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AndySan Diego
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Nov 18, 2007 - 01:54am PT
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Croft's Solos of the Minarets Traverse, Astroman & the Rostrum. Bachar's solo of the Nabisco Wall. Can't remember but didn't JB or Yabo solo Leave it to Beaver? Has anyone else Soloed Astroman?
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Mr. D
Trad climber
West Coast
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Nov 18, 2007 - 11:30am PT
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"Has anyone else Soloed Astroman?"
Dean Potter
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scooter
climber
Moss Landing CA
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Nov 18, 2007 - 12:05pm PT
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Dragon W/ Matches
Thor Hyderdall (sp), the dude on the raft. Maybe it was kinda chill sometimes though, since they took the time to hand catch sharks for fun. Yer not f-ing with the sharks if yer gripped.
P-Dub
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graham
Social climber
Ventura, California
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Nov 18, 2007 - 12:39pm PT
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What Kevin said
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hashbro
Trad climber
Mental Physics........
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Nov 18, 2007 - 02:22pm PT
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Graham,
I quite clearly recall the notable instant our lives changed when we suddenly understood just what was possible as you read a hand-written letter to a small pack of boulderers at Pirates Cove underneath AnnaBelle.
It was a letter that Bachar had written to you with a postmark from the Yosemite PO. As you read the words to the pack of somewhat innocent of teenagers (the likes of Evans, Cox, Vogel, Fry) and some less innocent 20-somethings like Accomazzo, Long, Muir, we sweated bullets, couldn't believe it and finally believed it; imagining ourselves out there on a blank Yosemite wall without a rope.
Bachar had irretrievably changed our world by free soloing the Nabisco Wall and writing home to tell about it.
This was an almost "ancient" moment of our elders telling stories around the campfire. We, the youth had now had our mind and now our beliefs stretched beyond what we thought was possible.
Thanks for that John, and I must say, "pretty impressive" that you made it to 50. Keep it up and see ya at Kevin's for the next reunion......
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Apocalypsenow
Trad climber
Cali
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Nov 18, 2007 - 03:25pm PT
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Josh's mantel move, into his tent, after keeping up with Tucker on "Too Much Jack," and Chalky's class II ascent on the high ball boulder problem at the Leap..."Running From the Law."
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Brian
climber
Cali
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Nov 18, 2007 - 03:46pm PT
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There are many solos by women that deserve to be in a thread about soloing, no doubt. But I'm reading Steph's book right now and she makes an interesting point. To paraphrase, she finds either of the following two cases insulting: (1) when women are excluded simply because they are women, even when they are sending notable routes; (2) when women are praised for ascents that are not really notable simply because they are women. Not sure what this means in a thread about the "definitive" ballsy solo, as that implies one definitive act. I can't say I'd really be able to think of a candidate for that honor, male or female. However, in thread about "watershed ballsy solos" or "notable ballsy solos" would be easier to contribute to and, I think, more fun.
In that spirit, I'll note that I can think of lots of notable solos, but one that has not been mentioned above is Jello's own "Metanoia" on the North Face if the Eiger.
Brian
PS--I don't want to open this can of worms again, but I think Steph's book is quite good.
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John Vawter
Social climber
San Diego
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Nov 18, 2007 - 08:53pm PT
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Did anyone mention Greg Cameron's solo of Lost Arrow Chimney in 1978 or '79?
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the kid
Trad climber
fayetteville, wv
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Nov 19, 2007 - 01:07pm PT
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Bachar's solos are legendary. Nabisco wall, baby apes and many others...
One i got to witness and take pictures happened one day @ Donner Summit.
I had wanted to solo manic depression for years and John and i took a trip to tahoe summer of '86. I had the route wired (many leads and tr's over the years)and did it on tr to refresh and then sent it on solo...
JB had never done the route, and after i sent it, he tr it once, pulled the rope and walked it! as solid as if he had done it a 100 times!
ks
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Norwegian
Trad climber
Placerville, California
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Nov 19, 2007 - 01:28pm PT
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Jaybro -
the old soloist's adage of "don't climb up anything that you cant downclimb" came into play on my fat merchant crack ascent - i had to choose between soloing the wet 5.8 upper part of the pitch, or downclimbing the 10b offwidth. i struggled with that decision for a good while and then decided to slip down that crack.
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James
climber
A tent in the redwoods
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Nov 19, 2007 - 02:11pm PT
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Panic in Detroit! Good job Kurt.
And John's prolific soloing never ceases to impress me.
Three years ago, my friends and I ran around the Joshua Tree campground firing off the warmup circuit of solos, trying hard to catch the shadows of our betters. Yabo, Bachar, Long, Cashner, the stories of Tobin, Charlie Fowler on the DNB, Werner Braun onsight free soloing Cream, the Vendetta at the Cookie, and a 98% solo of Astroman.
The younger generation has big boots to fill.
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bachar
Trad climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Nov 19, 2007 - 02:16pm PT
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Watusi, Curt and others - thanks for the flattering comments!
Just for the record I never soloed "The Sissy Traverse", 13a. I on sight flashed it with a rope. I did solo "The Gift" twice (listeneing to James Brown's 'Living in America" of course!).
Henry Barber's solo of the Steck Salathe was truly mind boggling at the time!
Use a rope folks!
-jb
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AKDOG
Mountain climber
Anchorage, AK
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Nov 19, 2007 - 04:11pm PT
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No one has mentioned Tom Gilge (sp.) yet. He soloed many things, once when I was working on Leave it to beaver (on top rope), He offered to belay me, we headed over from hidden valley, as I was setting up the top rope, he soled up the route and met me on top like it was no big deal.
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Ed Bannister
Mountain climber
Riverside, CA
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Nov 19, 2007 - 04:48pm PT
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John Bachar- Father Figure
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tradcragrat
Trad climber
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Nov 19, 2007 - 04:59pm PT
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It's pretty cool how the great soloists like Bachar, Reardon, Croft, Potter, etc. can be in that perfect state where they feel in control in the scariest situations. I aspire to have that sort of confidence, but I cannot achieve it (yet). However, the few times I have soloed, I thought I was going to die, kept it together and survived, and realized two minutes after I got down how much fun it was. Soloing's weird like that.
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TrundleBum
Trad climber
Las Vegas
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Nov 19, 2007 - 05:09pm PT
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Why mention all the ones that have been already?
Jimmy Dunn:
FA of Cosmos, first elcap route put up solo I believe ?
John Bouchard:
many fine solos in the Chamonix area but, comes to mind...
FWA of the 'Black dike' cannon cliff N.H
Bouch' actually did his solo a few days before calendar winter, December 18,1971
So he went back (I think because the other guys 1/2 couldn't believe it)..
and did the second ascent a few days later with:
Barber, Wilcox and Bragg.
http://www.neclimbs.com/index.php?PageName=routes&RouteID=430
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James
climber
A tent in the redwoods
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Nov 19, 2007 - 06:04pm PT
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Laps on the Gift eh John? Rad.
Alex Honnold's soloed some rad stuff in the past year and a half- Pipeline a 10d 500 foot offwidth in Squamish onsight, the Lightning bolt cracks in the Creek onsight, Astroman/Rostrum, Chud in Rifle-13a, Lots of other random sh#t in Squamish, the Steck Salathe, pretty solid.
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aldude
climber
Monument Manor
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Nov 19, 2007 - 08:10pm PT
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Cesen - Jannu,Lhotse
Reardon - Gaia,Needles - on sight FA , free solo
Borne - first 7 pitches Flying Buttress Direct - on sight FFA, 5.12 free solo
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Watusi
Social climber
Newport, OR
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Nov 19, 2007 - 08:19pm PT
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John, I wasn't quite sure which one that was you were on...It's been ages since I was there.
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AP
Trad climber
Calgary
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Nov 19, 2007 - 10:16pm PT
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I thought that Cesen's ascents had been discredited, even the Jannu one in light of his lies about Lhotse.
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