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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jan 29, 2009 - 10:07pm PT
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1990 North Face Berkeley World Cup & Sport Climbing Championships
We just had a world cup championship here in the states during 2008.
There hadn’t been one since 1990, then staged at Berkeley’s Greek Theatre.
This spectacular 1990 North Face World Cup at Berkeley was Jeff Lowe’s culmination of Sport Climbing Championships (a series of national events), the introduction of the Jean Marc Blanche Sport Climbing Designs “Twin Towers” climbing walls & the follow up to Snowbird World Cup competitions from 1988 and 1989.
The scale and scope of these efforts, including both a competition series and various mobile climbing walls, a pair of articulating climbing walls unique to the World Cup, were way ahead of their time; too much so, as the backing for such an endeavor just wasn’t there, even with The North Face figuring in hugely for the finale, as the title sponsor. At the time there were maybe two, (at most a small handful) of climbing gyms in the states.
After Snowbird II in ‘89, and prior to the Berkeley World Cup, we did a number, half a dozen or so, of these Sport Climbing Championships' national competitions at various venues. We did this traveling with various configurations of our own mobile wall. The detail involved producing and running these events was tremendous, requiring a staggering confluence of materiel, manpower, logistics, and support.
By “We” I mean to say the group of us involved in building these various climbing walls, then producing and directing the events. This was Jeff Lowe’s brainchild, and a legion of workers and volunteers came through in support.
Offhand, besides myself, I can think of four Super Topo people who were involved in various capacities: Bill Roos a.k.a. Local, Guy Kenny a.k.a. Prod, Sasha Montagu a.k.a Unimog, and Kurt Smith a.k.a. The Kid.
Many other names come to mind as having contributed greatly to various events: organizers Peter Darmi & Jim Waugh, promotional directors Bart and Tracy Fay, and tons of people from the climbing community at large. Course setters from France, Christian Griffith and so on…
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 29, 2009 - 10:08pm PT
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A view of one of the JMB Twin Towers at the Greek Theatre:
Photo by Clean Dan
Isabelle Patissier?
Photo by Clean Dan
Photo by Clean Dan
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 29, 2009 - 10:09pm PT
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Lynn Hill, being Lynn:
Not sure who took the photo, or from which mag; a very nice shot, I hope to figure it out.
Robyn Erbesfield, Jubilant!
Greg Epperson photo, not sure of the magazine.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 29, 2009 - 10:10pm PT
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Rear views of the articulated steel structures comprising the top third of the walls, "The Horse Sections"
These were built in Karl Arndt’s metalworking shop at Paul Sibley's direction:
Photos by Clean Dan
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 29, 2009 - 10:10pm PT
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Thanks to Mike Bolte for Climbing Magazine December 1990/January 1991 posted below.
I will be posting an article from:
 Outside magazine January 1991
*if anybody has this back issue of Outside and would care to scan it in full color, I’d love to edit my post with a fresh scan*
size at 700 pixels wide and save at 200+KB per page, then e-mail to me please.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 29, 2009 - 10:11pm PT
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From Climbing Magazine December 1990/January 1991
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the kid
Trad climber
fayetteville, wv
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Jan 29, 2009 - 10:12pm PT
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really good post tarbuster...
This was my fourth or fifth big comp in my life and i went there with Mike Pont, who helped build the wall with Paul Sibley.
Steve Schneider and i were tied for 11th and in the semi's and both almost made the finals.
A few months before you, Mike, Sibley, myself a a few others drove that wall to Seattle for that comp, set it up, competed and drove it back in a week!!!!
Crazy times, crazy times..
KS
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 29, 2009 - 10:24pm PT
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Yup,
Here I am with Mike Pont, trucking all that "Cack" as we say in show business, out to Berkeley:
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 29, 2009 - 10:29pm PT
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Yes, Sibley was the madman can do builder for Jeff.
He could get anything done, anything built on time & over budget: no matter how harebrained.
No problem.
I just tracked the pieces and expenses as we went...
Mike Pont figured in really heavily on the fiberglass layering of the 4' x 8' panels,
While I single-handedly bent all the corners of the 6 inch x 4' x 8' steel frames, all in one push!
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bhilden
Trad climber
Mountain View, CA
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Jan 29, 2009 - 10:30pm PT
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I was there at the Greek Theatre covering the event for a magazine. The moment I remember most is during the semis (I think) when Lynn Hill fell and her belayer dropped her almost to the deck. I think they were using people from a local climbing club. In about 10 seconds that belayer was replaced by someone else.
Anybody out there remember the indoor competition the same year(I think) at some theatre in Berkeley?
Bruce
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 29, 2009 - 10:32pm PT
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As a team, most of us were out of the other Berkeley event, due to financial reasons.
John Cook, one of our buddies here from Boulder pretty much ran the construction side of things; without Sibley he was way in over his head...
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 29, 2009 - 10:34pm PT
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Yes Bruce, armies of volunteers were required for these things.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 29, 2009 - 10:38pm PT
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Remember the big earthquakes back then; when Berkeley high school had a big plume of smoke coming from it and that freeway collapsed?
I was there that day, looking at venues for J&J Lowe Sport Climbing Championships, I used that double-decker freeway en route to look at a venue in Oakland.
When the earthquake started, I was with the technical director of the theater up in the rigging and the whole building started shaking. As we scampered down the stairs I remember the side walls of the hallway slapping my legs. We got outside and the sidewalk was buckled all the way around the building.
As I left I took a different route home and I was heading towards the smoke coming from Berkeley high, unaware at the time that the freeway had collapsed…
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bhilden
Trad climber
Mountain View, CA
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Jan 29, 2009 - 10:40pm PT
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Tar,
my comment wasn't meant as a dig at the competition or the organizers. The event was pretty cool! That's just what I remember the most(I guess I don't like being dropped).
Bruce
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 29, 2009 - 10:43pm PT
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Paul Sibley, during a pensive moment up in the scaffolding at the Greek Theatre, preparing it for the towers to be attached.
Sasha Montague by his side, working over the edge:
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 29, 2009 - 10:45pm PT
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No dig taken Bruce!
These things were spectacles; I got on in the 1989 Snowbird competition.
Lots went on there too: harrowing workloads, extreme time constraints, we were hard-pressed to keep a tight safety reign around all.
And construction as completely distinct from running of the competitions themselves,
Which had its own unique sets of safety and logistical concerns.
So many long nights.
Steve Petro, who posts up, might chime in with some stories...
In many cases, by the time the competitions started, we were completely sacked, but for the most part finished with our work. Usually some ancillary things to do, or trading positions as others slept.
I'd love to hear anybody's recollections.
Post Up!!!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 29, 2009 - 11:12pm PT
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Mike Pont, Deanne Gray, and Bill Roos,
Just getting started at the Greek Theatre.
Usually, "just getting started", was mid-thrust after long travel hours in trucks, "convoys"...
First preceded by many days back in Colorado, engaged in long-term building scenarios.
Sasha Montagu, Deanne Gray, & Mike Pont:
Preparing to lift the articulating portion of the wall:
And up it goes:
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Todd Eastman
climber
Bellingham, WA
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Jan 29, 2009 - 11:21pm PT
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Clean Dan - RIP you crazy Buffalonian
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ron gomez
Trad climber
fallbrook,ca
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Jan 29, 2009 - 11:41pm PT
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Really cool post Roy. Lots of neato background stuff that most people never see that makes these events happen. How ya doin' boy. Hope all is well, say hey to the Lisa! Wish you out for the Croft show this weekend. Take care!
Ron and Kelly
Peace
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rmuir
Social climber
the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.
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Jan 30, 2009 - 12:01am PT
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Damn. If I squint really hard, I think I can see myself down on the stage when I was asked to become one of the "official" timers during that event.
I did enjoy introducing my, then, four-year old son Galen to the much older Galen. That was a fun afternoon with great weather.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 30, 2009 - 12:16am PT
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Tarbuster
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 30, 2009 - 12:22am PT
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I remember Jean Marc, sometimes after meetings or technical sessions, would decide it was time "to go sculpting" and he'd merrily set forth with his knives and various tools, sculpting the voluminous surface shapes of panels (out of some kind of latex foam I believe), adding strange fish gill like adornments, & curious fossil impressions, artistically imposing climbing hold riddled surfaces fit for crimping and palming...
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 30, 2009 - 12:29am PT
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Photo by Anne Marie Weber TKO images
from outside Magazine January 1991
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 30, 2009 - 12:37am PT
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Then, after Jean Marc entertained his sculpting, the latex would be peeled and a negative made; a sand mixture with resin, woven roven matrix, combined: all kinds of labor-intensive, time sensitive teamwork procedures would follow.
(Ask Billy about real details if you need some!)
Everybody wearing masks and goggles and protections,
Sort of an oddball Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory climbing panel birthing scenario...
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Jello
Social climber
No Ut
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Jan 30, 2009 - 12:42am PT
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You bring back memories, Tar. I had overbooked myself for that one. Hired Jim to run the show in Berkeley-with you, Billy and Paul in charge of the wall-and went off to Pakistan to free climb Trango Tower with Catherine: Breashears directing and Bridwell rigging, for the ABC crew. Although the climb and film were successful, and the competition was an artistic success, both lost money and led to business and personal bankruptcy.
Wild times. One of my "...magnificent failures..."
Hoooo...Boyyyy...!
-JelloBegsForgiveness
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 30, 2009 - 12:44am PT
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But we were all shooting for the stars!!!
A chance to build a livelihood in our industry together; a tightknit crew reaching big 'n sharing outrageous efforts and having really quite a grand time with it...
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 30, 2009 - 12:48am PT
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(I've since worked harder for less...hahaha!)
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 30, 2009 - 12:51am PT
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... and no forgiveness needed Jello; not on my watch.
This is a tribute to wild times and grand strivings!!!
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monolith
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Jan 30, 2009 - 12:52am PT
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I helped with some of the setup backstage and remember a short bit of shoving and yelling between the local union boss and the leader of our volunteer group about who would set up the warm-up wall.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 30, 2009 - 12:56am PT
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The union guys!
Good one monolith.
Here's some of their muscle at the Greek Theatre:
I think I was on the roof during that altercation, um, I mean disagreement of which you speak... so I had pretty good seating for that backstage show.
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Jello
Social climber
No Ut
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Jan 30, 2009 - 12:58am PT
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You're extremely generous, Roy. Thanks for owning your share of it all. I've always felt guilty for not having been there at Berkeley. But my presence wouldn't have made the outcome different. Still would have been a world-class, sparsely attended event.
-Jeff
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WBraun
climber
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Jan 30, 2009 - 01:01am PT
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Hope you're hanging in there Jeff.
Howard Stern showed up for this thing ....
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 30, 2009 - 01:02am PT
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Yes well Jeff,
I realize you were kind of tied up and stuff.
A guy has to make a living while the troops wage battle yes?
(Very supply intensive this stuff: you had to feed it somehow)
You did miss out on Lynn Hill's really sexy Capri Lycra.
White with some sort of lingerie like adornment ...
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all in jim
climber
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Jan 30, 2009 - 01:16am PT
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Thanks for the memories Roy.
I can still remember tagging my highpoint on the men's slabby qualifier. It must have been at least eight feet up. You could jump to establish your highpoint and pass other climbers who may have climbed higher but didn't jump. All I remember is starting up and feeling like I was going to grease off every move and I kept thinking "should I jump now?".
That was quite a venue for a climbing comp - I don't think anything has equaled it since.
Jim Thornburg
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 30, 2009 - 01:17am PT
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I think we did two comps prior in Seattle right Jeff?
This might be from the Seattle Rock Comp, or maybe Nationals.
(I think nationals were in Boulder, it's all a blur)
Remember kids, we're talking the end of the 80s
... when guys wore pink:
Here I'm making routine calls to line up rental trucks to get everything back home.
(This is right after I dinged the rental car, when Rosemary and I got back from picking out ribbons for the medals)
Paul & Billy, taking in some R&R before showtime:
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mbb
climber
the slick
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Jan 30, 2009 - 01:23am PT
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I got a lift to that comp from Salt Lake by Pete Takeda, we stopped in Donner Summit and did some pitches on the way. Tied for 11th with Tim Wagner missing the finals, then went out to Mickey's beach for some climbing. Hitched a ride back to SLC with Kurt Smith and Mike Pont, took a bong hit in the back of Kurt's toyota van. Good times and great memories from the pictures (I have not seen Jennifer Cole in years!)
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 30, 2009 - 01:25am PT
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Sibley and I were absolute workaholic slave drivers on these things.
He could put the hammer down like no other; and I encouraged it!
During this Seattle Rock Comp, we pulled a 52 hour shift, slept two hours, then Paul got on a plane and I headed the truck team back to Colorado.
On one of those binges, the one that Kurt Smith remembers,
Jeff or maybe that Green Beret guy, what was his name, the CFO or Controller or something ...
One of you Big Cheese Boss Guys looked at me and said:
"So take it easy with the boys on the crew for the drive home, Roy, right?"
And Kurt remembers this: I think I had the hots for Nancy Prichard, I mean...who didn't (If you had a pulse) so I pushed the crew to get all the way to The City of Rocks by morning.
I'm quite sure Kurt was hallucinating at the wheel (of the great big rental truck with the expensive wall in the back).
So we pulled over and got a room, like six of us, and I think we just giggled straight for about 40 minutes before falling asleep!!!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 30, 2009 - 01:48am PT
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This is the wall at the first Seattle Comp,
I can tell because of the orange triangular structure;
At the second one we had a sort of amorphous blob in its place.
Getting that blob to stick under the overhang was no mean feat.
And the whole wall was stuck to the scaffolding by these wires no thicker than coat hangers.
No problem; Sibley researched it. It was "Call". Lots of them though...
As an organizer/worker/need to know guy,
I always seemed to find a reason to go to the gal's isolation and flirt.
Here's Shelley Presson Dunbar:
And this is the hot South American number that Bobbi Bensman had wrapped around her little finger:
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 30, 2009 - 01:50am PT
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Feel free to comment on any of these comps.
There was a ton of energy; things were really changing and this was a happening deal.
I love to hear memories!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 30, 2009 - 01:52am PT
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Geoff Wiegand was a course setter at the Seattle comp. (Again, Nationals I think, the second one).
Bobbi Bensman and Allison Osius were head-to-head and it was super exciting.
Geoff knew just how to wring out what they each had to offer.
At one point, his setting skills had Bobbi completely sideways at the lip of the roof.
Superpowerful stuff…
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apogee
climber
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Jan 30, 2009 - 02:06am PT
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I attended the SLC champs at Snowbird- I had hitch-hiked there after doing a month's worth of volunteer trail building in Idaho, and spent the night before the comps in a weedy lot across the street from a Sandy, UT shopping center.
I was a nothing climber (still are, come to think of it), but sensed that this event held some kind of historical significance. I remember being in awe of the big names wandering around, and still remember Edlinger pulling over the roof to the whoops and screams of the crowd.
I also had a crush on Isabelle Patissier. Sigh.
Still have the poster that is on the wall behind Tarbuster in one of the earlier photos, and wore the t-shirt on my Mex-Canada PCT hike. Good times.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 30, 2009 - 02:27am PT
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Ha!
Good stuff there apogee.
At one point I had stashed a handful of those posters.
For a while I kept a lot of the finishing results from the competitions as well; long gone now.
Of course it would be fun to thumb through some of the names.
Pretty much everybody agrees the first Snowbird Competition was pure magic.
I got on board during the second one, as Peter Mayfield introduced me to Jeff Lowe in the hopes that I might learn how to organize these things. Mostly I just handled the details which Jeff would kick me and eventually sort of set myself to look after the construction crew. Actually organizing these things from scratch is really quite an affair; Jim Waugh has lots of history organizing and directing climbing competitions and was much more well-suited to it.
The outcome of all this, after the World Cup in Berkeley sank our ship, is that I stayed in Colorado.
Prior to this I had been in Berkeley helping Mayfield to start his climbing gym, which is now Ironworks I believe? (City Rock originally).
When I arrived at the second Snowbird competition, after meeting Jeff, the next person I met was Paul Sibley. That was like love at first sight; no kidding. We worked super well together and he eventually hosted my shop space for a 10 year stint doing custom sewing outside of Boulder.
So for me, the end of the whole story is that these competitions led to my life in Boulder (tons of routes in Eldorado for starters; a handful of long-term friends from working with Jeff on the Comps) ... and I met Lisa here and am happily married!!!
Thanks El Jeffe.
We're gonnah roll with it.
You are well loved.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 30, 2009 - 02:41am PT
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A trio of the Comp workers, during that time, relaxing in Eldo.
From the Berkeley competition which Bruce Hilden mentioned,
In the middle is John Cook, who ran the wall crew for that event.
On the right is Mike Pont, who is Kurt Smith's buddy & did fiberglass for Jean Marc, plus wall work.
Pont went on to do quite a lot of route setting with Tony Yaniro & others.
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dickcilley
Social climber
A cova Dos Nenos
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Jan 30, 2009 - 10:09am PT
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Didn´t even know you were involved in all that Roy. Glad I missed it all.You can watch grass grow wherever you are.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 30, 2009 - 10:31am PT
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Ha!
Ain't no grass growing here Dick.
Just wind blowing over frozen earth and snow.
Good one Ding,
Of course we know that's Robyn (like I'm SO sure), I mean to say I don't know from what magazine.
Primp!!!
CLENCH!!!
Now we just call him VERVE.
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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Jan 30, 2009 - 11:17am PT
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Hey Tar
You have any pics of Lynnie in that lycra?
She's always been HOT!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 30, 2009 - 11:20am PT
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Just the black-and-white one, up-thread above Robyn.
I wish I knew what magazines those came from...
(okok, I edited their names in above those B&W scans...)
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Jerry Dodrill
climber
Sebastopol, CA
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Jan 30, 2009 - 11:46am PT
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Hey Roy,
I moved to California the day of the competition. My soon-to-be step-father picked me up from Oakland Airport in the morning, and wanting to impress, drove me straight to the Berkeley World Cup. I was impressed indeed! We didn't have stuff like this in Texas. I thought, Damn, these California hippies have it going on. Of course, now I know it was a bunch of Colorado Hippies. Regardless, as a 15 year old climber punk fresh off the plane from Texas, I really enjoyed the event. In fact, I bought a Yates sport climbing harness there that had blue and black tiger stripe lycra stretched over the foam padded swami. I got teased about it for years, but knew how cool I was to have one and didn't care. Heh. Thanks for the flashback.
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local
Social climber
esprings
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Jan 30, 2009 - 06:09pm PT
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Great thread, Tar.
The typewritten page reads like something I wrote.
I especially liked the part about the scene in the warehouse in Broomfield making the panels. I remember that I went out and bought the best full face respirator I could find. Boy, the fumes were bad. I realized on that project that the kind of technology we were using was essentially evil, and resolved never to work with that stuff again.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 30, 2009 - 06:57pm PT
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Toxic Billy?
You bet. Remember those square panels for the Seattle Rock Comp wall?
We had that nasty grainy paint that they needed to be coated with; I believe some of the other panels had a pretty cool surface, something like a sandstone veneer, which maybe a company called RADWALL finished? Or maybe the guy from Vertical World. That surface made things a little heavy…
But the gray stuff that we rolled on was truly evil.
It said right on the can: "exposure will cause brain damage"
Sibley and I would go back into the warehouse for sessions of rolling it out, I think we had some backdoors that could open to the outside air; but maybe not. As you recall that Broomfield lair was a massive warehouse space composed of seemingly endless interconnected rooms.
One day we were finishing up a session of painting and our offices were adjacent to that room: we came staggering in to the SCC nerve center and everyone just looked at us like we were fruit loops. They were waiving manila folders in their faces, fan like, it was so bad they all decided to leave. Heh, if they had any sense they would have just kept on driving and never come back. But they came back.
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goatboy smellz
climber
dirty south
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Jan 30, 2009 - 07:53pm PT
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The one thing that cracks me up is all of you guys are busting your ass and getting brain damage to pull this off… and the mastermind is off on a climbing trip with Destivelle.
Now THAT'S great management.
CLENCH!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 30, 2009 - 08:04pm PT
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hahahahahahaha!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 30, 2009 - 09:53pm PT
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Sport Climbing Championships Protocol
Working Bodies Need FUEL …
One of the reasons Sibley and I got along so well was because we concurred that any engine will stop dead in its tracks when it runs out of gas. In addition, we clearly understood that if this occurs while going uphill, a new problem would be certain to arise, or descend …
We were always going uphill.
So every morning during those big pushes out on location, we’d leave the hotel room and go get breakfast. I always ordered, by weight, the heftiest meal on the menu. Paul would strictly and always follow my lead on that one (primarily out of fear that I sensed a BIG hill coming up). If by chance I decided I needed a stack of pancakes as a follow-up, he’d check his watch, eyes would shift aside, a waitress would be hailed and he would order a stack too …
CAFFIENE …
Thermos, check.
Espresso, check.
‘Had to have a thermos.
Actually the first thing I saw when I met Sibley at the Snowbird Comp in 1989 –the first thing I noticed rather, was that he was clutching a half filled thermos of coffee as though it were some sort of external, prosthetic organ.
We all had thermoses. So one of the tricks he taught us was to always take the thermos into the restaurant in the morning and ask them to take it to the kitchen and rinse it out with hot water. THEN fill it with coffee …
In Seattle, we discovered Starbucks back when it was still something of a boutique. And that was OK for starters. We would walk our full Starbucks cups into the restaurants before breakfast. But after breakfast, it was my duty to know where the real espresso bars were so that we could “load for bear”.
I feel like I invented the concept of a “quad” (four shot espresso) back then.
Doubtful, but it was a crucial implementation of fueling protocol amongst our team.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 30, 2009 - 10:51pm PT
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Trucking the SCC climbing wall crosscountry & Pit STOPS
Emphasis on stop; when out on the road running a Sport Climbing Championships convoy, I loathed stopping.
We always went to the truck stops (Flying K?). We used their trucker’s bible, which listed in great detail all of the places where we might fuel up and do things right.
This was my faux cowboy phase. (ahem)
During one of the stops, Prod (as he is known here on the Taco) and I decided that we needed some clothes, so I just bought some jeans right there at one of those stops. When we got back in our rigs, Guy, as my acting co-driver was required to take the tags off my new wardrobe and likewise pass around the junk food which we’d just hand selected. First thing he notices “Hey, these jeans are BOOT CUT. Is that what you wanted?”
Hell no I didn’t want no boot cut jeans!!!
Like, I’m just a poseur, not a real cowboy and although I have boots, that’s just full speed hillbilly.
“No” he said, “That’s Boot Cut!!!”
So from then on, anything substandard achieved the status of boot cut.
A lot of things were boot cut.
And for starters, right then about 10 minutes of cab time under our buckles since the truck fuel stop, and Guy has to pee. (That’s boot cut for sure).
“We just made a stop and you had your chance: so HOLD IT Guy”
* “I can’t hold it Roy … um, I’m just going to go out the window”
“Like hell you are: it’ll blow right back in the cab, probably on me…”
* “How do you know that? I’m gonnah do it…”
“Here’s the thing Guy, there is no argument.
I’m not going to be the nice guy with this one and risk it for your comfort, and have like this experiment to see what happens.
Because if you are proved wrong, I’ll be right: fine...
… But bein’ right ain’t gonnah help me when I’m sittin’ here at the wheel with pee on my face!!!”
He knew right then I was mostly nobody’s fool.
Guy waited for the next pit stop.
(Which was the next off ramp).
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Jello
Social climber
No Ut
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Jan 30, 2009 - 11:55pm PT
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Roy, you're crackin' me up with your tales from the old sunny/dark/amazing days of old. Kind of wish I'd been full-time with you boys (and gals) in the back, 'stead of dealing with finances, sponsors, etc, etc.
And Prod, and Local, and any others here, I love you guys for hangin' it all out there with me, too.
-elJefeJello
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 31, 2009 - 12:07am PT
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You missed some ah the fun, sorry Bro.
But hey, someone has to be the leader/front man/fallguy.
You did that for us in spades.
I been wanting to saddle up, post up and tell these silly stories of mine for some time...
'Glad you now get to enjoy some of the lighter goofiness of it all.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 31, 2009 - 12:30am PT
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The JANAL
ARR = anal retentive Roy
(one of my nicknames to toss in the bin)
It was my job to keep track of stuff,
And likewise make sure things were in place when needed.
And somehow I felt I wasn’t that good at it.
So I responded predictably and overworked the piss out of it.
And I couldn’t type, never mind afford an actual laptop.
But I could sew!
In some sort of strange epiphany and in vague hope that I might actually get a handle on things and rise to the occasion, I decided to combine a special pygmy sized notebook with dueling calenders, business card sleeves, zip pouches …. all piggybacked & hodgepodged together on my sewing machine, makeshift like but very tidy.
It had 3 types of paper, two of them cut-to-fit.
This work of fastidious compulsiveness became the Janal!
Like a Day-Timer on Steroids & LSD
JANAL is a backwards acronym for anal retentive journal.
Here’s the actual item from 1990:
In it I kept track of stuff like,
construction schedules
trucking schedules
flight schedules for personnel
vendor contacts and pricing
itemized expenses,
including for example,
and in no particular order:
labor
food and lodging
construction materials
tee nuts
Plummer’s tape
Nuts
Bolts
Washers
Screws
Roles of duct tape
Ratchets
Sockets
Ferrox paint
Rollers
Gloves
Respirators
Lock boxes
Stop watches
Ascenders
Carabiners
Rope
Condoms
Power chords
Power strips
Videotapes
Legal pads
Clipboards
Signage
Tables
Extension chords
Folding chairs
Cameras
Projectors
Food trays
Spotlights
Release forms
Warmup mats
Cod pieces
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 31, 2009 - 12:46am PT
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Beefy too!
One day it went wippin' out of a moving vehicle and took a graceful slider out into the road.
I was petrified, like it was my offspring or sumpin'...
Didn't get run over tho, so no prob.
Everybody laughed.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 31, 2009 - 12:49am PT
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WBraun
climber
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Jan 31, 2009 - 12:49am PT
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I'm not laughing Roy, it's a good quality to have in that kind of work environment.
Organized .....
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 31, 2009 - 12:53am PT
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You are AOK in my book Werner.
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John Moosie
climber
Beautiful California
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Jan 31, 2009 - 02:04am PT
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I agree with Werner. Organized is good. My father was an electrical engineer who helped design some serious sh#t, like the turbines used at the San Louis Reservoir. He also test fired rockets for Aerojet. The biggest he test fired was 9 feet in diameter. He was very organized, but he also had a great sense of humor.
Organized is good.
Great thread Tar. Thanks !!!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 31, 2009 - 10:46am PT
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Peter Darmi
I’d absolutely love it if Peter would stumble onto this thread and chime in.
He brought some experience from Leeds, technically running the competitions.
'Quite certain he could write some really funny stuff about this whole extravaganza.
Mr. Darmi presented a very likable personality, if a little quirky.
And that quirkiness, I guess I’d characterize it as a sort of nerdly bookishness fringed with sincere enthusiasm.
So for that we gave him no end of heckling!
When Sibley and I showed up in his office with a tank of acetylene and a tank of oxygen, Sibley hooked himself up to the oxygen and started huffing it … Darmi thought we were nuts and we just played it off him whenever we could, which was often and relentless.
At Snowbird in 1989, Peter stayed up all night before the beginning of the competition working at his computer, constructing a manual for the volunteers. He was useless the next day, totally spun, and we frequently reminded him of his tattered state and chided him over the ludicrous nature of his attempts to impose such control.
A year later, when more or less in his position and in my own command for the national event at Boulder Colorado,
I did PRECISELY the same thing.
(Jim Waugh, long-time organizer of the Phoenix Bouldering Contests, approached me during that competition and offered his help for future events...)
Jeff Lowe, always gentle and diplomatic, “We need you to stay sharp for the critical tasks & you need to pace yourself Roy”.
Hahahahaha.
I felt that was like telling someone to stay calm while running with the bulls.
But it is crucial advice and spot on.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 31, 2009 - 11:32am PT
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From Darmi's SCC Comp Guide
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Doug Robinson
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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Jan 31, 2009 - 11:42am PT
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The Organizationally Challenged salute you.
We're not worthy.
On the other hand,
"They also serve who only stand and wait."
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all in jim
climber
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Jan 31, 2009 - 01:58pm PT
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Here are results from the Berkeley Rockmaster. I'll try to find results from the World Cup.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 31, 2009 - 02:23pm PT
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Sweet!
What about the full Women's finishing order...
Nice find Jim.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 31, 2009 - 02:28pm PT
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Here's the Vetter article from Outside magazine, January 1991.
If anybody has this in full color please let me know.
I would like to edit this post with better scans.
(700 pix wide & 200+ KB please)
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Al_T.Tude
Trad climber
Monterey, CA
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Jan 31, 2009 - 02:35pm PT
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That was a great show at the Greek Theatre - definitely up there with the Jimmy Buffet show.
Hans smokin' the wall (and the competition)in the speed climbing final was the highlight for me.
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all in jim
climber
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Jan 31, 2009 - 03:24pm PT
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Here are the full results for the Berkeley and Seattle 1990 Rock Master events:
Berkeley:
Seattle:
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jan 31, 2009 - 04:05pm PT
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The third place men's finisher sometimes posts here. I hope he'll come across this thread and add his perspective.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 31, 2009 - 11:32pm PT
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Why is this off the front page?
Jeepers, must be the sport climbing content or something…
I should have known; what was I thinking.
Cripes, for that matter, what was Jeff Lowe thinking?
America’s preeminent alpinist promoting the spectacle of sport climbing competitions.
And on PLASTIC no less…
foto from Darmi's SCC Comp Manual
Sibley had it: at the time he said if it’s done right, this kind of thing isn’t about climbing, or even competition.
It’s about *spectacle* and should be brought to the eye as such, as outlandish performance.
That’s when it really shines. As Mr. Lowe assessed upthread, the Berkeley World Cup played out on the JMB Twin Towers and within the Greek Theatre: this constituted an artistic success.
Elements such as route setting prowess, compelling structures & pacing, artfully enhanced with personalities, lighting design and various theatrical tunings: this really makes or breaks the sense of spectacle.
(Sponsorship, attendance, and scale of the beast we can handle in another post... might even be a discussion there)
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unimog
climber
windy corner in the west
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Those were some interesting times .
Walking the beam so you did not have to climb down to go back up the other tower. the union people went nuts.
also we would send out 4 thermoses for straight espresso at a time
2 or 3 times a day .
maybe it was just so Jeff Lowe was not the only one not sleeping.
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Fritz
Trad climber
Hagerman, ID
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Tarbuster: It is great to read the insider's scoop on what really happened. I never thought about how climbing competitions were like concerts--and each had their roadies.
Sometimes you have to tell the story, to heal yourself from what you went through, to have the story to tell.
(Zen sh#t dude!)
Glad you posted this epic:) Fritz
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 3, 2009 - 12:58am PT
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And an epic it is to be sure Fritz!
No one knows that better than Jeff Lowe; regardless it’s supposed to be a tribute to him and to those of us who were involved, painful though it may be. Something a handful of us went through together.
Not even sure I’m trying to say what really happened or deliver an inside scoop (though that's what it is of course), I was most interested in just linking together some silly anecdotes that brought some entertainment along the way and perhaps looking for others to tell something of what they saw.
You nailed it though with the roadie allusion. I was a guide for 10 years prior to this experience and in mid-stroke during this competition foray I stopped off at YMS, talked to Bruce Brossman, then the director of the mountaineering school, he asked what I was up to, I described it and he said: “oh, so you guys are roadies’!”. Haha, somehow I thought it was more glamorous or noble, -or hopeful…
In the mid 90s I wound up working in theater and the energy was very much the same.
The biggest defining difference with this 1990 World Cup and the attendant regional and national competitions, in comparison to modern competition circuits, is that we really traveled with all of that artifice, erected it, conducted the event, and tore it all down. This constituted a major effort requiring lots of paid hands. What followed in this country when competitions were resurrected, were much more grassroots and vastly smaller in scale, depending wholly upon the facilities already at hand in the myriad gyms which sprung up across our nation.
In 2004 I worked as a rock shoe rep for Evolv, performing just over 120 demos in a 15 month span, all throughout the four corners states. I saw a lot of competitions. Scott Rennak then pretty much single-handedly ran ABS (American Bouldering Series), of course with plenty of help from the staff at each gym. To look at it, to participate in it, to have been a gym which hosted it, these things were quite a success. Alas, it was a labor of love for Scott and eventually he just gave it up.
I saw some spectacular things with the kids (the median age of contestants seems to have dropped over the years), also with their parents and the tightly wound climbing communities which supported them. I was thrilled by a particularly unforgettable roped dyno comp, requiring consecutive and successively larger throws on a very big indoor wall: this brought a sense of tension, striving and elation put up by the competitors for a packed house on its feet, ecstatically cheering and hollerin’.
Pure spectacle.
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Prod
Trad climber
A place w/o Avitars apparently
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What a great thread Royboy, unfortunately I have yet to have the time to read it. When we discussed it on Thursday I was getting ready for a poker game, then I left for Ice climbing in Munising on Friday, got back on Sunday, worked yesterday at work then at home until I went to bed.
The SCC was my introduction to rock climbing, prior to working for Jeff my climbing was limited to the walls of the science building at the University of Colorado. I gotta hit the road this morning but I plan on reading up and posting up to this thread this evening.
Prod.
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Prod
Trad climber
A place w/o Avitars apparently
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The cast of characters that introduced me into the sport and community of climbing were an odd bunch to say the least. We were the roadies/ builders that lived not unlike carnies for the better part of 2-3 months prior to the 2000 Sport Climbing Comp. This crew consisted of our leader Paul Sibley, sort of an overgrown kid with a can do attitude, no such think as “can’t do” or “can not be done”.
How Paul assembled this crew was either chance or genius. We all had different but necessary skills as well as personalities. None of the crew really seemed to fit like a glove but we worked like an oiled machine. It may be that my memory makes things seem more heroic but I seem to remember working 7 days a week 14 hours a day for at least 3 weeks prior to the comp. No one really complained as we were all shared in Jello’s vision. One thing was for sure though. If Sibley didn’t like you, you were out. Good guy or not.
So here I am a 19 year old kid from the Midwest who happened to have some fiberglass experience. My dad has a plastics manufacturing plant in the Detroit area. I had no clue who Jeff Lowe was, other than the Lowe back pack guy. Paul Sibley, Billy Roos, the Famous Tarbuster…. Who? Christian Griffith? None of em. I was hired as a laborer, and was promoted to panel production supervisor as I solved a cracking issue by telling Jean Marc (sp?) to use less catalyst in his resinous concrete mixture. It worked and Jean Marc said, he’s smart (me), which got me an additional $2 per hour….
So here I am working for a wild man, Paul. Actually in the beginning Paul was sedate compared to the last 48 hours prior to the event, more on that later. The odd thing was that Paul had a somewhat effeminate, and a little bit stuck up, side kick with him 24/ 7. Roy was the yang to Paul’s ying,. It became apparent that for Paul to represent SCC he’d need to be polished, which was not going to happen. Sibley knew this so he acquired, without asking or being told of course, an office type guy who willingly left the ranks of the white collar way to be our #2 in charge. That’d be our own Tarbuster.
More to come on Tar in a while…….
Prod.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 4, 2009 - 03:26pm PT
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"A little bit stuck up" works ... but EFFEMINATE???
Well, for a good story, I'll let that ride for the time being.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 4, 2009 - 03:31pm PT
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I'm going back outside, manhandle some heavy tools for an hour or two.
Maybe pound a cuple/three brewskis:
Better be some good recollections here when I git' back.
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Prod
Trad climber
A place w/o Avitars apparently
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At the time I came into the scene we were working on the 1990 Word Cup panels. For the most part they were 4’x8’ and we needed 39 of them, there were 2 panels that were 4’x4’ and 2 that where 8’x8’. At this point Roy was mostly in Denver with Sibley, apparently eating double breakfasts whist the rest of the crew toiled away in Westminster. That being said, until the trip to Berkley when Roy and I drove a truck together, I never really got to meet him. Maybe effeminate is not the right word.
He was a skinny white guy, very neatly kept, highly organized, and articulate, not to mention he wore wayfarers and a beret! Our first real introduction was driving cross country with the walls. We were chatting about some random stuff and Roy says "I had you pegged as a blue collar jack of all trades master of none kind of guy." I think he was surprised about what I had read or my interests in philosophy, science, can't remember. I responded with “I thought you were a fag!”. That was pretty much the start of one of my best friendships that still goes strong to this day. Many years later Roy said I had to see this movie with him, he said the 2 main characters bantered with each other like he and I do. I agreed….
Roy wore many hats and unquestionable knew what role he need to play on the spot, buffer for Sibley, motivator for tired crews, hard working crew member, efficient partier, you name it. He was the glue of the crew. If Jeff is still with this thread he'll confirm that Roy was undeniable one of the most important players in getting this thing put up on time.
Jules: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa... stop right there. Eatin' a bitch out, and givin' a bitch a foot massage ain't even the same f*#kin' thing.
Vincent: It's not. It's the same ballpark.
Jules: Ain't no f*#kin' ballpark neither. Now look, maybe your method of massage differs from mine, but, you know, touchin' his wife's feet, and stickin' your tongue in her Holiest of Holies, ain't the same f*#kin' ballpark, it ain't the same league, it ain't even the same f*#kin' sport. Look, foot massages don't mean sh#t.
Vincent: Have you ever given a foot massage?
Jules: [scoffs] Don't be tellin' me about foot massages. I'm the foot f*#kin' master.
Vincent: Given a lot of 'em?
Jules: Sh#t yeah. I got my technique down and everything, I don't be ticklin' or nothin'.
Vincent: Would you give a guy a foot massage?
[Jules gives Vincent a long look, realizing he's been set up]
Jules: F*#k you.
Vincent: You give them a lot?
Jules: F*#k you.
Vincent: You know, I'm getting kinda tired. I could use a foot massage myself.
Jules: Man, you best back off, I'm gittin' a little pissed here.
No question about the fact that I was the Vincent of our friendship.
More later,
Prod.
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Nice exchanges going on between Prod and Tar here.
Almost like I got to be there!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 5, 2009 - 12:19pm PT
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We still argue exactly like that... same comfrontational effect:
Earnest & overworked nuance breaking against well positioned cinder block wall.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 5, 2009 - 12:32pm PT
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Rosemary Agostini
Speaking of keeping things glued together.
I may have done that from the inside, but in a crucial if not so obvious way, Rosemary contained us spiritually. She was the team doctor; maybe Jeff could chime in here; I think he met her on expeditions?
Rosemary was definitely “the straight man” counterpart to our whacked ensemble. Previous experience in similar situations included being the attending doctor to a college football team… she said we were way more out of control and although they presented a more consistent injury profile, we carried the wild-card.
Can’t quite recall if she was present at the Berkeley World Cup, but I think so. Either way she deserves significant mention as a member who provided critical observation of our overall health from just outside the envelope.
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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"Earnest and overworked nuance breaking against well positioned cinderblock wall." Wow, that's good!
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Jello
Social climber
No Ut
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I am digging this, Prod and Tar. Keep it going!
-JelloIsShakin'LikeABowlFullOf
EDIT: I met Rosemary at a Mountain Medicine conference in the mid to late 80's, Tar. And yes indeed, she was a big part of tyhe team. Indeed, indeed, what a team, indeed...
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Prod
Trad climber
A place w/o Avitars apparently
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“Oh Billy Billy Billy, this is a big one Billy!” I am not sure if Jeff really quoted Ted Knight’s Judge Smeals to Billy Roos, but it sure seemed like it. Billy was completely unflappable and totally mellow under pressure. No doubt about it, he was capable of sinking the putt. Of us, I’d guess, Billy had the most experience building things, and with no ego involved, he made sure the panels were moving along strong. When a problem would arise, Billy’d just solve it, ho hum. A mixed medium artist of sorts, he’d just figure stuff out.
I do not know Billy all that well, but I’d characterize him as a realist with a rye wit. If questioned about the success of the “deal” at hand at the time I’d say Billy would have been the only one who’d of said “It’s going down like the f*#k-ing Titanic”. Realist. Then he’d of said “All of us Maggots are in this deep, might as well finish it out” Rye wit.
While Paul and Roy were out eating 2 breakfasts and stressing about all of us “Maggots” in Westminster, Billy was in charge. Great leader in that he’d just let everyone do their thing and roll his eyes when stresses would re enter the building.
He did send me to the hardware store once in his old Black van. I completely remember looking all over the place for the shifter? I was clueless. About 5 minutes later Billy walks past the cargo door and sees me sitting in the drivers seat. I had never seen a 3 on the tree prior to that….
This sure is fun for me remembering those days, thanks for starting the thread Tar.
More to come on Sasha, Deanne, Pont, and me.
Prod.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 5, 2009 - 04:12pm PT
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Uh not so fast Prod! ... just for clarification:
(nice recall & anecdotes by the way; especially concerning Roos's cool demeanor)
The mighty 2 breakfasts, as introduced upthread, were an on-the-road location-push specific ritual. Something instituted at the Seattle & other Rock Comps and no doubt carried through to Berkekey. We all went out to breakfast en-masse, it is just that I happened to realize the need to max out caloric intake...
But ... while you were eating out of brown bags in Broomfield, when we (Paul, Dicken & I) were in Denver at the metal shop building the articulated framework, we lunched at "The Market", a sort of upscale industrial chic eatery.
Nevertheless, back in Dicken's metal shop, one day close to departure for the World Cup, I was working the chop saw performing a massive load of repetitive cuts. The side doors to his shop were swung wide open in front of my workstation which presided over a majestic view out across the railroad tracks and up toward the Rocky Mountains & Mount Evans.
While letting my mind drift out into the view, in a brief intuitive flourish, it suddenly dawned on me that I was most likely working for free. But it was a warm day, a few puffy clouds were rolling by, life was rich & I just went back to the cutting.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 5, 2009 - 04:29pm PT
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From Climbing #120, July 1990:
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Prod
Trad climber
A place w/o Avitars apparently
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It is a little foggy on the rest. I know Mike Pont was in Westminster building the walls. He, Mike P., was part of the construction team that went to Berkley. Roy correct me if I am wrong, I think Sasha and Deanne were just part of the construction crew that went to Berkley and were not part of the production team? Whatever the case I remember that Sasha, Unimog here, always had his hands into cool sh#t. Crop dusting, motor cycles, building climbing walls etc. At the time Sasha was living in the world famous chicken coop on Sibley’s Property. Big strong guy, loyal to a fault, generous and caring, and he had the stinkiest shoes I can remember to this day. His shoes stunk so bad we had to hang them out the window via the cord to the blinds.
Deanne was our token chick, a cute blond that Sasha brought into the mix. She worked every bit as long and as hard as the rest of us and may have offered the appearance of civility to our crew. How I missed out on this I can’t remember, but she started out with Sasha, ended up dating Mike Pont shortly after we returned to Boulder, then bagged Tar a few years later. What’s up with that? I must have intimidated her or something?
The morning I got to have breakfast with Lynn Hill, Mike and I came down to the Breakfast area late and Deanne said something along the lines of “You too have bedroom eyes” to mike and me. I responded to Mike “Did you punch me last night?” Mike said “You were f*#king snoring”. That totally impressed Lynn, I could tell. I believe that was the first morning we were in Berkley. The next 2 days were rough. The crew worked 23 hours, slept for 2 hours on the granite floor of the Greek Theatre, then put in another 23 hour day, to complete the wall with-in an hour of the start of the event.
Never a doubt.
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Jello
Social climber
No Ut
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Good stories, Prod and Tar.
But it all started at Snowbird in 1988. Had to pay with my soul to get God to part the clouds as Edlnger cleared the roof...
...and stepped up onto the virgin surface above.
Parallel speed walls on the left, and the difficulty wall on the right.
-JelloIsLikeABoxofChocolates
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 9, 2009 - 12:29am PT
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Life is like a box of chocolates!
You're never quite sure what you’re going to get…
But we sure like it when its color photos with some history.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 9, 2009 - 12:36am PT
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One more for the road,
Epperson's photo of Robyn at the Berkeley World Cup:
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Jerry Dodrill
climber
Sebastopol, CA
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Didn't Tami Knight do some work relevant to this whole racket?
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Prod
Trad climber
A place w/o Avitars apparently
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At the end of the day, as you have read this was a business failure. It busted Jeff, our crew was left being owed a bunch of cash, and my guess is that others went unpaid or lost investment monies as well. From my perspective, it was a great adventure, and introduction to climbing and some of the elite of its community.
Not long after we returned Roy and I became good pals and regular climbing partners for 5 years or so. I moved into the World Famous Chicken Coop and worked with Sibley in his wood shop building all of the doors and windows for Dougland McDonalds’ house. Not to mention all of the others I met along the way.
Thanks Jeff, I’d do it again tomorrow.
Prod.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 9, 2009 - 11:44am PT
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I don't remember Tami being involved; she may have been on the roster as a competitor for the first Snowbird event? She should have been on hand throughout to sketch and chronicle the proceedings though...
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 9, 2009 - 12:40pm PT
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Jeff,
Didn’t you start a thread a couple years ago about magnificent failures?
Can’t quite remember, but the gist was that the failures in climbing and mountaineering are in some ways as important as the successes.
I alluded to my experience working in theater in the mid to late 90s and drew some parallels between producing these climbing competitions with my experience in stagecraft doing sets, lighting, and running shows.
One thing in particular which you find in that field, is that the creative directors are typically quite uncompromising with their singular vision and often rule with a harsh disposition. In a word: asssholes. They’ve got a lot riding on their works, are typically underfunded, and rule with an iron fist, most likely out of necessity to see their ideas brought to fruition.
Not in every case however, and not so with Jeff Lowe. If you screwed up on Jeff’s watch, you’d get a frank appraisal but always delivered with a certain sensitivity that valued your effort and position. Now a lot of people went down as a result of this World Cup, some big hits were taken by too many to name, and a few friendships were in some cases nearly if not certainly crushed, for a time.
In all of this it is the human factor which counts most; it is the risk and uncertainty which tests personal resolve and the connections between us; never more so than in the crucible of the magnificent failure. In fact our lives are magnificent failures for they all come to naught in the end: but it’s what we find along the way that matters.
A bit of a non sequitur, but take this appraisal from Jeff about an astonishingly brilliant alpinist, Wanda Rutkiewicz, and look at his particular regard for the humanity within her:
” Wanda and I got into an intense conversation that went on into the wee hours. She didn't seem to have a great sense of humor - nor did she seem to need one. Whether the conversation was focused on being a top woman climber and the attendant responsibilities to her gender, or the idea of climbing in pure alpine style in the Himalaya, Wanda lasered in on the subject with a seriousness I've encountered with few other climbers. She reminded me a bit of Lynn Hill in that respect, although I've seen Lynn get a little silly and giggly; something I never witnessed with Wanda. I was left with the impression that she was very aware of her role in opening new opportunities for women in climbing. Wanda was a professional, totally devoted to her sport: strong, beautiful, worthy of and demanding complete respect. We agreed that when both of our schedules allowed, we would get together for a climb. But there was just a hint of a lonesome sadness at the edges, a vulnerability that began to appear in the corners of her eyes at 1:00 am, just before we bade each other goodnight, retiring to our respective chambers. I was looking forward to continuing to get to know this woman whose currents ran so obviously deep, but alas, it was not to be, as Wanda perished just a few months later.”
Some struggles, some conquests come to naught. In Paul Newman’s role of HUD, a seminal, realist character study of a hard-bitten ranch hand, he delivers a line to Patricia Neal, who serves to counterpoint his reality as a man who takes what he wants. As she is fleeing his grasp, he announces to her, with a droll disappointment and resignation: “You’re the one that got away”
Well that World Cup, and SCC in general, definitely got away from us.
At the end of all of this, a bunch of us went out for drinks in Boulder. Afterwards, when we had all but disbanded, Chris Farquar, essentially the secretary of the operation, was standing opposite me on the Pearl Street Mall. She was a hard working woman with lush blonde hair, square framed glasses, and those naturally plush “come hither” lips which other women pay good money to get augmented just so.
Chris caught me offguard saying, “So its goodbye; we’ll never see each other again .....”
To which I naïvely and jauntily responded: “Oh sure we will”.
She advanced and closed the few steps between us,
Pressed those wonderful lips directly against mine and stated resolutely: “No … we won’t”
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Srbphoto
Trad climber
Kennewick wa
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Jan 29, 2010 - 10:46pm PT
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I sat in the sun all day at the Berkeley comp, putting carmex on my lips (before sunblock was in it). Burned the cr@p out of them. Swelled up about 4 times their normal size.
good times, good times
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Srbphoto
Trad climber
Kennewick wa
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Jan 29, 2010 - 11:03pm PT
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Bruce - the first Berkeley comp was in 88 or 89. I remember 2 things:
first time I tried a Power Bar and actually thought it wasn't bad.
Everyone was hanging out in the audience and Shelly Presson sat next my buddy. To this day I STILL hear about how he had a shot with her.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Jan 30, 2010 - 01:03am PT
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still have both on VHS
was all the Snowbird comp stuff between Lynn and Catherine horse sh#t for the media?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwIemWO9JU0
love how they say "Lynn Hill may be the best woman climber in the world"
did Goodwin get hurt on the demo fall? smacked pretty good.
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Srbphoto
Trad climber
Kennewick wa
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Jan 30, 2010 - 01:09am PT
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So the natural progression in climbing after Everest was artificial walls? (see youtube link above)
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the kid
Trad climber
fayetteville, wv
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Jan 30, 2010 - 11:18am PT
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Roy,
man that brings back memories. IT was epic driving that wall to seattle, spending 3 days building it and then trying to compete. what a learning experience!
ks
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