back to CA for his forges.
An American success story on steroids! Every one I knew liked Yvon.
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Sep 17, 2017 - 01:30pm PT
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Hennek wasn't at the party, but Bill Stratten was.
Yes, that's Hempel, Weisner, Frost, Robbins, et al.
Photo 3 shows Yvon flanked by two hotties. Didn't know either one.
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Rollover
climber
Gross Vegas
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Sep 17, 2017 - 02:00pm PT
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Thought for sure that was Hennek in the last photo on the left behind the lit candle.
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Sep 17, 2017 - 02:06pm PT
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Yeah, looks like him, maybe. I'll ask him.
I'm considering a new thread: Photos of Climbers from the Past
Now I have to define "the Past". Let's say any time before 1976. Totally arbitrary. Any suggestions?
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Sep 17, 2017 - 03:22pm PT
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If you don't mind Don, make it before 1967.
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WBraun
climber
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Sep 17, 2017 - 03:33pm PT
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The blond dude looking at the back of his head in the forefront of the 4th photo from top is a young Donald Trump ..... :-)
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Sep 17, 2017 - 05:48pm PT
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Stratton, Stratten? The beginning of the post is where I got my spelling. I knew him BITD. Never thought to ask how to spell his last name.
BTW if only Trump could sing as well, actually if he could only sing at all.
I guess either wouldn't change much of the current scene.
I'll check with Chessler, ah, Chessler one of my suppliers BITD.
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jgill
Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
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Sep 17, 2017 - 08:32pm PT
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Chessler:
"The author, William Stratton, a retired TV screenwriter, was his next door neighbor, and for almost 15 years the two shared waves and mountains in mutual determination to not let work interfere with life. Chouinard's wife, Malinda, goaded the author into writing this biography, convinced that no one knew Yvon better."
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Sep 17, 2017 - 11:00pm PT
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Roger,
We shall accept photos taken up to 1967. Breedlove has spoken.
Now I have to initiate the thread with photos. Later.
Gill, I first met Stratton in Chouinard's shed behind Yvon's parents home in Burbank in 1962. It was Yvon's 24th birthday - the day before his pre-induction physical for the US Army. The soy sauce story. Ever heard it?
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Sep 18, 2017 - 08:50am PT
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The Soy Sauce Story
It was November 9, 1962 - Yvon’s 24th birthday. At the time he lived in a room built in to the garage behind his parents’ home in Burbank. In front of his room, which was separated from the garage by a lawn, sat an open BBQ – maybe one of these Webers.
It, of course, was without a lid. An anvil sat next to it with the necessary tools of the blacksmith trade. John (Jack) Hansen, the “original” Vulgarian, the one that gave the Vulgarians their name, had brought me out to Burbank to visit Yvon. I’m not sure whether we knew it was Yvon’s birthday – cranial cobwebs obscure the details.
In this small room we sat with Stratton, and Yvon chatting away – Hansen, in contrast to me, was a great conversationalist. My memory on this is vague, but as I recall, later in the evening, Peanut, Yvon’s tiny longtime girlfriend (and later his first wife), arrived with a small birthday cake. The conviviality of the affair was dampened somewhat by Yvon’s obvious somber mood. Yvon was appreciative of all the good wishes, but he was contemplating his next day’s pre-induction physical exam for the U.S. Army.
Yvon, like most of us, had no particular interest in serving in the armed forces. Yvon’s aversion to authority and interest in continuing his “little climbing business” was causing him concern. He was mulling over a plan to fail the physical. He had heard or read somewhere that drinking a sufficient quantity of soy sauce would elevate his blood pressure to 4F levels. Hansen jumped up and offered to make a soy sauce run to the local market. Hansen and I went out and bought a six pack of 6 oz. Kikkoman Soy Sauce. Yvon managed to down maybe two of them before he began to feel sick and gave up on the idea. The party broke up very soon after.
A week later, I met Hansen at Stoney Point and he informed me that Yvon had passed the physical exam and was on his way to Fort Ord. Yvon told me later that he was still feeling sick all the way through boot camp.
For further reading on the subject, I refer you to page-20 of Yvon’s Let My People Go Surfing.
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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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Sep 18, 2017 - 09:01am PT
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I have lived in Burbank my entire life and always wondered where Chouinard lived. My dad used to climb back in the 60's up at Pacifico and Williamson Rock but he never mentioned Chouinard. The owner of a rafting company I worked with who also grew up in Burbank told me he used to go over to Chouinards house and talk falconry with him. Burbank homes haven't changed much and I am sure the house is still there.
Anyone remember what street it was on?
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Podunk Climber
Trad climber
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Sep 18, 2017 - 11:23am PT
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Bump for soy sauce
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jgill
Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
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Sep 18, 2017 - 11:41am PT
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Never heard that story, Don. I lost track of Yvon about that time and didn't get a chance to talk with him until an AAC banquet in Denver in 1986(?).
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Sep 18, 2017 - 01:08pm PT
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Batrock,
I wasn't driving that day and though my memory of that backyard is vivid, I have no idea where in Burbank we were. Sorry.
If John (Jack) Hansen was still alive he would remember.
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