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martygarrison
Trad climber
atlanta
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Topic Author's Original Post - Mar 29, 2008 - 02:01pm PT
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I was following the solo thread and it brought a question to mind. Anyone know what Peter is up to these days? How about his age as well?
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Mar 29, 2008 - 02:04pm PT
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He is 50, give or take a year or two, and lives in Bishop. Still very active.
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ron gomez
Trad climber
fallbrook,ca
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Mar 29, 2008 - 02:18pm PT
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ALMOST 50! Makes a DAMN GREAT pizza, and I hear his pup Peewee can keep up with him in the mountains! Solo skills???? History tells the story there bro!
Peace
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AP
Trad climber
Calgary
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Mar 29, 2008 - 07:11pm PT
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I had the pleasure of hanging with him for a few days 22 years ago. Peter, Dan Guthrie, and I would go to a cliff , Dan and I would get the rope out he would take off solo. I ask him what one particular route above us was like, he said, "never done it". A few minutes later he is back at the ledge raving about the cool exit moves. Watched him down solo a 10d finger crack and every move was perfect.
I guess practice makes perfect.
He is also is one of the nicest people you could meet.
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punjab
Gym climber
oregon
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Mar 29, 2008 - 07:35pm PT
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Had the pleasure of meeting him a few times earlier this winter in bishop, and he looked 'fit as a fiddle,' absolutly the nicest guy. one day he was helping film a commercial in the happy's.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Mar 29, 2008 - 07:45pm PT
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A younger Peter Croft, at the base of Penny Lane in Squamish's Little Smoke Bluffs, summer 1978. L - R: Simon Tooley, A. Nonymous, Tami Knight, the natty PC in his cardigan.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Mar 29, 2008 - 07:47pm PT
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Check the clogs.
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Standing Strong
Trad climber
a spaceship built for two
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Mar 29, 2008 - 07:48pm PT
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how is someone's age relevant? as my yoga teacher says, it's not about age, it's about fitness.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Mar 29, 2008 - 07:49pm PT
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Imeldabuster attempts another shoe-jack... :-)
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Mar 29, 2008 - 07:54pm PT
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Ha ha ha ha.
It's okay Anders,
Werner will soon be handing out Twinkies.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Mar 29, 2008 - 08:07pm PT
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Mar 29, 2008 - 08:31pm PT
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From Alpinist 10,
Some of the most soulful stuff ever written about climbing.
It was a pleasure to read.
Not sure I wanna post the whole thing but go check it out.
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Ragz
climber
Tartarus, black hole of the internet
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Mar 29, 2008 - 11:21pm PT
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This might as well be Croft appreciation thread.
If anyone were to ask me to make a list of climbers that
inspire, motivate, I respect, or simply hold in high esteem, Croft is always the first name I think of,
and it's been that way since almost day one.
The cover of Climbing Art asked the question, "why is Peter Croft our hero?"
Doesn't matter why, just is, and that's good enough for me.
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marky
climber
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Mar 30, 2008 - 12:45am PT
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His guidebook is hands down the best Sierra guidebook in print. It makes all others seem clinical, even anti-adventure.
Saw the guy in Bishop last summer at the gas station. My only impression was that he had stout legs.
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TYeary
Mountain climber
Calif.
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Mar 30, 2008 - 01:24pm PT
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Peter is still very active as stated above. He was recently elected the first Honorary Member of the CMC, the California Mountaineering Club. He also recently wrote another fine piece for Alpinist(see Alpinist #20). A very gifted climber and a gracious man, Croft, IMO, represents whats best in American climbing. BTW, just as the SCMA and the CMC co-hosted Peter last March for a slide program, this year we will be doing so again, presenting Ron Kauk who will be giving a multi-media presentation on May 13th at 7:30pm. Crystal Springs Ranger Station, Griffith Park.
Tony
Peter recieving HM at the CMC/SCMA show.
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Zirkel
climber
Salt Lake City, UT
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Mar 30, 2008 - 03:38pm PT
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One of my favorite Croft pics (Patagonia catalog?)... PC was sitting on the steps of the post office in the Valley, fondling a freshly-arrived pound of Peet's coffee. Like a kid in a candy store.
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Jaybro
Social climber
The West
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Mar 30, 2008 - 03:51pm PT
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As MH, myself and others know 50, (the new 30? 19?) is pretty young to try and pull the age card and avoid being active... shoulda seen Scuffy almost choke down the gristle...
I first met Peter in the 70's, we once all went to a mother's day Ahwhannee brunch, the rest of us were beached, but he went out to do either Butterballs or independence(squared) route, as a cool down, doesn't seem like he's slowed down much since.
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tradcragrat
Trad climber
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Mar 30, 2008 - 03:54pm PT
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Probably the climber most inspirational to me.
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harihari
Trad climber
Squampton
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Mar 30, 2008 - 05:57pm PT
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WHen I was 16 way back in the day, my high school had outdoor week, and I chose rock climbing in Squamish. One of the guides was Croft. He must have been in his early 20s at the time. He would set up ropes, then solo everything in sight, sometimes showing up beside us terrified teen gumbies in the middle of a route, sans rope, to offer very useful beta. At 4:00 his partner would show up and he would go off and do U-Wall or whatever.
One day he showed up massively hungover and had forgotten his shoes, so he borrowed one kid's Chuck Taylors and spent the day climbing on those canvas shoes. Didn't appear to slow him down any. Nice guy.
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HighDesertDJ
Trad climber
Arid-zona
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Mar 30, 2008 - 07:33pm PT
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Hands down the perfect climbing hero. Humble, quiet and unbelievably savage. I actually got physically scared looking at those pics of him soloing the Rostrum the other day.
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AndySan Diego
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Mar 30, 2008 - 10:28pm PT
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Croft's Solo of the Minaret Traverse is incredible. Does any one know if he also soloed the Palisades Traverse?
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bachar
Gym climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Mar 30, 2008 - 11:04pm PT
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OK, I'll give in...
Once on a rest day I was chillin' out at Degnan's Deli around 11am, eating a sandwich in the sun and Croft joins me. He had chalk up to his elbows and was devouring a sandwich as well.
I asked him what he did that day. He said, " Oh nothing, just been climbing a little."
I said, " Yeah right. Cough it up Croft. What did you do today?"
"Astroman and the Rostrum" was all he said. I knew instantly he had soloed them. I tried my best to keep a straight face. "Wow, that's cool" was about all I could come up with.
He said he was going to go down and solo the Nabisco Wall... I don't know if he actually did. I didn't really ask him later to find out.
I already knew he redefined the game forever.
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GDavis
Trad climber
SoCal
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Mar 30, 2008 - 11:18pm PT
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Wow....
Man, when someone said that Croft embodies the pinnacle of American Climbing, I don't think I could find better.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Mar 30, 2008 - 11:23pm PT
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Pinnacle of Canadian rock climbing, too. :-)
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10b4me
climber
hanging by a thread
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Mar 31, 2008 - 12:51am PT
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I just saw Peter at Red Rocks Rendevous today. looking as fit as ever. also saw him in the Happies in January. one of the nicest climbers I've met. Unfortunately, some famous climbers(that shall remain nameless)are a-holes.
I believe Peter is about 46.
does anyone know if Peewee has recovered from the hamstring pull?
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marky
climber
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Mar 31, 2008 - 12:57am PT
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Dude's Canadian. Like Neil Young. Or Wolverine.
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Willoughby
Social climber
Truckee, CA
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Mar 31, 2008 - 01:01am PT
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...and that bitch, Anne Murray, too...
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marty(r)
climber
beneath the valley of ultravegans
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Mar 31, 2008 - 01:32am PT
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Anyone with a business card that reads "Coffee Drinker, Snappy Dresser" is pretty rad.
His piece "A Life in the Day of a Mountaineer" is worth its weight in gold. Wish I had a digital copy to share. It's reprinted in Largo's "High Lonesome" (with Croft on the cover).
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marky
climber
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Mar 31, 2008 - 02:43am PT
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"Croft" is Canadian for "low-key, under-the-radar bad-ass". It functions both as a noun and as a verb.
E.g.,
"Look at Ronnie. He's such a croft. He received his PhD in nuclear physics from MIT but will tell you only that he took a few math classes here and there. What a f*#king croft."
And
"Becky just crofted that dude who was spraying about finishing the Boston Marathon. Becky went All-American four straight years at UCLA and took the Silver at Seoul in 1988, but she told the guy that she just runs for fun. That dude never knew how bad he got crofted."
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10b4me
climber
hanging by a thread
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Mar 31, 2008 - 01:58pm PT
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let's keep this on the front page.
more Croft stories.
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tolman_paul
Trad climber
Anchorage, AK
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Mar 31, 2008 - 02:47pm PT
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I met Peter at a rock shoe demo day at Donner Summit in the early 90's. He was slated to give a talk on crack climbing. I'd started a climbing club in college and about a 1/2 dozen of us had come up from the Bay Area for the weekend. We were over at the snowshed walls and had just finished climbing a few of the crack routes waiting for him to show up.
Peter walked over and asked what one of the routes was rated, I don't recall the name of the route of the rating, it was around the corner up the slope from Ariel, about a 1/2 pitch 5.7 or 8 crack with a small roof about 50' up. Perfect hand jam route.
Anyhow, as folks gathered round Peter soloed up and showed how to use hand jams, foot jams etc. Then he cruised up to the small roof, got a knee bar under the roof and showed how to get a no hands rest.
What impressed me most about him was not his impressive climbing ability, but his unpretentous manner and how approachable he was. It was clear he just loved to climb.
I got to meet John Bachar a bit later that day at the after climbing festivities. There were several other famous at that time climbers there, but Peter and John were the only memorable ones, and not so suprisingly still at it.
Yep, that day in the life of a mountaineer was a great story, I just re-read it the other night.
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Anastasia
climber
Not here
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Mar 31, 2008 - 03:23pm PT
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I saw Croft at Red Rocks taking two steps at a time rushing towards the parking lot. My friends and I humorously joked that Croft takes all steps two at a time. Croft solos the Rostrum as a warm up before breakfast. Croft does the Palisade Traverse as an afternoon leisurely walk. We even joked that by the time we made it to the parking lot, Croft would have taught a clinic and be already back at the main tent.
I happen to know "by chance" that he is still climbing hard, is still very much happily married to Karine, and still loves to climb. At Red Rocks he appeared fit and extremely busy rushing about enjoying his day. It made my little group happy to spot him on the go since it is his elementary state of being.
AF
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Bazo
Boulder climber
Ky
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Mar 31, 2008 - 05:02pm PT
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Sorry to go off topic...but you could use this picture to test for latent homosexuality.....If the eyes tend to wander to those rather ripped dudes instead of Tami Knight's very nice ass then ya gotta be.....
sorry for any offence...:)
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L
climber
If only I could remember....
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Mar 31, 2008 - 06:51pm PT
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I know Peter from taking classes with him through Vertical Adventures in Joshua Tree. One night, about five years ago, he came into Crossroads alone, and as every table was taken, I offered him a seat at my table where I sat hostage to The World’s Worst Climbing Partner.
Peter sat, and in between small talk about the day’s adventures, proceeded to down a glass of red wine. I’d never seen him drink before, and I have to admit, he got more loquacious with each sip. Normally a man of few words, he soon began a soliloquy on his intention to get a piece of the blueberry pie advertised on the Specials board. It seemed he didn’t care much about burgers or salads, but the blueberry pie had certainly caught his fancy. Red wine and blueberry pie: the dinner of champions.
He’d finished the first glass of wine and was halfway through his second when one of the waitresses told him they were all out of blueberry pie. He looked at her like she was speaking Japanese, wrinkled his brow, and said “What was that?”
“No more pie,” she repeated.
Peter’s shell-shocked gaze slid over to me and The World’s Worst Climbing Partner. “How can they be out of blueberry pie?” he asked, a pained expression on his face.
“Losers,” I murmured, as grieved as he. I’d wanted a piece of blueberry pie, too.
“Just get a brownie,” TWWCP interjected rather impatiently.
We both looked at him as if the top of his head had popped open and a giant slug was oozing out. Not only was he The World’s Worst Climbing Partner, but he was a dumbshit to boot.
“I really wanted that pie,” Peter mumbled, staring into his wine glass. “Why would they say they have it when they don’t? Don’t they know how bad it is to deceive customers like that? I’ve been thinking about that pie since I walked in here, and now…I just don’t know what to do.”
He continued on in this vein, grieving the absence of his flaky-crusted dream, his despair growing as his glass emptied. My glass was empty by that time, too, and the more Peter lamented, the more I laughed. He got funnier and funnier, his sense of injustice at pie deprivation seeming to know no bounds.
TWWCP, on the other hand, grew more and more annoyed…and annoying. It had not been part of his plan to have the world’s greatest climber sitting at our table…it made all of his climbing exploits, which he’d been bombasting me with all day, sound like mud wrestling on a dry lakebed.
When it was finally time to leave the restaurant, we all stood and shook hands. The World’s Worst Climbing Partner lied and told Peter it was good to meet him, I thanked Peter for a very entertaining (read: lifesaving) evening, and Peter, in his humble, slightly tipsy way, said he was off to find some pie. He knew there had to be some somewhere in town.
Peter Croft saved me from terminal boredom that evening in the desert. He will always be my hero.:-)
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Anastasia
climber
Not here
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Mar 31, 2008 - 06:57pm PT
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L
You gave such a great story that I honestly have fallen in love with you! Dang, that was funny!
AF
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matisse
climber
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Mar 31, 2008 - 07:10pm PT
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The wonderful world of climbing is a small place.
Just for the record, some of us don't think "the worlds worst climbing partner" is even remotely the worlds worst, or even a bad partner at all. 2 sides to every story and all that.
carry on.
Sue
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Mar 31, 2008 - 07:12pm PT
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Peter does like his baked goods. :-)
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tradcragrat
Trad climber
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Mar 31, 2008 - 07:21pm PT
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I wish he knew about his thread. That would be a riot!
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Willoughby
Social climber
Truckee, CA
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Mar 31, 2008 - 07:27pm PT
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I'll second the notion that Croft is a funny guy. I saw him give a slideshow in Bishop years ago. I expected some great photos and stories, but had no expectations that it would be hilarious. It was. And enthusiastic! A great relief from the "when I'm soloing and I'm in the zone and it's just me and the rock and the elements and blah, blah, blah" type stuff we so often hear from elite adventurer/athlete types. Plus, he was able to joke about being scared, exhausted, whatever in a way that was not only funny, but so completely humble and sincere that it wasn't the least bit patronizing to the mortals in the audience. He brought us in to share experiences that few (if any) will ever have, not an easy thing.
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10b4me
climber
hanging by a thread
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Mar 31, 2008 - 07:33pm PT
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L
You gave such a great story that I honestly have fallen in love with you! Dang, that was funny!
AF
L, you have a way with words. a great story.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Mar 31, 2008 - 09:28pm PT
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The spirit of alpinism has no better champion than Peter Croft. Check out his favorite from Fifty Favorite Climbs by Mark Kroese, 2001.
Pure old school.
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L
climber
If only I could remember....
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Mar 31, 2008 - 09:36pm PT
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AF, 10b4me--Thank you...but truly, it's Peter who made the story so funny. I just sat there, laughed and took notes.
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Indianclimber
climber
Las Vegas
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Mar 31, 2008 - 09:59pm PT
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Red Rock this weekend with the nicest person you will ever meet
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WBraun
climber
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Mar 31, 2008 - 10:00pm PT
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Awesome and beautiful thread.....
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harihari
Trad climber
Squampton
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Mar 31, 2008 - 11:14pm PT
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OK I know Peter Croft (my hero) is Mr Pure Ethics...rejected sponsorship and all that in the early '90s bla bla bla...but...I think he's secretly sponsored by Peet's Coffee. I have seen the guy a few times (like in a Sierra trailhead parking lot at 3 a.m. making espresso on a stove on the hood of his truck) and he is the most massive caffeine junkie you will ever meet, and second, if he writes, he will also mention Peet's. So he's like a stealth-sponsored climber.
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GDavis
Trad climber
SoCal
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His sierras books has some pretty awesome writeups. My first sierra peak was Cathedral, and not long after I flipped through the guide. He recounted that after climbing the peak, you will be sitting in the Meadows store parking lot, eating ice cream, pointing your thumb over your shoulder telling passerbys "see that? I just climbed THAT!" Stuck with me ever since and I could just see him playing that scenario out in his head, hehe.
As far as great writings, my favorite TR's are actually our own CMacs (no I'm not a suckup! But I am.) What makes them interesting is the extreme humility, almost as if he is laughing at the fact that he is doing these, to the nonclimber, seemingly asanine stunts. You have to really read the subtleties to catch a glimpse of the super badass stuff hes doing. Same thing with Croft. Actions speak louder than words!
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Eggstele
Trad climber
Kings Beach, Lake Tahoe
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It was an article on Croft and how he started linking up climbs to satiate his endless appetite that inspired my first big link-up, Regular Route on Fairview to SE Butress of Cathredal to the 5.4 North pitch (?) on Eichorn Pinnacle.
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Tan Slacks
Social climber
Joshua Tree
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It was the late 80's when i first met Peter. He came through Idyllwild one summer, we did a stack of climbs and spent time hanging at the house and shop. He was really nice and I felt very lucky. Years later we move to Josh and have a daughter who loves to climb. She gets so bored listening to the "old" men talk about past glorys. But then she bought Peters east side book. I told her about Peters feats and how her mother and I spent time with him. She always wanted to meet him....
Then one day walking through the wonderland....
Her east side tick list is huge. I hope I can hang on.
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L
climber
If only I could remember....
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OK, another Croft story from when he was guiding for Vertical Adventures.
There were 5 of us in his class this time—3 women and 2 guys. I don’t remember much about anyone else except one of the women—she was big, I mean big in a husky way, like muscular, and big in a butt way, too, I guess. I can’t remember if her name was Bertha or not, but she looked like a Bertha, so that’s what we’ll call her. Big Bertha.
She had a big voice, too. Raspy and deep like you’d expect from a big woman, or a truck driver, with a laugh somewhere between Rosie O’Donnell and Joan Rivers. She talked loudly and laughed loudly as we trailed to the crags, flushing jackrabbits and quail and no doubt rattlesnakes, too, from 50 yards away.
Well, Bertha had a little climbing experience, which made her bold. Way bolder than any of the rest of us. So when Peter would string up a top rope on a crack for us, Bertha would be one of the first to jump right on. She was gutsy, all right. And aggro, too. Trouble was, she didn’t really have crack technique down. She was strong as an ox, but sometimes, as in the case of a slick-walled crack, strength might get you off the ground; only technique will get you to the top.
So there we were, at the White Cliffs of Dover on Popular Mechanics. It’s a beautiful crack, and when Peter soloed up it to show us how we were going to climb it, he did it beautifully. With the grace and ease of years of climbing and miles upon miles of routes under his chalkbag’s belt. He put the top rope through the anchors and climbed back down to us.
And there stood Bertha, hands taped like a fighter's and ready to rumble.
Well, the Big B got about a foot off the ground and could go no further. She wasn’t strong enough to dig grooves in the rock, and what little technique she tried to employ was counteracted by her...let's call it ballast. So she resorted to Plan B: Cursing like a salty sailor. I mean, what came out of her mouth would’ve made Sam Kennison proud.
We were all watching in a mute fascination bordering on the comical as Bertha floundered and fought and screamed four-letter words at an impassive, unperturbed crack in an unresponsive, unconcerned rock. All of us except Peter. His color was a bit on the rosy side, and the frozen grin on his face was more that of startled embarrassment rather than any form of entertainment.
“Bertha!” he whispered loudly, trying not to laugh. “You might want to watch your voice. There could be kids around here.”
There were no kids within 10 miles of us, as we all knew. Poor Peter. He’d never encountered a female like Big Bertha before, and his ears, not to mention his sensibilities, were getting scourged by an expert.
Bertha stayed pretty true to form for the entire day, and so did Peter. She would pummel up a crack, riding on a string of x-rated nouns and adjectives, and Peter would blush, grin self-consciously, and look anywhere but at one of us. Eventually she would make it up whatever climb she could beat into submission, and Peter would visibly relax while the rest of us scrambled up the thing in an almost deafening silence. Then he'd find another crack for us and the whole shebang would begin again.
I found it strangely endearing that this world-class climber was embarrassed by profanity—he was certainly the exception in his sport. In fact, in the many times I climbed with Peter, or shared a meal with him and friends in a restaurant, I never heard Peter use a profane word. Not once.
Not once, that is, until one night in Crossroads…after 2 glasses of wine…and no dessert…I distinctly remember him forlornly uttering the words, “Goddammit, I really wanted a piece of blueberry pie.”
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ron gomez
Trad climber
fallbrook,ca
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Man how refreshing to have a thread about someone and have NO dissing or pissing about the honored person! But then again, when there IS no trash, there is nothing to spread. Peter is a great example of what the love of climbing is all about and what a good person should be. Uh he has a great mentor in his wife Karine. What's the saying,"behind every great man.....is a great woman".
Keep the stories coming....
Peace
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Having passed through the fire many times already, I think that the lad is flameproof!
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rick graham
Trad climber
irvine,ca
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A glass of wine, a slice of blueberry pie, a cup of coffee or ……
… a cocktail after a day of shredding up and down Temple Crag. Check his entry (middle left) from 8/10/02 from the Temple Crag register. Climbed MG, DS, SR, VB and then on to that cocktail hour, ha! The man is very impressive and inspiring.
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tolman_paul
Trad climber
Anchorage, AK
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I dunno about the Peets sponsorship, I think the guy just has great taste.
I also think it isn't the secret to his abilities, I ground up some Peets this morning, had a great cup of coffee, but I still don't climb like Peter, likely never will, and am not nearly as nice a person.
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Mees
climber
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I met Peter only once in Hueco Tanks of all places. He was guiding someone there, and was about to head up a climb my partner and I had just done. I was star struck for a second when I noticed who it was and I remember babbling a bit about how much I respected his climbing etc etc. I distinctly recall his eyes starting to glaze over when I started babbling about, "WoW! it's Peter Coft" and I thought hmm, this guy really isn't appreciating this at all. So I stopped and asked him how he was enjoying Hueco and asked him if he had seen any of the rock art. His eyes twinkled suddenly, and he was all of a sudden really interested in talking with me. lmao. We talked a bit about the archeology of the tanks and I gave him some directions to some of the easier to find pictographs and said if he had time I could take him to some spots where we might find some arrow heads or pottery shards etc.. anyway, I left realizing he was really a salt of the earth kind of guy.
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10b4me
climber
hanging by a thread
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I remember hearing about Peters' ascents on Temple Crag shortly after they happened. very impressive, as usual.
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harihari
Trad climber
Squampton
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Ha, speaking of summit registers, on the top of the Hulk he has a bunch of entries. One of them is something like this: "Did Slipstream [5.12+ trad] and P. Vibes, kinda pooped." That's like 22 pitches. His partner wrote something like "I am along for the ride, how much hard trad climbing can one do ina day, anyway?"
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Fletcher
Trad climber
Varied locales along the time and space continuum
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L, you are a wonderful storyteller... yes, it helps to have good source material, but
not everyone can weave a tale. Memorable stuff! Thank you for your Peter stories.
I have been drinking Peet's coffee for almost 20 years now. Before I began climbing
and had even heard of Peter. Trust me, that's not his secret to success if you judge
my climbing ability!
I was at that talk that he gave in Griffith Park last year. Prior to that, he was
certainly a great inspiration, but at that event, just how down to earth he was really
came through. He told one story about starting out pre-dawn at Whitney Portal and
getting lost in the parking lot trying to find the trailhead.
Another thing he mentioned was that some of the best times he's had in the
mountains were when he set off for some climb, hiked in, got to the start and
decided, "nope, climbing's not right for me today." But because of the place and the
people he was with, it still was a great time.
My sense is that he is a very present soul.
Those last two annecdotes show how he really makes it easy for anybody to relate
to him. Hey, I get lost at the trailhead all the time!
And he does have a great sense of humor, especially about himself. With that in
your quiver, it's hard to go wrong.
Fletch
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seakri
Trad climber
Sierra Crest
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Apr 18, 2008 - 02:10pm PT
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Thanks for clearing that up Tami! He may not be flame proof, but he sure does stoke my own personal flame.
Lets hear some more!
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Apr 18, 2008 - 03:11pm PT
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Agreed, what an amazing climber. And every interaction I ever had with him was pleasant. I haven't seen him since the 80's or early 90's I think.
Question: Didn't he marry Karine? Are they still together?
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Anastasia
climber
Not here
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Apr 18, 2008 - 03:14pm PT
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Yes, they are presently very much happily together.
Big Smiles,
AF
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Apr 18, 2008 - 03:18pm PT
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Ahh, that is such good news! One time she and I climbed Sons Of Yesteryear together. I led my share of the pitches including something .10 if I recall. She led the crux pitch, and walked up it. I came just a hair from coming off and she was cheering me "You're cruising it Bruce!"
She was quite the hard woman. I imagine she's still climbing?
Thanks Anastasia,
Bruce
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jstan
climber
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Apr 18, 2008 - 03:41pm PT
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L's story reformatted so it stays on screen.
OK, another Croft story from when he was guiding for Vertical Adventures.
There were 5 of us in his class this time—3 women and 2 guys. I don’t
remember much about anyone else except one of the women—she was
big, I mean big in a husky way, like muscular, and big in a butt way, too, I
guess. I can’t remember if her name was Bertha or not, but she looked like
a Bertha, so that’s what we’ll call her. Big Bertha.
She had a big voice, too. Raspy and deep like you’d expect from a big
woman, or a truck driver, with a laugh somewhere between Rosie
O’Donnell and Joan Rivers. She talked loudly and laughed loudly as we
trailed to the crags, flushing jackrabbits and quail and no doubt
rattlesnakes, too, from 50 yards away.
Well, Bertha had a little climbing experience, which made her bold. Way
bolder than any of the rest of us. So when Peter would string up a top rope
on a crack for us, Bertha would be one of the first to jump right on. She
was gutsy, all right. And aggro, too. Trouble was, she didn’t really have
crack technique down. She was strong as an ox, but sometimes, as in the
case of a slick-walled crack, strength might get you off the ground; only
technique will get you to the top.
So there we were, at the White Cliffs of Dover on Popular Mechanics. It’s a
beautiful crack, and when Peter soloed up it to show us how we were
going to climb it, he did it beautifully. With the grace and ease of years of
climbing and miles upon miles of routes under his chalkbag’s belt. He put
the top rope through the anchors and climbed back down to us.
And there stood Bertha, hands taped like a fighter's and ready to rumble.
Well, the Big B got about a foot off the ground and could go no further. She
wasn’t strong enough to dig grooves in the rock, and what little technique
she tried to employ was counteracted by her...let's call it ballast. So she
resorted to Plan B: Cursing like a salty sailor. I mean, what came out of
her mouth would’ve made Sam Kennison proud.
We were all watching in a mute fascination bordering on the comical as
Bertha floundered and fought and screamed four-letter words at an
impassive, unperturbed crack in an unresponsive, unconcerned rock. All of
us except Peter. His color was a bit on the rosy side, and the frozen grin
on his face was more that of startled embarrassment rather than any form
of entertainment.
“Bertha!” he whispered loudly, trying not to laugh. “You might want to
watch your voice. There could be kids around here.”
There were no kids within 10 miles of us, as we all knew. Poor Peter. He’d
never encountered a female like Big Bertha before, and his ears, not to
mention his sensibilities, were getting scourged by an expert.
Bertha stayed pretty true to form for the entire day, and so did Peter. She
would pummel up a crack, riding on a string of x-rated nouns and
adjectives, and Peter would blush, grin self-consciously, and look
anywhere but at one of us. Eventually she would make it up whatever climb
she could beat into submission, and Peter would visibly relax while the
rest of us scrambled up the thing in an almost deafening silence. Then he'd
find another crack for us and the whole shebang would begin again.
I found it strangely endearing that this world-class climber was
embarrassed by profanity—he was certainly the exception in his sport. In
fact, in the many times I climbed with Peter, or shared a meal with him
and friends in a restaurant, I never heard Peter use a profane word. Not
once.
Not once, that is, until one night in Crossroads…after 2 glasses of wine…and no dessert…I distinctly remember him forlornly uttering the words, “Goddammit, I really wanted a piece of blueberry pie.”
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Brunosafari
Boulder climber
Redmond, OR
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Apr 18, 2008 - 04:15pm PT
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Thanks Jstan! The horizontal scrolling was flaring up the tendonitus! Great story L--I love the Clark Kent stories of Supermen, even Astromen. B
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martygarrison
Trad climber
Modesto
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 18, 2008 - 04:18pm PT
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since I started this thread I guess will come clean. I not only could never climb like Peter, but also have been known to curse like a sailor! Geeze I am getting the feeling that Mr Croft was sent to us from the heavens.
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drljefe
climber
Old Pueblo, AZ
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Feb 25, 2009 - 03:01pm PT
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*BUMP*
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matisse
climber
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Feb 25, 2009 - 04:33pm PT
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I always felt sorry for "Bertha" in the above story.
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Anastasia
climber
Not here
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Great dogs hang out with great people...
I love that story and knowing how much most dogs hate baths... I bet that puppy wished Croft stuck around too.
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ninjah
Big Wall climber
a van down by the river
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I just saw peter and karine and peewee in the gorge on tuesday, yes , he is the man I aspire to be more like! a god among us!
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karodrinker
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
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Sep 23, 2012 - 10:07pm PT
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I love climbing bump.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Sep 23, 2012 - 10:25pm PT
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Well you certainly picked a climber who elicits nothing but admiration!
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Sonic
Trad climber
Boulder, CO
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Sep 23, 2012 - 10:32pm PT
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need more threads like this!
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karodrinker
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
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Sep 23, 2012 - 10:52pm PT
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Jim you fit that description as well.
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Michelle
Trad climber
the f*#king peninsula.
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Sep 23, 2012 - 11:46pm PT
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When I first started climbing, I had an the Moving Over Stone video. Croft's interview influenced me, especially in regard to soloing.
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Guangzhou
Trad climber
Asia, Indonesia, East Java
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Sep 24, 2012 - 01:51am PT
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Maybe we should start on about Jim. Plenty of us have met him along the way.
Eman
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
bouldering
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Sep 24, 2012 - 02:25am PT
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When I first started climbing, I had an the Moving Over Stone video. Croft's interview influenced me, especially in regard to soloing. Way harder solos have gone down over the years, but Astroman at that time eclipses all of them (in my book).
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Fletcher
Trad climber
Fumbling towards stone
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Sep 24, 2012 - 02:35am PT
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A great read even the second time through!
eric
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roadman
climber
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Sep 24, 2012 - 02:45am PT
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My only impression was that he had stout legs.
Don't mean to burst your bubble, but......THat's Canadian average! They all have sick legs from hiking up the worlds steepest approaches.
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adikted
Boulder climber
Tahooooeeeee
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Sep 24, 2012 - 03:32am PT
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If this thread is bumped enough times we might even get Croft to post........BUMP
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Lennox
climber
just southwest of the center of the universe
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Sep 24, 2012 - 03:47am PT
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I've heard he lurks.
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snakefoot
climber
cali
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Sep 24, 2012 - 11:49am PT
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was climbing bear creek spire north arete a while back (in the early 90's) and belaying two friends near the top where the ridge seems endless. up comes this guy, sans rope of course, said he wasn't feeling that well, but came out to do some climbing. rest of the day was uneventful, but glad to have had a brief chat with him at such a location. have always been inspired by his style and character. Keep on crankin.
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