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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 27, 2007 - 09:57am PT
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For most of us, "The Night Climbers of Cambridge" (1937) is unknown. It is a very rare book and would have been destined to disappear completely, most likely. But here is a site that has transcribed the whole thing!
http://www.insectnation.org/projects/nightclimbers/html/
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stevep
Boulder climber
Salt Lake, UT
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Aug 27, 2007 - 10:10am PT
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Cool. Thanks for posting. I spent most of a year at Cambridge, and never saw a copy.
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TwistedCrank
climber
The banks of reality
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Aug 27, 2007 - 10:25am PT
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Once again those Brits were way ahead of their time. I've spent time at 4 different American universities - each with their own after-dark buildering circuits. Nothing compares to the highballs those Cambridge boys were putting up.
I like this 5 foot death fall.
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PhilG
Trad climber
The Circuit, Tonasket WA
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Aug 27, 2007 - 12:22pm PT
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Thanks Peter, cool post. I haven't seen this book in years! This book inspired my brother to put up "routes" on our house in So Cal.
Cheers
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Aug 27, 2007 - 01:23pm PT
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Thanks, Peter! That's awesome. I once skimmed a copy of Night Climbers that a friend has, but didn't have a chance to read it. For those interested:
Table of Contents
1. Multum In Parvo
2. Chiefly Padding
3. On Climbing In
4. For Beginners Only
5. Drain-Pipes
6. On Chimneys
7. The Old Library
8. Here and There
9. St. John's'
10. St. John's Chapel
11. Pembroke
12. Trinity
13. King's and Clare
14. The Chapel
15. The Chapel Again
16. Saying Good-bye
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LongAgo
Trad climber
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Aug 27, 2007 - 08:16pm PT
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Peter,
Many thanks for the find. I recall reading this book way back when, but can't recall where or when (it may be Chris Jones has or had it in his library). What a pleasure to read ye old British telling the climbing tale. Talk about a way with words. Don't you love, for instance:
"A clumsy party sometimes causes a petulant old head to come to a window to see what all the clatter is about ..."
How many times does one see the beautiful descriptors "clumsy" or "petulant" or "clatter" for that matter, all making for a rich, pleasurable read.
Wonder if UC Berkeley library has a copy. I might look.
Thanks again,
Tom Higgins
LongAgo
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Doug Robinson
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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Aug 27, 2007 - 09:16pm PT
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Quite simply the finest climbing bookever written. From page 2:
"This absence of literature on the subject can be easily understood. The college authorities, acting presumably on purely humanitarian motives, have set their offical faces against roof-climbing, and no one would have it otherwise. It may lop off many a would-be climber who cannot risk being sent down [= "rusticated" = expelled], and keep many an adventurous spirit from the roof-tops, drain-pipes and chimneys, but this official disapproval is the sap which gives roof-climbing its sweetness. Without it, it would tend to deteriorate into a set of gymnastic exercises. Modesty drives the roof-climber to operate by night; the proctorial frown makes him an outlaw. And outlaws keep no histories."
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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Aug 27, 2007 - 10:53pm PT
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Priceless!
Who would have thought that fleeting electrons would preserve
what on the printed page would doubtless
be lost
forever.
Or, at least lie forgotten.
Wasted!
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 27, 2007 - 11:19pm PT
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Great observation, TGT, thanks---yeah who would have thought......and here it is, 2007, seventy years later..... I remember this book for sale at The Ski Hut, back in the early sixties then under the tutelage of magician Al Steck; it was put even in their catalog. I never bought it then; I was just a kid and it seemed arcane and stuffy, hard for me to access. And yet, what they did back then, was what we immediately continued to do at UC Berkeley, the downtown, and onwards at our respective colleges. It pointed out the real nature of our art---utterly useless, really aesthetic, nearly violently rebellious, and thus deeply satisfying, even to the point that we ventured to die doing this kooky stuff. Kind of what we see today in Parcour. I think the belief is that inside of physical movement, lie the biggest secrets. A position that has drawn us all upwards, regardless.
Yeah Tom/LongAgo and Dougie/DR, truly wondrous writing, isn’t it. Thank god this character put it up on the Web. He went on to write a work of fiction, based on this book. There is even a video of him discussing it. Clever. Haven’t read it though. Thanks Ourom;/Mighty Hiker for posting the TofC. Certainly revealing isn’t it.
best to you, Ph.
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steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
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Check this out. I spotted this at at bookstore today.
Synopsis below...
From Publishers Weekly
British author Stourton's ambitious debut paints a complex, if often predictable, portrait of collegiate hedonism and friends bound by a terrible secret. As an awkward first-year at Cambridge's Tudor College, James fears he'll never join the ranks of his privileged classmates. But when a chance encounter introduces him to a close-knit group of friends devoted to scaling the college's buildings in the dead of night, James finds himself drawn into a world of excess and adventure. Francis, the group's charismatic leader, is adored by the beautiful but aloof Jessica, on whom James harbors a secret crush. The group is rounded out by Lisa, with her eye for shady business deals, and Michael, the blustery jock. After Francis's father, Lord Soulford, cuts off his son's monthly allowance, the friends hatch a plan to maintain their lavish lifestyle that will have disastrous consequences for years to come. With undeniable echoes of Donna Tartt's The Secret History, the novel juggles too many story lines to sustain the suspense needed for such a complicated tale. Still, Stourton is a name to watch. (Sept.)
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Feb 25, 2009 - 03:58pm PT
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Bump for another of Peter's fine threads, literature, and climbing.
(Note that the book "Night Climbers" is a relatively recent mystery. "Night Climbers of Cambridge" is from the 1930s.)
We could have a thread just on climbing on buildings at colleges and universities. Anybody here done that?
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Feb 25, 2009 - 04:10pm PT
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Dang...another book to go and find!
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MH2
climber
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Feb 25, 2009 - 04:30pm PT
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Oxford had its builderers, too. There is brief mention in Raymond Greene's Moments of Being. Greene would have been a student in the 1920s. To give the flavor of his writing:
"The ascent of the Martyrs' Memorial had become unpopular in my undergraduate days because the Oxford University Mountaineering Club believed, like all reputable climbing clubs, in a reasonable respect for human life, especially one's own..."
"Counsell liked the human race and about its individuals he formed his own opinions..."
There was a student at Brown circa 1970 who modeled himself after the Night Climbers, going out in black clothes and blacking his face. He discovered that one of the buildings housing incunabula had vibration-senstive alarms in its windows, but he himself was not discovered, having got to the roof before security arrived. He also once climbed the dome of the state legislature in Providence, the second-largest unsupported marble dome in the world after St. Peter's. For that he chose a night when the lighting on the dome had failed.
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 25, 2009 - 05:20pm PT
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That's good news Clint, thanks.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Feb 25, 2009 - 05:26pm PT
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Wonderful news - I'll order a copy asap.
"There was a student at Brown circa 1970 who modeled himself after the Night Climbers, going out in black clothes and blacking his face. He discovered that one of the buildings housing incunabula had vibration-senstive alarms in its windows, but he himself was not discovered, having got to the roof before security arrived. He also once climbed the dome of the state legislature in Providence, the second-largest unsupported marble dome in the world after St. Peter's. For that he chose a night when the lighting on the dome had failed."
Maybe not the kind of thing you'd want to try nowadays, what with homeland insecurity and such around.
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scuffy b
climber
just below the San Andreas
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Feb 25, 2009 - 06:02pm PT
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The last apartment I lived in as a student at UCSB,
we used a flue as summit register, had about 4 contrivances
up the building.
UC Berkeley has lots of climbs. I suspect there's little
continuity over the years, with some climbs completely unknown
to climbers of an earlier or later time.
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Ihateplastic
Trad climber
Lake Oswego, Oregon
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Feb 25, 2009 - 06:03pm PT
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Another book I sold in a fit of stupidity.
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Feb 25, 2009 - 06:18pm PT
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I was in Cambridge last summer and the Whipplesnaith re-issue was a surprise bestseller. They had it on the front table in the bookstore, along with stacks of postcards, so the tourists could grab a copy and then walk out into the street at look up at the summit of King's Chapel.
The authorities have installed anti-climber battlements on all of the most desireable towers-- typically rows of sharp wooden stakes at key crux passages. They look like hell.
Geoffrey Winthrop Young's Roffclimber's Guide to Trinity College (1899) was the first. Here's a contemporary review:
http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/smcj/smcj032/smcj03207.htm
And here's a complete bibliography just for the guides to Cambridge:
http://cucc.survex.com/archive/jnl/1983/roof.htm
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pip the dog
Mountain climber
planet dogboy
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Feb 27, 2009 - 01:57am PT
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[Warning ‘Dogboy’ Is Irish Slang For Endless Prattle. Think PgDn key]
In my ‘ute I went to this expensive old college on the east coast. I mostly starved and got kicked out twice (after midterms) for having not nearly enough cash.
But one of the stellar things about this place is that sometime back in the late 50’s one of my predecessor classmates had whiffed and bought it up in the Selkirk’s (.ca). And no disrespect to him (it’s a miracle I haven’t done the same since), the upside is that his family, one of enormous wealth, paid for a couple of swank buildings on campus in his honor.
They also, bless them, left a huge endowment for climbing books in the university library. I suspect, that outside of the AAC collection (and even they would love some of this stuff) – the widest and deepest collection of climbing guides and memoirs in the states. Simply massive. Certainly cost me a few decimal points off my GPA for all those hours when I should have been reading something else remotely related to my coursework
One of these books was a very early edition (perhaps first edition) of “The Night Climbers of Cambridge" I swallowed it whole. Then gave it to one or two of my actual climber classmates who did the same.
Soon after, we all had certain “ideas” – and as then in our youth, soon acted upon them.
It’s a wonder we survived these ‘ideas’. This campus is famous for it’s “gothic” architecture – even though most of it was built in the early thirties by skilled (and vastly underpaid) european immigrants using dollars from the roaring twenties that someone very well connected was tipped off not to loose in ’29.
Hence the number of hilarious and mocking gargoyles that can still be found there. I still especially like the gargoyle taking a poop onto all below from atop the high entryway above of the many undergraduate colleges. My own people were of and from the trades, so I ‘got it’ – yet it still kinda made me feel like a traitor to my people.
The stone they used for most of this ‘gothic’ building is a variant of the local trapstone. It has all manner of schwell fingery holds – but none of them especially reliable, especially as it was cut and cracked by people and not by nature. That and it is also in the middle of a swamp of local acid smoke and acid rain. In short, none of those crimpers could really be trusted.
We did all manner of stupid stuff, most often at night. My much missed younger brother ‘Ant’ (from the .wreck) did much of this stuff nearly two decades later. Only he somehow got permission to do much of it with a rope and in broad daylight. Or so I understand. Stuff like the outer Farnam Hall wall... probably fun with a rope from above -- but sheer terror without a rope in the dark with the holds popping off.
I have a friend who was one then one of our three climbing mouseketeers, and I am certain he still has his photo of a rather memorable moment. When I next find him I’ll get a copy and post it.
For at the main gate entryway to “Old Campus” (where the freshmen lived) – just 30 feet from the campus police office (the university paid for local _real_ police, who tolerated no such hijiinks), there was this old(ish) formed cement gateway arch. Surely 25’ high at it’s apex. And climbing either side of it was no big shakes. We had all done it (in the dark, very late at night).
But it was the crossover at the top – going from arms up and feet below to the switch-over to feet below on the downside that was the crux. And to our knowledge no one had ever done it. (I now suspect someone had, having read "The Night Climbers of Cambridge")
So one day, like on an early Tuesday morning with not much traffic, I get it in my idiot doggie head that I can tag the whole thing. My pals urge me to reconsider. But no, off I go. The up was, as we all knew, easy enough. But there at the peak of the archway it suddenly it got rather hard as I let my feet drop and then tried to reconnect for the easy trip back down the other side.
And as my luck would have it (if you know irish-gaelic, you know that any generic reference to the generic 'dog' has nothing to do with an actual dog -- it has rather to do with stunningly bad luck), like 5 or 6 of the local take-no-prisoners city cops (at the moment in university cop duds) suddenly step out for a cigarette, or a conference, or lord knows what.
And there I am at the crux all fooked and looking down at them. Fook! My fellow mousekateers quick back way off. And me, I just hang there hoping that none of the grim heavies with badges actually look up.
It seemed like forever, but eventually they all head back into their orifice. And with what little juice I have left I spin and get my feet locked into the downside and quick slither down for a much needed diaper change.
Never again did I try that. One of my fellow mousekateers just there just then took a photo of me at the top of that arch with the 5 or six cops hovering under me. Funny shot – well, now from a distance of many years.
I was a freshman then. Over the years that followed I got at least a half dozen tickets from those humorless police dudes for "damaging university buildings" (with my fingers and fires). Fortunately, the dean of my residential college was an occasional climber (we used to take him to Ragged – in his car of course as none of us had one) -- so he kindly used what horsepower he had to make those tickies pretty much disappear. This after extracting a full on irish catholic pledge from me that I would never do _ that _ again. Errrrrp…
~~~
All that said, what those kids were doing at Cambridge in the 20’s and 30’s made our teeny bopper escapades seem preschool. And rightly so. (And we had at least the first generation of sticky rubber.) Later I spent a year at Oxford. And there, then, I can assure you that no one got more than 5 feet off the ground without getting quick plucked off by a porter – with all manner of whistles and sirens going off. Well, perhaps some did. Only I was never with-it enough to even hear of it.
~~~
I sometimes kinda wish I had stolen that book back when I was starving among such wealth and had finally figured out how to use a battery powered cassette tape head demagnetizer to “borrow, long term” other texts I actually needed for my classes and couldn't begin to afford. But soon I figured out that the same tape head demagnitizer worked equally well at the university bookstore, so I left my beloved library largely unscathed. Better it be left for all.
Thanks for the memories….
^,,^
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Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
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Feb 27, 2009 - 02:16am PT
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dog,
I hope your long-suffering mother won't be reading this sad tale. But I'm glad I did.
Ta,
Reilly
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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Feb 27, 2009 - 02:25am PT
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Great Posting Peter
I acquired a copy of NCOC while soulfully employed at the Hut back in the late 50s. Still have the copy but it is packed away with a zillion other books. Pratt, Roper, Steck and a host of other employees were known to sneak out at night and partake in such antics so well portrayed in that classic book. One of our fav excursions was to sneak into the womens gym for a buttass naked dip.
One Easter morning, a large stuffed rabbit was discovered impaled on the pole at the top of the Campanile Tower on the UC campus. Steeplejacks were hired from San Francisco but were unable to reach to rabbit. The University put out a plea for the individuals responsible for such a deed to please return and remove the rabbit. No charges would be filed, just get the dam rabbit off the Tower.
The following is from a post on Coonyard Pinnacle a while back:
"We used to do a bit of night time "buildering" on the UC Berkeley campus back them. Especially after a Sun evening dinner of the Sierra Rock Climbing session. Amply lubricated with cheap red wine we would venture out and climb. I remember one embarrassing encounter when we were "busted" by the UC police as we were making the leap from the roof of a ticket booth to a wall. They found our gallon stash of wine under Roper"s car, poured it out in front of us and commented, "you guys really drink this sh#t! "They called my mom and I got in some serious trouble at home. My parents took away my climbing shoes and I was not allowed to associate with the likes of Roper for some time. Since I was working part time at the Ski Hut, I just bought another pair and rendezvoused with Roper several blocks from my home whenever he could "borrow" his moms car. All seems quite funny and innocent by today's standard."
cheers
Guido
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Feb 27, 2009 - 02:36am PT
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Buildering was very popular at UBC in the 1960s and 1970s, and there was at one time quite a detailed guidebook.
TNCOC was first published in 1937, then reprinted in 1938, 1953, and 1954. The author, "Whipplesnaith", was a pseudonym.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_Climbers_of_Cambridge
It was reprinted in 2007, by Oleander Press. If nothing else, one can order a copy directly from them:
http://www.oleanderpress.co.uk/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=168&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=26&vmcchk=1&Itemid=26
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le_bruce
climber
Oakland: what's not to love?
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Feb 27, 2009 - 03:11am PT
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Cal's got it, you'd just have to request from NRLF, their holding facility in Richmond:
UC Berkeley Libraries (1 of 1 copies available)
Location Call # Status Notes
Main Stack LF129 .W5 1937 Not Checked Out Not checked out. NRLF #: $B 114 142
"The Great Escape" or "Saw bobbies so back rapidly"
Incredible reading!
http://www.insectnation.org/projects/nightclimbers/html/c281.html#AEN341
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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Feb 27, 2009 - 03:28am PT
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Now that is a book I would love to have in my library.
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pip the dog
Mountain climber
planet dogboy
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Feb 27, 2009 - 07:40am PT
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Reilly,
> I hope your long-suffering mother won't be reading this sad tale.
Funny thing is that my mother and the other extant elders of my clan to this day call me the “quiet and focused” one of my many many siblings. Sheeesh. They still think I just forever go back to nepal to go hiking. I take care when showing them slides to limit the images to ‘hiking’ on trails.
I guess this makes a particle of sense as my many siblings exploits tended to involve long lines of police cars, lights blazing and sirens howling. So I guess in relative terms…
I also spent much time further bankrupting my fool self at UC Bezerkely, but never went buildering there – what with Indian Rocks and it’s lesser known outliers so close. That and of course the valley and the rest of the sierras at hand. Why do you think I picked bezerkely after so many years of tidily little ho-hum crags…
And, remarkably enough, I am the quiet one of the clan (all things are relative). Imagine what a family gathering of my people sounds like...
~~~
le_bruce,
Outstanding image you posted there. I especially liked the 'topo'. "First man caught here. Second fled thus..."
Priceless. Ah to be "Free Again!"
^,,^
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Feb 27, 2009 - 08:50pm PT
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"Like characters from Buchan crossing a Scottish moor on a stormy night, they are silent and solitary, mysterious and unknown except to their own circle, preferring to live their own epics to reading those of others."
Damn!. I'm busted.
Z
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Feb 27, 2009 - 08:57pm PT
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"Strength of arm is more important in roof-climbing than in mountain-climbing. Yet it is surprising how little need be used."
Ouch! busted again.
little z
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Tom
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
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Feb 28, 2009 - 03:01am PT
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But the exaltation will come later. When all is over, you will enjoy facing your bed-maker's cross-examination, replying to her queries by a bland look of innocence and a rather fatuous grin. You will bounce about with tremendous satisfaction, and feel more pleasure in living than you have ever known. The exaltation resulting from a difficult climb lasts for about three days, and during that time you will feel the devil of a fellow.
 King's Chapel climber
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Mar 14, 2009 - 02:45pm PT
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I ordered a copy from Oleander Press on March 4th, and it arrived today. Cost 16.95 pounds, plus 6 pounds shipping = 22.95. That works out to C$42.75. It looks fascinating, and I can't wait to start reading.
It came with two really cool postcards - copies of prints from the book, maybe - which are almost as good as those which Simon sends to winners of his contests. I'll see if I can get them scanned and posted.
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mongrel
Trad climber
Truckee, CA
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Mar 14, 2009 - 03:05pm PT
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Blast from the past! to find this far-from-forgotten book resurrected on ST. But I am mildly disappointed that Clint did not comment on our own US night climbers of Cambridge: the generations (?) of Harvard Mtnrg Club members who diligently placed a pumpkin on Memorial Hall every Halloween no matter what the weather. This was a 3-pitch climb not entirely trivial, especially in freezing rain: double lieback up a steeply sloping lintel stone, friction up the slate and copper flashing (yow! when wet), heart-stopping explosions of the huge flock of sleeping pigeons at the last belay ledge inside the upper part of the tower, all the ingredients of a great night climb (along with, pretty much no pro, the rare sling looped around something which would likely pull off if you fell). There were many other good building climbs around Cambridge (MA); plus more in Boston. Seems to me I recall Sam Streibert who was an architect or engineer used to design heinous wide cracks into parking structures. Maybe Alan Rubin can fill us in more, including where these little nightmares are to be found.
Later, we exported the pumpkin tradition to Duke, where it was a big hit. More on that one when I dig out and scan some action photos from the Chapel ascent. This one needed to be even more stealthy than the usual night ascent of a landmark building, because my partner had previously been busted on the climb (well, presumably after the last rappel): they had decided to fire off a couple salvoes of bottle rockets from the top. And this wasn't expected to attract attention of campus police???
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Mar 14, 2009 - 03:12pm PT
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OK, here ya go:
But I never climbed it in freezing rain.
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John Morton
climber
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Mar 15, 2009 - 03:58pm PT
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Peter, thanks for posting this marvelous discovery. I too had lost track of my precious Night Climbers, borrowed and never returned. It was read by all in the Berkeley campus scene, and we greatly appreciated the boldness and humor of our esteemed predecessors. Many of us had read most of the postwar Alpine Journals (British) from cover to cover.
The British have a talent for understated humor and dry cynicism that makes great reading. In fact it's a real downer to pick up a Rock & Ice after finishing one of those great tales of Brown, Whillans, Patey.
John
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Mar 16, 2009 - 02:56am PT
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hey there peter hann... say, had not seen this... interesting... thanks for the share...
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Hopefully there won't be a sequel "The Night BASE Jumpers of Cambridge". :-)
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Ontario, Canada, eh?
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They even include beer!
Finally, a word about sobriety. By far the greater number of men climb sober, and for an expert climber it is ably better to do so. One man has told the writer that he notices a deterioration in his climbing after a single glass of beer. Another would never climb unless he was three-parts drunk, however, and was then extremely efficient. Whether drink improves climbing or causes it to deteriorate depends upon the character and constitution of each particular man. Where it gives "Dutch courage" without impairing muscular control, it may send a moderate climber soaring up places that defy the sober expert. Under the influence of alcohol, a man with an object in view often acquires an accentuated power of concentration upon one object. And if that object be climbing, he will climb brilliantly. Many men must have noticed that it is easier to climb into college while intoxicated, and the same applies sometimes to serious climbing.
Nevertheless, it is dangerous to attempt a serious climb while drunk or under the influence of drink. For the climber may "sober up" at the crucial point of the climb and lose his "Dutch courage". And while on one occasion drink may improve the standard of climbing, the next night it may have precisely the opposite effect.
Besides, a climber is continually conquering his fear, and enjoys doing so. If he allows drink to do this for him, is it not a confession that he cannot do so alone? It may at first need more courage to do an easy climb while sober than a difficult climb while drunk, but then the lesser climb is the greater achievement.
We used to do some nighttime buildering at university BITD. One time we set a toprope on this rather sweet 4-story-high dihedral, might have gone about 5.9. Another time I was liebacking up a drainpipe and was about three stories off the deck when the bloody thing started coming detached from the wall! Yikes! Had to slither back down - carefully.
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noshoesnoshirt
climber
dangling off a wind turbine in a town near you
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Beautiful publication, worth the coin
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Hmm, I wonder if I get the discount retroactively, having tipped off Jon about SuperTopo and this thread when I ordered the book? Maybe I'll have to order another copy.
Seems like a nice fellow and good organization - he responded very quickly to messages about shipping and such. Well worth supporting a specialty press.
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hobo_dan
Social climber
Minnesota
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I'm in
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 8, 2009 - 04:42pm PT
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Another similar book, much more modern---actually current---is L.A. Climbs. The author does routes and famous architecture in Los Angeles and has a commentary binding the architecture and the climbing together. I have to get it and read it. Here is the Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Climbs-Alternative-Uses-Architecture/dp/190103349X
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deuce4
climber
Hobart, Australia
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May 22, 2009 - 06:34pm PT
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This is by far my most favorite Supertopo post. I really enjoy seeing it each time it makes its periodic appearance on the front page.
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hooblie
climber
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May 22, 2009 - 08:29pm PT
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ok, i've seen this thread early in my st experience but now i realize it's more on topic than most, and some folks seem to be from santa cruz, so here's to memorialize a 1970 ascent of the library at ucsc by an early partner of mine, dave huntley, one of the original marmot mtn. boys. it involved some drilling and when he served some form of pennance i was less than sympathetic. i had an unqualified reverance for every ediface on campus and felt like the quarry was bootleg enough. does that make me a bad person?
also i arrived on the doorstep of my parents home in los altos with a van load of yosemite climbers that needed to get to the airport after a mass bivy. ed drummond was on board. i was dimly aware that his route naming on the sea cliffs in (wales?) met with my approval, but his inventory of buildering accomplishments seemed dubious. he assured me that the need for steeplejacks was a legitimate trade.since then i have always considered that someone gets to place that last lightning rod on the top of some tower or other. so thankyou to him for openning my eyes to the tippy top summit when i survey an architectural masterpiece.
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DrDeeg
Mountain climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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May 22, 2009 - 09:07pm PT
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Peter,
Thanks for the post. In the 1960s I read and loved the book. A couple of years ago I searched on the web for a first edition and all the prices were in the $300-1000 range.
Imagine some of the difficulties. They could only climb the buildings at night, and in the 1930s flash photography was done with a view camera and flash powder. After getting their picture, they feared the flash would attract attention. They had to hastily disassemble their "impedimenta" as they called their equipment and flee rapidly.
J
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Eric Beck
Sport climber
Bishop, California
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May 22, 2009 - 09:31pm PT
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I actually have a copy, given to me quite a while ago by my late uncle, a physicist at Los Alamos. He introduced me to climbing when i was 10, taking me up Lake Peak above Santa Fe and Mt Sneffels in the San Juans in Colorado.
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 22, 2009 - 09:43pm PT
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You are welcome Deeg! Thanks also Eric for your recollection. I had no idea how you had started climbing! Wow Deucie! Thanks for that comment. Hooblie, that is fascinating, and one of them was Ed Ward.....
Frankly I am surprised that this thread not only keeps going but has attracted as many posts as it has. A good thing, for sure.
best to you characters, p
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hooblie
climber
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May 22, 2009 - 10:05pm PT
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how to put this delicately. oh well, if he (drummond) is still around, and any body cares, i'm pretty sure he was compiling a guide or at least a list of buildering ascents in berkley/s.f. he was not just passing thru the valley, i got the idea he was playing out a visa, semi resident.
i'm going to say he had a card or something, at least presented himself as a steeplejack for hire. i learned the word from him. you history buffs might fuzz him up for the scoop. if he has passed, and this is common knowledge, then shame on me. this is getting awkward
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Captain...or Skully
Social climber
Mare Infinitum
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Nov 23, 2009 - 08:16pm PT
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I wonder how I missed This thread for so long?
I've heard of the book, have never seen it, though. Awesome find, that.
Ya know...I read a sci fi book that used the premise.....think it was in Cambridge, too.
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dirt claud
Sport climber
san diego,ca
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Oct 12, 2010 - 12:30pm PT
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great find,thanks
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Tricouni
Mountain climber
Vancouver
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Oct 12, 2010 - 01:08pm PT
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There was another book on Cambridge nightclimbing, appropriately called "Cambridge Nightclimbing" by "Hederatus." Published in hardcover in 1970, and scarce.
It's very much in the manner of Whipplesnaith, and deals with the classic climbs and some new routes. It begins, in typical British style:
"Cambridge has a lot to offer the student. The academic demands are neither stringent nor time consuming. One is not compelled to go to lectures or forced to produce essays, though such activities are actively encouraged. Consequ3ntly most students have time on their hands. The river is attractive and relaxing, the backs are inviting, punting is a novelty, parties abound, coffee is liberal: what a way to spend one's days."
Worth keeping an eye out for at garage sales & used book stores ...
Glenn
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Rockin' Gal
Trad climber
Boulder
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I am not a collector, but I managed to get a copy of NCOC around 15 years ago. I'm taking it on my climbing trip this weekend to Vedauwoo. Classic!
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neversummer
Trad climber
30 mins. from suicide USA
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Aug 10, 2011 - 11:43am PT
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BUMP.
Was watching the American ninja comp in venice yesterday on tv and it made me think of cambridge.
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Seamstress
Trad climber
Yacolt, WA
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Aug 10, 2011 - 12:03pm PT
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I missed this thread...buildering is a fine tradition at many East Coast insistutions of higher learning and the private high schools. I wasn't a climber at the time, but the architecture just begs you to pull on that ivy and go skyward. I do believe one tale told in this thread was about my alma mater. The buildering can be viewed as the precursor to the climbing gym and probably enhanced the skills of the silver spoon folks who took the lead in early American climbing.
NOw I have a couple of books to put on my reading list.....
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Seamstress
Trad climber
Yacolt, WA
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Aug 10, 2011 - 12:15pm PT
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I found a rare 1st edition is available at Powells Books for $175. I did not buy it, but I may look at it...and the discount code is no longer valid. It has been a couple of years.
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steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
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Mar 10, 2012 - 03:29pm PT
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For anyone running an iPad, there's an Amazon Kindle app you can download for free and you can chuck this book in for free this weekend as well.
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Andy Fielding
Trad climber
UK
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Mar 10, 2012 - 03:45pm PT
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Thanks for the link. Have just downloaded Kindle and the book onto my Mac. The back cover of the book has an interesting comment right at the end.
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Mar 11, 2012 - 06:04am PT
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hey there, say.... nice interesting bump, :)
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 11, 2012 - 10:26am PT
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Actually, on a Mac as well, not just iOs devices.
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Mar 11, 2012 - 11:39am PT
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Just got it - thanks...
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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hey there say, ... bump for all the new folks...
this is always interesting to find... and it recently came to
mind, this eve...
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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Feb 22, 2018 - 02:38pm PT
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Ya know, I was the recipient of that book from my supertaco santa a number of years back!
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jogill
climber
Colorado
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Feb 22, 2018 - 03:58pm PT
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I had a copy (Night Climbers Of Cambridge) back in the mid 1950s, but it disappeared at some point since.
A friend and I night-climbed on the Georgia Tech campus during 1954 to 1956. I first used chalk there, leaving mysterious handprints for security people to ponder.
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