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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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