Discussion Topic |
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martygarrison
Trad climber
The Great North these days......
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Topic Author's Original Post - Feb 24, 2009 - 08:55pm PT
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Much like my Tales post, any stories or pics on this classic? Was too hard for me but always a goal....
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Feb 24, 2009 - 09:25pm PT
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Second ascent, May 1978. Notably, the ONLY Non-Cam ascent.
Looking up from the bottom. Notice Ray's pinned out corner. We thought it was pretty gross when we got there and saw what he had done.
Starting the crux.
I popped my shoulder right after this move.
It took us four days of work. We would usually give it one burn each. I was doing better on it than Max was so it was me who was placing the gear and moving the rope up. We had a moral point as to how far up we wanted to yo-yo the thing though.
On the third day, on my first try, I blasted past the crux, past our high point and was going for the top. I was really going for it. I was maybe 15 feet out from my last piece and was placing a #8 hex. It wasn't too good and as I moved past it I kicked it with my foot and it tipped out. I was looking a big air so I reached over to the rope my brother was hanging on, taking pictures and batmaned to the top. We took a rest day (Free climbed to Mammoth on the Salathe)
As we were rapping down on the last day Max said that if we didn't get it that day he didn't want to come back. I felt the same way. I went up, got into the crux and separated (semi-dislocated) my shoulder, a not uncommon occurrence at that time in my life.
I lowered off and Max went up. He didn't even get to his previous high point and lowered off. I rested a bit, started up and climbed it to the top. At the last move, I was reaching for the crack on the slab and missed it by an inch. My fingers skidded to the edge, I recomposed and tossed again, getting it. I pulled over onto the slab and started crying.
Placing gear on with my foot on the ramp near the top on my successful ascent.
I stabbed at the crack, missed and my fingers drug back to here. I stabbed again and did it.
It was the hardest route of my life, I had popped my shoulder earlier that day and we had spent four days on it, more than any other route at that time.
We used to pay my brother with six packs to hang and take photos of us. He was there for two days on Tales and here on the Phoenix all four days. He had my camera and Max's camera, that's why I don't have any photos of Max on the route.
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Mike Bolte
Trad climber
Planet Earth
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Feb 24, 2009 - 09:27pm PT
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Mark - you have posted some outstanding photos the last few days! Thanks and keep it up!
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steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
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Feb 24, 2009 - 09:30pm PT
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Ditto on that photo thing... that's a really nice shot.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Feb 24, 2009 - 09:42pm PT
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Yup.
That's the *money* shot.
Nice story too.
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martygarrison
Trad climber
The Great North these days......
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 24, 2009 - 10:20pm PT
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great pics and thread mark! always a climb I dreamed about! I bouldered with max a few times at the leap. Did the second accent of mainline there with bill price and anjie. I think we ran into each other at the donnells overlook but not sure....
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RDB
Trad climber
Iss WA
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Feb 24, 2009 - 10:33pm PT
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Mark, your and Max exploits and writing really inspired my own free climbing BITD.
You guys were awsome. The 2nd, on nuts only. That is still inspiring! Great pics and even better story, thanks!
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Feb 24, 2009 - 10:40pm PT
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thanks tons, Mark. Awesome piece of history here, certainly.
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Russ Walling
Social climber
Upper Fupa, North Dakota
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Feb 24, 2009 - 10:49pm PT
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Way to go Mark! These insights are GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Feb 24, 2009 - 10:49pm PT
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Thanks everyone. I'll tell my brother you all liked his photos.
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le_bruce
climber
Oakland: what's not to love?
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Feb 24, 2009 - 10:54pm PT
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Thanks, MH - post of the month, and your bro nailed some great pics. Does he climb, too?
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ct
climber
CO
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Feb 24, 2009 - 10:55pm PT
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Amazing photos, awesome recount of the experience. Big thanks for sharing that little slice of history.
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Rhodo-Router
Gym climber
Otto, NC
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Feb 24, 2009 - 11:26pm PT
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You guys look so YOUNG!
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Feb 24, 2009 - 11:29pm PT
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Thanks again,
My brother climbed a bit but not anymore.
In May of 1977 I was 21 and Max was 20.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Feb 24, 2009 - 11:34pm PT
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So maybe, since you just busted out these photos and we love them so much,
Bro gets another sixpack or two, um, like royalties?
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WBraun
climber
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Feb 24, 2009 - 11:36pm PT
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So when I had my tendinitis for a couple of months I belayed Croft on the "Phoenix". He fired it on sight first try.
I did good cleaning his few pieces on jumars ......
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Brian
climber
Cali
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Feb 24, 2009 - 11:42pm PT
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That (Mark's account) is incredible. Absolutely incredible.
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stevep
Boulder climber
Salt Lake, UT
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Feb 24, 2009 - 11:44pm PT
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Great pics and story. One of the better slices of history posted on the Taco.
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martygarrison
Trad climber
The Great North these days......
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 24, 2009 - 11:45pm PT
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wow, I thought mofet did the the first onsite, didnt know anyone else did it in that timeframe. climbed with the price ledgend, he was so dang good.
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Willoughby
Social climber
Truckee, CA
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Feb 24, 2009 - 11:47pm PT
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What was the drinking age in California in 1977?
Just kidding. Bump for all-around awesomeness.
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Jaybro
Social climber
wuz real!
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Feb 24, 2009 - 11:54pm PT
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Nice stuff, Mark! Way too hard for me to go near, even when I onsighted tales.... Shouldn't that, be Ray's pin job?
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Largo
Sport climber
Venice, Ca
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Feb 25, 2009 - 12:02am PT
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Great effort leading that bastard on Hexes. There's a pretty uniform sized bit (like one inch - the very worst size for me) just after the traverse (easy with big fingers) that would be grim to pause and wiggle hexes in.
Amazing that Croft and Moffit fired this thing. I had to go back three times, with Ron Fawcett, and we yo-yoed the sh#t out of the thing till we had all but the last bit of crack totally wired, move for move. We worked it, and kept getting the rope higher, till we basically had a top rope strung - shabby style by any definition. I got to where I could float the lower part, to just past the traverse - but that size, where the crack goes vert, was just horendous for both Ron and me.
The ghastly pinned out lower bit (like two or three body lengths), the awkward sling belay at the bottom, and the weird location make the Phoenix a super hard curiosity rather than an all time classic, IMO. Hang Dog Flyer has a few cranker moves, and I could never turn the roof on Owl Roof, but for my money, Phoenix is by far Jardine's hardest route in the Valley.
JL
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salad
climber
Escondido
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Feb 25, 2009 - 12:08am PT
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wow.
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Jaybro
Social climber
wuz real!
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Feb 25, 2009 - 12:13am PT
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Is there anyone, (besides Mr Jardine, and his views are always welcome, in any case) who can quantitatively compare the Phoenix, to Elephant's eliminate?
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Feb 25, 2009 - 12:23am PT
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Great photos, Mark - thanks for sharing.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Feb 25, 2009 - 01:41am PT
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Thanks!!
Story hour on SuperTopo is even better than the one at the library.
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James
climber
My twin brother's laundry room
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Feb 25, 2009 - 01:52am PT
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It's crazy that Beth Rodden onsighted this thing. Savage!
Thanks Mark. Awesome story and an inspiration.
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dogtown
climber
Cheyenne,Wyoming
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Feb 25, 2009 - 02:13am PT
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Man; that thing is awful!
Thanks for posting up Mark, Great story.
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MisterE
Trad climber
One Place or Another
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Feb 25, 2009 - 02:33am PT
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Thanks for the blow-by-blow, Mark. Great stuff!
Erik
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Feb 25, 2009 - 02:40am PT
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Burly and olde skool.
And hey, I know it's not granite, but you should come out to Beacon sometime when it opens this year...
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hashbro
Trad climber
Mental Physics........
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Feb 25, 2009 - 11:13am PT
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Boy I must say that these great threads (including Tales of Power, the Crucifix and others) are makin' me want to get in really good shape and onsight those routes before my body turns to jello.
Thanks all and please keep posting those hand-sweating photos...
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J. Werlin
climber
Cedaredge
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Feb 25, 2009 - 11:26am PT
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Bravo! Excellent TR Mark. Many thanks.
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Feb 25, 2009 - 12:02pm PT
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Nice account and pictures, Mark. Cannot even imagine how hard that is.
Your comment, "It took us four days of work. We would usually give it one burn each. I was doing better on it than Max was so it was me who was placing the gear and moving the rope up. We had a moral point as to how far up we wanted to yo-yo the thing though" is a slice in time.
You guys were amoung the first to follow Ray's routes with a sense of the earlier sensibilities of 'working' a route. Great history to have a specific instance to point to.
Best, Roger
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Elcapinyoazz
Social climber
Redlands
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Rise from the ashes bump.
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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This last fall, it was so funny to me to be driving past this route thinking, "damn, I did that so, so long ago". It felt like another lifetime.
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handsome B
Gym climber
SL,UT
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fantastic account and pictures, a truly delightful slice of history filled with emotion that I can relate to, even though the route kicked my butt
by yo-yo, do you mean moving the rope up, or just moving the gear up?
I didn't find the pin scars very out of place by yosemite standards
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couchmaster
climber
pdx
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Youse guys would be some mean Mo-fos with today's shoes and modern gear selection. Even Fires were a major step up from the EB's you had then and now friction is even further along than Fires. Bad-assed is the understatement. Great stuff! Thanks for sharing it.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Those photos should be in Yosemite Climber.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C. Small wall climber.
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Mark, did you end up having surgery to fix your shoulder? Just curious - I eventually had to, after repeated dislocations, the first from a bicycle crash.
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msiddens
Trad climber
Mountain View, CA
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Awesome man, much appreciated. Making my palms sweat!!!!
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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In 1980, after dislocating my shoulder while skiing, I had it operated on. I haven't had a problem since although I still do specific weight exercises for it.
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squatch
Boulder climber
santa cruz, CA
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Feb 23, 2011 - 02:36am PT
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gotta bump this, it cannot stay buried.
too badass!
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duncan
climber
London, UK
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Feb 23, 2011 - 04:51am PT
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I missed this first time around - great story Mark.
I belayed Alan Watts on The Phoenix in June 1984. The deal was he would lend me 40 'biners for a wall attempt in exchange for a day holding his ropes. He'd been on it the previous year and expected to spend many hours working it.
Climbing with Alan was an eye-opener, I'd never come across such professionalism before. At that time, climbers, particularly Brits., liked to see themselves as above that sort of thing: to be cool you had to succeed without really trying. Alan had a topo of the route with every gear placement and jam individually described ("left hand, middle two fingers, thumb down"). It turned out to be a great deal for me: he fired it first go.
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Disaster Master
Social climber
Born in So-Cal, left my soul in far Nor-Cal.
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Feb 23, 2011 - 05:08am PT
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Bad-Ass-tastic!
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Feb 23, 2011 - 11:37am PT
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Dang! !t was 32 years ago that we climbed that thing!
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slabbo
Trad climber
fort garland, colo
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Feb 23, 2011 - 12:05pm PT
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Hey Mark- i remember the photo in "States of the Art" with your chowed up hands !!!! Still have that one ?
I went down to phoenix one time to take pix with Suzuki, Nitro and Scarpelli, what a team.
Hidetaka took a few tries, Nitro really struggled and Bobjust could not do it. Tells you something of the difficulty I guess.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Feb 23, 2011 - 12:09pm PT
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I just revisited this.
Man, EB's, tied slings and swamis, bandana's, painter's pants, popping shoulders, Classic!
Your bro outdid himself with the photos. Great story, too.
I was 21 it '77 too, and just getting the fundamentals of handjams down...
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Melissa
Gym climber
berkeley, ca
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Feb 23, 2011 - 12:11pm PT
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I didn't see this before either.
Thanks for the blow-by-blow photo essay, Mark.
Cool story, Duncan.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Feb 23, 2011 - 01:33pm PT
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must... keep... climbing... at... top...
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Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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Feb 23, 2011 - 01:53pm PT
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When did Bill Price do it?
I remember standing in the Mountain Shop in '79 or '80, reading a report in Mountain mag about how he ran out of gear most of the way up, hung out on some manky jams, and hand and mouth hauled some extra gear on a rap line. I guess from its placement in the mag, I can assume he climbed it one of those years, or just before, but any details on that one?
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HighDesertDJ
Trad climber
Swimming in LEB tears.
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Feb 23, 2011 - 03:15pm PT
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A really amazing story and so lucky to have those pics too.
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east side underground
Trad climber
Hilton crk,ca
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Feb 23, 2011 - 05:10pm PT
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bump for Hudon- bad BITD and still bad today
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Rankin
Social climber
Greensboro, North Carolina
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Feb 23, 2011 - 06:31pm PT
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This one belongs in the Taco Hall of Fame. Damn. What an effort on hexes. I was one and half years old. Whew! Good job Mark.
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Can't believe I'd missed this thread, but now sorry I caught it.
There goes my onsight....
But seriously, those are some of the finest "old school" photos ever. Bravo!
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Danholio
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Phoenix with no cams??? Awesome and inspirational. Thanks Mark.
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Oxymoron
Big Wall climber
total Disarray
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Mar 10, 2011 - 12:13am PT
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Bump for Hudon.
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Mar 10, 2011 - 12:20am PT
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Hot sh#t-nice slice of the past!
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go-B
climber
Sozo
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Mar 10, 2011 - 01:25am PT
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Stellar!
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Off White
climber
Tenino, WA
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Mar 10, 2011 - 02:30am PT
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For those of us of a certain age, that States of the Art article was very memorable. Wasn't it spread over two issues? Nice to get a fleshed out version of part of that story.
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Mar 10, 2011 - 11:51am PT
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DMT, I don't do anything halfway.
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Tahoe climber
climber
Davis these days
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Mar 10, 2011 - 12:32pm PT
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great story, thanks for posting!
tc
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Mar 10, 2011 - 05:30pm PT
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Mark,
When I started law school at UCLA in 1976, I seldom got to the Valley. When I went to take the bar exam in July of 1979, I stopped by REI on the way to Long Beach and picked up a copy of Mountain Magazine that had the article about you and Max entitled "States of the Art." Looking at those pictures of you on Hangdog Flyer, Phoenix, etc. left a big impression on me, and showed me just how much climbing had progressed.
Great work then. Great post now.
Thanks greatly!
John
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tonym
climber
Oklahoma
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Mar 10, 2011 - 09:36pm PT
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Ditto that! Best thread I have seen thus far on ST! I have been thinking about it all day! The real deal for sure and how inspiring!
Thanks for posting.
~T Mayse
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Kalimon
Trad climber
Ridgway, CO
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Mar 10, 2011 - 10:24pm PT
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Thanks for the photos Mark! Nice YES T-shirt you're sporting as well. You and Max were on fire during that period . . . I saw a slide show you guys did in the Bay Area and will always remember your humble demeanor.
As for the Beth Rodden reference . . . seems like she uses a tensioned lead rope that allows her claims of "free" ascents. Just saying.
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JohnnyG
climber
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Mar 10, 2011 - 11:16pm PT
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Mark's post is pretty sweet. Awesome really.
How sweet would it be to hear from ol' Jardine. Maybe he has written about it before.
And pardon my lack of history knowledge, but this was the first 5.13 climbed, right? So was Mark the second person to climb 5.13? And perhaps the only one to climb a .13 with just passive pro?
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WBraun
climber
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Mar 10, 2011 - 11:19pm PT
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Jardine hang-dogged 100 days on it before doing it .....
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Darwin
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Mar 10, 2011 - 11:25pm PT
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As others have said: I can't believe what I miss on Supertopo. Between this, the Tales of Power thread, and almost enough photos of desert cracks and Wide Vedauwoo, why don't we just live here?
I like piecing together the eras of Yosemite climbing history from these posts. Just on a personal level, I dropped out of Yosemite climbing just before this in '72 and this is what I had fantasies about, not necessarily this climb, but a climb like this.
Nice post Mark. I had no idea.
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marty(r)
climber
beneath the valley of ultravegans
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Mar 11, 2011 - 12:36am PT
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R.J., not hangdogging for the moment (Meyers photo)
I can only think of a few other images of The Phoenix. Patagonia ran a shot a while back, and there's that one of Peter Croft on it in the Heinz Zak book. Any others out there? Please, more stories from the ashes!
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Elcapinyoazz
Social climber
Joshua Tree
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Mar 11, 2011 - 10:58am PT
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There's full-on video of Suzuki in Masters of Stone I, and a little of Rodden on it in the Meltdown segment of Dosage V.
Blitzo pic of Price from Mtn Proj:
Gaines pic of Suzuki also on the Mtn Proj:
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slabbo
Trad climber
fort garland, colo
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Mar 14, 2011 - 07:05pm PT
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Hey mark- It's not on the same level, but how about some stories regarding the ffa of White Eye at Cathedral in'78 ?
I was a beginner then and was wondering "what's that route ?"
A stout 12 for sure and still rejecting people 33 years later.
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scuffy b
climber
dissected alluvial deposits, late Pleistocene
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Mar 17, 2011 - 04:41pm PT
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Did Bill Price get it on sight?
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Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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Mar 17, 2011 - 05:02pm PT
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Re Bill Price, I don't know. I asked about his ascent about a month ago and no new info yet.
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martygarrison
Trad climber
Washington DC
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 17, 2011 - 06:00pm PT
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I seem to remember Bill did, but not sure. He sure was smooth though
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Maysho
climber
Soda Springs, CA
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Mar 17, 2011 - 06:02pm PT
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Bill did not get it onsight, but his ascent was amazing none the less. I think he went down to attempt it a couple of times. I was with him on one attempt, along with Steve Hong, who was hanging in the Valley cause he wanted to learn how to jam, (he learned quite well!).
On maybe the third time down there, he went up to try the hard traverse again and surprised himself by sending it easily, he hung on the first good jam in the main crack and had the belayer swing in the rappel rope, then he hauled up the rack with one hand and his teeth, then sent the whole thing! Truly heroic, as he hadn't been on the upper crack before, though rapping in and jugging out you do get to see it.
Bill was incredibly talented, and a very humble, friendly guy as well.
Peter
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Mar 17, 2011 - 06:50pm PT
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That sounds like something Bill would and could do!
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CrackAddict
Trad climber
Joshua Tree
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Mar 17, 2011 - 06:58pm PT
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Wow - fantastic pictures! Thanks Mark. You don't see many pictures of this route mainly because it is a logistical nightmare just to get to it, let alone do a photo shoot (unless you have a good telephoto lens).
Phoenix is about like doing 2-3 laps on Equinox followed by an overhanging lunatic fringe. Definitely not a "giveme" even at 5.13 IMO.
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Mike Bolte
Trad climber
Planet Earth
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Mar 17, 2011 - 06:59pm PT
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Did Steve get it too? He became a monster crack climber.
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Maysho
climber
Soda Springs, CA
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Mar 17, 2011 - 08:58pm PT
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Steve didn't get very far that day in 1979, neither did I, we were both stumped by the traverse. Steve followed me on Tales of Power that week, and we did the 3rd free ascent of West Face of El Cap the same week as the FFA, and Mark and Max doing the 2nd.
A few years later, Steve got extremely good at cracks as we know...maybe he went back years later for a rematch on the Phoenix, I don't know.
Peter
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Darwin
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Jun 14, 2011 - 07:11pm PT
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bump, for obvious reasons.
Mark; really your writeup and photos can't be surpassed!
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le_bruce
climber
Oakland, CA
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Jun 14, 2011 - 07:19pm PT
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Kalimon:
As for the Beth Rodden reference . . . seems like she uses a tensioned lead rope that allows her claims of "free" ascents. Just saying.
Trying to understand what this means. What makes you think she (and TC, and the film crew) lied about her Phoenix ascent? Seems unlikely to me, but who knows. Can you back it up?
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the kid
Trad climber
fayetteville, wv
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Jun 14, 2011 - 07:33pm PT
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damn fine photos and true old school send.
one for the ages..
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Darwin
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Jun 14, 2011 - 07:50pm PT
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Bruce and Kalimon
"a tensioned lead rope" doesn't often help (I know, it can). I think Beth felt it just had to be made more difficult.
;-)
darwin
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Brian
climber
California
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Jun 14, 2011 - 08:50pm PT
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Hey mark- It's not on the same level, but how about some stories regarding the ffa of White Eye at Cathedral in'78 ?
Did Mark put up White Eye? Loved that route when I was back east in grad school. Definitely one of the harder routes for me.
Brian
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drewsky
climber
Seattle
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Jun 14, 2011 - 09:47pm PT
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Great pictures on Mark Hudon's post!
I wish I had more pictures of the actual climbing...
...but I managed a redpoint of this thing in '08. I forced my partner to go down there two days in a row and hang out with the ants at the belay. I burned a couple attempts out of sheer nervousness and did the thing on my third attempt. That climb along with the Tales of Power/Separate Reality combo stand out in my mind as some of my favorite Yosemite single pitches, maybe because of their unique locations and good exposure.
I don't think the Phoenix is really that much harder than Equinox, but it's kind of an apples and oranges comparison because of the sizes involved: that 60 feet of thin hands on Phoenix gives a nice pump, while I found sharpness to be a major factor on Equinox. Doing Phoenix without the cams would certainly up the ante, but that's why all us kids have Aliens and TCU's these days.
I have to admit that the initial holds, while obviously 'manufactured' didn't faze me all that much. Not that it should be the gold standard of establishing routes, mind you, but I've seen worse. Then again, that initial corner probably would have gone free without them and been a real stemming challenge!
Also, that must be a half-baked attempt at a joke about Beth Rodden and a 'tensioned lead rope' (whatever the hell that means; usually having too much tension on the lead is harder, not the other way around): with the way she climbs, the Phoenix would be a mere trifle for her (and it was: she onsighted it!).
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Kalimon
Trad climber
Ridgway, CO
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Jun 14, 2011 - 10:09pm PT
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le_bruce,
I can't back up sh#t. I've never seen the video. My reference originated from viewing commercial photos of other "free" ascents that clearly display a "tensioned" lead rope through gear placed above the climber.
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Lurking Fear
Boulder climber
Bishop, California
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Jun 14, 2011 - 10:11pm PT
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Heard it was soloed yesterday by Alex.
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Jun 16, 2011 - 12:08pm PT
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Just an amazing shot. Climbing with hexes, and check out that harness:
And now Alex ...
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Double D
climber
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Jun 16, 2011 - 01:49pm PT
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as he hadn't been on the upper crack before, though rapping in and jugging out you do get to see it. ... Not quite. Bill and I went up there maybe a year before and borrowed some of Jardine's prototype friends and put a top-rope on it. Bill did it in like 6 pitches, me...maybe 20.
The part right off the belay was too wet so we never tr'd that section. Bill's ascent is truly amazing though because hanging from a "good" jam to fetch the rack... man those jams kinda suck and with the leaning nature there's no good rests that I remember.
AH's free-solo: can't even fathom that kind of ability.
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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What the heck??
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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I'd never seen that photo.
No, I didn't do the FA of White Eye but I did the FFA of it. All sorts of people (Henry Barber, Jimmy Dunn) were telling me that I'd never be able to do it, that I was too short. Max and I went over there and I did it first try, higher up on the pitch I took a big fall, almost 30 feet. Henry got all freaked out, said "this is getting serious", and left. I went back up the pitch and free climbed the whole thing. I can't remember if Max followed it on not, he probably did, there wasn't much that one of us could do that the other couldn't.
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Darwin
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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This is my favorite thread.
I admit, I was out of climbing by the late 70s when this all happened, but this shows what I missed. I love the two carabiner link to the pro (pin?) under the roof. We did that all the time, I remember Matt Pollock saying when I started climbing again in the 1990s, "we never worried about rope drag", while he suggested that I use a runner or quick draw.
Mark, if you would have a beer, I'll buy you one. If not beer, something else (added in edit: pomegranate juice or coconut water).
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GDavis
Social climber
SOL CAL
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can't read this enough...
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GDavis
Social climber
SOL CAL
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FACT: PHONIX AINT THAT RAD SUGARTITS AND GIRLS HAVE DONE IT SO WTF EH AND A2 MAXIMON
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GhoulweJ
Trad climber
El Dorado Hills, CA
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Quality post.
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Dave Sessions
Trad climber
Thousand Oaks, CA
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Oct 23, 2011 - 03:41pm PT
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damn, now you got me crying.... Mostly from seeing those hexes hanging off the rack! Dems' was the days. Awesome Mark.
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Timmc
climber
BC
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Oct 23, 2011 - 04:12pm PT
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Wasn't there a cool shot of Moffat on the Phoenix in a Boreal add back in the later 80's, with a caption like 'JM flashes the Phoenix'? It was taken from some distance.
I'm not home for another week but if someone could dig it up and scan it I would be grateful.
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tom Carter
Social climber
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Nov 29, 2011 - 02:01am PT
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wow
great shots Mark
thanks
I rapped in once to belay Vern and Ray on it. Ray had the "secret" tools under his shirt - I had no clue!
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Stainless
Social climber
SLC, UT
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Just popped in to spread/bump the love. This story is RAD. One of the coolest forums posts I'm seen.
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scuffy b
climber
heading slowly NNW
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No fair, that guy's arms are longer than my entire body!
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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I'm sure I wouldn't have a snowballs chance in hell of getting up it free but it would be fun to get on it simply to plug some cams in it!
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Mike Bolte
Trad climber
Planet Earth
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yup Mark - I've thought the same thing (about me, not you) for a long time. Be pretty fun just to be up there.
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Gary
climber
"My god - it's full of stars!"
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Mindboggling!
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Largo
Sport climber
The Big Wide Open Face
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I remember the traverse was impossible to stitch with the old nuts and so I had to crank up into the crack and with my fatty hands buttering out, wiggle a hex into that one incher with my feet pasted on that ramp. I barely got the rope clipped in and pitched off. Ron Fawcett went back up and ran the rope like 20 feet off that hex, unable to stop, and I was thinking if he rips, which looked eminent, he's going the distance. For someone with big hands like me that crack was just plain awful. And painful, too. Free soloing Phoenix is a remarkable thing, so my hat's off to Alex.
JL
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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John I'd give you a .13b or c rating on that thing with your meatpaws!
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slabbo
Trad climber
fort garland, colo
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Classic ! Largo and mark need to get on it NOW
Come on Mark- you still got those little NH hands
and largo can use PAW jams
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Fluid
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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A bit off-topic, but watching the video embedded above, at 25:20 on Sentinel Alex passes the fixed camera placed just above a good handhold. He slaps the handhold almost sarcastically with an odd facial expression, while the commentator makes inane statements about hanging from 4 fingers (while his feet are well-planted). Was this a bit of an FU moment for Alex?
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briham89
Big Wall climber
san jose, ca
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Apr 30, 2013 - 07:11pm PT
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Bump. Mark's story at the beginning of this thread is so cool.
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atgoett
Trad climber
oklahoma city, ok
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Jun 17, 2013 - 03:12pm PT
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bump
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rnevius
Trad climber
The Range of Light
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Phoenix BUMP.
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guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
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I stabbed at the crack, missed and my fingers drug back to here. I stabbed again and did it.
That is quite a photo, it really captures "the struggle".
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
extraordinaire
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Notice Ray's pinned out corner. We thought it was pretty gross when we got there and saw what he had done. It could have been stellar, but a dickhead f*#ked it up.
Even Honnold's solo is ruined IMO.
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zip
Trad climber
pacific beach, ca
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Just read along with Tales.
I'm psyched to get back on the stone soon.
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Rollover
climber
Gross Vegas
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Feb 25, 2015 - 02:32pm PT
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BBST
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Feb 25, 2015 - 11:21pm PT
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Jardine hang-dogged 100 days on it before doing it ..... Excerpts from Ray Jardine's Climbing Log:
 4/9/77 - Phoenix - Ray Jardine finds it, cleans it, and works on it for 4 days (alternating days on Owl Roof).
4/29/77 - Phoenix led with 3 rests
3 more days of work on Phoenix
5/9/77 - led Phoenix free from upper belay - FA Ray Jardine
5/13/77 - cleaned lower Phoenix [not in Log: i.e. pin scarred it to create finger locks, and left fixed pins in for pro]
5 days of work on "Phoenix II"
5/20/77 - led "Phoenix II" free - FA Ray Jardine, John Lakey
So I count 9 climbing days to Phoenix (I), and 15 days to Phoenix II.
Still pretty unusual at that time, to keep going back to the same climb day after day.
The persistence paid off, though!
Prior to Phoenix in 1977:
19 days climbing on Separate Reality (led free with fixed pro and led free without fixed pro)
13 days climbing on Owl Roof (John Lakey led it free first, then Ray)
In later years, the Log shows Ray attempted the Phoenix 11 more times, but never led it free again.
Good training, though. It had to be a very hard size for his fingers/hands.
4 days after the FA of Phoenix II, Ray followed Bill Price on it.
http://www.rayjardine.com/adventures/Climbing/climbing_log/index.htm
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WBraun
climber
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Feb 26, 2015 - 07:50am PT
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It could have been stellar, but a dickhead f*#ked it up.
Even Honnold's solo is ruined IMO.
Have you ever even tried it?
I bet you haven't.
Honnold's free solo of the Phoenix is out of this world and nothing got ruined.
You have no idea how technical this crack climb is even with the pin job.
Ray verbally told me it took him 100 days to do it.
So if his written log is different than his verbal account ..... who knows what happened?
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Feb 26, 2015 - 02:03pm PT
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That traverse section looks really tough, seeing Hidetaka Suzuki with his feet cut loose.
And Mark Hudon injuring his shoulder there.
Even Alex Honnold in the video changed the direction he put his hand in
at the end of the traverse. That's getting scary, if it wasn't already....
Ray verbally told me it took him 100 days to do it.
So if his written log is different than his verbal account ..... who knows what happened? Maybe he meant 100 tries?
That could happen if he averaged 6.5 tries per day x 15 days.
or maybe:
He had been climbing in the Valley that year for about 94 days (2/15-5/20).
Maybe that is where the 100 days came from.
But he was climbing on other routes, some days were bouldering, etc.
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Gnome Ofthe Diabase
climber
Out Of Bed
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Feb 28, 2015 - 01:08pm PT
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BBST SATURDAY NIGHT BUMPPO ! !! !!
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bbbeans
Trad climber
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Apr 20, 2015 - 10:29am PT
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bump for some old-school, hard-crack-climbing, passive-pro-only, sick-picture-having, badassery.
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batesreilly
Sport climber
Columbus, OH
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Apr 24, 2015 - 11:03am PT
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those purple shoes are mad real
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dhayan
climber
los angeles, ca
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Apr 24, 2015 - 11:30am PT
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Awesome!! thanks for posting the stories, photos, and history! This thread has enough fuel to power me for at least a few months. Cant wait to try the Phoenix one day...
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Largo
Sport climber
The Big Wide Open Face
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Apr 24, 2015 - 01:20pm PT
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After the traverse, in the leaning rattler hands section, the idea of me being up there with no rope is terrifying. That's just another level of performance altogether.
JL
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hobo_dan
Social climber
Minnesota
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Apr 24, 2015 - 06:35pm PT
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Great thread. Past and Present.
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Drill Sgt Dave
Trad climber
West Virginia
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Apr 25, 2015 - 07:28am PT
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I remember the article in Mountain magazine where you two climbed all the hardest pitches in the usa....was learning to lead at the time. ...very inspiring
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martygarrison
Trad climber
Washington DC
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Topic Author's Reply - May 27, 2015 - 11:06am PT
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From Mountain Project - Bill Price
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BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
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May 27, 2015 - 01:09pm PT
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Doing it back in those days, in EB's and homemade leg loops is cool.
Mark, you talked about popping your shoulder. I remember back then, when 5.13 was just starting to happen, everyone thought that at some point the human body would just break down. Everyone was destroying their elbows on Bachar Ladders and popping finger tendons. I wasn't that good, but even I managed to pop a finger tendon on a boulder problem. Shut me down for weeks; had to just let it heal.
Now we see Sharma dyno'ing from a one finger pocket, on insanely overhanging rock. So where are the limits of tendons and cartilage?
Who the hell knows....
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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May 27, 2015 - 04:21pm PT
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When Bellizzi introduced me to Bill in the Meadows campground several years back, I couldn't believe the mac sausages that dude had for fingers. My hand fit into his huge palm like a broccoli stalk. I can see getting some skin into Phoenix, OK, but Silly Willy Crack? What the hell??
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Double D
climber
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May 27, 2015 - 05:32pm PT
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If Ray's log showed that he went up 4 days after he did the FFA he's got some slight memory challenges. Bill and I went up there to work it after Ray's ascent and did it free in like 15 pitches. Bill came back later to work it and ended up firing it, pausing at the base of the crack to haul up some pro as he didn't think he'd get through the section. That thing was way above my head, a rattly, leaning pump fest.
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Studly
Trad climber
WA
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May 27, 2015 - 05:48pm PT
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Pyro's 60 Minutes Alex H video upthread is awesome. John Long commentating.
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martygarrison
Trad climber
Washington DC
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Topic Author's Reply - May 27, 2015 - 06:52pm PT
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Kelly, can't remember if you were with me or not but I was hanging for a couple of weeks at the Leap when Bill was working Silly Willy with Angie (sic) at belay. I think he had just red pointed Grand Illusion. BITD.
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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May 27, 2015 - 09:13pm PT
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Marty, I wasn't with you when Bill was working Silly Willy. But I remember climbing Magnum Force, and at the top turned John Mock around and said, "Look at that Crazy crack!"
No kidding, just then these two small Asian women walked up the gully, and right over to the base of the crack. They started to work the thing!! We went over there, and it wasn't two gals, it was Suzuki and his wife. Lots of laughs, I asked him how hard the thing was.
He pantomimed the moves, trying to recall their difficulty:
"5.12 move, 5.12 move, 5.12 move, 5.12 move..." He showed me the first TCUs I ever saw, straight from Byrne they were.
A day or so later, I got a note on my car, I still have it:
Hello! Today I made the Second Ascent of
Silly Willy Crack. Today I felt very good,
so I made that after 2 try.
I was very glad. See you someday.
Have a nice climb.
3pm, June 10 Suzuki.
I wonder what year that was.
Ha!
Around that same time, we went up to Sugarloaf and I made it over to the base of Grand Illusion. There was a hand-written note attached to a hanger that was stuck in the crack at the start of the roof pitch. It stated "This route now goes free." We looked up at the thing, yeow. Fixed pins the whole way out.
Climbing is cool...
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Nothing to lose
Sport climber
Surprise
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Oct 24, 2017 - 09:11pm PT
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Hey
Does anyone know of any good abandoned buildings near surprise or phoenix area by chance.
I am wanting to explore those options out very soon
any advice and locations would be appreciated
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shylock
Social climber
mb
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Oct 24, 2017 - 09:19pm PT
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Best pitch ever
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domngo
climber
Canada
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Jun 18, 2018 - 09:19am PT
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bump. Great interview a la enormocast
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