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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jun 8, 2009 - 04:51pm PT
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Maybe I've been out of the loop...
we were on After 6 yesterday evening and the conversation came around to not having spied TM on the route for a while. He used to be spotted their soloing up, chatting up the young climbers at the belays...
I can't recall running into him in the last couple of years, where in the years before that I'd run into him all the time, both in the Valley and up in Tuolumne Meadows.
My interactions with him are limited to just those encounters, he wouldn't know me from any of the other admiring hoards... but I am interested to hear if he is doing well. As I said, it maybe that I've just not been around.
I do miss his story telling, remembering the time when we hiked past the base of Moby Dick Center he was holding forth among a gathered group of new climbers telling them of Robbins soloing up Ahab and down climbing Center. Brought me a smile, that did...
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Bullwinkle
Boulder climber
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Ed
TM hasn't been climbing much the last three years or so. Every fall he'd showup in the Valley and we'd solo after 6 and rope up for a few other routes around the circut. I spoke to Tommy H this spring, he said TM is doing fine being a Grandfather.
Sadly TM told me last year that he didn't quite feel up to climbing anymore. I first went climbing with TM when I was 16, mostly because he had a rack, rope and a car, the last time I went climbing with him was two years ago, mostly because he had a rack, rope and a car. . .some things never change. . .DF
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Once, I asked Sondra (his daughter in law) how he was doing, climbing wise, "he mostly wants to do long classic stuff, but he climbs 5.11 when we make him."
Wouldn't you want to have a grampa as cool as him?
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 8, 2009 - 11:10pm PT
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Thanks for the news Bullwinkle...
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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TM has to be in his seventies at least. I‘ve known him for 43 years. We first met on the top of Rixon’s Pinnacle. It was getting dark, TM was raving as usual and Royal was incredibly sick of him as well as of everything else, plant and animal. Royal was like a really pissed off arch vampire to TM’s nervous nelly act. They had spent the day together on the West Face route. Josh and I had spent the day on the Direct South Face line. Our experiences were all different, that day. Royal summed his up in one short sentence, snapping: “keep feeding TM, keep feeding” as TM finished seconding the last lead Jerry Lewis-style. It almost seemed as if lightning bolts came out of Royal just then. The nonstop stream-of-TM style comedy could get old; he usually staged it to get up stuff and shunt the fear he probably actually had going on at some deeper level.
Then a bit later when I was in the Valley all the time, I would see him really frequently. We even did some stuff together although at that point I was not too stimulated by it. I think Doggie Diversions and other Camp Four wall routes and El Cap base routes. Oh and Manure Pile routes. And the tickertape of comedy was still running move by move.
As time wore on Jan Herbert left, people moved on too, and TM, once a credentialed school teacher began another phase of life I guess the best part of which has been his two sons and his love the outdoors. I last saw him at Lovers Leap about 15 years ago, maybe longer ago. He was there with the sons. Vandiver and I were climbing there and at the Phantom Pinnacles for a few days and playing endless amounts of tennis at the lodge. He was okay but I think it has gotten a bit tougher since.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Jun 10, 2009 - 06:06am PT
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Anybody know what happened to Jan Herbert?
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Jun 10, 2009 - 06:19am PT
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Real estate / title office person(?) Reno?
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Jun 10, 2009 - 09:43am PT
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TM mentored me when I first showed up in Camp 4. Super guy and one of the funniest people I've ever met.
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sneville
climber
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Jun 10, 2009 - 12:28pm PT
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I saw TM last summer as we were descending stately pleasure dome. He was hiking up the slabs to the summit. I never met him before but we talked for 15-20 minutes about some routes he put up. He has done some classics in Idyllwild, Tahoe and the valley. Nice guy to talk to, looked good for his age.
Sean
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Jun 10, 2009 - 02:15pm PT
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What did TM do after he stopped teaching?
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Jun 11, 2009 - 10:47pm PT
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TM is alive and living in Reno as a loyal employee of Patagonia.
He's a dedicated birdwatcher and a retired rock climber.
Can't see, can't hear, and can't do one-armed pull=ups - I quit! That's his answer to why he's not out there - climbing.
A dedicated grandpa and a lifelong friend - TM is still the most natural comedian I've ever met. He's always been a bit of an eccentric - but you can't help loving him.
Jan Herbert is still living and working in Gardnerville, NV.
Last month while sitting at this computer, my doorbell rang. I think it rang – my hearing ain’t so good anymore - but I answered it anyway. I opened the front door and there stood an old man. It took almost 10 seconds for me to recognize the form as none other than TM Herbert. Just driving through Bishop on his annual bird watching pilgrimage to the depths of Arizona. He insisted that I come outside in the sunshine.
We stood out on my lawn for over an hour while he went through all the details of why he still hadn’t taken delivery of his new car – car not truck. No more trucks for Herbert! As he droned on, his arms flailing, I was taking notice of his new tinted prescription glasses, the two new hearing aids partially hidden behind his ears, and the thinness and whiteness of what hair remained on his balding pate. I worried about what my neighbors were thinking watching these two old men, standing on the lawn – one throwing his arms wildly this way and that – occasionally kneeling to draw finger diagrams on the grass- all the while the other very old man stood intently staring as if in awe of the spectacle.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Jun 11, 2009 - 11:09pm PT
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Thanks Don!
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Mike Bolte
Trad climber
Planet Earth
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Jun 11, 2009 - 11:13pm PT
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Herbert and I climbed Lucky Streaks in...ummm..I'm thinking it was 1999. He had no trouble with 5.10 then. He is a terrific person, just be careful if you invite him to your campfire to park your car and pitch your tent a long way from the fire pit.
I don't quite remember how old he is, but he is 10 years older than Ashworth. I remember the Ashworth-turns-55 party was the same summer as the Herbert-turns-65 party. Just can't remember what summer that was (apparently too many parties that summer).
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Blitzo
Social climber
Earth
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Jun 11, 2009 - 11:18pm PT
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Haven't seen him in a while.
Photo by Blitzo.
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AM
climber
DLFA
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Jun 11, 2009 - 11:23pm PT
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feeling privileged to speak with the man regularly...best stories ever. Also the biggest bullshitter i've ever met!
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 11, 2009 - 11:24pm PT
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anybody wonder why the dihedral pitches on The Yawn are described as "fist," just take a look at the paws in Blitzo's image!
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Mike Bolte
Trad climber
Planet Earth
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Jun 11, 2009 - 11:53pm PT
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Ed - little known fact about Herbert is that he is also an astronomy buff. Has a little telescope, reads Sky and Telescope, keeps up with the latest astronews.
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Jun 12, 2009 - 02:05am PT
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Herbert is two and a half years younger than me. I'm 76.
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Gunkie
climber
East Coast US
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Jun 12, 2009 - 07:29am PT
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I have to let you know... I almost killed TM Herbert in May 1993.
We had just bailed off the Muir from way up, like pitch 3. Us stupid Gunks climbers had like two 2.5 friends with us for wide gear. Anyway, we decided we could get up the Nose, or so we thought.
Long story, short... We're waiting at the top of the class 3 / class 4 buttress at the start of the route. A team of truckers from Georgia somehow got ahead of us and spent 8 days on the climb. This is where I learned my wall etiquite for popular routes [fvck everybody or you'll be screwed].
So we're sitting there bummed out when TM pops over the bulge below with his son to free climb to Dolt Tower for a day climb. After having read all the Muir Wall lore and seen his mug on various black & white plates and having never run ito a famous west coast climber, I hop to my feet and declare, "you're TM Herbert!" At this point, TM almost teetered back and went for the ride.
He sits down with us and tells us that the Muir Wall "is weird, up there" and tells us to push through Team Georgia Trucker to get ahead of them. We politely [stupidly] decline. TM and his son run up to Dolt Tower. Apparently TM had never been either on the Nose or at least not above Sickle Ledge; TM was amped. I hope I can keep the same stoke.
TM Herbert is way cool.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Jun 12, 2009 - 08:44am PT
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I was at TM's 'surprize' 60th birthday party when I was, I think, forty. So that would make him.. wish I could count that high.
The guy is a crack up, no doubt.
Though one thing I have noticed hanging out with the Herbert family, is that maybe Humor skips a generation. Though It doesn't come nstural to him, I have heard Tom do the rare dry whit quip that has to be his father's influence. Tom and Sondra's kids will have people rolling on the floor!
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Flanders!
Trad climber
June Lake, CA
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Jun 12, 2009 - 10:47am PT
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A favorite TM memory:
I was guiding a few gals on Cathedral Peak a few yrs back. It was the typical busy day up there. We finally got to the summit, sat and took pics for a moment before heading down. Just as we are heading off the summit here comes Herbert around the corner, having just soloed the SE buttress. One of my gals recognizes him and says" hey, you're TM Herbert, aren't you?" Without missing a beat, he informs the flabergasted gal, " No mam, I'm frequently mistaken for that man, I'M Royal Robbins" He disappears around the corner as quickly as he had appeared.
Doug
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scuffy b
climber
Sinatra to Singapore
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Jun 12, 2009 - 12:11pm PT
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"I'm Royal Robbins"
also,
"I'm TM's Dad"
and
"I'm TM's Kid"
and
"Have you seen TM lately? That guy is Really OLD!!!"
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Carolyn C
Trad climber
the long, long trailer
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Jun 12, 2009 - 01:26pm PT
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His motto in the afternoons after a day of climbing in the Meadows: "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!"
as he was heading off to the TM Grill.
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Blitzo
Social climber
Earth
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Jun 12, 2009 - 03:23pm PT
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You should see my video of TM dancing to "Joe the Singing Janitor".
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Eric McAuliffe
Trad climber
Alpine County, CA
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Jun 12, 2009 - 05:21pm PT
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^please - do show.......
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Jun 12, 2009 - 11:39pm PT
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Thanks, Don (Lauria), for that loving portraiture of TM.
Great words from another great person. No one will
ever really understand why we love these precious
individuals from that golden age, because it is deeply
personal. But TM provided so much fun and spirit and
true individuality and originality, and has continued
to do so for so many years, only some
kind of self-important narcissist would not get it,
would not love every moment and memory, or would
in any way judge TM. Let us love and marvel and
remember...
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Jun 22, 2009 - 11:19pm PT
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One of my fav shirts, "America, Climb It Or Leave It" on one of my fav friends. Tough Mother is one funny dude.
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Fuzzywuzzy
climber
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Jun 23, 2009 - 01:41am PT
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Shouting at us from below, " You guys are screwed, screwed - you are going to fall so far you will never hit the ground".
Loves birding. Began with Roper in the early 60's. Tells a story about Roper flying to Oklahoma to see the state bird, the scissor-tailed flycatcher. Upon landing but still taxi-ing the bird is spotted, Roper supposedly revs the plane up and heads back to California. Story by TM.?
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hooblie
climber
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Jun 23, 2009 - 02:16am PT
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that's a touching image. the shortened stride. walking in balance. the stoop. leaving..
covered, trimmed down to a chalk bag, still flying the flag.
there's a rhythm implied, with a measured pace.
that's not the way i remember him, so there's a poignancy.
because that's not the way i remember me
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 23, 2009 - 02:28am PT
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here is TM soloing After 6 in and around another party... this was some time ago, 2005 I believe
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climber bob
Social climber
maine
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Jun 23, 2009 - 02:47pm PT
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i've shared a few belay stances with him a long time ago..i feel blessed having met him...
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Mar 31, 2010 - 07:52pm PT
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I was just sitting here doing TM's federal income taxes, as is my annual custom, when I had to look up his birth date to figure out if he received his 2009 Economic Recovery Payment. I looked in this thread first, but all I could find was that I said he was two and a half years younger than me - not enough info. I knew it was in April some time.
So I looked back through all my years of desk calendars and found that in April of 2000 I had noted that the 26th was TM's 64th birthday. This was a revelation to me as I was under the impression, as expressed earlier that TM should be 75 this April - but, no, he will only be 74! Now I really feel old.
Just thought I'd set the record straight and bump the thread.
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BooDawg
Social climber
Paradise Island
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Mar 31, 2010 - 09:19pm PT
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TM was a karate blackbelt; when the AAC held its annual meeting in the Bay Area in December, 1967, there was a conflict with some karate event, and TM chose the karate gathering over the AAC.
When TM and Jan lived in Coarsegold, probably late 60’s, just off Hwy 41, when I’d pass through on the way to the Valley from L.A. on Friday nights, I’d sometimes stop to drop off some fresh bagels from an L. A. bakery, but they’d be in bed by the time I arrived in Coarsegold, so I’d just drop them inside the front door. One night, with Guido and perhaps others, I was making the drop. As I quietly opened the door so as not to disturb them, I said under my breath, “I hope they don’t think I’m a burglar.” As chance would have it, the only part that TM heard while lying in bed was, “I’m a burglar.” The next thing I knew there was all kinds of commotion inside as if some VERY bad-ass guardian were protecting his den which was true. Even in the pitch dark, I could visualize TM coming at me in full-karate attack! I backed-up with all speed shouting TM! TM! It’s me, Ken! I HAVE BAGELS FOR YOU! STOP! STOP! Suddenly there was silence as TM checked his attack. Whew! Once we got it all sorted out, we all had a REALLY GOOD laugh. Perhaps Guido can remember more; he and I have laughed about that encounter many times over the years since then.
During Christmas vacation, 1971, I accompanied them on a birding trip down to Baja. It was nearly all dirt road in those days. We went down the Gulf side and came back up the west side. It was a mellow time, camping in the desert, taking it easy, watching birds, or whatever. Tommy was probably not yet 2 y.o., but it was VERY CLEAR that his favorite toy was an adult-size steel hammer. He would carry it around camp almost always tho he didn’t cuddle it like one might with a teddy bear. He meant BUSINESS! VERY FUNNY, actually…
The following pix are from July, ’74.
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George R
climber
The Gray Area
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Mar 31, 2010 - 09:49pm PT
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I saw TM several times in Tuolumne last summer. Usually, I would see him in the mornings in the store parking lot. He would be going into the Grill for breakfast because his mother and grandmother worked there. Mom and Granny would fix him up.
Here's to the Man ! (raising my bevy).
G
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Mar 31, 2010 - 10:39pm PT
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Had breakfast with TM in the meadows last summer. Here is is with Gerry.
What stories!
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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del cross,
She-it, I don't even remember which road head or what trail gets you to Angel Wings, but that's where we were going back in July 1971. All I remember is what I wrote in the 1972 AAJ:
"Having chosen an impossible line on Angel Wings and having succeeded in proving it impossible, TM Herbert and I cast our eyes across Hamilton Creek to the north ridge of Hamilton Lakes Dome or Peak 9770. This prominent feature southwest of the lowest Hamilton Lake had been climbed twice before via the east ridge. Our approach was long and required forethought and success with a mossy jam crack. The climb was beautiful with seven pitches of fifth class straight up the arete - face climbing, crack climbing, good rock, bad rock, and excellent nut placements. We descended via the fourth class eastern route."
I know you were probably hoping for some entertaining TM tete-a-tete, but honestly, I recall none. That is not to say there wasn't any, because climbing with Herbert was rarely a somber affair.
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BooDawg
Social climber
Paradise Island
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TM's sense of humor is legendary. I can remember many times that a group of us would be nearly breathless with laughter as he described ever more hilarious situations which seemed to flow endlessly from his...well... creative side. He never told "jokes." His humor just flowed. It was/is his own unique style, so trying to remember or recreate his humor isn't easy.
Knowing his karate background, it might seem easy to visualize him acting out the following scene. However, writing it out here could leave one with the false impression that TM is a violent guy.
Setting: Men's restroom in a bar. Some drunken jerk accosts TM who immediately, coward-like, cringes in a corner, biting his fingernails pleading for mercy, Please don't hurt me! Then in an instant, he mime's grabbing the dude's arm, spinning him around with his back now toward TM who next appears to grab his collar and slam his head down into the horizontal urinal. We see TM repeatedly acting like he's rabbit-punching his victim, followed each time with a guttural, desperate inhaling sound, then TM repeatedly says, "Right in the kidneys; now suck up that p#ss-trough" until our whole group is busting our guts laughing at his hilarious pantomime... Ya had to be there...
If he ever makes Bartlett's Quotations, it may be: "Chiefs in the front; squaws in the back."
Such is/was his humor.
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steveA
Trad climber
bedford,massachusetts
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I feel lucky to have climbed with him a few times in Yosemite and the Tetons in the early 70's. An unforgetable character!
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MkRock
Mountain climber
Reno
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May 29, 2015 - 01:49am PT
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TM update, he's still working at the Patagonia warehouse in Reno, NV. Still just as funny as ever and still the go to go guy if you need a good laugh.
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
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May 29, 2015 - 09:10am PT
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Ran into TM once on SE Buttress Cathedral Pk. I was leading somewhere about midway up and I didn't see him free soloing up next to me until he was close. I say "Hey TM, how's it going?" and he comes back with "Man we're really up here, aren't we? How high is this? about 20,000 feet?" as he soloed past me. I almost fell off my stance crackin' up laughing.
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