The Naked Edge

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Messages 1 - 229 of total 229 in this topic
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Original Post - Feb 3, 2009 - 08:59pm PT
One of North America's great crag routes.

I played no part in its history, but it once played a small part in mine.

Double D

climber
Feb 3, 2009 - 09:27pm PT
I agree, it's one of the finest climbs in the US. Such pretty rock too.

richross

Trad climber
gunks,ny
Feb 3, 2009 - 09:34pm PT
Studly

Trad climber
WA
Feb 3, 2009 - 09:47pm PT
The Naked Edge has always been a dream of mine to do for the past 30+ years. I wasn't sure that I was man enough then, and I'm not sure I'm man enough now! But if I ever make it to Colorado...I'm getting Naked!
SteveW

Trad climber
The state of confusion
Feb 3, 2009 - 10:36pm PT
Rich
That cover shot is sooo classic!

It's what the edge is all about.
Todd Gordon

Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
Feb 3, 2009 - 10:39pm PT
One of my favorite top ten climbs.......it was even better than I imagined it would be.....fully steller......
Mark Hudon

Trad climber
Hood River, OR
Feb 3, 2009 - 10:40pm PT
It's on the Mark Hudon Ten Best Routes of His Life list. (which, btw, somehow has 15 or 17 routes on it)
Largo

Sport climber
Venice, Ca
Feb 3, 2009 - 10:47pm PT
Great Crag Routes of America start with 4:

Naked Edge
The Vampire
Nabisco Wall
New Dimensions

JL
Mark Hudon

Trad climber
Hood River, OR
Feb 3, 2009 - 10:52pm PT
Funny you should mention the Vampire, John. It's on my list also. I think Matt Cox and I did the second ascent or some early ascent like that.

BrassNuts

Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
Feb 4, 2009 - 12:18am PT
P1 of the NE on an August morn... one of the best finger cracks on the planet ;-)

P5 of the NE. The infamous black ramp and handcrack pitch... as written in the book "Climb" - 'many parties complete the first four pitches only to fail on the strenuous final pitch'... Best spot in Eldo!

Photos by Dr. Dirk
bhilden

Trad climber
Mountain View, CA
Feb 4, 2009 - 12:18am PT
The Edge is a pretty cool route. Do the Diving Board right around the corner for some more of the same excitement.

Bruce

ps- I thought the bouldery moves at the start of pitch 5 were the crux of the climb.
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Feb 4, 2009 - 12:24am PT
hey, maybe Crimpergirl can video Brassnuts making all the moves on The Naked Edge (and give commentary?)

I've heard it's been a party trick for years... but never got to see it (yet!)...
richross

Trad climber
gunks,ny
Feb 4, 2009 - 12:30am PT
Roger Briggs on the Diving Board.
Rhodo-Router

Gym climber
Otto, NC
Feb 4, 2009 - 12:40am PT
I would do that thing every day if I lived in Eldo. All-time!
survival

Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
Feb 4, 2009 - 01:10am PT
He'll find it Kevin.

This thing fired my imagination as a young climber almost as much as anything possibly could.

Yoo Hoo...TarMan?
GDavis

Trad climber
Feb 4, 2009 - 01:13am PT
I gotta tell 'ya, those Eldo Prancers were absolute masters. Pure masters. From the first time I saw it in a magazine to seeing that advertisement with Garibrotti soloing the edge, it always had this mystical presence to it. You could climb 5.15 and A5, but you aren't truly hard till you climb the edge and astroman....
bhilden

Trad climber
Mountain View, CA
Feb 4, 2009 - 02:35am PT
Kevin,

yeah! On Pitch 5 I did one, maybe two, lieback moves to get started in the crack where it is really overhung then started hand jamming.

Bruce

ps - thank heavens for the chockstone in the OW on the Diving Board. Now if you could just get some protection for the 5.10 face climbing on the pitch below. It would be a real drag to fall onto Pigeon Flake. That would definitely leave a mark.
Crimpergirl

Social climber
Boulder, Colorado!
Feb 4, 2009 - 10:05am PT
It is true Ed - BrassNuts can do every move on that climb while standing here in the kitchen!

Actually, I can too...But mine involves about four moves before I yell take and sit down on the bar stool. :)
eeyonkee

Trad climber
Golden, CO
Feb 4, 2009 - 10:07am PT
So, Brassnuts has done the thing 109 times or something!
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Feb 4, 2009 - 10:55am PT
so if Werner is Astroman....

what does that make Brassnuts?
steelmnkey

climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
Feb 4, 2009 - 10:58am PT
NekedMan™ ???
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Feb 4, 2009 - 11:02am PT
The Naked Edge….
Has anybody “streaked” it??? …seems like a natural.
Most parties are fully clothed.
Crimpergirl

Social climber
Boulder, Colorado!
Feb 4, 2009 - 11:04am PT
Some people call him "Naked Edge Dave".
SteveW

Trad climber
The state of confusion
Feb 4, 2009 - 11:22am PT
Tar, the man for all reasons

It's a 'natural'. . .

Ha ha ha!

I don't know if you meant it that way, but it sure
hit my funnybone!
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Feb 4, 2009 - 11:26am PT
Been up it just twice, not much for a local, led all the pitches both times.
But that’s not where the story is …

First time up, 95° weather and two partners: Deanne Gray and a fellow named Scott.
I put the hydration plan together; one Budweiser between the three of us.

We shared the beer at the top of the finger crack. Deanne said if that pitch was in Yosemite Valley, it would be 5.10c…

For the chimney pitch, I had to knock my cowboy hat off onto its chin strap and let it hang on my back. Scott was dehydrated for a week afterwards. What price glory?


Second time up was a doozy. My friend Kiyoshi Yoshida, during his wedding reception, asked if I would get him up The Naked Edge and of all things, on the day following his nuptial.

Also of note, during his speech at the reception, he made conspicuous mention that he was glad to be married to a woman whose parents were based out of Boulder and looked forward to doing many climbs here! Now where were his priorities…

So there he was in his white tuxedo & bowtie, politely requesting the tour of The Edge. Who was I to refuse him? Of course I said yes; then Sue Wint asked if she could join. Kiyoshi, in gracious fashion, accommodated. That was a mistake and I knew it when it happened, because Kiyoshi needed to accomplish the route on a tight schedule.

We dispatched the climb without a hitch except that we were over budget time-wise and Kiyoshi missed meeting Nori at the airport for their flight out. I was standing next to him while he made the fated phone call: like right out of a cartoon or an old movie, he held the handset a good foot away from his ear and from where I stood, I could all too easily hear his new bride angrily screeching away, giving him his first matrimonial come-uppins.

As this was happening, Kiyoshi graciously stood there, lightly clutching the handset and giving me the one eye … Not good. Not my fault. I just did what was asked and got my team up The Edge!
SteveW

Trad climber
The state of confusion
Feb 4, 2009 - 11:28am PT
Tarbuster 'gets her done'!
BrassNuts

Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
Feb 4, 2009 - 11:43am PT
Some shots from the chimney pitch - still gets my pulse rate up every time... :-)


Pics by Dr. Dirk
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 4, 2009 - 11:46am PT
Good ones, Tarbuster. I figured there might be a few stories.


Warbler:
Never did the Diving Board, don't think anybody had when I was living in the Canyon.

Not much of a claim to fame but ... I think I was the only witness to Roger Briggs' FFA
of the top pitch (his belayer was back in that cave). I had just soloed an easy route,
Anthill, which starts out of sight but near the top has a grandstand view of Diving Board.
When I realized that history was happening right across from me, I just sat back and watched.

There was a fair bit of loose rock on the route in those days, and Roger made a real
breakthrough lead.
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Feb 4, 2009 - 12:21pm PT
My impressions of The Naked Edge:

First pitch finger crack, quality locks ‘n straightforward, with one cruxy reach where it pinches down.

Pitch two: airy face climbing up to an arête followed by some tricky 10 plus incipient crack moves.

Intermediate pitches…

Chimney pitch: I find the greasy face moves protected by old pins to be the most insecure and technically strange part of the route. Protecting while in the chimney is awkward, and exiting is definitely a place where you could blow it.

Last crux pitch: bouldery sequence on solid finger locks requires a good eye to set up for it right, so that the crossover moves go smoothly…pay no attention to that exposure, or savor it if that’s your thing!!! Subsequent tight hands jamming is solid and undertaken in a most thrilling arena.
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Feb 4, 2009 - 12:25pm PT
Jeff Lowe and Nancy Prichard,
After an ascent of The Naked Edge, circa 1990
Raising a victory Sheaf Stout!

eeyonkee

Trad climber
Golden, CO
Feb 4, 2009 - 01:46pm PT
Nice pictures, Dave! I was just thinking, in a lifetime of pickup basketball, I probably haven't made 109 freethrows.

btw - I always had a harder time on the 1st pitch than the chimney pitch or finishing hand crack.
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Feb 4, 2009 - 02:18pm PT
Chubby fingers? Nawhhh....
BrassNuts

Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
Feb 4, 2009 - 02:20pm PT
Yah, the first pitch finger locks get pretty darn small for those of us with 'chubby' fingers... only tips in a few spots fer sure dude
Mark Hudon

Trad climber
Hood River, OR
Feb 4, 2009 - 02:31pm PT
If I knew I was going to die next week I'd go out and do The Naked Edge, Astroman and the West Face of El Cap.
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Feb 4, 2009 - 02:33pm PT
Maybe you should just in case...
I mean, what a stellar alibi.
BrassNuts

Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
Feb 4, 2009 - 02:41pm PT
The modern challenge would be to get a corporate jet sponsor and do Astroman and the Naked Edge in the same day... Where's that Donald guy with the bad hair when you need him??
philo

Trad climber
boulder, co.
Feb 4, 2009 - 02:54pm PT
Oh come on Brassnuts if you want the Donald to sponsor you will have to up the anti. How about Astroman, Astrodog and the Naked edge?
Mark Hudon

Trad climber
Hood River, OR
Feb 4, 2009 - 03:17pm PT
Naw! You can't speed climb those routes! You have to savour them!
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Feb 4, 2009 - 07:33pm PT
hey there chiloe... wow, it looks great!....

say, each of them other pictures share, sure do to!...

thanks for the share... i am writing, so i will, as always, lately, have to come back to see them all... and read more...


really really nice, though...
Jello

Social climber
No Ut
Feb 4, 2009 - 10:53pm PT
I rarely used to repeat routes, but the Edge was one of the exceptions. Probably did it an average of once a year between '74 and early'90's. The Diving Board was good, too, on the right, and Jules Verne on the left, but the Edge always retained pride of place and variety. My favorite climbs in Colorado were the Edge, Prayer Book (aka Wunsch's Dihedral) on Cynical Pinnacle, Childhood's End on Big Rock, and in the Mountains the Yellow Wall on Longs and Wilford's and my own Risky Business on Chief's Head. Didn't get around to doing Astroman in the Valley and the Prow on Cathedral Ledge (NH)'till the late 80's All of these climbs are all-time classics. I only rarely did more obscure climbs that were as good or better.

-JelloIsJonesin'
Jaybro

Social climber
wuz real!
Feb 4, 2009 - 10:56pm PT
That would be a big day, what with the jet lag n'shitd....
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 4, 2009 - 11:09pm PT
Probably did it an average of once a year between '74 and early'90's.

Obviously this route played a part in quite a few climbers' lives.

Brassnuts, your photos are spectacular. Kudos to the model and photographer both.
Those shots are eras apart from the 1969 OP photo, where the leader is wearing a Whillans
rucksack and trailing goldline. I'll get 'round to that story tomorrow.
I'm hurtin . . .

Ice climber
land of cheese and beer
Feb 4, 2009 - 11:48pm PT
Like many of you I have vivid memories of my first time up the Naked Edge. It was 8/8/88 and I remember writing in my journal that it was a 'magical day'. My partner, Jim, and I hadn't climbed much together but doing this route together cemented a friendship that continues to grow.

We were just reminiscing about it on the phone a couple hours ago. Steller day, climb, and partner. I've been up it a few times since, but that first time . . . that was one of the best climbing days ever for me!
crankenstein

Trad climber
Louisville, CO
Feb 5, 2009 - 12:10am PT
Dave is the man for the Edge. I regret that I didn't taken his invitation to do it on a summer morning before work when we worked together. Quick story about my first time on the Edge which was a failure since my partner and I were bailing due to high winds after the bombay chimney pitch. Just as we started to rap, another party was passing us going up. It was about 11:00 in the morning and the belayer told me that they were doing the 4 big crack climbs in Colorado in a day. They had already done Wunch's Dihedral and were zooming up the Edge and planned on doing Country Club Crack and Crack of Fear before day's end. I have no doubt that they made it judging by their quick progress on the Edge. I felt like a real wimp.
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 5, 2009 - 08:17am PT
So where did you first learn this route existed?

For me that happened while reading Ament and McCarty's blue book.

BrassNuts

Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
Feb 5, 2009 - 11:11am PT
I first heard word of the NE back in the Gunks, in the late 70's... There was also that short film of Beth Bennett and Lynn Hill on the Edge back in '78 or so. My first trip to Eldo was 1980, but I was too chicken to get on the NE until 4 years later.

Although I've done this route a bunch over the years, it's always a great time and the memories are firmly burned in the 'ROM'... Maybe the best time was in Sept 2006 - I met my friend Dirk in Eldo about 5:30pm and we did the Edge in perfect temps and beautiful afternoon light. I was watching the road down below to see if my friend Bob might show up - I had dared Bob to show up at sunset with a headlamp and we would do the Edge at night. He seemed only somewhat interested, so I didn't know if he'd show. But, as Dirk and I were descending, I saw Bob standing down at the bridge - he was up for the headlamp ascent! We re grouped and let darkness move in, then we headed on up again - it was somewhat surreal to be up there climbing in a little bubble of light and watching the stars at the belays - on the last pitch about 50 swallows flew out of the final hand crack as I was climbing by, bumping into me as they whizzed by. We finished up, descended and toasted the event with some Don Julio Reposado... Great times!

An afternoon on the Edge, 9/2006. A few climbers can be seen high on the route:

Everything you need for the NE and nothing more...

Mike Bolte

Trad climber
Planet Earth
Feb 5, 2009 - 11:20am PT
ah - a real rack. stoppers, hand-tied slings on rigid friends, some TCUs and 15 pieces total. I use that same color blue sling on the 2.5 friend.
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 5, 2009 - 11:33am PT
There was also that short film of Beth Bennett and Lynn Hill on the Edge back in '78 or so.

I think Bob Carmichael got his start in film by borrowing a camera and shooting climbers
(was it Roger and Duncan? I dunno) on the Naked Edge earlier in the 70s. There might
have been some other shots cut in, like a staged fall on Tagger.

Local could set us straight on that story.
Jack Burns

climber
Feb 5, 2009 - 11:52am PT
one of my favorite climbing photos is the old black and white one of the climbers on pitch 5 with the birds flying around in the sky. dudley chelton or bob godfrey photo, i believe. i remember reading an interview with tom frost and he said it was one of his favorites as well. someone aughta post that photo.
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 5, 2009 - 11:56am PT
Jack, I know exactly the inspirational photo you mean. By the late Bob Godfrey, I believe.
It showed an aid ascent, with belay below the final corner crack. It's much older than
the book, but was that photo reproduced in Climb?
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Feb 5, 2009 - 12:00pm PT

from CLIMB!
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 5, 2009 - 12:09pm PT
Thanks, that's the one!
brotherbbock

Trad climber
Feb 5, 2009 - 12:20pm PT
Yo Larry!

Have you and Dave done this one together? Looks and sounds stellar from all the commentary. Me and Dave need to go do this if he hasn't already.

Prost,

Brian
BrassNuts

Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
Feb 5, 2009 - 12:29pm PT
Check out the early 80's fashion on P1 - sweet! This is a guy named Nate - fun partner, lived in MN at the time. Anybody know his whereabouts these days?

Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 5, 2009 - 12:29pm PT
No, he hasn't been up there, Brian. Go for it!
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 5, 2009 - 12:38pm PT
Brassnuts seems to have the best photos. Unless Pat chimes in, I might have the oldest ones.
SteveW

Trad climber
The state of confusion
Feb 5, 2009 - 12:44pm PT
BrassNuts
Look at those fashionable socks on Nate!!!

Brings back memories of recent slide show I attended at
your place!!!!


hee hee hee
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Feb 5, 2009 - 01:01pm PT
After the Rain
by Steven Dieckhoff, 1997


The Naked Edge in highlight at composition's center
(oil 46" x 72")
Courtesy of the Lefkoff collection
philo

Trad climber
boulder, co.
Feb 5, 2009 - 01:18pm PT
I think that is one of Steve's best paintings.



Here are a couple of scenics from last year.


Fat Dad

Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
Feb 5, 2009 - 01:29pm PT
"Great Crag Routes of America start with 4:

Naked Edge
The Vampire
Nabisco Wall
New Dimensions"

Wow, I've actually done the last three of those four. I guess my resume isn't as thin as I thought it was.
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 5, 2009 - 02:10pm PT
That's a great painting by Steve D upthread. I like Philo's first scenic, in particular, too.
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 5, 2009 - 02:35pm PT
So there we were in the summer of '69, three kids home from college. We got nothing summer jobs
in Denver -- I delivered antiques, I think Steve worked at a gas station, Bob might even have worked
at McDonalds. Five days a week, but we lived for the weekends.

Our doorway to adventure was the blue guidebook. Largely self-taught as climbers, with no contacts
in Boulder, we started working our way up from the easy end of the book's recommended-routes list.

SteveW

Trad climber
The state of confusion
Feb 5, 2009 - 02:41pm PT
Chiloe
I loved Friday's Folly--a stellar, easy route.
A drift from the Edge, but still fun route put in by
one of my hero's, Tom Hornbein
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 5, 2009 - 02:41pm PT
Every single route was brand new to us, as we felt out the grades.

Steve Weaver leads Cozyhang (rated 5.5/5.6 at the time):



Bob Lakin carries our goldline past the Matron (en route to the Maiden, an early must-do):



Another day, Bob on the Matron itself:

Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 5, 2009 - 02:43pm PT
Did you ever do Friday's Folly on the Third Flatiron

Did 'em all, that was the game. And yeah, a fun route.
philo

Trad climber
boulder, co.
Feb 5, 2009 - 02:56pm PT
Larry, great stuff! What a wonderful time for you kids. I was living in Morrison Co. and scrabbling around the Flatirons at that time too. Climbed a lot of stuff in cowboy boots. How funny if we had run across each other then. Hey wait a minute you aren't the East Coasters who beat me up for wearing cowboy boots then stole my lunch money are you?
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 5, 2009 - 03:02pm PT
Hey wait a minute you aren't the East Coasters who beat me up

Hah, no, we were California boys. I don't recall beating anyone up.
Captain...or Skully

Social climber
North of the Owyhees
Feb 5, 2009 - 04:51pm PT
Naked bump.
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 5, 2009 - 04:59pm PT
So anyway ... by August, we'd gone through most of the blue guide's "recommended ascents,"
not always in good style. And we were growing aware of many routes in the guidebook that were
not on the recommended list. The Naked Edge in particular stood out.

Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 5, 2009 - 05:07pm PT
That guidebook description was everything we knew about the route. We'd never met
anyone who had climbed it, so our imaginations worked from the text.

"Rising overhead like a skyscraper."

"A difficult nailup that tripped up climbers on the first ascent .... nail left, with upside-
down pitons, to the exposed and sharp edge."

"The next lead is rotten and somewhat unprotected.... pass an overhang by a difficult
move to the right."

"Here, the climbing becomes exposed and spectacular, as it moves up the outward-
leaning edge."
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Feb 5, 2009 - 05:21pm PT
I'll need to look through my Mountain Magazines.
My first acquaintance with the notion of this route appears in an entry there;
Something about standards rising in Colorado and among them,
Per example, a barefoot ascent of The Naked Edge.

Maybe a solo too; the barefoot climber has got to be Wilford?
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 5, 2009 - 05:29pm PT
Fortunately, as you'll see, we had state-of-the-art Robbins shoes.

As we worked up the difficulty grades that summer, from 5.4 to 5.8 and A3, we also paid
much attention to the "overall" grades, I to VI. Started with routes like Cozyhang, a
grade I, and the Maiden, grade II. By midsummer we'd done a number of grade IIIs, but not
yet a IV. Our understanding of this system derived from Roper's red guidebook, which
put things mainly in terms of time. Grade I, a few hours; Grade IV, a full day or a day
and a half. We knew we were turkeys, so figured The Naked Edge would prolly take us
a day and a half.

But we were Royal Robbins-reading turkeys, and knew that fixed ropes were ruled out.

steelmnkey

climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
Feb 5, 2009 - 05:47pm PT
Shots of the Edge from my first trip to Eldo... amazing line. Old photos, quality somewhat suspect.


BrassNuts

Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
Feb 5, 2009 - 07:20pm PT
Quality stories and pics Chiloe! From back in the day when you only needed ONE guidebook for an area :-)
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Feb 5, 2009 - 07:57pm PT
From Mountain Magazine number 68 July/August 1979,
In the Colorado section; news of The Edge being soloed in 1978 by Jim Collins.
In 1979 Mark Wilford does it barefoot!

Also below, the picture of Collins on Genesis,
May be one of the earlier examples of an inverted photo to accentuate steepness:

richross

Trad climber
gunks,ny
Feb 5, 2009 - 08:20pm PT
Joyce Bracht on Genesis.
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 5, 2009 - 08:24pm PT
No barefootin' for us. We took this thing serious.

After work on Friday, Steve and I drove up to the canyon. We climbed the first two leads of
Redguard Route (the now-infamous "Birdwalk," which back then seemed casual) and settled
down for our first Big Wall Bivouac, on a warm summer night in Redgarden Wall's Lower
Meadow.

At first light, we looked up and sure enough saw the route rising like a skyscraper above our
heads. Steve laybacked up to the start of the route proper.

I led the next pitch, carrying a rucksack and trailing the full-weight goldline we had brought
as a haul line. The hauling itself would be hand over hand.

philo

Trad climber
boulder, co.
Feb 5, 2009 - 08:37pm PT
Wow that is a cooooool picture.
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 5, 2009 - 08:46pm PT
The next pitch brought the "difficult nailup" we believed must be the route's crux. The old aid
line moved right from the belay, up to the big roof, then nailed back to the left along the base
of the roof.

My lead again, Steve was saving up mental energy to lead the "rotten and somewhat
unprotected" pitch above. That one had us worried too, because we knew nothing else
about it.

Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Feb 5, 2009 - 09:14pm PT
Sweet colors coming through in those slides!
And then?
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 5, 2009 - 11:28pm PT
But the difficult nailup felt less hard than expected. Steve cleaned the pitch.

We had no Jumars, nor any concept of how to use them, so the second simply followed
on belay, hammering out pitons. Ascents like ours are what made so many of those nice
finger jams that cleaner climbers nowadays can enjoy.

Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 5, 2009 - 11:34pm PT
But now it was Steve's turn on the sharp end, a pitch we'd been dreading. Expecting little
protection, he didn't try to place much, maybe two pins the whole pitch. And grabbed one of
those to save falling. The big lead went by pretty fast.

philo

Trad climber
boulder, co.
Feb 6, 2009 - 11:08am PT
My first time on the Edge was in 1976 (maybe 77) as a party of three (which slowed us down quite a bit). Stan Mish and I swapped leads. I got the second and fourth, Stan the first and fifth. Our third who was mostly along for the ride led the third pitch. We topped out with the full moon rising which was too cool to express in words alone. I sure wish I had a camera in those days. But I had just dropped my girlfriends fancy shmancy camera down 700 feet of Gothic Mountain's east face. No way was she going to lend me her replacement. The other thing that was striking about that ascent was on our approach. We did Rosy Crucifixion to the upper ramp. While following the final pitch of Rosy someone from on high dropped a wired nut and biner without yelling a warning. Out of nowhere and into my peripheral vision this whistling blur came aimed at my head. In those days we only took helmets in the Black and only one to be shared for belaying. In my effort to fend of the rude intruder it smacks hard into the back of my hand between the knuckles and the wrist. Man did that smart! I thought I was done for the day but had to at least finish the pitch I was on to get off. But by the time I got there I had already blocked it out of my here and now so we pressed on. After a full day of crimping and jamming, pushing and pulling my hands were swollen and sore but oddly the insulted one never bruised. I always wondered if continuing to use and abuse it immediately after injury kept it from being able to react in a normal fashion.
cowpoke

climber
Feb 6, 2009 - 01:50pm PT
can't believe it didn't break a bone, philo...as a way of saying, "bump for classic"
Dominic

Big Wall climber
Peak District, UK
Feb 7, 2009 - 06:11am PT
I did this route on my 40th Birthday - what a fantastic way to spend a landmark day. I was over from UK at the start of a 3 month tour of the Western States.

I teamed up with my great friend, Mike Ryan, who had done the route twice before. Mike was visiting his son Gary in Boulder and had made a generous offer the previous day: "You choose the route tomorrow; whatever you want to do is fine by me." Mike's heart sank when I immediately said the NE (at 65 he was climbing very strongly, but it would still be quite an "ask") and said OK "providing you lead the chimney pitch!"

We had a brilliant trip - I agree with everything on this thread re the quality of the route, easily in my all time top 10 and I've climbed all over the world. Must come back and do some of the other great routes nearby.
Misa

Trad climber
SJ
Feb 8, 2009 - 01:31am PT
The DB is still one of the most funnest routes I ever done, though as baggage on the crux! My climbing partner was so stoked she lead the crux pitch topless. Sorry no pix. Also if you were looking for the fixed #10 on the Divingboard in the late 70's, I'm sorry, I didn't know it was fixed,so I unfixxted it. Misa (the perennial klutz)
Jello

Social climber
No Ut
Feb 8, 2009 - 02:27am PT
I was the rigger for the film, First Ascent (1980, I think?). Bob Carmichael behind the camera and my brother, Greg, running sound. Starring Lynn Hill and Beth Bennet.

The story line had Lynn failing to lead the firt pitch. A total fabrication, of course, since Lynn could lead it with one hand tied behind her back...

Then Beth takes the sharp end:

It was a fun film to work on. In the middle of the filming, I took advantage of a one-day break in the schedule to drive out to Glenwood Canyon to meet up with Michael Kennedy and make the first free ascent of the Internationale, about 15 pitches of varied climbing on the largest piece of rock in the area.

-Jello
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 8, 2009 - 08:52pm PT
Jello, I think there was an even earlier Carmichael/Naked Edge film. Local could tell
us about it if he drifts past the campfire again.
Jaybro

Social climber
wuz real!
Feb 8, 2009 - 09:11pm PT
"My climbing partner was so stoked she lead the crux pitch topless"

Really? Too funny.
It was a meaningful climb to me; a fantastic experience, and a step into history. I think my partner and I were just as glad that neither he nor I felt the need to go topless.
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Feb 8, 2009 - 09:26pm PT
One of the more dramatic portraits of The Edge:


From Rossiter's Boulder Climbs South
Robinson

Trad climber
Chattanooga
Feb 9, 2009 - 07:32am PT
I'll never forget my first trip to Eldy back in 81'... seeing The Edge from the highway as we blew into Boulder after driving for 27 hours non-stop (fueled by dreams of five star sandstone thanks to Dudley and Chelton's book Climb!) The Edge is undoubtedly one of America's great iconic climbs.
Crag Q

Trad climber
Louisville, Colorado
Feb 9, 2009 - 09:46am PT
Chiloe thanks for the great stories and pictures!!

The irony of this thread is that the Naked Edge just closed for nesting on February first, so it doesn't seem fair to get all pumped up about it.
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 9, 2009 - 10:29am PT
Tarbuster, that is a great photo.


Misha:
The DB is still one of the most funnest routes I ever done, though as baggage on the crux!

I agree, I used to love Diving Board, and I had it sort of dialed, unlike the Edge. On the
morning of my comprehensive exams, as a confidence-booster, I went out and led the
Board. Walked into the oral defense with my hands all ragged -- not smart enough to
tape up, but feeling sure that I could answer any question.

My climbing partner was so stoked she lead the crux pitch topless. Sorry no pix.

Now there's an image!
philo

Trad climber
boulder, co.
Feb 9, 2009 - 10:32am PT
Unfortunately Chiloe there appears to be no image.
As my kids would say/text :(
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Feb 9, 2009 - 11:05am PT
one's imagination, the image made in the "mind's eye" is always ever so much better than the actual article....


Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 9, 2009 - 11:06am PT

But to complete the cycle, or at least the story of our unremarkable 1969 ascent....

The fourth pitch looked like nothing Steve or I had ever climbed. We had somehow planned
beforehand that Steve would lead it, but he took a good look and said "You're the aid leader!"
I hadn't thought of it that way but was flattered.

Hours passed while I slowly worked upwards, building up rope drag and running out of gear.
It was too windy to communicate with Steve, so I talked a lot to myself. It began to seem
like a good thing we had bivouacked in the Meadow, and had the whole day to burn.
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 9, 2009 - 11:19am PT
Steve said later that he looked up at one point and saw that I had taken the belay seat out
of my pack, and it was waving in the wind.

"That's not a good sign," he thought.


But eventually I reached the top of the steep part, and set a hanging belay off two bong-bongs.
In late afternoon light, Steve led through to the summit. We felt tired and proud, like we'd done
something cosmic.
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 9, 2009 - 11:23am PT
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Feb 9, 2009 - 11:39am PT
Bravo!!!
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 9, 2009 - 12:24pm PT
Bravo!!!

Glad ya liked that. Funny thing, there was nobody to tell about our great adventure,
at the time -- we didn't know other Colorado climbers.

Then, years later when I did know some, aid ascents of the Naked Edge had become
déclassé.

So, only on Supertopo....
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 9, 2009 - 01:09pm PT
In the mid-70s, Leslie and I lived in this trailer in Eldorado Springs. It was old even back
then, and was still there when I rode through last summer (though somewhat transmogrified).

Coolest thing about it was that we could see the Naked Edge out our living room window.

BrassNuts

Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
Feb 9, 2009 - 10:32pm PT
Having some big fun on the last pitch...
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Feb 9, 2009 - 11:58pm PT
Hey wait a minute...
Brassy Nuts: did you just Photoshop tinker that picture of yourself?
I looked at that a half hour ago and totally missed that leg action.

No tequila involved on my part.
Fess up!
BrassNuts

Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
Feb 10, 2009 - 12:01am PT
Iz real baby - no PShop on this end, but a little tequila nonetheless... :-)
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 10, 2009 - 09:29am PT
Brassnuts, nice pic. You're footloose right below the spot where I set that final sling
belay off of bongs. Funny how some recollections stay so sharp, when I've forgotten so
much else through the years.

Caylor, life's amazing! Can you take the same photo today and post that?
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Feb 10, 2009 - 11:04am PT
Every increment of the post counter I click this thread waiting for The definitive video of the moves for TNE... I know Brassy and Crimpie have had a talk about this... come on, don't be shy! this site is all about beta... you could cut a moves video and provide the most detailed beta of any climb yet!

What'll it take to see the video!
JLP

Social climber
The internet
Feb 10, 2009 - 11:12am PT
I think Jeff Lowe and Mark Wilford climbed it in Cloudwalker. It's been awhile, but I believe the footage is of Mark on the slot pitch, then Jeff in the handcrack. Kind of a cool movie.
survival

Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
Feb 10, 2009 - 11:27am PT
Holy Buckets Chiloe!

1969...that is too cool. That's about 6 years before I ever heard of the thing, but your tales of Steve pointing you onto the aid pitch/rope drag/lack of gear/wind, sure took me home to the early goldline aid days on the big cliffs at Smith Rock.

At least I was THERE before it was on the famous international circuit!
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Feb 10, 2009 - 11:33am PT
Ditto on the then and now Dan Mannix trailer foto...
Jack Burns

climber
Feb 10, 2009 - 12:05pm PT
i remember some story (can't remember where from) a few years back about two climbers making a bet where the loser had to free solo the Naked Edge. guy who lost rode his bike to eldo and soloed it. anyone else remember this little anecdote?
survival

Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
Feb 10, 2009 - 12:36pm PT
Shame on you!
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Feb 10, 2009 - 12:36pm PT
That round things out nicely!
There's like 2° of separation in our community, tops.

Caylor & Chiloe living in the same trailer, 40 years apart.
40 ... YEARS!!!

And as Chiloe and I discussed in an earlier thread,
I grew up on the same street his grandmother lived on, Miramonte Street in Sierra Madre California.
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 10, 2009 - 01:12pm PT
That's so cool! Looks more civilized now with the yard and deck and wood siding. And you've
upgraded the windows I see. The trees are 35 years older, but the electrical mast on the roof
stayed the same.

Place used to rattle, when winds blew down the canyon. We loved walking up the
road by starlight.
philo

Trad climber
boulder, co.
Feb 10, 2009 - 01:20pm PT
I moved this so Chiloe's response could be on the same page edit.

How very cool! So cool that I am going to bump this thread shamelessly.



GROUP HUG!

Hank that's group not grope.
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 10, 2009 - 02:18pm PT
Tarbuster:
That round things out nicely!
There's like 2° of separation in our community, tops.

Caylor & Chiloe living in the same trailer, 40 years apart.
40 ... YEARS!!!

And as Chiloe and I discussed in an earlier thread, I grew up on the same street
his grandmother lived on, Miramonte Street in Sierra Madre California.


It is pretty amazing. This new internets era opens up all sorts of connections you'd
never make the old ways.
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 11, 2009 - 03:08pm PT
Hankster, yer photo's gone -- hope it's coming back, that was priceless.
SteveW

Trad climber
The state of confusion
Feb 11, 2009 - 03:10pm PT
Another shameless bump--I wanna see caylor's trailor. . .
Crimpergirl

Social climber
Boulder, Colorado!
Feb 11, 2009 - 03:11pm PT
Yes - put the photo back up! I can't wait to see it (and get in a little bump while I'm at it).
Rhodo-Router

Gym climber
Otto, NC
Feb 11, 2009 - 03:25pm PT
He's married, Crimpy.
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 11, 2009 - 03:42pm PT

We'll save 'em some scrolling. And here's our youthful selves looking over that fence
in the summer of '75.

Prod

Trad climber
A place w/o Avitars apparently
Feb 11, 2009 - 03:46pm PT
Pretty damn close. Check out the power pole to get centered.

Prod.
pip the dog

Mountain climber
the outer bitterroots
Feb 11, 2009 - 05:28pm PT
i'm rather late to this dance here, but i have a question for brother Hudon, who wrote, in part:

i'm a little late to the dance here, but re:

> It's [the NE] on the Mark Hudon Ten Best Routes of His
> Life list. (which, btw, somehow has 15 or 17 routes on it)

i'd like to ask brother hudon what other routes are on that list.
~~~


i wrote once, in another venue, of what a huge impact watching mark and max jones climb the prow up at cathedral had on my early climbing career. i was at the time, what, like 15. and pretty fair climber (though i never got all that much better). but me and my buddies were at a belay ledge on a trade route nearby and watched mark and max simply cruise the route.

now we had tried it, but quickly given ourselves an easy out by saying "oh, it's a reach problem that only a tall knuckledragger like jimmy dunn (another hero of mine) can do. and with that we gave ourselves permission not to do the work the route demanded.

watching (at close range) mark simply cruise the crux changed all that in a heartbeat. for mark is not an especially tall guy. and watching him absolutely smooth through "the reach problem" convinced all of us watching (all fellow teeny boppers) that we had clearly got it all wrong.

this inspired us to go back and actually do the hard physical and mental work that route demanded. we certainly didn't tag it the first time (or the fourth), but eventually kept our heads in it and found the way.

i really appreciate that, mark. you tought me, us, something that changed our worlds for the better. i have no doubt you inspired many others you never knew. take pride in that, for you deserve it.

~~~

so, anyway, i'm dying to know what is on your list of the '15 or 17 best 10 climbs. if time permits, do tell.

as for the naked edge, took me awhile to make the transition from new hampshire perfect granite to eldo sandstone. everything seemed way marginal as the rock seemd so soft (relative to cathedral). but eventually i got my head on straight and got on that line. i agree, it's big magic. and the rock (relative to the local) exceptional -- though it still gave me the heebies as i placed what pro i had the energy to slot.


ok, all the best,


^,,^
scuffy b

climber
just below the San Andreas
Feb 11, 2009 - 06:53pm PT
Is this really the Dog it seems?

If so, welcome. I look forward to some good, good reading.
Hope your health is good.
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 11, 2009 - 07:21pm PT
Sure writes like the dog of old. Welcome to the Taco, Pip! It's a fine place for odd stories and
could use some fresh talent. Look around a bit and I'm sure you'll spot some former denizens
of "another venue," with or without their old noms.

My experience watching Roger free the Diving Board in '71, as mentioned upthread,
impressed me in much the same way you describe regarding Mark Hudon on the Prow.

Cheers!
L
pip the dog

Mountain climber
the outer bitterroots
Feb 11, 2009 - 07:57pm PT
scuffy:
> Is this really the Dog it seems?
Chiloe:
> Sure writes like the dog of old. Welcome to the Taco

not sure i which dog i am, simply sure that dogs are my kinda souls.

in any case, thanks for the welcome.

an excellent thread, brother Chiloe (not sister Chloe as i once doped. sheesh, dyslexics untie!) one of many i've much enjoyed during years of lurking. never wuite comfortable actually signing on, for two reasons. first, i was intimidated by the presence of so many "big kids", my heroes who i'd rather listen to than prattle at. second, because i have become rather [in]famous for my 17 page posts. i kinda suspected that this pathology (my mom and all four grandparents are from galway. so, as joyce once wrote "what's bred in the bone can't fail me to fly..."

well, we'll see. as all computers made to date have a DEL key, i figure there is always a way to quick put an end to my prattle.
~~~

finally, i do want to make an edit to my ad hoc comments re: eldo and the naked edge. i wrote (as an afterthought to my focus on mark hudon):

> as for the naked edge, took me awhile to make the transition
> from new hampshire perfect granite to eldo sandstone.
> everything seemed way marginal as the rock seemd so soft
>(relative to cathedral)...

the rock in eldo is of course just fine, excellent. hell, they make hard sharpening stones out of the stuff. perhaps the word i should have used rather than "soft" was "different". i was still rather young when i slithered into boulder, what, like 19. and my experience on rock outside of my home turf was limited. the rock in eldo was fine (despite my protestations to the contrary at the time) -- it was just different. and i didn't yet have the experience or skills to deal with different. that i learned there.

i had gotten a sense of where the next hold would be on, say, Camber. i had gotten a sense of where the pro worth the effort was on, say, Airation. it of course took me awhile to learn the same in eldo. i needed to simply spend the time required to anticipate the form of the rock so that i could anticipate the next hold on a slim face route. just as i needed to put in the time to be able to anticipate where the next pro would go just so as my horsepower failed on routes at my limit.

in the retrospect of many years, i jumped on the naked edge too soon. for i hadn't figured out the nature of the local rock (and with it the pro that worked, fast) just yet. as such my first trip up it was an absolute diaper wetter. sheesh. since then, i've learned more and found the trip pure joy.

ok, enough already. this dog simply hasn;t learned how to do "brief". mia culpa.


be well,



^,,^
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 11, 2009 - 10:12pm PT
simply sure that dogs are my kinda souls

pip the dog

Mountain climber
the outer bitterroots
Feb 11, 2009 - 11:02pm PT
yup, definately related.

(and i'm digging the stylin' booties. sportiva's be damned)


canis fidelis est,


^,,^
philo

Trad climber
boulder, co.
Feb 12, 2009 - 12:41am PT
Chiloe. That picture of you and your better half (make that three fourths) is wonderful!
You look like such a playful imp. Yes we were all so young BITD.



Here is the impish Chiloe at Spartacusfest 1.


again with perennial Taco favs Tarbuster and Brassnuts.




By the way I shamelessly bumped this thread.
Patrick Oliver

Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
Feb 12, 2009 - 01:52am PT
I just went through this thread for the first time
tonight. Lots of memories. I'm afraid I have
some pretty old photos, Chiloe. I did the second
ascent of the Naked Edge in 1962, with Layton Kor, a
few days after he made the first ascent. He was
anxious to get back up and do it again, and by then
I had become his regular partner. We did it quickly,
for back then, just a couple of hours. I have quite a
few good shots of him, taken with my little camera
I had the sense to bring on almost all my climbs back
then, and Layton took a few shots of me, on the
climb. I have a few I've saved and never published.
Nobody would probably want to see them, but I don't
know if I even remember how to upload to Photobucket...

I have the original print/photo of Godfrey's Naked
Edge shot, of the birds and climbers on the fifth
pitch. He gave it to me as a gift, just before he died.

I did the Edge many times, took many people up it,
did it aid, did it free. I don't think it was any easier
or harder one way or another. When I led the first pitch
free, the first time I tried it, I had been told it was
really at the limit, and I guess I was in good shape,
because it seemed about 5.8+ with one tiny move maybe
5.9 near the top of the pitch, but the difficulty
of the Edge is not the issue. It's the beauty.

I will never forget as a kid turning a corner on a route
to the east of the Edge, and seeing that spectacular
arete with two people on it. This was 1961, and I refer
to Bob Boucher and Stan Shepard, who had managed the first
pitch and were together at its top but were preparing to
go down, not sure about the next pitch.
They didn't simply want to bolt upward. Boucher was in all
green clothing, with bright red knicker socks... Those
colors really stood out against the yellow rock. Then Layton
went up on this route of so much mystique. No one today
can imagine the mystique of those days, the pure magic
of that place, that gift of place, or the sense of
those unclimbed routes, every little hold, ledge, tree,
walls, and to know they were all ours and soon every route
would be climbed. They were there, for the taking in
our virgin gorgeous canyon. Often
only two of us would be in the canyon all day, or maybe four of us, two people on two separate routes...

Usually I went back to do climbs just to reexperience those
joyous feelings of solitude and discovery. There was no real
question of being able to do the climb. I did it in the morning, did it late in the very late afternoon. Something
very warm and comfortable about that climb. I took 17-year-
old Tom Ruwitch up it in spring of 1967, after he got out
of school. We did the route in about an hour or just a
little more. We were preparing for Yosemite and later did
the West Face of Sentinel and the 10th or so ascent of the
Nose... We often looked at these Eldorado routes as the
best place to practice for either Longs or the Black Canyon
or Yosemite. But finally we/I realized Eldorado was a
perfect eden of its own and its climbing as good as any
anywhere.

Jello, my good friend, I recall that film with Lynn and
Beth. Remember, Lynn wasn't nearly as good then as she
later became. She and Beth were both pushed a little bit
by that first pitch. It was a different day, a different
age...

I miss my Eldorado Canyon, so many memories. Endless
memories... Sacred memories... friends...

Pat
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 12, 2009 - 08:22am PT
Philo:
Here is the impish Chiloe at Spartacusfest 1.

Oof, Hank's trailer has aged better than that guy! Hard to imagine he climbed some route
at Lumpy earlier that same day.


Warbler:
Firstly, do people tell you you look like Dana Carvey?

Oh no, they tell me I look exactly like Spartacus! And I believe them.

Secondly, is that "Chill-oh" or "shylow" or "Cheelo"?

Several variants exist, most with three syllables, like CHEE-low-AY

I loved my time in that little Dogpatch scene. Eldorado is a fantastic place.

You can tell I remember it fondly. We had an ill-behaved mutt ourselves, who contributed
to the dogginess -- but could catch his own food, on backpacking trips!
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 12, 2009 - 08:33am PT
Patrick Oliver:
I did the second
ascent of the Naked Edge in 1962, with Layton Kor, a
few days after he made the first ascent. He was
anxious to get back up and do it again, and by then
I had become his regular partner. We did it quickly,
for back then, just a couple of hours. I have quite a
few good shots of him, taken with my little camera


Pat, care to scan some of those photos and share them? I'm sure that many of us here
would love to see them.

No one today
can imagine the mystique of those days, the pure magic
of that place, that gift of place, or the sense of
those unclimbed routes, every little hold, ledge, tree,
walls, and to know they were all ours and soon every route
would be climbed. They were there, for the taking in
our virgin gorgeous canyon. Often
only two of us would be in the canyon all day, or maybe four
of us, two people on two separate routes...


Even in '69, we often had the canyon to ourselves. And picked up on that mystical feeling.
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 12, 2009 - 10:56am PT

Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 12, 2009 - 10:56am PT
With Ivy Baldwin's high wire:

Prod

Trad climber
A place w/o Avitars apparently
Feb 12, 2009 - 11:34am PT
Hey Chloe,

When did that high wire come down? Also if you know when was it last walked?

Prod.
philo

Trad climber
boulder, co.
Feb 12, 2009 - 12:10pm PT
Patrick Oliver will know the answer to that question.
Rhodo-Router

Gym climber
Otto, NC
Feb 12, 2009 - 12:36pm PT
Pat, get thee to a scannery!
Prod

Trad climber
A place w/o Avitars apparently
Feb 12, 2009 - 01:19pm PT
http://images.google.com/hosted/life/l?q=Ivy+Baldwin&prev=/images%3Fq%3DIvy%2BBaldwin%26start%3D18%26ndsp%3D18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7ADBR_en%26sa%3DN&imgurl=6d0f37defe189022
Crimpergirl

Social climber
Boulder, Colorado!
Feb 12, 2009 - 02:28pm PT
Welcome Patrick! I hope you can get those photos posted. And regale us with more stories please!
Patrick Oliver

Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
Feb 13, 2009 - 12:51am PT
What beautiful, fantastic images of Eldorado,
they almost make me cry. They take me back... back...

When the Eldorado wire came down, just before
I was about to try to walk it... my friend Van Freeman
and I had trained pretty hard, although I
think at the last minute I would have realized
that without the guy wires the oscillations of that
thick heavy cable would have been too much... no
matter how good a person was... but after it came
down I wrote a poem (still somewhat of an amateur
poet back then). It's called "The Day The Eldorado
Wire Died." There were a few good lines in it,
and amazingly Summit published the poem.

The wire went down in mid-later 1974, when Mr. Fowler
started getting paranoid about some idiot trying
to walk it or something. But also because two nuts
tyroleaned it one day and dropped a wine bottle that
crashed on the road about 20 feet form Fowler... Lawyers
he consulted with told him to cut it down. He got
the wild idea of selling it in one-foot chunks, as
a historical item. I don't think he sold one of those
chunks. Bad karma, or something, who knows?

Not long ago I got some virus that wiped out all my
printer drivers and scanner, and I'm still getting
things back together. One day hopefully I can get to
scanning again... But I have one classic shot already
scanned I'll try to photobucket... soon...
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 13, 2009 - 08:23am PT
Sorry about the technical problems, Pat, but I hope you'll persevere to scan & post photos.
Alongside more stories. There's a receptive audience here, as evidenced above.
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 13, 2009 - 09:49am PT
you seem to be fit for a Texan

Frame that!
philo

Trad climber
boulder, co.
Feb 13, 2009 - 11:25am PT
As a youngster growing up a climber in Morrison Colorado Patrick Oliver was one of those larger than life characters that I idolized. He had done it all. In High school I was involved in an outdoor activities group. We decided we wanted to have a big time slide show about contemporary climbing. Pat was of course our only choice. Being a piss-ant nobody and utterly star struck I figured he would snub my request for a show at my school. Eventually I tweaked up the nerve and called his number in Boulder. His mom answered. What to do? If she was like my mom the mere mention of the word climbing would have her covering her ears and running in circles squeaking "I can't hear you, I can't hear you". Surely his mom didn't want to hear from another fawning dweeb. So I lied. I told his mom I was an old friend and could she give him a message. "Of course" she said. To my happy surprise he called back right away. He asked how I knew him. Mortified I fessed up. He laughed. We scheduled a show. It was amazing. Pat brought slides and super 8 movies and eloquence. The flick of John Gill slacked jawed the audience. Master Gill would compress himself way down then explode upward an unbelievable distance and snatch a non hold on an overhanging face with perfect control. Then climb out ridiculous terrain like it was easy. Pat also brought an impishly youthful Dave Breashers. I believe this was just before his seminal ascent of Perilous Journey. Pat was a mentor to many of the soon to be amazing young climbers of the day. My friend and school mate Dan Stone was one of them. Dan was my cohort in all this. He was there from the first facetious phone call. But my shame at having fibbed to his mom had me step into the shadows when he actually showed up. He and Dan became fast friends and climbing partners. A year or two later I came back from college in Gunnison and Dan and I went to visit Pat at his sunny little place in Eldo.
Now Dan knew two things. One was that I fancied myself a fairly competent Chess player. And the other was that Pat was a ranked chess master. After Pat politely asked if I cared to play Dan just sat back to enjoy the show. To complicate and exasperate my inevitable demise Pat suggested we play Speed Chess. "Sure" I said though I had never played against a clock before. It was an appalling blood bath. From Dan's point of view I am sure it was very entertaining. Pat toyed with me like a ninja cat with a retarded mouse. He flipped me, rolled me and trounced me faster than I could tell what was happening. Pay back is a checkmate!
MisterE

Trad climber
One Place or Another
Feb 21, 2009 - 10:53pm PT
bump for serendipity and amazing people!

hoo-ahh!
Crimpergirl

Social climber
Boulder, Colorado!
Feb 21, 2009 - 11:21pm PT
It'd be so cool to see those old movies! Let's see 'em or maybe time for another party in Boulder!?!??!?!
local

Social climber
esprings
Feb 24, 2009 - 02:57pm PT
The photo of Ivy Baldwin in the earlier post was taken of the "low wire"; probably from the observation platform at the base of the Rotwand Wall.
Studly

Trad climber
WA
Mar 16, 2009 - 02:32pm PT
Hank, you sure live in a beautiful location. I'm envious. But the bathrobe dude, gnarly.
SteveW

Trad climber
The state of confusion
Mar 16, 2009 - 03:08pm PT
Caylor
A PINK bathrobe?????



You stud, you.
steelmnkey

climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
Mar 16, 2009 - 03:31pm PT
The color is bad enough, but it's so short.

Must be cold out there? :-)

(just kidding)
healyje

Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
Mar 17, 2009 - 01:17am PT
Patrick, [if I remember right] Fowler told us in mid-'75 (either as he was shagging us out of there after coming down from T2 late or one of the earlier interactions we had with him) that he took it down because he went out one day and there was like five guys in various stages of geting on or off it. It's still a complete bummer to have just missed it by months; though you are right, without the guys in place it would have undoubtably been unwalkable out past about a 1/4 - 1/3 length. I take pieces of it every time I'm in Eldo for my wife to make jewelry out of - got a few strands March a year ago when I was out.

Edit: I remember your poem - you should post it up...
philo

Trad climber
boulder, co.
Mar 17, 2009 - 12:07pm PT
My first youthful foray into the mysteries of Eldorado was an intensely impressionable experience. It was one of those early mornings where the shadows lay long and thick like molasses. The still dark walls towered like Gothic cathedrals and Ivy Baldwin's high wire still sliced the thin blue sky. I remember thinking excitedly that the Bastille was the biggest most beautiful monolith I had ever stood at the base of. Even as the sun evaporated the night and the walls came into relief the scale of the Redguard was still too overwhelming for me to grasp. The learning curve was a parabola of discovery. It was different then. An alternate time and space for me and many others. Simpler but more serious. Carefree but more enigmatic. Adventure lurked everywhere and was as apparent as the twittering swifts that raced among the otherwise lonely cliffs.
The memories are keen and fresh sometimes I can still smell them. The narrow gravel road where you parked anywhere including right up against the base of the Bastille. The bouncy old log bridge with no hand rail and creaking slats that would randomly and quite disturbingly break underfoot. Shimmying out the water pipe to drink from the source. The MILTON moniker still apparent. Old man Fowler sitting in his little entrance booth. Sometimes willing to accept as entrance fee whatever change I had left after spending my only five spot on $2 in gas and $1 for two hot dogs at the DynoMart. There were few 'real' trails then. Getting to the solitude of Rincon was a treacherous talus trot. Getting down from the Bastille could easily dislodge rocks that would tumble all the way to the road. I saw a few cars creamed in those days.
Transitioning through klunker hiking boots and blue jeans to Royal Robbin's blue suedes and sweat pants to EBs, White painter pants, rugby shirt and scull cap or doo rag. The style d'jour and d'riguer. Progressing through the ABCs of grades from 5.Can't do it... to 5.Better that time... to 5.Already did it!!! A lot of what little growing up I have done started in that sandstone sanctuary. At my philofive0inEldo the Rangers gave me a 6" piece of Ivy's high wire. It whisked me back in time so fast my head spun. I was really honored and choked up about it. I was, how you say, verklempt. Tawk amongs ya selves. Here's a tawpic; how cool is Eldo and the Edge?













VERY!


friendofthedevil

Social climber
california
Mar 17, 2009 - 12:31pm PT
if i died next week, i'd be doin' what i'm doing, cause that's good enough for now.
healyje

Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
Mar 17, 2009 - 01:18pm PT
"Getting down from the Bastille could easily dislodge rocks that would tumble all the way to the road. I saw a few cars creamed in those days."

Ha, guilty as charged - we used to love to 'run the talus' down from the Bastille, get the whole thing moving, and run / ride it down. The time I spent in Eldo in '75 completely changed every aspect of my climbing and what it meant for me. I can still smell the place sitting here. Best of all, except for the bridge and a few trail improvements it all seems pretty much exactly the same every time I go back.
philo

Trad climber
boulder, co.
Mar 17, 2009 - 01:30pm PT
1975 was when I moved to Gunnison Colorado to attend Wasted State College and the Black Canyon University. Even though my focus shifted to the big out there I still prowled around Eldo and Boulder during breaks and vacations. Gotta wonder who I passed by and moved amongst?



Could it have been Healyje the self admitted trundle-bum?
SteveW

Trad climber
The state of confusion
Mar 17, 2009 - 01:33pm PT
Philo, Healyje
I'm sure we brushed elbows in '75, that was my intro to
Eldo, spending 3 weeks in June having one of the best times
of my life. What climbing, watching Wunsch & Bragg free some
of the real classic routes, and doing some of them myself.
What a time, and that's why I live in CO now.
philo

Trad climber
boulder, co.
Mar 17, 2009 - 01:46pm PT
That is what is so wild to think about now SteveW.
Who knows? There was a considerably smaller population of climbers then.
And most of them, with the exception of Nigro, looked a lot younger than we do today.
There were not lines waiting at the base of routes and most everyone was cool and friendly. How many chance encounters were there in those years?
SteveW

Trad climber
The state of confusion
Mar 17, 2009 - 02:23pm PT
Phil
no kidding. Who knows, we might even have shared
beers up at Fowler's campground then. It was a special time.
And though I don't have a piece of Ivy's highline, when I do
a route on the Bastille, the guy wires are still there.

With Woody's loss it makes it all so much sweeter, knowing
the times we've all spent in our own lives sharing such times.
It also hurts when we lose one of our own.
healyje

Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
Mar 17, 2009 - 02:55pm PT
SteveW and Philo,

Yes, it was a hell of a time it's quite possible we might have crossed paths. For us it was such a melting pot, meeting and climbing with some of the locals as well as folks from Seneca, NC, the Gunks, and Europe. I'm sad to say I let twenty or so years lapse between visits after the death of a good friend we lost who fell during her descent from having led Werks Up on the Bastille.

On finally returning in 2007 it was startling to see how little it had changed overall. The Bastille Crack was my first roped solo back in '75 and it was surreal getting off the plane, driving directly to Eldo, and do it again thrity two years later. Definitely scored a piece of Ivy's wire that time as well - such little treasures.
SteveW

Trad climber
The state of confusion
Mar 17, 2009 - 03:01pm PT
Healyje
I remember your friend's passing. There have been way
too many of those. It's just hitting me with all of those
we've lost recently. I'm saddened for your loss.
ydpl8s

Trad climber
Santa Monica, California
Mar 17, 2009 - 05:51pm PT
Hey Philo, my first trip to Eldo was early summer of '72. Did Calypso and finished all the way to the top, the last move was pulling up on Ivy's wire. I got a small cut on my finger doing it and just sat looking across the wire to Bastille, sucking on my finger, rusted iron taste in my mouth, trying to imagine walking that thing. The next 2 weekends we did Wind Ridge, the Bastille, and then we did a moonlight ascent of the Bastille, only my 4th climb ever in Eldo, boy did that hook me! Although, the descent was far from fun.

How's that knee doin?

I still have some slides from 1980 of Mr. Nigro that I have to get scanned.

Moss
healyje

Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
Mar 18, 2009 - 04:23am PT
SteveW - thanks, it was hard for the whole SoIll tribe for quite some time...
philo

Trad climber
boulder, co.
Mar 18, 2009 - 12:28pm PT
In the early 70s before I got my first car - a 1965 VW convertible bug lovingly named Tom Bombadil and the source of many a fine tale as well - I would take my Mom's Chevy Nova at warp speed from Morrison to Eldo on (pray for me I drive...) hwy 93. I have to admit to having once forced a Rocky Flats transport truck with radioactive warning signs off the road. OOPS! At the time it didn't dawn on me what I had done. I was just in a hurry to capitilize on a blue bird day of ditching school. Just about the time I was turning at the Dyno Mart I flashed on the meaning of those signs. Holy glow in the dark crap.
nutjob

Stoked OW climber
San Jose, CA
Mar 18, 2009 - 01:38pm PT
I feel transported to a different time and place... too dangerous on a workday!
philo

Trad climber
boulder, co.
Mar 18, 2009 - 02:14pm PT
A few years later while finishing the last pitch of the Edge as the full Harvest Moon rose over the vastness of the eastern plains I noticed the strangest of eerie glows emanating from Rocky Flats. For a moment I wondered if that truck had... Nah couldn't be.
SteveW

Trad climber
The state of confusion
Mar 18, 2009 - 02:16pm PT
Philo
Wasn't that the glow of the base jumper?

Who did it????
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Mar 22, 2009 - 02:32pm PT
This is for Chiloe and Brad......

Loved the pic, Hankster. The yard looks a lot classier now. BITD there were no tiles, just mud
and grass with our dubious dog.
philo

Trad climber
boulder, co.
Mar 22, 2009 - 03:13pm PT
Man Hank, get some sunshine and lotion. The blazing glare off the gams is blinding. It burns, it burns.
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Mar 24, 2009 - 08:00pm PT
Yah, Hank's other photo from his yard is more pleasing to look at for some reason ... the cowboy hat?

I did find one more photo of the trailer in yesteryear, and in snow. Will try to scan that soon.
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Mar 24, 2009 - 09:05pm PT
I'm still waiting for the video....
BrassNuts

Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
Mar 24, 2009 - 09:44pm PT
Ed,

I only do the NE beta dance in person, after several cold ones... come on out this summer and we can do it up! :-)
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Mar 24, 2009 - 10:02pm PT
But while we wait for the video of that, here's one last look at Hank's trailer, in our
last year there -- winter of '77.


And of course, the Naked Edge behind.
Crimpergirl

Social climber
Boulder, Colorado!
Mar 24, 2009 - 10:22pm PT
Let me see if I can get him liquored up and record him! :)
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Mar 25, 2009 - 12:43am PT
either way... I do plan on a Vedauwoo trip now that 510 OW is operational again... and it isn't that far from yous guys in Colorado... I'll see what I can. If I'm still employed by then I will probably be wanting an extended vacation away...


Olihphant

climber
Somewhere over the rainbow
Apr 27, 2009 - 04:33pm PT
Bump to tell Mr. Ed that if he makes it all the way out to Vedauwoo and doesn't make the 90 minute detour to Boulder where a spectacular TacoParty would surely await him then you sir would be a punter.
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Apr 27, 2009 - 04:35pm PT
an honor to be called that, famously an accusation shouted by Hershey...

but I will not miss it this year...
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 27, 2009 - 06:37pm PT
Those Boulder Tacoans are a fun crew, all right. How could they not be, living where they do?
FrankZappa

Trad climber
80' from the Hankster
Jul 11, 2009 - 10:56pm PT
It's up for rent. Stop by or call Dan; 303.720.8957. We already miss Hank.

Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jul 12, 2009 - 12:23pm PT
Uh, and where did Hank go ???
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 14, 2009 - 09:47am PT
Hank has left the building?

Whoever moves in next, it should be someone else who understands that's the Naked Edge
out their window.
Jingy

Social climber
Flatland, Ca
Jul 14, 2009 - 10:55am PT
Those are some nice pics on page one....

Thanks
philo

Trad climber
boulder, co.
Aug 9, 2009 - 11:55am PT
Bump for the Caylor trailer man tube for rent.
FrankZappa

Trad climber
80' from the Hankster
Oct 28, 2009 - 11:49pm PT
A few hours ago. 20" and it's still puking.


Rhodo-Router

Gym climber
obsessively minitracking all winter at Knob Hill
Oct 29, 2009 - 01:16am PT
I SO do not miss that stuff...
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 29, 2009 - 09:39am PT
Beautiful, I remember those days too.
BrassNuts

Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
Oct 29, 2009 - 10:24am PT
Dodo

Trad climber
Spain/UK
Oct 29, 2009 - 10:25am PT
Can't find it now, but somewhere on You Tube is the video of 'Break on Through. Any link would be welcome.

Just found it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW-msBufJcY

BrassNuts

Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
Oct 29, 2009 - 11:19am PT
Jules Verne pops the large curved roof about 20' up and left. Also,you can exit the chim on P4 of the Edge straight over the roof above me, then traverse right to the belay, but most choose to exit right from the slot. I don't think anyone has popped the roof on the chim, then continued straight up - looks exciting, take your brass nuts ;-) There's also an older 12a/b bolt line that starts up and left just after the hard ramp/layback moves on the 5th pitch, I believe it's called "Sickness Unto Death" or some such thing...
looking sketchy there...

Social climber
Latitute 33
Oct 29, 2009 - 12:37pm PT
Not sure how I missed this thread before, but great stories and shots.

George Meyers and I climbed the Naked Edge in 1986; we even bootied a #1 Friend from near the start of the last pitch. One of the classic multi-pitch free routes.
eeyonkee

Trad climber
Golden, CO
Oct 29, 2009 - 12:56pm PT
I'm proud to say that I was with Brassnuts a couple of months ago on his 110th ascent of this route (maybe the 4th for me). Dave could probably do the route blindfolded.
philo

Trad climber
Somewhere halfway over the rainbow
Mar 19, 2010 - 08:02pm PT
A Colorado bump to help keep SuperTopo from falling into the sea.


And to keep climbing featured on page 1.
So folks will quit bellyachin' about forum content.
dee ee

Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
Mar 20, 2010 - 02:34pm PT
Those are great stories, a nice peak into the mystique.
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Mar 20, 2010 - 05:17pm PT
The OP story about a 1969 ascent of the Edge fits as sort of a prequel to this backward
look on life in Eldorado 1970-71.



That's among the historical essays in Steve Levin's Eldorado Canyon guidebook, which
came out last year. And incidentally features a fine Naked Edge shot on the cover.

Edge

Trad climber
New Durham, NH
Apr 7, 2010 - 04:29pm PT
Whew! I saw the thread title and thought my civil rights had been violated.

(bump)
L

climber
Training for the Blue Tape Route on Half Dome
Apr 7, 2010 - 05:14pm PT
Yeah Edge...after Couchmaster's Video-Peepers In The Woods story, you prolly had a right to be worried.
Edge

Trad climber
New Durham, NH
Apr 7, 2010 - 05:21pm PT
L, I was more in fear of it inspiring another hasbeen/wannabe thread...
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Apr 7, 2010 - 08:24pm PT
Great thread for an ultra classic route!

Some photos and a rather odd account of Jim Collins' free solo of the Edge from Glenn Randall's wonderful Vertigo Games, 1983. Buy my tube socks!!!LOL



BrassNuts

Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
Apr 8, 2010 - 12:03am PT
Naked Edge view, just a few days ago...
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Apr 29, 2010 - 07:23pm PT
Naked Bump!
philo

Trad climber
Somewhere halfway over the rainbow
May 3, 2010 - 11:23am PT
Baked Nump
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - May 3, 2010 - 11:28am PT
Somebody else needs to go up there and have misadventures climbing the thing, to write up for armchair entertainment.
BrassNuts

Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
Jun 3, 2010 - 03:54pm PT
The Naked Edge is open! Early opening this year as the falcons did not nest on the Diving Board. Do it! :-)
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Dec 26, 2010 - 01:01pm PT
Holiday Bump!

Is Mothers still open for breakfast or long gone? It was a Boulder institution BITD!
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Dec 26, 2010 - 10:32pm PT
Thanks for starting this thread, Chiloe!
Even though I never climbed the Edge, the memories that the scenes of Eldorado bring back are special to me...

Also wonderful are the memories of friends of a bygone time; Layton, Pat, Bob, Larry, and a myriad of others.
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Topic Author's Reply - Jan 4, 2011 - 12:23pm PT
brokedownclimber:
Also wonderful are the memories of friends of a bygone time; Layton, Pat, Bob, Larry, and a myriad of others.

When Jimmy Dunn and Billy Westbay made an early ascent of the NA Wall, back in 1971, a lot of us in Camp 4 were impressed. Jimmy had a memorable response to the praise:

"There are two North America walls. The one you climb, made of rock like any other route. And another one ten feet behind you in the mist, you never see but it's always in your mind."

On my rare visits these days I feel two Eldorados, the one of rock and another of mist, that formed more than 4 decades ago when it all felt so new. As in the story that kicked off this thread.
Patrick Oliver

Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
Jan 11, 2011 - 02:41am PT

Move over Denny and Frost. How about this one for a nice shot,
with my first little camera, at age 14...
Patrick Oliver

Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
Jan 11, 2011 - 11:10am PT
Yes Kevin, I'm sure I could probably put it into Adobe and bring out
some detail. I still have the old original shot... I probably didn't make a very good scan, just a basic one on a cheap scanner... I might have to dig out some of these old shots...
Mark Hudon

Trad climber
Hood River, OR
Jan 11, 2011 - 11:44am PT
Damn! I didn't know you did the second ascent of the Naked Edge, Pat! Jeez Louise! Did you do an early free ascent also?
Patrick Oliver

Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
Jan 11, 2011 - 02:16pm PT
Well, I could tell you a story about all that. I was actually the
first person to think about doing the Naked Edge free. It
occurred to me when Layton and I did the second ascent. I then got to
becoming a free climber, in company with Rearick and Royal, and then
was bouldering a lot with Gill, and being on the University of
Colorado gymnastics teams, and so forth. I had it right there in focus
and would have done it, certainly, when the bottom fell out of my life
in 1967. I had a horrid experience that shook me to the core and caused
me, for a time, to give up longer climbs. I mean, to make the shortened
version of a long story, when I went up on longer climbs I had the
strangest urge to unrope and jump. I never did, because I didn't
want to endanger my companion... Anyway, until I could work all that
out I mostly bouldered and did
very hard shorter climbs for a few years... I mean, now and then Pratt
would talk me into a big wall in Yosemite, such as Sentinel, or something,
but I was in a healing period (the ravages of the '60s, let's say). When
Jim Erickson moved to Boulder, in the early '70s, he and I climbed
and hob-knobbed together. There were some good laughs during those years,
such as the night Jim and I got horrifically drunk at the Sink, and
walking back to his tiny apartment two blocks away in the rain, I
was approached by a blanket-clothed hippie who asked if there was a
place out of the storm. I said, "Sure, come on over to Jim's place.
You can sleep on the floor." Jim's eyebrow rose a bit, that I would
feel I should offer his place. Well, about 40 hippies lined up at his
door, all the one hippie's friends. One by one they snuck in, so the
landlord wouldn't see them as a big group. They filled the entire
floor of Jim's apartment, snored, stunk, wet, awful humanity, and
Jim and I slept together in his one-man bed, side by side, kept awake
all night by the breathing and farting and snoring... Ok, back to the
story. Jim couldn't get off the ground on my easiest boulder problem, but on steep routes he had these Devil's Lake Popeye forearms and
unbelievable endurance/staying power, determination. He got
real determined to free everything, even dumb little routes we specifically
did to practice aid and could have free climbed in our sleep had we
wanted to... whatever. But lo and behold I one day shared with him my dream, to do the Naked Edge free. I told him he should do it, that I
probably wouldn't be in the right mind for another year or two or more.... So this became his big dream, then. I started coming out of my darkness
and was in really good shape and could have gone up and done it, but since
I had gotten Erickson stoked on it I decided to give it to him and let him
have it. I watched as he finally succeeded. I climbed up solo on Redguard over to the right and actually took some super8 footage of him and Duncan, apparently the only shots of their historic first ascent. I then went to the top and shot some more looking down the last pitch. I greeted them, and they were riding high... For some reason I didn't go back to the route, as it was almost better left to imagination, but one evening when it was about an hour from dark, after I had led a 5.12 on the West Ridge, I had an urge to go up and see how hard the first pitch of the Edge was. My friend and I raced up, and I led the first pitch straightaway. It seemed like about 5.7 to me, as I was in good shape, and my fingers were strong. At that moment in time I could do 150 fingertip pullups in five minutes, and various presses to handstands, such as a slow hollowback off the floor. I once even did a plange, a difficult C move on the floor. But I was in shape, and in dark we rappelled off, and I never returned. On the other hand, I repeated routes such as Vertigo and Northwest Corner of the Bastille probably thirty times each. I did Supremacy Crack 60 times (sure, a good climber could almost do it that many time in a day, if s/he wanted to). I wasn't setting records, just casually going back to routes I loved. I kept thinking I would do the Naked Edge free in my old age. It hasn't happened yet... something strange and mystical about it all... Mark you
should come out and finally take me up the thing!
Mark Hudon

Trad climber
Hood River, OR
Jan 11, 2011 - 02:46pm PT
You're on, Pat! I'll make sure to get a hold of you next time I'm in Colorado!
Crimpergirl

Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
Jan 11, 2011 - 03:14pm PT
Maybe Jim E knows. I'll ask him about it. I see him several times a week and he's still very strong like ox.
Rhodo-Router

Gym climber
wussing off the topout on Roadside Attraction
Jan 11, 2011 - 03:17pm PT
Bump for amazing history recollections.

Thanks Pat!
Patrick Oliver

Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
Jan 11, 2011 - 07:09pm PT
Crimper... maybe Jim knows...what?
I have the old footage. I may one day digitize it. It's nothing too
great... Maybe one day I'll let the AAC have it or something, or
sell it to a ready buyer...
philo

Trad climber
Somewhere halfway over the rainbow
Jan 11, 2011 - 08:54pm PT
Crimpregirl, tell Jim E to contact PitonRon about signing Kor's book for the fundraiser.
Toker Villain

Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
Jan 11, 2011 - 09:20pm PT
Yeah. Left him messages!
Patrick Oliver

Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
Jan 11, 2011 - 09:47pm PT
By the way, nothing I wrote above was intended to be any sort
of slight on Erickson or to take anything away from his ascent.
Hardly. I have only admiration for my old friend.
Crimpergirl

Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
Jan 11, 2011 - 10:19pm PT
Sure. When I see him next, I'll mention it Piton Ron.
okay,whatever

Trad climber
Charlottesville, VA
Jan 12, 2011 - 12:50am PT
This thread got so grumpy that I deleted my previous post. Best to all....
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Jan 23, 2012 - 10:16pm PT
Anti-Grump Bump!
BrassNuts

Trad climber
Save your a_s, reach for the brass...
Jan 23, 2012 - 10:59pm PT
deejay

Trad climber
AV
Jan 24, 2012 - 12:42pm PT
An incredible line with great climbing. Did it many years ago but still a memorable climb.
philo

Trad climber
Somewhere halfway over the rainbow
Jan 24, 2012 - 12:49pm PT
Chiloe posted and it is so worth repeating...

When Jimmy Dunn and Billy Westbay made an early ascent of the NA Wall, back in 1971, a lot of us in Camp 4 were impressed. Jimmy had a memorable response to the praise:

"There are two North America walls. The one you climb, made of rock like any other route. And another one ten feet behind you in the mist, you never see but it's always in your mind."

On my rare visits these days I feel two Eldorados, the one of rock and another of mist, that formed more than 4 decades ago when it all felt so new. As in the story that kicked off this thread.
ydpl8s

Trad climber
Santa Monica, California
Oct 29, 2012 - 03:51pm PT
Bumping this one because it's so inspiring and ALSO because Nature promised he would post a TR of his 1st ascent of this awhile ago.

Something about a dropped camera but recoverable pics from sim card.......
nature

climber
Boulder, CO
Oct 29, 2012 - 04:01pm PT
oh if I must....
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
Oct 29, 2012 - 04:14pm PT
Thanks Nature....this is a five pitch climb that deserves more posts than The Turd Pillar of Dana, dontcha think?
alan balladur

Big Wall climber
Nov 7, 2012 - 02:54pm PT
It was Duncan and Roger and the concept began around 1970. Bob and I had been hired by his brother in law to be consultants for a Wheaties commercial he was the account executive for. This was early days and we assisted with security, location scouting etc. I think that this might have been the spark for Bob's meteoric career. I remember listening to Bob's ideas for this driving back from Yosemite in the summer of '70 ('71?) in his famous red Ford 350 pick up. Bob subsequently forged a career in film which is still going strong.
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Dec 23, 2012 - 06:32pm PT
The classic Bob Godfrey shot which appeared as a two page-spread in Climbing #2 July 1970.

Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Jul 11, 2013 - 01:10am PT
bump
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Jul 21, 2018 - 09:50pm PT
Eldo love bump
steve s

Trad climber
eldo
Jul 22, 2018 - 06:42am PT
steve s

Trad climber
eldo
Jul 22, 2018 - 06:43am PT
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