Discussion Topic |
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Oct 26, 2008 - 09:09pm PT
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No climbing library, public or private, is complete without a copy of Chris Jones' superb and authoritative Climbing in North America, 1976. With the 50th anniversary of the FA of the NW Face of Half Dome last year and the Nose reunion coming up, this material is pure gold!
I am going down to LA to interview Mark at length next weekend just in case he cannot make it to the Nose Reunion. He, Warren and Bill Feuerer were the original team to start up the Nose and this history sets the stage.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Oct 26, 2008 - 09:27pm PT
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'Glad to hear of this interview Steve!!!
Mark Powell = proto Stonemaster?
-whatever the case, Thank You for the effort.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 26, 2008 - 10:12pm PT
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Truly, my pleasure Roy! It's going to be a marathon because Mark remembers a lot based on my bits of conversation with him so far.
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pyro
Big Wall climber
Calabasas
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Oct 26, 2008 - 10:43pm PT
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Bitch'n
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east side underground
Trad climber
crowley ca
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Oct 26, 2008 - 11:27pm PT
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nice thread as usual murry---murry
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 26, 2008 - 11:32pm PT
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You coming to the 50th Mammoth Murry? Might have to hook up the sled dogs to make it over the pass!
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east side underground
Trad climber
crowley ca
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Oct 27, 2008 - 12:06am PT
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Might make it , if I don't have to wax up!
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crunch
Social climber
CO
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Oct 27, 2008 - 10:36am PT
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Tragic, how both Gallwas and Powell sustained bad climbing injuries that brought their climbing careers to a sudden end. You have to wonder how Yosemite in the 1960s would have been different, had they continued.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 27, 2008 - 12:13pm PT
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The events on the Nose would have unfolded differently without a doubt. With Powell at full strength, it would not have been the Harding show and the Dolt would not have left the team once Warren began casting around for belayers. And had Bill gotten the lift that such a great climb would have provided him, I believe that he would still be around these days. But then he might not have placed his precious Leica in Tom Frost's hands in 1960 for the first continuous ascent......the web of what ifs.
There were already clear countercurrents to the Batso approach in place due to the NW Face climb. Roper had this to say:
Powell would also have been healthy competition for Pratt, Sacherer and Kamps that would have ushered in 5.10 in a bigger way historically. His single minded commitment to climbing earned the derisive title of "climbing bum." He was the original hard core and proto Stonemaster as Roy likes to note back when there was virtually nothing to be gained from climbing besides the respect of a small group of peers.
Gallwas was certainly more mainstream and who knows what he would have been able to do given his solid skill set had he also avoided a career ending accident. Modern climbers have to grasp the extreme level of risk to which the equipment and techniques of the day exposed these brave adventurers when they were pushing the game forward. I always have that daring do in mind when I follow in their weighty footsteps.
The California - Colorado competition really began in the desert with the race for Shiprock in the classical alpine model with tales of lead falls and shifting, bent iron filtering back and forth between the two regional schools. The Kor slide show really brought home how intense was the desire to excel on the part of the Colorado camp.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Oct 27, 2008 - 11:47pm PT
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Yosemite Valley FAs and FFAs by Mark Powell
K-P Pinnacle FA 1941 Ted Knoll Jack Piontaki FFA 1955 5.2 Mark Powell Larry Hawley Bryan Milton Merle Alley
Arrowhead Arete 5.9 FA 1956 Mark Powell Bill Feuerer
East Arrowhead Chimney (Nagasaki My Love) 5.8 A2 III FA 1956 Mark Powell Warren Harding FFA 1988 5.10d Elliot Robinson Steve Annecone
Kat Pinnacle, Northwest Corner 5.7 A2 FA 1956 Mark Powell Don Wilson
Liberty Cap, South Face 5.8 A3 IV FA 1956 Mark Powell Royal Robbins Joe Fitschen
Lower Cathedral Rock, East Buttress 5.8 A3 IV FA 1956 Mark Powell Jerry Gallwas Don Wilson FFA 1965 5.10c Steve Thompson Chris Fredricks
Overhang Route II FA 1935 Dick Leonard Doris Leonard Bestor Robinson FFA 1956 5.8 Mark Powell Bill Feuerer
The Block 5.5 FA 1957 Mark Powell
Bridalveil East 5.8 A2 III FA 1957 Mark Powell Warren Harding FFA 1964 5.10c Frank Sacherer John Morton
East Arrowhead Buttress, Overhang Bypass 5.7 III FA 1957 Mark Powell Wally Reed Warren Harding
East Arrowhead Buttress, Overhang Route 5.8 A2 III FA 1957 Mark Powell Wayne Merry
Lower Cathedral Rock, North Buttress 5.8 A4 V FA 1957 Mark Powell Bill Feuerer
Lower Watkins Pinnacle A3 II FA 1957 Mark Powell Herb Swedlund Wally Reed George Sessions Merle Alley
North Dome, South Face Route III FA 1957 Mark Powell Wally Reed FFA 1960 5.7 Mort Hempel Irene Ortenberger Steve Roper
Powell-Reed 5.7 A3 IV FA 1957 Mark Powell Wally Reed FFA 1964 5.10c Bob Kamps Tom Higgins
Footstool, The Right Side 5.4 R FA 1959 Mark Powell Beverly Powell Bill Feuerer
Nickel Pinnacle from the Notch 5.9 I FA 1959 Mark Powell George Whitmore
Penny Pinnacle; East Arete 5.9 I FA 1959 Mark Powell Bill Feuerer
The Inconsolable Buttress 5.7 A3 III FA 1960 Mark Powell Beverly Powell Dave Rearick
The Turret 5.8 A2 IV FA 1962 Bob Kamps Mark Powell FFA 1973 5.11 Jim Donini John Bragg
Lower Cathedral Spire, Northeast Face 5.9 FA 1963 Mark Powell Frank Sacherer Bob Kamps
The Flakes 5.8 R FA 1964 Frank Sacherer Mark Powell
Reed's Pinnacle, Direct 5.10a FA 1964 Frank Sacherer Mark Powell Wally Reed Gary Colliver Andy Lichman Chris Fredricks
The Cobra 5.9 R A2 IV FA 1966 Mark Powell Bob Kamps FFA 1975 5.11a Tobin Sorenson Tim Sorenson
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 28, 2008 - 12:44am PT
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Thanks for the hit list, Ed! Are you coming to the Nose Reunion?
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Anastasia
climber
Not there
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Oct 28, 2008 - 01:04am PT
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That is so nice! It gives me goose bumps!
AF
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Oct 28, 2008 - 01:11am PT
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I've got it marked on my calendar! Should be there Friday, Saturday and parts of Sunday...
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dogtown
climber
Where I once was,I think?
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Oct 28, 2008 - 08:17am PT
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Steve;
I just eat up all the early day material that you post. Fascinating stuff.
Thanks.
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Bart Fay
Social climber
Redlands, CA
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Oct 28, 2008 - 12:21pm PT
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Bea Vogel ?
Any Sketchy relation ??
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scuffy b
climber
On the dock in the dark
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Oct 28, 2008 - 09:36pm PT
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Powell's body of work at Tahquitz is quite impressive in that most of it occurred after his career-ending injury.
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crunch
Social climber
CO
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Oct 29, 2008 - 11:43am PT
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So whatever became of Don Wilson?
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looking sketchy there...
Social climber
Latitute 33
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Oct 29, 2008 - 12:11pm PT
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Mark Powell has an amazing memory (and seems a genuinely nice guy); your interview should be quite rewarding.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 29, 2008 - 09:49pm PT
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Since this is home turf for you Randy and also because my only JT guide is the old Wolfe- Dominick orange one, a few questions if you would be so kind. I have Mama and Papa Woolsey on the Blob and the SW Corner and Cryptic on Headstone Rock (called Balanced Rock by Powell). Mark doesn't recall Cryptic credited to him at F7 March 1971. Any other Powell routes of record in more modern guides? Any other tidbits of history, myths or questions that you would like clarified?
Based on my phone conversations with him, Mark has a razor sharp memory including chronology which makes my task much easier than usual. This should really be an amazing recounting of exploits and adventures with a true giant in american climbing.
Cheers-Steve
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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Oct 29, 2008 - 10:18pm PT
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Wilson was killed on a rafting trip years ago in Idaho. Anybody that has ever climbed and run rivers has probably heard the story. He tied himself in and was unable to get lose when caught in a swift current. To this day, I cringe when I see someone enter a swift current tied in. Saw just this in a recent film series here in Santa Cruz. Yikes, got to chalk up.
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MisterE
Trad climber
My Inner Nut
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Oct 29, 2008 - 10:27pm PT
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Steve: Excellent article - thanks so much.
Glad to hear the archiving project is going so well - Mark will be an invaluable contributor!
Erik
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john hansen
climber
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Oct 29, 2008 - 11:57pm PT
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You always have great stuff Steve, I have read hours of your post's here on the super T.
Just like El Cap Pic's reports. Appreciated more than you know.
So ,just saying, keep em coming. Can't wait for the next one.
John Hansen
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 3, 2008 - 02:12am PT
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1970, the year that I started climbing and the year that desert adventures entered the consciousness of North American climbing via Ascent and the superb historical writing of Steve Roper. If you love desert lore as much as I do, then feast away!
I just returned home from interviewing Mark for an amazing ten hours. Contrary to the myth, his career did not end in 1957 and he continued to do climbs of record into the early seventies at a very high standard especially considering that one of his ankles was fused with a very limited range of flex. His love of adventure is truly an inspiration and his geographer's attention to detail going all the way back to childhood summits and scrambles is astounding. What a treat!
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Ontario, Canada, eh?
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I guess I'll have to make this post one of my home pages, so I don't forget to read it all when I have some time.
As one who took a nasty fall and buggered his ankle pretty badly - but recovered pretty much fully - I have to wonder how Mark would have fared had he the benefit of New Millennium medical treatment.
Be sure to ask him about his injury, Steve.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 3, 2008 - 01:00pm PT
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I already did.......
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 5, 2008 - 11:20am PT
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Nose pioneer bump!
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LongAgo
Trad climber
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Steve,
So great you have taken an interest in Mark and cast of active characters and stories of the time. And thank God for old Ascent articles giving us the retrospective on those days.
I climbed with Mark Powell and Bob Kamps way back when in the Needles of South Dakota, a place called "Proc" in the southern sierra (I think Bob named the place after Mark!) and Domeland. Mark loved Bob and they could get into laughing sprees the likes of which I'd never seen before, maybe with the help of a little weed. I hope Mark shared some of his desert stories as he and Beverley and Bob and Bonnie had some wild desert adventures including digging up dumps in mining towns when that was legal and when it could render good old bottles and insulators. Bob and I descended into some dangerous long since closed desert mines together, maybe with Mark, I can't recall. But I do remember Mark climbing pretty darn well after his ankle fusion ...
Thanks for adding still another segment to the history of California climbing. We are all richer for it.
Tom Higgins
LongAgo
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Mimi
climber
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Nov 13, 2008 - 01:33am PT
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Tom, I had the pleasure of viewing some of Steve's interview footage of Mark before I met him at the Nose 50th. What a nice man. The interview is wonderful and really captures Mark's spirit. His ready laughter is classic and it's easy to imagine those laughing spells you describe. What a prolific climber, even after his injury.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 13, 2008 - 11:08pm PT
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In 1968, Mark and Beverly Powell were camping right next to a formation in Joshua Tree called the Blob along with Beverly's mother. From the picnic table Mark began eyeballing a set of discontinuous cracks and figured that a line was possible. It went at F8 and while casting about for a name they came up with Mama Woolsey (which was Beverly's maiden name) in honor of their campmate.
Some years later, in 1972, Mark was passing by the same spot and noticed three bolts low on an attractive looking face just left of Mama Woolsey. Bouldering up, Mark immediately decided that the first bolt was unnecessary and came back with a hammer and chopped it! Bolt kit in hand, he had worked up past the next two bolts when a young lad rushed up and not knowing who he was, yelled at Mark to get down off of his route! Mark immediately replied that the upstart youth didn't own the route or the formation either and told him to "get lost, bug off!" Nice holds lead upward and after a few more bolts went in, Papa Woolsey was created at F9.
Some decades later, at Bob Kamps' memorial scattering of ashes atop Fairview Dome, a rather sheepish but still very youthful appearing man approached Mark and identified himself as the upstart from Papa Woolsey and admitted to a longstanding grudge over the matter as the route had become an area classic! Mark couldn't recall who the fellow was but the coincidence was uncanny and I would love to know who tried to bark Mark Powell down from a good climb so long ago.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 15, 2008 - 12:48pm PT
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I heard at the reunion that Mark was mighty good at coming up with limericks on demand. I wonder if any ever got recorded?
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Nov 15, 2008 - 03:40pm PT
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Mark not only remembered limericks - he had a unbelievable memory for climbing routes.
In 1966, when I mentioned that I was going to do the NW face of Half Dome, Mark asked if I needed any help with the route and then sat down and sketched out a pitch-by-pitch topo with little side bars of detail like "be cautious under Psyche Flake" or "the last pitch is easy, but it's important to find the bolt because a fall here could be disastrous".
Then in 1967, before Boche and I went up on the 8th ascent of the Nose, he took out his pencil again and produced another perfect topo of the route. Pitch-by-pitch - perfect.
As for his climbing ability after his ankle was fused, in 1963-64 he put up a few new routes (The Chingadera, The Chauvinist) and variations (The Reach, The Green Arch, Sling Swing Traverse) at Tahquitz Rock.
Some of these routes were well known for sections of "Powell 5.7 friction". Back in the days of Kronhofer klettershoes, friction was more difficult and most often relied on edging more than smearing. Powell attributed his prowess with friction to his fused ankle which allowed him to stand with less effort on small rugosities. His ankle acted as a firm platform. Needless-to-say, "Powell 5.7 friction" seemed more like 5.8 to the rest of us.
I spent the summer of 1965 in the Needles of South Dakota with him and Beverly, Bob and Bonnie Kamps, and Dave Rearick. We did a few first ascents, one of which was The Phallus, where I – being the least experienced - was the last man up and – being the least experienced - was chosen to be the backup to a questionable rappel bolt … and thus – being the least experienced – was the last man down sans backup (the old “if it holds the three of us, it’ll hold you” story).
Sitting around a campfire every evening with the likes of Powell and Kamps in the Needles and Yosemite's Camp-4 are episodes in "My Life in Spire Repair" that are some of the warmest. More on that later.
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Largo
Sport climber
Venice, Ca
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Nov 15, 2008 - 04:12pm PT
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I've said this before - I firmly believe that if MP wouldn't have shattered that ankle he would have been right up there with Robbins per his stamp on American and world rock climbing. No question he would have been on the 1st ascent of The Nose, and probably many other walls besides.
His routes at Tahquitz (the ones Don L. just mentioned, and various other ones as well) greatly influenced The Stonemasters in terms of running the rope on face routes and keeping the bolt count down. Chingadera is probably 5.11c - not shabby for forty years ago in those flimsy Krohoffers (I belive Kamps was in Muir Trail hiking boots). Another Powell route - Black Harlot's Layaway, has even harder face climbing (11d). Powell was one of the great ones to every serious So Cal climber of my generation.
I'd love to see Steve Grossman's recent interview.
JL
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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Nov 15, 2008 - 04:26pm PT
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Castle Rock Spire 1961 ish
Salathe Route. Powells 4th time, our first.
Powell belaying Roper? Sort of. Most likely working on a new and nasty limerick to spring on Roper before he finishes the pitch.
I will post a TR of this beautiful route and the adventure of climbing it with two classic characters in the future.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 16, 2008 - 12:42am PT
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There once was climber named Powell
New routes, e'er was he on the prowl.
Thin cracks and blank face,
Off the deck, he was ace.
With wit that would make rope mates howl.
Edit: Trying to keep to the 8 8 6 5 8 format...
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Nov 16, 2008 - 03:44am PT
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Yes, Kamps wore size 5 EEE Pivetta Cortinas.
TM ALWAYS complained when on a Kamps route - about Kamps' stubby little feet and stubby little fingers, "No wonder he can stand on edges that small and get his stubby little fingers in these teeny little cracks."
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 16, 2008 - 01:41pm PT
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Man, those are some tiny shoes!!! Too funny that TM, with fingers big as brats and feet to match, would complain so. LOL
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Nov 16, 2008 - 05:24pm PT
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I had to keep at least one pair in stock for Bob at all times at West Ridge.
TM called them Hobbit boots.
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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Nov 17, 2008 - 11:24pm PT
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Well Steve that was OK, but Hennek and I just drove north to Dr. Dick Longs house in Carson City and had some time to work on some lymericks. Really not fair as the essence of the game is you have minimal time to compose. "Bring it on".
"There once was a climber named Powell.
Whose antics were suspect and foul.
In place of a Bong
He used Ropers Dong
While Roper cut loose with a howl!"
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Mimi
climber
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Nov 17, 2008 - 11:39pm PT
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Now that was funny!
Sounds like you've captured the wooly flavor of MP's poetry according to Bonnie Kamps.
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Nov 18, 2008 - 06:26pm PT
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Couple of Powell photos 1965
Lembert Dome - Outside the Left Water Crack (in Kronhofers)
Tahquitz- the Super Pooper
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Nov 18, 2008 - 06:38pm PT
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Maybe a closeup
Mark atop Lembert Dome
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 18, 2008 - 10:40pm PT
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Nice shots Joe and Don! Dashing fella to be sure.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 6, 2008 - 12:40am PT
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An Ed Cooper shot of Spider Rock from Off Belay August 1975.
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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A climber named Mark, when boozed,
could climb with protection not used.
And this on those climbs
with edges like dimes:
"No problem---my ankle is fused!"
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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How 'bout them vintage Powell shots!!!
Such a treat.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 6, 2008 - 04:36pm PT
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Rich helped me out by researching Mark's accomplishments in the Needles of South Dakota. Here is part of our correspondence:
Entries from Touch the Sky, Paul Piana.
If only a grade is given with no route description, the route is the first ascent route of the spire and still the only route on the spire. If there is now more than one route, I tried to add a minimal description, and in such cases if the route was the first-ascent route for the spire, I've indicated that as well.
I only had time for a single pass through the guidebook, so it is possible that I missed an entry or two and/or made some mistakes transcribing what is here.
SYLVAN LAKE AREA
Duet, cracks right of SE Corner, 5.9, with Bob Kamps 8/18/66.
Robnobs Spire, left-leaning flared crack, 5.8, with Beverly Powell, 8/7/65 (FA of spire).
NEEDLE'S EYE AREA
Gnomon, steep crack on S. Corner to SE face, 5.7 with Beverly and Kamps, August '66.
SWITCHBACKS AND TENPINS AREA
Dave's Dinghy, SE Corner, 5.9, with Beverly and Don Lauria (no date) (FA of spire)
Phallus, 5.8, with Kamps, Rearick, Lauria, August '65.
Twin Pins "These pinnacles may have been climbed as early as 1965 by Mark and Beverly Powell" ---Piana
Split Pin 5.7, with Beverly, 8/14/66.
Podunk Pinnacle, W. Chimney, 5.5, August '65, with Beverly (FA of spire?).
CATHEDRAL SPIRES
Javelin, reg route variation, 5.9, with Beverly and Kamps, August '65.
Laureate Tower, South Chimney, 5.7, with Beverly and Kamps, August '65.
Station 13 variation, 5.7, with Beverly, August '64.
Khayyam Spire, S. Face, 5.6, with Kamps, August '62.
Rubaiyat Spire, N. Face, 5.7, with Beverly and Kamps, 8/11/66.
Aku Aku, 5.9 (FFA) with Rearick and Kamps, 1965.
Frug 5.3, with Beverly and Kamps, 8/15/66.
Freak's Foot, NE Face, 5.8, with Beverly and Kamps, 8/15/66.
Eye Tooth, 5.8, with Beverly and Kamps, August '62.
Unapproachable, 5.7, with Beverly and Kamps, August '64.
Empire State Building, Wavy Crack, 5.9, with Beverly and Kamps, 8/7/64 (FA of spire).
Spindle, uphill side, 5.8, with Beverly and Kamps, 8/5/64.
Spool, 5.8, with Beverly and Kamps, 8/6/65.
Bayonet, 5.9, with Kamps, August '64.
Caboose, SW Face, 5.6, with Beverly, August 1970.
PICKET FENCE
Stile, 5.3, with Beverly 8/17/70.
Wicked Picket, W. Face Variation, 5.2, with Beverly, 1963.
Connspire, 5.7, with Beverly and Kamps, August '63.
Pud, two routes, 5.4 and 5.8, with Beverly and Kamps, 8/8/64.
El Mokana, E Face, 5.6, with Beverly, August '69.
Auntie, 5.7, with Beverly and Kamps, August '66.
NELSON CREEK AREA
Bosun, 5.2, with Kamps, 8/12/70.
Beacon, 5.8, with Beverly and Kamps, 8/10/70.
Prow, W Face, 5.2, with Kamps, 8/12/70 (FA of spire).
NE Face, 5.8, with Kamps, Dave and Judy Rearick, Chuck and Ellen Wilts, Tom Higgins, 8/9/71.
Helm, 4th class, with Kamps, 8/12/70.
Next to Nothing, 5.6, with Beverly, Higgins, Dennis Horning, 8/11/71.
Five Freaks and a Friend, 5.4, with Beverly, D&J Rearick, Higgins, and Horning.
Argument, 5.6, with Beverly, Kamps, and Horning, 8/14/72.
LOST FORMATIONS NEAR THE CHESSMEN
Geek, with Richard Goldstone, 8/5/69.
GRIZZLY BEAR CREEK AREA
Alley Oop, 5.8, with Beverly and Kamps, 8/11/70.
Patriarch, 5.6, with Beverly, Kamps, D&J Rearick, 8/14/70.
He also had this tale to tell about doing a route with Mark and Bob Kamps.
Steve,
Although we always camped together in the Oreville Campground, I don't recall many times when I ended up climbing with Mark. In fact, the only climb I can remember was an ascent with Mark and Bob Kamps of Sandberg Peak, a preposterously named precarious-looking pinnacle perched right at the edge of a Cathedral Spires pullout.
Probably the most memorable feature of that climb was an interaction I had with some tourists, a story which now has been told and retold, having now been appropriated by others and recounted as if it had happened to them. But you twisted my arm so I'll tell it again...
Mark was leading, Bob was belaying, and I was on the ground watching. A tourist pulled up and watched Mark lead for a long time, long enough to see him place a piton or two and clip into them, and finally reach the tiny summit. After watching all this, the guy got out of his car, walked over to me, and asked, "How'd they get the cables up there?" (Mind you, he and his wife had just watched how they got the cables up there.) I was very polite, and in my best imitation of the professor I would become, I offered a careful and detailed explanation of exactly what Mark had been doing. At the end of this mini-seminar, his wife (whose size seemed to preclude an exit from the car) leaned out the window and shouted to her husband, "How'd they get the cables up there?" To which her husband replied, in tones rife with exasperation, "I don't know, I can't get a straight answer out of this guy!"
Experiences like this caused me to print up a bunch of tee shirts with the legend "Needles Repair Servce" on the back. Bob had one; I can't remember whether Mark got one or not. These shirts were, as I had hoped, self-explanatory to most of the tourists who stopped, the clanking of iron and occasional banging of pitons only reinforcing the repairing theme. Pinnacle repair was a notion they had probably already been exposed to by postcards sold locally showing Herb Conn rappelling down George Washington's nose while on one of the Park Service's periodic missions to patch cracks in the sculpture. The tee-shirts were more successful than I anticipated, leaving us to ponder the fact that many people are happier with a false explanation that conforms to their preconceptions than with a true explanation that does not. One cannot help but wonder, 30 odd years later, what role this phenomenon may have played in the civic and political life of our nation.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 18, 2008 - 12:59pm PT
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Jim Wilson recently contacted me to solve the mystery of Papa Woolsey. The upstart was none other than Chris Wegener!
Left to right: Jim Wilson, Bob Kamps, Chris Wegener and Craig Smith at the Red.
Chris is amazingly youthful as Mark noted.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 29, 2008 - 10:54pm PT
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Plenty of bumps in the Needles!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Dec 30, 2008 - 02:03am PT
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"Mark couldn't recall who the fellow was but the coincidence was uncanny and I would love to know who tried to bark Mark Powell down from a good climb so long ago. "
Wegener?
Too funny.
Good sleuth.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 3, 2009 - 06:42pm PT
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Powell Bump!
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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Now, if we had a recording with what transpired between these senior gentlemen it would be worth gold indeed. Nose Reunion and "Oldies But Goodies."
I think Lauria is the "young lad " in this photo.
cheers
Guido
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jogill
climber
Colorado
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Does anyone know what became of Ken Weeks, Chouinard's climbing partner during the late 50s and early 60s?
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TomKimbrough
Social climber
Salt Lake City
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I saw Weeks in the Tetons a few years ago. He was hanging out in the Jenny Lake campground, hiking and well, hanging around. He finally went into town and bought a pair of climbing shoes and we bouldered some on the Lake boulders.
I got his email address and let him know about JT gatherings but never heard from him again.
Now the address is long gone.
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MisterE
Trad climber
One Step Beyond!
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Sounds like you are going to get a load of information, Steve - pretty exciting for the GA project!
Erik
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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There once was a climber named Steve
Whose postings were our daily reprieve
Said Mimi in jest
You can BUMP with the best
Like Adam once said to his Eve?
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SGropp
Mountain climber
Eastsound, Wa
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Any news on the further climbing career of Frank Tarver ?
I did a bunch of climbing with his daughter Ann in the Valley in 76. She was about 15 at the time .
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 5, 2009 - 09:19pm PT
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Frank lives here in Seattle. I interviewed him for a couple of hours last year and still need to go back and wrap it up. He had a close call that turned him away from climbing, as I recall. I haven't had a chance to review the footage.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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Jun 17, 2010 - 01:32am PT
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How would have early california climbing evolved if the russians had dropped the big one on LA....? Would we be leading 5.8's or would the coloradons' still be posing...? RJ
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Jun 17, 2010 - 12:43pm PT
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Hi Steve-
Glad to see you're still at it.
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FRUMY
Trad climber
SHERMAN OAKS,CA
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Jun 17, 2010 - 04:40pm PT
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Mark Powell - good man always a pleasure to talk to. glad he's still going.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 25, 2010 - 11:24am PT
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Hardman Bump!
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crunch
Social climber
CO
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Jul 25, 2010 - 04:48pm PT
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A big thanks to Steve (and Mimi) for generously sharing part of Steve's Mark Powell interview for my desert history book. Powell, Gallwas and Wilson (and supporting role by the Dolt) plucked the best towers in the desert, with boldness and style, before most of us were born.
Priceless!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 25, 2010 - 07:27pm PT
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Coming from Mark's mouth just like it happened yesterday! I hope that my memory remains that clear.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 12, 2010 - 04:42pm PT
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The Don Wilson account of the FA of Spider Rock from the June 1957 Sierra Club Bulletin. Thanks again to Bill Amborn.
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BooDawg
Social climber
Polynesian Paralysis
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Sep 12, 2010 - 06:53pm PT
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I posted these pix of Don Wilson elsewhere, but folks here have asked about him.
It was the following year, 1970, that he drown on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 19, 2010 - 05:58pm PT
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Great shots of Don!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 14, 2010 - 10:47pm PT
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Here is an absolute classic shot of Don and Frank Hoover from Summit August 1956!
Anyone know who Niles Werner was?
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 15, 2010 - 11:14pm PT
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Frank Hoover's Ballpeen Hammer Bump!
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crunch
Social climber
CO
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Oct 16, 2010 - 01:18am PT
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Okay Steve, I put your book in the mail a couple days ago, you might see it within a week or two; mailing times seem pretty random--with the receassion and all, must be hard doing the maintenance on the stagecoaches
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Anastasia
climber
hanging from a crimp and crying for my mama.
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Oct 16, 2010 - 01:24am PT
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BUMP! Excellent stuff.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 16, 2010 - 12:06pm PT
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A thousand thanks for a thousand summits!!!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 26, 2010 - 01:33pm PT
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Desert Giants Bump!
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Nov 26, 2010 - 03:22pm PT
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Bumpage with some photoshopage. Great Scanning too Stevie. It is true you are a Wonder.
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vector
climber
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Nov 11, 2011 - 08:57pm PT
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Hi Steve,
Has the interview material ever been published in a climbing mag? I can't believe stuff this interesting hasn't been available in print.
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Nov 11, 2011 - 09:41pm PT
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So for those of us that don't know, the doctors finally took off Mark Powell's leg--- it was just a terrific never-ending struggle. It had never really healed after his accident.
Lauria's fine photo of the fine man, retouched some:
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Largo
Sport climber
The Big Wide Open Face
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Nov 11, 2011 - 11:39pm PT
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Hey Peter, do you have any contact for Mark? Thanks,
JL
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Spider Savage
Mountain climber
The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles
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Nov 12, 2011 - 10:38am PT
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Bumping history.
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jogill
climber
Colorado
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Nov 12, 2011 - 11:57pm PT
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Mark is handsome as a hollywood star (he was an extra in a James Stewart western), and a great guy!
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
merced, california
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Mar 28, 2012 - 02:59pm PT
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My goodness, how misinformed was I about Mark Powell. I heard from the fount of all BS, my lamented mentor Millis, that MP
1. Came from Fresburg,
2. Quit climbing due to knee problems.
Thank you gents for removing the doubts I had about Dennis' BS. It's not the first time I stepped in a pile dropped by him.
Mark Powell routes are swell places to be. Thanks old man. And I apologize for believing such a genius could have Fresno roots.
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Largo
Sport climber
The Big Wide Open Face
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Mar 28, 2012 - 03:09pm PT
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I think Powell recently lost a leg due to diabetes - the same one he badly broke on the accident on Arerowhed Arete. I need to check with Bonnie Kamps about this. Mark has to be around 75 now and I need to get over to his house and talk to him about the early years kin the Valley and Tahquitz.
His early ascent of the Powell Reed route on Middle (1957), with very little aid, was a landmark of sorts. Along with many other ascents.
JL
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 28, 2012 - 03:51pm PT
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Powell, Bob Kamps, Dave Rearick, Frank Sacherer and Royal Robbins really defined the freeclimbing game in earnest beginning at Tahquitz and venturing onto larger walls in Yosemite.
Mark did recently lose his leg due to complications from the original accident while approaching Arrowhead Arete and not from diabetes.
He is otherwise fit and strong for a man of his years.
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Apr 17, 2012 - 04:57pm PT
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Largo,
Hell, I'll be 80 this year. Mark was at least 80 when I saw him at the First Ascent of the Nose thing in Yosemite. Was that about 3 1/2 years ago?
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crunch
Social climber
CO
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Apr 17, 2012 - 05:58pm PT
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Has the interview material ever been published in a climbing mag? I can't believe stuff this interesting hasn't been available in print.
Well, sort of.
Steve Grossman kindly sent me part of his interview, relating to the desert trips of 1956 and 1957, and part of this found its way into print in my book Desert Towers. The ascents of Spider Rock and Totem Pole were supposed to be side trips for Powell, Gallwas and Wilson but things turned out differently.
Powell broke his ankle and his climbing career, as far as cutting edge new routes, was much curtailed. Gallwas went on to climb the FA of NW Face Half Dome, then was drafted. Mid-1960s, he began climbing again only to have a long fall (while tied into the rope direct--not good); this prompted him to decide to retire from serious climbing. Wilson embarked on an academic career in biology, developing groundbreaking techniques for photographing insect's wings, in flight, among other things. He still climbed, on occasion, but mostly free climbing in Socal.
So, as Powell admits, with a smile, in his interview, the desert ascents ended up being some of his more significant ascents. They were, methinks, for all three.
The interview footage I watched is fascinating. Powell is an engaging, amusing interviewee, with a clear memory of much that went on back then. Lots of great stories. Thanks Steve!
A fantastic era to be a climber, the mid-to-late 1950s; with El Cap still untouched, and the handful of Southern California climbers so far ahead of anyone else. So much was still wide open. The horizons must have seemed infinitely far away, the possibilities endless.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 22, 2012 - 12:36pm PT
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I am actively working a towards making my interview footage available to those people that appreciate history and will keep STers in the loop.
First hand accounts are always the most rewarding and illuminating historically.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 2, 2013 - 05:17pm PT
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Personality bump
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guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
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Mark Powell got me into climbing. I was lucky enuf to meet him right when he was having a climbing resurgence, 1973 after getting divorced from Bev.
He could still get after it on the rocks, but most importantly he could party like no one else.
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Tarheel
Trad climber
San Rafael, CA
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Apr 15, 2013 - 07:50pm PT
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Hey Steve, Thanks for posting this. Do you know what sort of larger pitons, if any, Mark might have had when doing the 1957 routes such as North Dome South Face? He mentions in his account that it was hard to set up a hanging belay 100 feet up one of the upper corners. While climbing the route recently I was actually puzzled how they could have got up with their relatively short ropes in cracks that are trending around 2-3 inches. This led me to your post where I read that he climbed Spider Rock during this period. My stereotype of desert climbing suggested they might therefore have had a few 1-2" or larger pitons on North Dome. Even if they did have some larger iron, their super fast 6-hour FA suggested to me they probably had a pretty small rack and a ton of courage in the rucksack.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 17, 2014 - 02:55pm PT
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Likely no pitons much bigger than 1" unless Jerry Gallwas was in the party as he was actively making pins by 1957 when everyone else was just getting their start. Wooden wedges were what was available commercially until about 1960 when Tom Frost and Bill Feuerer began making some of the first large alloy steel angle pitons. I should know when Dick Long first started shaping his big angles. I will have to ask him.
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jgill
Boulder climber
Colorado
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May 17, 2014 - 05:44pm PT
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I seem to recall Mark being 6 - 8 years older than me and I'm 77.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 17, 2014 - 06:20pm PT
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Did you two ever climb together?
Needles, perhaps?
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Jim Herrington
Mountain climber
New York, NY
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Mar 30, 2016 - 01:59pm PT
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Bump for history.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Mar 30, 2016 - 02:26pm PT
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I heard from the fount of all BS, my lamented mentor Millis, that MP
1. Came from Fresburg,
Mouse, that isn't entirely false. He arranged to be stationed in Fresno so he could be closer to the mountains than he was in LA. While in the Big Raisin, he made the first ascent of the formation at the east end of Patterson Bluffs he called Balch Camp Flake. This is the formation that was the focus of "Balchfest" that Micronut put together not quite 60 years after Powell's ascent.
John
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jgill
Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
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Mar 30, 2016 - 04:26pm PT
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Did you two ever climb together? Needles, perhaps?
In the 1960s a group would meet in the Needles during august to climb, boulder, play volleyball, golf, tennis and party around the campfire at Oreville CG. So I saw a lot of Mark and did some bouldering with him and Bob Kamps and maybe a little climbing although I can't remember specifics.
Mark must be around 87 now. He taught meteorology at a community college in CA for years. This probably came up earlier in this thread.
Soft spoken, but a dashing fellow!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 8, 2017 - 04:06pm PT
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Bump for Powell and Robbins...
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Nature Boy
Trad climber
Portland, OR
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Steve is right, if you don't have Chris Jones' Climbing in North America in your collection you are really missing out. It is essential reading for any climber. Hey, what's this right next to me? Wow, a paperback copy of said book in Very Good-Fine condition! I will sell it for $20.00 shipped to anywhere in the Lower 48. This is cheaper than similar condition editions on Amazon. Can send pics if interested. I believe Mountaineers Books was the last publisher. The title doesn't appear on their website so perhaps it's out of print now.
Sorry for the injection of a little capitalism into this thread, but I recently found a signed hardcover copy in a thrift store and would like to get my paperback copy into the hands of someone you'll put it to good use. It really is an outstanding book. If interested please send an email to climberjohn AT hotmail DOT com. Thanks and happy climbing!
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