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chappy
Social climber
ventura
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Topic Author's Original Post - Apr 1, 2007 - 12:05pm PT
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I found these old photos from the FA of upper Sentinel Falls. The quality is marginal but they are of some interest. For those of you who don't know Sentinel Falls is a 2,000ft or so waterfall just west of Sentinel Rock. It has an interesting history as an ice climb. Kevin Worrall, Jim Orey and I did the FA of the upper falls in Dec. 1974. This was the first real ice climb done in the Valley. Later, the lower section was climbed... by who first I am not sure. The entire falls has only been climbed once in a stupendous effort by (I believe) the late great Walt Shipley and Kevin Fosburg. (Please chime in KF)Our ascent was a fun adventure for the three of us--ice novices all. Charlie Porter first pointed out the climb to me in the spring of 1974. The previous winter Charlie had climbed some ice flow in the meadows and was interested in other potential ice climbs in the Yosemite including the Widows Tears. I had always had a interest in alpine climbing (as many of my generation did) stemming from my introduction to climbing through reading the history of the classic ascents of the Alps and other great ranges. Some element of adventure always seemed to be missing from my Yosemite climbs on the Valley's perfect sunny granite. There was a renaissance under way in the sport of ice climbing. Chouinard, among others, was busy reinventing the tools of the trade. The concept of climbing water ice as a sport unto itself was becoming a reality. I believe Jello and Mike Weiss made their ascent of Bridalviel Falls at this time. I was eager to participate and in the summer of 74 bought a collection of ice gear from a climbing buddy of mine in the bay area. As it came to pass one sunny December day in the Valley Kevin, Jim and I were all sitting atop the large Yellow pine in Leidig meadow. We had a perfect view of the Falls and formed our plan there. We would hike up through the forest and talus below the Falls, traverse up a ledge system leading to a parallel gully to the west, ascend this until we could traverse back to the upper falls. It all went according to plan. We made our way up the appraoch, which took us a day, and bivied on the ridge seperating the two gullies. The next day we continued the approach and soon had our first glimpse of the climb. I was so excited. I had never seen anything like this. A frozen waterfall!! What could be cooler than that? We made our way to the base. There was this little minny bergschund at the base forming a perfect little mouth with icicle teeth. None of us had every climbed anything like this before and we didn't really know where to start. We pounded in a warthog, clipped in a rope and all gave it a tug. It didn't pull out, so figuring the pro was good, I started up the first pitch. My climbing attire was a bit lacking. I was clad in corduroy bell bottom jeans (hey, it was the seventies)with no gators. I gingerly made my way up the near vertical ice for about fifty ft taking my first chance to exit onto the rock and belay. Jim followed this pitch first and then led a short steep section to an obvious bowl. Kevin must have led the next pitch and then I was on the lead again. By the time I finished leading the last steep section it was dark. Kevin and Jim followed. I remember being so cold at the belay, tied to this pathetic scrawny pine sapling. I was shivering away in the shade of the bright winter moonlight beliving that as soon as the moonlight reached me I would warm up. We endured our second bivy here. It was one of the longest coldest bivies of my climbing life, right around the winter solstice. Finally, dawn arrived and we made our way up the last low angle pitch to the Valley rim. We postholed east under Sentinel Dome and then headed for the Four Mile trail which took us the Valley, sunshine, and food. Shortly there after Jim took leave of us and Kevin and I turned our sights to the obvious encore--the Widows Tears.
Kev and Jim on the approach
Kev at the base
Me starting up pitch one
Higher up pitch one
Jim on pitch two
Jim pitch two
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Russ Walling
Social climber
Out on the sand.... man.....
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Bravo Chappy!
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chappy
Social climber
ventura
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 1, 2007 - 12:10pm PT
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I missed one photo. Kevin at the base of the route.
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Mimi
climber
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That's fat! Cool shots from when the piolet was king. Thanks Mark.
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Hi Mark,
How are you? Very cool to hear this story. Are you still in contact with Jim? The first time I met him was the same year at Lovers Leap. He walked up to the base of the Line in his tennis shoes and a six pack. Gene Drake and I dropped him a rope and he cruised the route with his six-pack dangling from a carabiner.
Thanks,
Ken
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Thanks Chappy,
I'm loving your stories from the way back machine.
Zander
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426
Sport climber
Buzzard Point, TN
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Super stuff...more than cool.
Hey Chicken, do you still have contact info for Gene? He really helped this n00b out a bunch; heard he's not doing great right now...
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Now that is cool...good effort getting those posted.
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Raydog
Trad climber
Boulder
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I'm lucky I'm getting to see this stuff. Great shots of a really cool and historic adventure. Many thanks for posting Mark. Wow.
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chappy
Social climber
ventura
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 1, 2007 - 01:05pm PT
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Ken,
I don't know where Jim ended up. We did a fair amount of climbing together back in the day. A great guy and a great climber. I first met him when I did the nose with Rieder in 72. He was on the Muir Wall with Jack Roberts and we exchanged hellos as he and Jack headed into the Muir dihedrals and Rick and I entered the Nose dihedrals. In the fall of 74 Jim and I did the 4th ascent of Tis Sa Ack. He did the entire route with only a swami belt using only the classic aider rest possition! We also did an ascent of the N face of Mt Assiniboine and the FA of Eagles Way together. He also the FA of pitch one of Hardth (Spelling??) at the Cookie. I'll post a photo of him.
Say high to Hayley!
Chappy
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Mark,
Gene has been in contact with him and I can find out how to get a hold of him for you. I will say hi to Hayley. 426, I sent you an email.
Ken
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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thanks for the TR Mark,
I loved the images. I think that it's important to distinguish the two, photographs and images. We can criticize photographs in terms of technique, focus, exposure, composition, contrast, color saturation, etc. But as images, the ones you have posted have a great deal of authenticity and power. Especially when there is a narrative associated with them, as in this case, and an importance — such as a break through First Ascent.
I loved the images...
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chappy
Social climber
ventura
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 1, 2007 - 02:31pm PT
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Thanks Ed. I agree. I love historical images. Recently I purchased Glen Denny's book which works on both levels--great photographs and timeless imagery. Over the years my equipment and technique as a photographer improved a great deal but what I wouldn't do for a second chance to relive so many great moments I missed recording with any old camera at my side. I am thankful for what scant images I do have. I have a photo essay on Kev's and my ascent of the Tears as well. I'll post it soon. I remember at that time barely having the money for a single roll of Kodachrome.
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Raydog
Trad climber
Boulder
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Walleye and Chappy,
looking forward to it.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
one pass away from the big ditch
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wow! is right! rad Mark!
anyone (not just Chappy) that digs up old pics and scans and posts them is right on!
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ground_up
Trad climber
mt. hood /baja
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Wow...thanks for taking the time to share that!
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rhyang
Ice climber
SJC
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Very nice :)
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L
climber
The Rebel L Gang
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Nice TR Chappy! I'm not a big fan of ice climbing, but your post made me want to give it a try!
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T2
climber
Cardiff by the sea
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Mark thanks for the awesome story. I look forward to reading about the tears. You guys are true adventures.
Paging Kevin Fosburg, bring on the trip report from your ascent.
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Nice post, Mark.
You guys were nuts. Likeable, very skilled, and brave, but f*#king nuts.
You have all that warm, sunlit granite to climb and, as Kevin points out, warm beds with pretty girls to get a good nights rest and have some real fun, and you choose adventure--bivvying on some frozen ledge on the dark side of the Valley, with bell bottom corduroys (at least you were stylish).
Now you have sensible ST Campers plucking up the courage to say, "I want to try vertical ice. The closer to warm, sunlit granite the better to measure my suffering."
Otherwise, very nice. Great that you had a camera. I don't think that I even knew you, Kevin and Jim were doing that. The dorm room I was staying in was very comfortable and I barely looked out the window--I was having too much fun, so to speak.
Best, Roger
PS: Anyone want to see my old images of sunlit granite and well appointed dorm rooms?
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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It would be seasonal to have this appear briefly. Steve might call it bardbait, I suppose. Bump.
Edit: Bumped because it's so interesting, and is seasonal. Embryonic indexes have their uses. Not bumped so as to pester Roger - though if he has old pictures, it would be nice to see them, and hear some stories.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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hey Roger, the answer is YES, we want to see your pictures!
(haven't you got them scanned yet?!)
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Hey guys, that post was from Apirl of 07. It is a new year. No fair. Anyway, I was just jerking Mark's chain and pointing out my totally different (and misguided, it turns out) approach to the purpose of climbing: I thought it was to have fun and Mark thought it was to be hard--really, really hard.
OK, OK. Sometimes we fun loving guys were really, really hard too, but I ain't showing you any pictures taken in some cozy dorm room.
And, no, Ed, I have not scanned in my pictures. Not even the sunlite granite ones.
Happy New Year.
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FeelioBabar
climber
Sneaking up behind you...
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Cool pics. Thanks for sharing.
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Ihateplastic
Trad climber
Lake Oswego, Oregon
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A brief anecdote to tap onto this thread.
The climb of Sentinel Falls was reported in Mountain magazine #42 (March/April 1975.) In the same column is a brief report on Chapman's and Worral's ascent of The Widow's Tear. The headline was, 'Frozen Yosemite waterfalls climbed by Chapman and Worral."
Sometime after the issue came out I was hanging around C4 when I saw Mark walk into the site where Bridwell an Worral were hanging out. Bridwell announced loudly, "Chapman climbs frozen Worral!" To a young, impressionable mind this was the funniest and coolest thing I had ever heard.
Aside: Mark... I used to work at Mountain Life in Campbell with Dan McHale, Mark Rodell, Bob Todd, Bill Burns, Jack Forsythe, etc. I climbed mostly with Blanchard, Glen Garland, etc. I remember the day you came in and we all checked out the new Ascent magazine with your Owl Roof shots. Cool stuff!
Simon
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mooch
Big Wall climber
The Immaculate Conception
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Awe struck!! A wonderful gem to post up Mark!!
Thanks,
Dave
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pyro
Big Wall climber
Calabasas
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Jan 25, 2010 - 10:15pm PT
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killer!
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Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
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Jan 25, 2010 - 10:30pm PT
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Noyce tools! I'd say those make it at least two grades harder.
Boyz didn't even have any Terros? Sheeesh!
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hoipolloi
climber
A friends backyard with the neighbors wifi
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Jan 25, 2010 - 10:42pm PT
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A nice dig up from the bowels of the topo.
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Flanders!
Trad climber
June Lake, CA
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Jan 25, 2010 - 11:25pm PT
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nice one Chappy,
great to see some pics of Valley ice history.
I missed this one the 1st time around, glad it
got resurrected .
Doug
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Jan 26, 2010 - 06:19pm PT
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Sheeeeit!
Awesome and understated TR.
I laughed at corduroy bell bottoms. And then I shivered.
Reading it, I was wondering: "OMG they didn't bivvy a second night did they?"
Very well done.
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MisterE
Social climber
Across Town From Easy Street
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Apr 18, 2010 - 04:44pm PT
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Love this story.
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Apr 18, 2010 - 10:23pm PT
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hey there mrE... wow, a chappy bump! ... nice job, mrE!
say, i know he is busy and most likely won't see this, but:
i love my brother... :)
>:D<
*happy work season, to you ol' chappy!
(say, i just met a friend from england and her grandmother was a
chapman too... oh my!)
(the name is more popular, there, than it as for us, as kids...
though, i have seen it more common now, on the net, than in the phone books, back in our day)...
back to the chappy story...
:)
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ec
climber
ca
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Apr 18, 2010 - 11:17pm PT
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Thx!
In the pics the ice seemed mighty sparse compared to when I did it in the mid-80's. Leversee, Mark Sergent, Gagner and I thought we could xc-ski out to the thing. The road was bare and had to hoof it from Badger carrying our skis. While on the route it snowed like Hell and it took more than a moment to find our stash after the climb. I was so tired during the marginal ski back. Several times I kept having a vision of Gagner kneeling on the road in the ski trail, so real I was blown away that he wasn't really there. By the third time I said to myself, "F*ck-it" and bowled right over him!
 ec
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F10
Trad climber
e350 / Bishop
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Apr 18, 2010 - 11:48pm PT
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I remember seeing this post earlier, great stuff.
This is why most of us hang out here on the Taco.
Keep it up
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Bldrjac
Ice climber
Boulder
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Apr 19, 2010 - 12:28am PT
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Mark,
Good job finding those photos and posting them...........Ah, those were the days.
Jim Orey is a pilot flying out of Sacramento. Last I heard he was doing well but hasn't climbed in years. Hope you are still enjoying the beaches of S. Cal.
Jack Roberts
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Fuzzywuzzy
climber
suspendedhappynation
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Aug 22, 2010 - 01:08am PT
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Roger.....
"PS: Anyone want to see my old images of sunlit granite and well appointed dorm rooms?"
Yes Yes Yes!
Just spent the day with Janet - Jim Orey's partner. They still climb a bit and are very well in Truckee!!
TC
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the kid
Trad climber
fayetteville, wv
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Aug 22, 2010 - 01:44pm PT
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very cool photos and story mark!
keep on scanning...
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Double D
climber
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Aug 22, 2010 - 02:26pm PT
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Missed this first time around. Thanks for the story Mark. I remember when you and Kevin showed your slides in the valley of Widow's Tears. Inspiring.
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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Aug 22, 2010 - 04:58pm PT
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Man, talk about blasts from the past.
You guys really rocked!!!! (or iced, more appropriately). . .
Awesome!!!!
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Gagner
climber
Boulder
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Aug 22, 2010 - 09:33pm PT
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Eddie's story from when he and Leversee and I did the upper falls in the mid-80's missed one important point - there was so much water running on top of the ice that by the time we were at the top of the first pitch we were soaked - I had a similiar experience on Silver Strand years later. Must be just standard fare for climbing ice in Yosemite. That's why, Eddie, we were "hallucinating" on the way back - besides the long ski, slog there and back.
Paul
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