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bob
climber
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Topic Author's Original Post - Sep 8, 2007 - 04:34pm PT
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Was wondering what that thing is like in the x-factor areas? I've done a bit o routes up on Fairview and was thinking on getting into some more of that pucker stuff I used to love if I can get my bud Jake to split the stress. Cheers!!!!!!
Bob J.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Yeah, tell us a story Kurt!
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Jello
Social climber
No Ut
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Yeah, burn down the Taco Stand, Kurt. Let's have it!
-Jello
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spyork
Social climber
A prison of my own creation
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Maybe slightly OT, but as I was standing at the bolt on Inverted Staircase where A Farewell to Kings runs right thru, I spied the lower bolt far away and it just chilled me to see that runout.
Any stories about that one?
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the kid
Trad climber
fayetteville, wv
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Sep 10, 2007 - 09:10am PT
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I'm honored by your requests so i will now go into story mode...
ahh..... the good ole days. to be 20 again!!!!
It was the end of the summer of 1984. my confidence is up after doing the B&Y and a handful of FAS all summer long...
I had just put up "math of the Pastor" and "Defenders of the Faith" on the Whales Back, and in doing so spent a lot of time looking up at the "Dark Side" of Fairview.....
I spied a nice looking set of arches into a white streak and more arches. In looking through the guide book the left side of Fairview was wide open. So being the junkie for adventure i thought i would have a go at it...
Enter Steve Schneider- we both spent the summer on meadows YOSAR and were doing some climbing together. I mentioned the line and we hiked to the base for a look and decided it looked promising...
We spent the first day getting through the first big arch and wanting to follow in the footsteps of Kamps, Clevenger and Bachar and try to use bolts only as a last resort...I lead the first pitch through the arch and get us established on the face. Steve leads the next pitch across the face and onto the white streak and we rap off and call it a day. This is where it get good..
Vern and Claude find out what we were up to and come by camp to have a chat.. It gets heated when they tell us Fairview is their domain, all the best routes have been done already and that we are not ready to play on the big rocks yet...
Well we are young, brash and not wanting to hear any of it so we end the conversation with a wait and see..
the next day we return with a mission. BOLTS ONLY WHEN needed, and then "maybe" at that...We are motivated by the challenge of our peers and decide to make a statement...
Instead of fixing pitches we rapped that first day and when returning decide to lead each others pitches and get a feel for the team and vision of the line. I take the lead @ the high point and start up the white streak... 75'and a nut or cam later i get a stance and bring up Steve. He has the next arch and punches it with 2 bolts up the face above. He brings me up and i have a traverse right onto a steep face and overlapping arches.. i place a bolt begrudgingly and it turns out to be a spinner.. i punch it higher as it looks easy and end up 45' above the spinner looking at a greasy mantle (.10+)into a slick scoop... I quiver (really gripped) and manage to keep going to the belay..... Steve follows and we are on easy ground and top out in the dark....
Celebratory dinner at TPR and the day is done....
Our statement is more of keeping with tradition and using the drill only when needed and letting the line dictate the pro. It helped that we had extra fuel and the end result is 7 lead bolts and 5 belay bolts for 9 pitches of climbing hardest being 5.11c...
Again, for me, not the hardest FA I've done, but one I will remember for the partner i had and the vision that the line presented to me and the extra encouragement to keep it within Meadows Tradition....
So the guess the 2nd ascent is still waiting, so have at it and i think with the modern gear of today you may scratch out a small cam here and there....
Ahh....to be 20 again.....
ks
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seamus mcshane
climber
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Sep 10, 2007 - 09:20am PT
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Thanks Kurt!
I've always wondered what the "mota"-vation was behind that ascent.
Great piece of TM history! sm
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bob
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 10, 2007 - 10:41am PT
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Awsome Kurt! Thankyou for that one. Must say I am second guessing my motivation, but that's what those stories do. Never know til one tries, right? Nice job!!!!!!!!
Bob J.
PS I could look at it as a bolt replacement job. I have some ASCA bolts for that purpose, but...........wouldn't that be a bit of an oxymoron(sp?)? Imagine "American Safe Climbing Ass." bolts on a climb that is undoubtably UNSAFE no matter what the metal is like.
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the kid
Trad climber
fayetteville, wv
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Sep 10, 2007 - 11:30am PT
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only one way to find out what it is like...get on up there!
with the mini cams and other gear gadgets, there may be some decent gear on the arches...
on the faces you are on your own...
now i would look at "a farewell to kings".
Scott Burke and myself tried to get in as many bolts as we could stance and still let the line flow... more bolts and gear than the house and comes in @ 5.12a or so...
I would also look at "grace under pressure" right side stately pleasure dome...
Can't remember the route that it begins on (arch rival?), then you bust right out the arch and onto the face.. 5.12- as well....crux is slab 20' or so above the last bolt...
ks
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G_Gnome
Sport climber
Everywhere, man...
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Sep 10, 2007 - 11:51am PT
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So where is today's generation of young, bold climbers that can repeat some of these routes? They certainly are NOT putting up even harder and crazier test pieces...
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Sep 10, 2007 - 11:52am PT
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having been motivated by climbing vids, i can still recall the Colorado footage and a certain stylistic hair style that was apparently strictly verboten in that part of Colorado.
it's a trip to learn more of your Tuolumne days and what that means in comparison to the later day sport stuff.
full value at all of climbing's fun.
thx for the TR.
Munge
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the kid
Trad climber
fayetteville, wv
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Sep 10, 2007 - 02:54pm PT
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yes those hair cuts and many more... i still think tube socks and fires were the winning combo!
there are plenty of young guns doing some of that old school stuff, but not too much. no glory in the mags for repeating 5.11 routes...
now for personal tick list always memorable...
what i like about the meadows is it still brings out the adventure in todays climbers and still carries the aura that it had when i lived there...
ks
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Sep 10, 2007 - 04:06pm PT
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Kurt says: "...Vern and Claude find out what we were up to and come by camp to have a chat. It gets heated when they tell us Fairview is their domain, all the best routes have been done already and that we are not ready to play on the big rocks yet..."
I wonder if Vern and Claude got the same response from Kamps and Higgins when they started putting up their new routes on Fairview ten-twelve years earlier.
So, Tom did you have trouble with the new guys on your rock? You and Bob pretty much owned Fairview's hard climbing then.
Roger
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G_Gnome
Sport climber
Everywhere, man...
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Sep 10, 2007 - 06:51pm PT
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Roger, I find it impossible to think of Kamps acting that way. I don't know Higgins well enough to say for him, besides he is still here to stand up for himself.
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Sep 10, 2007 - 07:29pm PT
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Yeah, I cannot hear Bob saying anything like that, or Tom either. But those sorts of thoughts are fairly common, I think, just usually not expressed.
It would be interesting to see if Tom felt any sense of lose when young climbers such as Vern and Claude did new hard routes on Fairview. Sure seemed like it motivated Kurt and Steve to place their bets on fighting fire with fire.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Sep 10, 2007 - 08:09pm PT
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Roger wrote:
> It would be interesting to see if Tom felt any sense of lose when young climbers such as Vern and Claude did new hard routes on Fairview.
It's clear from his Commentary in the Tuolumne guidebook that Tom liked how Piece de Resistance turned out, even though a few of the bolts were placed with aid.
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Sep 10, 2007 - 08:31pm PT
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In 1973, Tom and Bob and Mike Ivrin climbed 'Fairest of All.' I remember that Tom was very proud of that route--it shows in the name.
The next year Tom and Vern climbed Piece de Resistance--clearly one of Tom's names (sort of a french version of 'Fairest of All')--while Vern, Claude, and others climbed four additional routes. 'Piece de Resistance' was the only overlap route between generations.
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426
Sport climber
Buzzard Point, TN
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Sep 10, 2007 - 08:34pm PT
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They certainly are NOT putting up even harder and crazier test pieces...
I dunno, nobody from the old school ever did what Leo Houlding has...on the Captain, fer godsakes.
I watched Englekirk free some A4 and A3+ onsight, but he's pretty soft spoken about how badass he is...
I hear some of those Huber FA's have 5.12 pitches with 1 bolt in 100'....
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Sep 10, 2007 - 08:40pm PT
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5.12 is the new 3rd class.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Sep 10, 2007 - 09:35pm PT
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I'm in trouble if 12 is the new third class. doh!
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LongAgo
Trad climber
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Sep 10, 2007 - 09:53pm PT
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Clint, Roger, others:
Feelings About Passing Climbing Days
It's no news to any older climbers that feelings of passing days in climbing are bittersweet. Bob and I were very satisfied to have had our days in the Meadows, but of course sad too that life, age, younger generations and altered styles were all washing over the glory days. The feelings didn't center just on Fairview or the Meadows, but around all the areas where we did first ascents. While we grumped about these changes from time to time, I don't think we fell into resentment and certainly didn't lash out at anyone about staying off of "our dome" or cliff. Nor did we ever leave fix ropes or put up ribbon to reserve works in progress. Our approach was to take our shot and leave the undone to whoever might want to try. We also increasingly took to a new game - repeating some of our own classics and trying some of the newest things too, testing our old ways against the new. Bob, as all know, climbed right up to his hardest standard in his preferred style until his death. I tapered off climbing altogether as other things in the big mix of life came along: building a consulting company, having and enjoying a great kid and eventually undergoing a nasty back surgery. Cest la veie (sp ?).
As for my interactions with Clevenger on Fairview, yes we had some heated discussions about style issues and I knew he and Harrington used some aid on the Resistance headwall which had turned back Bob and I in an early attempt of the route. Here's how I characterized my teaming with Vern to do the complete FFA in the Ascent article (75/76 article), Away, where I start the article with an imaginary letter to Kamps:
"Now, he and I are going to try to complete the west face route you and I started in 1968, the direct line in the center of the face. We've been to the high point where you and I retreated, though by three more clean and direct pitches than those you and I originally did. Since then, impatient soul that he is, Clevenger recruited Bob Harrington and together they climbed the sixty-foot smooth headwall above our 1968 highpoint. They took all day, trading leads on ten-foot sections to get the bolts in. Neither Vern nor Bob (Harrington) made all the moves, and at one point a bolt served as aid to get another in. So, we'll see if it all goes free."
It did all go free and that too was bittersweet as I knew I was passing at least one bolt put in while Vern or Bob stood on another. But I didn't harp on it with Vern and he and I enjoyed the route and day and have stayed friends ever since, especially now that he is facing his own bigger than climbing challenges with a business, kids and health issues.
It takes time, but slowly we learn there's even more to life than climbing.
For history buffs, the complete story of Piece de Resistance (with pics of the infamous headwall) is here:
http://www.tomhiggins.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27&Itemid=20
Tom Higgins
LongAgo
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Sep 10, 2007 - 10:04pm PT
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Thanks, Tom. Classy bit of nice detail about a period that became a part of a major inflection point in climbing styles.
Best, Roger
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spectreman
climber
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Sep 10, 2007 - 10:15pm PT
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Excellent story Tom. Thank you for the link.
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bob
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 10, 2007 - 10:21pm PT
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Its interesting to me sometimes when I think about some of those older badass routes ( some I've done some I most certainly haven't) that the bolts are sooo bad now that the climbs themselves have become even more badass. To me there's a big difference with gunning it above a rusty old thing and gunning it above even a new 1/4 incher. Are people with me on this one? I'm NOT trying to take away anything from those bold first ascents because they are truly awsome and take unbelieveable determination and skill. Two things many new climbers don't have when it comes to putting it on the line as far as safety goes. I wonder though, if some of the younger crowd aren't going for those routes because of the rusty old things. Maybe they, me(I'm 34), are just lazy and don't want to go through the trouble of changing out those bolts for the go. Even if they do they won't have the same experience as some of the folks that nabbed ascents back when the bolts were still sound. One, they could go for it on lead which means they have to climb the route on sh#t bolts that may very well not hold the big wing, thus forcing them to do the more insane. or Two, they could rap in and replace the bolts, but then they don't get the full OS experience because they see it all before climbing it. And I know my eyes would be open for that crucial hold 30 feet out if I was rapping in to put sound bolts in.
I did Mr Kamps and a route that starts left of Sorcerer's App then crosses it and then comes back to join it after the Sea of Knobs (no idea the name or who did it). Both of these routes had not been replaced, but we were very tense because of the old bolts. Especially when at hanging belays and the leader was out gunning it. I went back and did Mr Kamps post replacement and it was a whole different experience. Had pucker, but not like the first time.
Just some thoughts on the subject of older, superbad, inspirational routes that should get done more often and probably get done more than I think. Believe it or not there are some young, soft spoken climbers out there who do the raddist of rad whether its well protected or not and they only talk about it with their closest friends
Bob J.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Sep 10, 2007 - 11:40pm PT
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Pretty good thread, now multigenerational, prompted by good questions.
Kurt kicks it off, then Tom does the slam dunk with the Ascent article.
I read that article when the Ascent came out; it was mythic! And before I knew it, I matured just enough and I was out there, renting a room from Vern & Margaret, rolling up to the Meadows and standing up on those edges no thicker than a pencil lead...
(okay, never actually did the Piece de Resistance, as word had it some holds had busted and it was quite a bit harder...)
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the kid
Trad climber
fayetteville, wv
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Sep 11, 2007 - 10:45am PT
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some great dialog and history here! Tom Higgins, Bob Kamps, Vern, Claude, Don Ried, Bachar and many others have always been the climbers that i admired and looked up to all those years ago...
I always felt it was my DUTY to follow in their footsteps and climb in the style that creates so much doubt and adventure in climbing. when repeating their routes or putting up my own i was conscience of the style that makes the route. Of the many thousands of routes i have climbed over the years, the ones that still stick in my memory banks are my times in the meadows and valley in the 1980's...
BVB brings up a good point. Why do these routes not see the traffic they once did?
Is it bad bolts?
I think partly yes, but more importantly, that style of climbing (slabs) has fallen out of vogue with todays climbers, and fear/doubt is not part of most climbers agenda.
I remember a time when you had to wait in line for Mr Kamps or some of the other hard core classics above 5.10....
If new bolts will bring back adventure climbing in the meadows then i am all for it... but i do want to reiterate my point that routes need to be preserved as is with # of bolts, because soon this will be all the adventure that is left in climbing if you seek it. There is plenty of variety in climbing today, so if it's sport climbing you want, then maybe the meadows is not the place for you...call me as#@&%e, elitist or any thing else you like, but the sport is becoming too mainstream and the new climbers have no clue what HISTORY and Adventure comes with todays climbing.....
I was scared the day i did Mr. Kamps and Piece de Resistance and i hope to be scared the day i get to do them again.. the thought of not succeeding before a climb is what drove me the hardest, and with sport climbing i always knew i would succeed, and that killed a little part of climbing. for me that is miss when i climb most routes today....now if i wanted to be scared i go to SENECA!
Hats' off to the OLD School....
KS
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bob
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 11, 2007 - 11:39am PT
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HERE HERE!!!!! Lets get those routes and the mindset going again!
Bob J.
PS Has BVB even posted on here?
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spyork
Social climber
A prison of my own creation
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Sep 11, 2007 - 11:51am PT
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Roger writes:
"In 1973, Tom and Bob and Mike Ivrin climbed 'Fairest of All.' I remember that Tom was very proud of that route--it shows in the name. "
Whats the deal on Fairest of All? (not that I can climb it) Just curious, in a sort of self destructive way. Anyone got stories about going up it?
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bob
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 11, 2007 - 12:45pm PT
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spyork, I did it a few years back with a buddy of mine to "warm up" for a summer in Tuolumne. Warm was a bit of a long shot. I remember second pitch being quite scary as I did a big step left to another crack system. Just before I did so I noticed that ther was a bolt hole with no bolt. Old rusty thing. I would have loved even a rusty whole bolt there for that traverse because I was a bit above a blue alien. They said 5.9, but whew that felt harder than that. Then up higher on the pitch to get to the U-shaped bowl, one has to do the 10c crux up and out from a ledge just to get to the first bolt. That was scary and had the up and down, up and down until figured out thing going for me at least. I know a few good climbers who have skipped that just went left up the face.
All in all its a really fun route with some querky spice. Great face climbing, great corners, traverses fun fun fun.
Bob J.
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scuffy b
climber
The deck above the 5
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Sep 11, 2007 - 12:59pm PT
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re: Fairest of All
Higgins and Kamps had climbed to the roofs and retreated a few
years before the first complete ascent, thus the first several
pitches were already bolted.
On the 1st pitch, Mike Irwin left the crack system and found
himself well below the 1st bolt, with scary face climbing
required. Everybody I've talked to about the climb had a similar
experience.
However, my partner, bobh, found the bolt right in front of his
face when he left the crack and stepped around onto the face.
When I followed, the bolt was at my feet when I stepped around.
So stay in the first crack as long as you can. It can make a big
difference to your mental state for the rest of the climb.
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John Vawter
Social climber
San Diego
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Sep 11, 2007 - 01:27pm PT
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I did FoA in 1974 with Steve Peterson. We were told it might not have had a second ascent yet. The lower pitches did not impress us with their difficulty, but route finding was a challenge with only a narrative description. Higher up route finding is easy, but like the first ascent party, we were irritated by the long detour right. Impatient youth. I was surprised at how physical those detour pitches were.
I drew the crux pitch near the end. I think Higgins had called it .9 or easy .10 face, well protected. I'd climbed several of his routes at Tahquitz and expected it to be at least a letter grade harder. From a good edge, I touched a creaking flake and decided to use it---gingerly. I got the moves first try, and didn't break anything. I thought it to be about .10b.
Steve came up to the spot before the business and paused to survey the possibilities. He touched the creaking flake and judging it to be junk, brushed it away with a quick flick of the wrist. I said something like, "I used that. It just went from .10- to .10 plus." And so it is today.
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LongAgo
Trad climber
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Sep 11, 2007 - 06:02pm PT
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Fairest of All: Recall
Indeed, there was something very knifing yet essential to me about the scare and beauty of a big new Fairview route. I craved the feeling, or did I? I remember the restless stomach and self talk to manage it: "Could we do it? It looks so grim and shady in the morning. Holds not looking like holds. Then the sun squirts in your eye ... can't see where to go ... Stop it. Hell, if we don't make it, we just rap off ... but what about getting too far out? And no place to drill? Shut up. Shut up!"
The first ascent of Fairest of All brought home all these fears. As I wrote in the AAC Journal, 1974:
"We have slept on and off the previous night in anticipation of the ascent. I never have butterflies, only a ping pong ball lodged in my solar plexus."
Yes to poster discussion, I do recall some skin crawl complexity on the lower pitches where it seemed easier the first time over them than the second. Kamps and I had done the first few pitches before, but had stopped at the roofs about midway. The second time was with Mike Irwin for the complete FA. I recall thinking, where are we? As I wrote back then,
"The next lead is so devious I forget what to do."
(Now I know it's all part of wooing what that good witchy dome.)
But a much greater angst was in store as Mike and I began the traverse under the big roof with fading light. It began where poster Bob describes a nasty move above a ledge which, in a rush (and up, down, up, down just as he describes), I nearly did with no bolt at all, but then checked my stupidity, got one in, turned the corner and sank to see the hoped for easy pitch to the U shaped bowl looked hard. It turned into a dance between a dihedral and the face to the right of it, working back and forth in deepening dusk trying to make ground without stopping to drill, 5.8, 5.9, 40, 50, 60 feet out ... then, drilling one in supersonics, my last, as somehow the drill unclips, drops, sparks and tingles all the way to the ground! Mad as hell, I just go, go to the bowl.
In moonless darkness, Mike and I decided to stop the nonsense and spent the cold night in the bowl. We did so bunched together under ropes as I had brought no more than a light turtle neck and he the same. Next day, all was bliss in the sharp morning light on top, with that strange mix of barely getting by and having created a path on uncaring stone, but ours, quietly humming inside us.
Later, I told Vern Clevenger I had gone a bit nuts on the pitch to the bowl and it could use a couple more bolts. I think he fixed it. But the bewildering lower pitches, the move off the ledge, all of it is there as it was for those wishing to retrace the adventure, speculate on the madness, feel the quandary, even a bit of the stupidity. And isn't that the essential thing: to get not just the rock passing underfoot, but the choreography, the lives of those going first, and the feel of the time?
For those of that mind, the complete tale of our long ago adventure is here:
http://www.tomhiggins.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4&Itemid=20&limit=1&limitstart=0
Tom Higgins
LongAgo
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Sep 11, 2007 - 06:10pm PT
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Jeeze Tom, you're not supposed to drop the drill.
Climbing is serious, forcryingoutloud.
He, he.
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clustiere
Trad climber
Durango, CO
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Sep 11, 2007 - 07:45pm PT
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Jensen???
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spyork
Social climber
A prison of my own creation
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Sep 11, 2007 - 07:58pm PT
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I was wondering...
The bolts on 'Fairest of all' are they original?
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seamus mcshane
climber
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Sep 11, 2007 - 08:04pm PT
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Wow Thanks Tom for the bumbly honesty.
I love it when my heroes are real, and openly honest.
As for the dropped drill, when I used to build ski lifts we called that a "dropalectic seizure".
Candor has no boundaries.
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bob
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 11, 2007 - 08:08pm PT
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Clustiere Yup, Jensen
Am I supposed to say who I am? Is that the ??????
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Raydog
Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
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Sep 11, 2007 - 11:05pm PT
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great thread
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LongAgo
Trad climber
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Sep 20, 2007 - 07:02pm PT
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Status of bolts on FOA:
spyork asked about the status of bolt replacement on Fairest of All. I checked with Greg of ASCA (very responsible bolt replacers, in my view, and worthy of $$ support to keep all as safe as possible). He says:
"I don't know the full status of the bolts on Fairest of All, but I know that some of them have been replaced, and some are still original (as of last year at least). To my knowledge, ASCA gear hasn't been used for replacement, but I don't always hear back on exactly what's been replaced."
So, if you go, keep in mind. I have no issue with replacement of old bolts on this route (or any of my FAs). Just do a good job, keep Greg posted (greg@safeclimbing.org)and please don't add additional bolts so the old feel of our struggle (as per tale above) is still there.
Tom Higgins
LongAgo
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clustiere
Trad climber
Durango, CO
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Sep 20, 2007 - 07:04pm PT
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No you need not reveal more. I know you form the biscut. Glad to see your alive and well. You talk to Mr. Richards these days. He still dating Shotanke kinker dogle. Well have fun with the horror fest climbing should you need a partner I just moved to the Bay so drop a line in my email.
Later
Ryan
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Greg Barnes
climber
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Sep 20, 2007 - 07:51pm PT
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On the Fairview rebolting scene, just heard from Seth Green that he recently replaced the remaining 1/4" bolts at the first two anchors on Sorcerer's Apprentice.
Guess while I'm at it I'll list what else I know has been replaced this season - a very slow season since Roger Brown has been down in the Valley!
Friends in High Places - replaced anchor
Just Say No - replaced pitch 1 anchor (bad bolts above)
Little Sheba - replaced one bolt and installed chains at pitch 1 anchor
Lord Caffeine anchor - replaced one 1/4", removed 2nd (already had one good 3/8")
Lord of the Overhigh - replaced pitch 1 anchor (bad bolts above)
Sunshine - replaced first pro bolt on pitch 1 left variation (original var), removed doubled pro bolt (which was actually a good 3/8" bolt, but it stuck out a bit and was slightly rusted - it was one of the Metolius bolts that look like glue-ins that they stopped making because the biner can unclip glue-in style). Anchor above is poor, and pro bolts on the 5.10 variation pitch 2 are all bad. Pitch 2 anchor is good according to Mike Waugh (Drew must have replaced a few years ago, never got the exact details on what he replaced)
Let me know if I missed anything! Greg
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Michael Irwin
Trad climber
San Leandro
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Sep 22, 2007 - 04:56am PT
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It's great to remember our odyssey on Fairest of All. As I recall Tom did most of the leading. I led only the first pitch and the right curving arch.
The traverse left, at least for the first ascent, was quite terrifying for the second because the protection is directly in front as you traverse. I remember quite well trying to just unclip from a bolt and having difficulty freeing one hand needed. Tom had stood there in an exhausted state and patiently drill the hole for that bolt – how had he done it?
As to the name, Tom left that to my discretion. Neither of us really slept that night. It had snowed the weekend before and we could either feel or at least imagine the rise in temperature as the thin clouds moved in during the night.
Throughout the night, Tom kept berating himself for getting us into the situation of staying on a ledge when we had left our bivy gear at the base, hoping to do the climb in fine alpine style. We had brought pins but not a one was placed. Only bolts and nuts. That was the beginning of the clean climbing era. I believe it was Tom’s first first ascent without pitons.
Through the night I searched for some way to calm the shivering and relax the cramps - to focus my mind on something else. I searched for a name for the climb. Coming in and out of a half-sleep I reached out blindly searching in my mind as I had reached for the holds on that last pitch in the darkness.
As morning neared, I found myself groping once again for the name that was in my mind that I couldn’t quite grasp. I muttered, “Mirror, mirror on the wall…” I wondered where that came from. Was it the incoherent babbling of a cold deadened mind? No, it was that elusive name… Fairest of All. The name did not come from some vain idea that this was the fairest line on Fairview, but was born from the epic itself.
Ironically, that climb was one my last. My life was to take many unforseen turns after then. The experience has remained engraved in my soul to this day. Not just the climb itself but the older generation mentoring the youth.
Tom could have found almost anyone else to take that day, but he asked me to do it with him. I remembered how deeply honored I was as an 18 year old Indian Rock boulderer to be taken under the wing of a climbing great like Tom. I am sure that he felt the same about Bob Kamps in an earlier time.
Passing on the tradition from the older generation to the younger. Bruce Cooke was a blacksmith and a friend to both Tom and I. He had no one to whom he could pass on his trade and it left a hole in his soul. But he mentored me from a sixteen year old scrambler till Tom took me on Fairview. Many thanks Bruce, though surely you are no longer with us.
Now I am back in California after 30 years. Back in the US after 25 years overseas. The mountains are beckoning once again. The trails of the High Sierra have nourished me for the past two years.. but the walls are calling once again. The call cannot go unanswered.
Michael Irwin
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spyork
Social climber
A prison of my own creation
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Sep 22, 2007 - 10:48am PT
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Thanks for the fascinating tales.
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bob d'antonio
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Sep 22, 2007 - 11:58am PT
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Tom wrote: It takes time, but slowly we learn there's even more to life than climbing.
Great thread.
As to Tom's statement above. Having been with the same women (we met at fifteen) my whole climbing career and having to raise three children during those years climbing never was my life. It was a great part of it but took a backseat to my family and their needs.
They kept me centered and make me realize what really was important.
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le_bruce
climber
Oakland: what's not to love?
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Sep 22, 2007 - 12:56pm PT
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Thanks for that post, Michael Irwin.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Sep 23, 2007 - 11:45pm PT
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Great thread all. Wonderful how the prevailing theme is fair play, do your best and expect the same of others. Turf claims usually just seem to wind up being a motivation boost to the slighted party.
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scuffy b
climber
The deck above the 5
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Sep 24, 2007 - 11:57am PT
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Welcome back, Mike.
We've missed you.
Hope to see you in the mountains.
Warning: Indian Rock is only harder and slipperier
than ever.
Moyles
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LongAgo
Trad climber
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Sep 24, 2007 - 07:47pm PT
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Thanks Mike for your remembrance of our adventure on Fairest, and your complementary tone in spite of my landing us up there in the dark and cold, dropping the drill and other shenanigans I detail in ye old AAC Journal account, link above.
Also glad to hear climbing lust has returned. I still have the bite as well. Bod is a bit behind heart these days, but holding in there for a few more days on the walls, I hope. Look for me fiddling with some old problem at Indian Rock.
Tom Higgins
LongAgo
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Jul 18, 2011 - 04:33pm PT
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Last weekend, Zander and I replaced all the bolts on Burning Down the House with 3/8" stainless. So it's ready if you are still interested in going up there, Bob! (Your post was 4 years ago, though, so you may have since reconsidered the runouts!)
See also the other thread, with Steve Schneider's recollection of the FA of Burning Down the House:
http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/968796/burning-down-the-house-25-years-later
I will make a rebolting TR later, but here are a few photos for now.
We also replaced (both) bolts on Always Arches, and all 2-3 bolts on Arc de Triumph, where it connects from the traverse ledge on Inverted Staircase.
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the kid
Trad climber
fayetteville, wv
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Jul 18, 2011 - 06:04pm PT
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Clint,
Did you replace these this year?
Not sure why you bothered, since it' not on the most wanted to do list.
should have been an easy replace, as there were 7 lead bolts and 5 belay or visa versa..
kinda bummed that the spinner on the last hard pitch is now 3/8..
takes the mojo out of it a i guess.
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Tattooed 1
Trad climber
Sebastopol, Ca
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Jul 18, 2011 - 06:53pm PT
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Hey Clint, We talked to you in the parking lot before you went up. Did you guys get on Lucky Streaks afterwards. We did and had a ball. What a great climb. We ran into Ed and he told us he had replaced the bolts on Peter Peter over there. So much to do on Fairview!
Tim
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Jul 19, 2011 - 04:53am PT
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Kurt,
Yes, we replaced the bolts just this past weekend (July 16-17, 2011).
Yep, 7 lead bolts, 5 belay bolts, it was doable on a weekend.
Most of the popular routes have been replaced; now the less well travelled stuff is getting some attention.
Here's your "spinner" bolt on p6 as we found it:
You are right, really - the bolts were still good for at least 20-30' falls. (Of course much longer falls are possible, too).
I wouldn't worry about "missing" mojo for this route due to the larger bolts - the climbing and the runouts are the same, no matter what kind of bolts are in those holes. Like soloing with a way to maybe survive if you fall.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Jul 19, 2011 - 04:55am PT
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Tim,
I'm glad you had fun on Lucky Streaks - it's my favorite route in the Meadows. We didn't get on it this weekend - had our hands full both days with the rebolting project.
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the kid
Trad climber
fayetteville, wv
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Jul 19, 2011 - 08:24am PT
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nice work Clint.
you should go to whales back and replace math of the pastor (2 bolts)
and defenders of the faith (3 i think).
This is me drilling first bolt on Math of the pastor- 1984..
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Jul 19, 2011 - 10:46am PT
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It was a great weekend. A spectacular place to hang out! Here's Clint trying to find the route from above.
Kurt, It looks like a great line. I wish I could climb well enough to do it!
Zander
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Jul 19, 2011 - 10:56am PT
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Finally a few pix!!
MORE PIX!!
MORE PIX!!
MORE PIX!!
MORE PIX!!
MORE PIX!!
MORE PIX!!
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Jul 19, 2011 - 11:25am PT
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You got it!
Z
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Here's an interesting thing. When I got home I thought, I haven't heard Burning Down The House in a while I'll buy it on iTunes. Guess what? Since 9/11 it has been boycotted. You can't buy it on ITunes. Not one version! Ha ha!. No problem though, a buddy sent me a Bonnie Raitt live version, which is great!
Here's a few more pics.
The man himself!
Cool ridge.
The route as far as I saw. I should have been paying more attention while rapping up top.
It is pretty cool the way it winds through the roofs.
Climb on!
Z
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shipoopoi
Big Wall climber
oakland
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Aug 14, 2011 - 05:08pm PT
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hey, i'd like to say thanks guys for fixing up this route. that's a lot of work. and to the other hero bolter on fairview who went to replace piece and others, great job there also. steve schneider
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Jay Wood
Trad climber
Land of God-less fools
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Aug 23, 2011 - 11:26am PT
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The Kid-
I scouted out Whale's Back last week.
Ho man- props to you drilling that first bolt. There are two bail 'biners on I think Defenders of the Faith that look to have been there for many years.
Cheers, Jay
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wbw
climber
'cross the great divide
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Aug 23, 2011 - 12:20pm PT
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It takes time, but slowly we learn there's even more to life than climbing.
Yes, this is certainly a very wise statement. Despite the highs and lows I've experienced in climbing, the family, and in particular my children have a way of keeping it all in perspective for me (now).
Great thread.
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wayne burleson
climber
Amherst, MA
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Aug 23, 2011 - 03:25pm PT
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I also recall that summer.
Bachar was king, but the kid and Shipoopi were driven
for the number 2 position.
Both had done lots of steep run-outs and drilling.
So when Burning Down the House went in with the two
dueling leads, we figured it was like dueling banjos up there.
The whole was clearly greater than the sum of the parts...
And cool that it has lasted this long without a second.
Perhaps there should be some special distinction if the
bolts rust out before a second ascent.
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FTOR
Sport climber
CA
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Aug 23, 2011 - 08:31pm PT
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when i was considering going up on this back around the time it was put up, shipoopoi seriously told me to bring a bolt kit, and use it. i never made it up there.
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| Messages 1 - 62 of total 62 in this topic |
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