Tribute to Gaston Rebuffat

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tom woods

Gym climber
Bishop, CA
Feb 5, 2012 - 10:18pm PT
Sorry about that, but my name is easier, you gotta admit. I did think about it, to be honest. At first I thought two n's after the o, but I decided two n's nni part. I guess I was wrong on both counts.

I loved Gaston as a kid, and I don't know the story of the posed shots, but Honnold took a full film crew back up to Half Dome to re-enact his free solo wearing a Patagonia shirt- does that really take away from the real experience?

It probably does, I guess, but that footage of Gaston posted above (which (I had never seen before) shows a guy back in the day climbing with good technique with primitive gear.

This might not seem so unique for you older climbers, but for those of us who saw the photos in the 80's, they were inspirational.
tom woods

Gym climber
Bishop, CA
Feb 5, 2012 - 10:28pm PT
Just a bump on Donini's point, Buhl and Bonatti were also heroes of the early years for me. Buhl especially, but that could be another whole thread.
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
Feb 5, 2012 - 10:29pm PT
I guess I was a little crusty Tom, just got in from a trip from Chile that was a day longer than scheduled due to mechanical breakdowns, cancelled flights etc.- heading off to bed. I will say, I tried to find a sweater like his.
tom woods

Gym climber
Bishop, CA
Feb 5, 2012 - 10:35pm PT
Me too, but something like that has to be custom made, or found at a truly run down Salvation Army in Versailles. - Hey I spelled Versailles right, at least the red squiggly lines of the spell check say so anyway.

Have a good night.
guido

Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
Feb 5, 2012 - 10:54pm PT
Donini a little crusty by his own admission. Now, that is an occasion for Webster to create a new word to mitigate the Donini Factor. Welcome back Jim.
Jennie

Trad climber
Elk Creek, Idaho
Feb 6, 2012 - 02:14am PT
Thanks for posting the video, Marlow...… pièce de résistance from the past!

Very precise and flowing style for a larger framed guy.

Wish there were more video recordings of climbers and climbing from generations past…
Patrick Oliver

Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
Feb 6, 2012 - 02:20am PT
Yes some of the photos were posed, but still he was a very
fine climber. For young people, such as we, back then, to see
those photos..., well, they inspired some of us, gave us a sense of the
Alps...
Brian in SLC

Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
Feb 6, 2012 - 11:32am PT
Bonatti didn't exactly climb in a vacuum...


http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_full_width/hash/9e/b0/9eb08ab2db813db44cc2c251a223917b.jpg

Seen a few of the Rubberfat routes in the Calanques...nice! His 100 best series was great.
Alan Rubin

climber
Amherst,MA.
Feb 6, 2012 - 12:33pm PT
I thought he died of lung cancer from the ever-present pipe in his mouth, but surely could be wrong on that. Back in the early '60s Rebuffat, through his books, was my first introduction to modern climbing (a couple of years before I ever actually climbed myself). His book "Starlight and Storm" was inspirational to an early teen-age climbing wannabe (and his 6 North Faces have largely stood the test of time---even today one who has climbed them all has surely earned his/her "spurs" as an alpinist.)His later photo/technique book On Rock, Snow, and Ice (I think)was equally important and inspirational, while his still later 100 Finest in the Mt. Blanc Massif (and its later companion volumes)also remains a touchstone and a great tick list for visitors to the Alps. And he was very clearly a top climber of his era. Even his peers, such as the great Lionel Terray acknowledged that it was Rebuffat who led the way in the revival and advance of difficult French alpinism in the immediate post-World War 2 years. Sure he had an ego, and some of his photos were over-posed, but he definitely wasn't the first climber, and surely was not the last, to exhibit those traits, and they should in no way diminish his very real accomplishments nor his influence on many generations of climbers.
WBraun

climber
Feb 6, 2012 - 12:44pm PT
I saw the video of him climbing.

He's got sh!t for boots compared to modern standards for what he's climbing.

He's running it out like a true psycho compared to modern climbers who have 40 pounds of cams on their rack for the same pitch.

He raps the rope around his waist and takes off compared to the modern climber doing up a 100 different vitamin pills and doing their so called yoga before they ever get off the ground.

No wonder so little climbers back then.

Now after all this gear bullsh!t and technological advances all the mains stream people came and called it "SPORT" .....

Brian in SLC

Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
Feb 6, 2012 - 12:46pm PT
Really would like to see/have a copy of his book on the Calanques...

Calanques Sainte Baume Sainte Victoire Les 400 plus belles escalades et randonnées

If anyone has one they'd part with, give me a shout!

Climbed at all three venues...great! Wish the big routes at Sainte Baume were still open...

Cheers.
scuffy b

climber
heading slowly NNW
Feb 6, 2012 - 01:05pm PT
I know some guys who quite frequently climb in red shirts, even when no
photographer is present.

Spelling someone's name right...really, if it's right there in front of
you, how hard can it be to show that much respect?
Fat Dad

Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
Feb 6, 2012 - 01:14pm PT
When I started climbing in the late 70s, Rebuffat books still circulated in the stores. For me, as a beginning climber--along with those family camping trips to the Valley and looking up at the Captain--they represented the ideal of what I thought a climber was and should be. That fact that some of his photos looked like hero shots mattered not a wit.
Marlow

Sport climber
OSLO
Feb 6, 2012 - 01:32pm PT
Brian,

Try this: http://www.priceminister.com/offer/buy/134781640/calanques-sainte-baume-sainte-victoire-les-400-plus-belles-escalades-et-randonnees-de-rebuffat-gaston.html

I looked for one 15 months before I found one.
Erik

Trad climber
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 6, 2012 - 08:01pm PT
Holy necro thread! How far back in the archives did you have to go to resurrect this one?

I re-read Annapurna a short while ago, and was quite amused at this little passage:

"Rebuffat had a scandalous origin for a mountaineer, and even worse for a guide. He was born at the seaside!"

Niels

climber
Denmark, formerly Sacramento
Feb 7, 2012 - 04:03pm PT
There's also a copy of his guide to the Calanques in the French Alpine Club hut at the Verdon Gorge.

Bump for Rebuffat!
Marlow

Sport climber
OSLO
Mar 24, 2013 - 03:25pm PT
Gaston Rebuffat in Alpinisme & Randonnee Nov-Dec 1996
Nilepoc

Big Wall climber
Tx
Mar 27, 2013 - 05:07pm PT







So this fine book is looking for a new home. I figured someone here would be happy to care for it and maybe get the binding fixed. PM me first and it's yours. All I ask is that you pay postage. I am cleaning out the bookcase and want to find this gem a home. I imagine it isn't worth a whole lot due to the spine damage.
Marlow

Sport climber
OSLO
Sep 10, 2013 - 02:42pm PT

Gaston Rebuffat - Entre terre et ciel

[Click to View YouTube Video]
Marlow

Sport climber
OSLO
Oct 15, 2015 - 11:51am PT

Messages 41 - 60 of total 84 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
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