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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Jul 11, 2009 - 04:11am PT
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I will see Ed atonorrow, and give him his meadows guidebook back so he can make a peritnent list, someone remind me, it I forget!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 11, 2009 - 11:22am PT
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I remember there is a pretty good photo of Moongerms, with Gullich.
Not exactly the photo of the climb which comes to mind,
(I think there's another one which is a better portrait of the climb itself)
But I searched the Internet and found these guys talking about it here:
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=375380&tn=80
Photo, previously posted by Walleye,
from p.40 of Gullich's book Sportklettern Heute
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Largo
Sport climber
Venice, Ca
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Jul 11, 2009 - 01:05pm PT
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As impressive as many of his first ascents was John's many first flash ascents of routes that were massively frigged, yo-yoed and hang-dogged on the FA. In many cases, his were the first legitimate ascents of the countless routes he got the second on.
Two important ones (of many) were flash ascents of the Cringe and a route down at Suicide called Tar and Feathers. Both routes are in the 12a range. Tar and Feathers leans and takes piss poor wires in the back of a paper thin, tips lieback flake. This was before TCUs. When I did this climb I lowered off like five times and bounce tested the wired nuts I placed, and half of them ripped out. The idea the JB just slotted those trash nuts and pushed on over tipped out, 11d/12a liebacking, is shocking. The Cringe is just a big arm burner and back then, JB could jam to Pluto and back and not draw a pump.
Another thing he often did out at Josh - and which I joined him on occasion - was to on-sight free solo climbs up to low end 5.10. People solo amazing things these days but little of it is on sight. Bachar was a master of on-sighting, and was especially good out at Josh, where we grew up on stuff like So High, White Rastafarian, and Slashface. Man, even 5.8 climbs became electrifying on the on-sight solo, especially if a few grainy face moves were involved. We mainly stayed with the cracks - stuff you could possibly reverse. I got haired out a thousand times. JB never lost his cool. On Billabong, Intersection Rock, I almost grabbed his leg on the grainy face moves on the first pitch.
And then there was all the highball bouldering, without crash pads, remember. You just couldn't fall. We did that stuff all over Colorado and California and it was always so exciting. JB almost always was first to do the problems because he was the best. I remember taking him on a tour of Roubidoux around 1976, right in the hayday. I took him to Joe Brown boulder (upwards of 40 feet tall), to Autopilot, down the Smooth Soul Wall (again, nearing 40 feet tall), and over to the Circle Crack and JB on sight soloed all of these things. It was remarkable.
So many memories . . .
JL
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jul 11, 2009 - 10:42pm PT
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(Bumped for Clint.)
It looks like John's birthdate was March 23rd, 1957.
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=563237
The link, a birthday thread started by someone who would know, is dated March 24th 2008. In it, John indicates that his birthday was in fact the previous day, the 23rd. Although he may have just been being disingenuous, playing a joke, avoiding attention, or just being John.
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dogtown
climber
Cheyenne,Wyoming
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Jul 12, 2009 - 12:13am PT
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Correction Clint. Caliente 5.12b? it’s 12C maybe 12D. Just for the records.
Bruce.
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shipoopoi
Big Wall climber
oakland
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Jul 12, 2009 - 12:56am PT
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al dude, isn't bombs over tokyo rated 12c. it has had at least a second ascent, by myself. shipoopoi
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Jul 12, 2009 - 12:31pm PT
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I belayed John when he did the FA of Caliente at Suicide in 1978. I was living up in Idylwild for the summer, working construction.
Darrell Hensel and Kevin Powell had spotted this line and put in the first few bolts. KP and Henny eventually asked me to try it with them, and I got a couple of moves higher, but was stymied trying to get above the short headwall.
John was down from the valley, so I invited him to try it. He fell a few times, but eventually solved the sequence and put in a bolt from a dicey, steep stance. This was the hardest climb at Suicide or Tahquitz to that date, but just another magnificent lead by John.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Jul 12, 2009 - 04:34pm PT
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Black Magic 5.11c, FA 6/1981, John Bachar, Alan Bartlett
Gold Finger 5.12a, FA 7/1981, John Bachar
Start Bouldering 5.11d, FA 7/1981, John Bachar, Mike Lechlinski
Body and Soul 5.12b, FA 7/1981, John Bachar, Mike Lechlinski
Lechlinski Flake 5.11a, FA 7/1981, Mike Lechlinski, John Bachar
You Asked For It 5.10b, FA 7/1981, John Bachar, Ron Peers
Cheat Stone 5.11b, FA 8/1981, John Bachar, Mike Lechlinski, Dave Yerian
Bachar/Yerian 5.11c, FA 8/1981, John Bachar, Dave Yerian
Movement in Camouflage 5.10d, FA 7/1982, John Bachar
Time Up 5.10a, FA 7/1982, John Bachar, Ron Kauk
Inner Vision 5.10b, FA 8/1982, John Bachar
Bachar Solo, Low Profile Dome 5.9 FA 8/1983, John Bachar
Brainwave 5.9, FA 8/1983, John Bachar, Mike Waugh, Darryl Nikahira
Swinger 5.11+, FA 8/1983, John Bachar, Ron Kauk
Count Down 5.12a, FA 1983, John Bachar, Alan Bartlett
Edging Skills or Hospital Bills 5.10, FA 1983, John Bachar
The Flash 5.11, FA 6/1984, John Bachar, Mike Lechlinski
Summertime 5.10a, FA 7/1984, John Bachar, Tom Herbert
Free for All ?, FA 7/1984, John Bachar, Mike Lechlinski
Great White Book Arete 5.10a, FA 8/1984, John Bachar, Kurt Smith
Solitary Confinement 5.9, FA 8/1984, John Bachar
Tomb of the Unknown Climber 5.10c, (chopped Inspiration solo), 1984, John Bachar
Straight Street 5.10a, FA 6/1985, John Bachar, Ed Barry
Run for Cover 5.10b, FA 7/1985, John Bachar, Tom Herbert
The Kid 5.10b, FA 7/1985, Kurt Smith, John Bachar
The Pinhead 5.11b, FA 7/1985, Kurt Smith, John Bachar
Here's Johnny 5.10c, FA 7/1985, John Bachar, Kurt Smith
Ciebola continuation 5.10b, FA 8/1985, John Bachar, Rob Oravetz, Lidija Painkiher
Body Language 5.11b, FA 1985, John Bachar, Tom Herbert, et al.
Orinthology 5.11d, FA 1985, John Bachar, et al.
Decoy 5.11b, FA 7/1986, John Bachar, Tom Herbert
One-Armed Bandit 5.11b, FA 8/1987 John Bachar, Al Swanson (chopped)
Johnny Rock 5.11c, FA 1980s, John Bachar
Bombs Over Tokyo 5.13a, FFA 1980s, John Bachar
Grenade Launcher 5.12c, FA 1980s, John Bachar
Barchar Solo, Stately Pleasure Dome 5.7, FA John Bachar
Battle Field ?, FA John Bachar, unnamed
from Rock Climbing Tuolumne Meadows Reid & Falkenstein © 2006
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aldude
climber
Monument Manor
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Jul 12, 2009 - 06:18pm PT
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Stevie....I should have known you would be the one to bag the second. OK - what did you think - good rating? - runout? Did you see " Bombs Under Tokyo " ...the bolted route below the roof that others have mistaken for the original? Who did you do it with? - did they send? History wants to know!
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henny
Social climber
The Past
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Jul 13, 2009 - 01:13pm PT
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Ricky,
As much as KP and I would have liked to spot Caliente first, we didn't. In fact this is a good segway because I wanted to get some info on Caliente's pre-history as well as the day JB sent it. But rather than clog this thread up with it maybe I'll do it in a seperate one.
Edit: I seem to be screwing up the link and don't have time to look into it right now, I'll try to get the link in later. The Caliente thread is out there if anyone is interested.
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can't say
Social climber
Pasadena CA
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Jul 13, 2009 - 03:02pm PT
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I didn't see his participation in the Survival of the Fittest contests on Clints list. I remember Psycho Kenny and myself would spar with John when he was practicing for the pugil stick competition. IRC, Kenny dotted him more then a few times.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jul 13, 2009 - 05:24pm PT
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1977 - "bought a car". Actually a nice white (?) VW van. And a racing bicycle.
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michaelj
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Jul 13, 2009 - 09:43pm PT
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One thing I've always wondered: When he offered the $10k, did he actually have it?
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WBraun
climber
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Jul 13, 2009 - 10:40pm PT
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Are you sure?
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Alan Rubin
climber
Amherst,MA.
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Jul 16, 2009 - 09:51am PT
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I'm still trying to absorb the shock of John's death. I didn't know him personally but he was an inspiration to all of us. Though John's climbing achievements are really only one aspect of his life, and surely not the most important, this is a climbing site, so I'd like to elaborate on one segment of his career not included in the original timeline, though briefly mentioned by a couple of other posters.While John's climbing was largely North America focussed he did make an important contribution to European climbing as well. In the late '70s/early '80s German rock climbing was going through a major, and quite controversial (and confrontational) transition from using local cliffs for do-anything-to-get-to the-top-quickly alpine training to an emphasis on free climbing. To help in this process, in the spring of 1981 the "free climbers" held an International Free-Climbing Meet in the then semi-backwater Frankenjura area, inviting top free climbers from elsewhere, including Ron Fawcett from England and J.C. Droyer from France, to give demonstrations and examples of free climbing techniques and prowess. John was the US "representative" at the Meet, and during it, and while remaining in the area after the official Meet ended, added several major free routes to the region. One route in particular was a major breakthrough, initially rated X (5.13a), (though subsequently downgraded to IX--12d)it was by a good bit the hardest route in Germany, and probably in Europe, at the time and had a major impact on the local climbing scene. John named his creation Chasin' the Trane. Though allegedly having a jazz (John Coltrane) derivation, the message was clear--the locals had some catching up to do!!!! It is worth noting that the locals in attendance quickly took up John's challenge, copied and improved upon his training methods, and successfully began freeing harder and harder routes---one Wolfgang Gullich in particular.
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can't say
Social climber
Pasadena CA
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Jul 16, 2009 - 10:23am PT
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"John was the US "representative" at the Meet" is not quite true. He was there with his then partner Mike Lechlinski, with Mari accompanying them on that particular trip. Just keeping things clear
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Nefarius
Big Wall climber
Fresno
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Jul 16, 2009 - 12:06pm PT
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"Are you sure?"
Appears as tho at least half of the statement is true, Werner, as no one stepped up.
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phylp
Trad climber
Millbrae, CA
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Jul 16, 2009 - 09:27pm PT
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Thanks so much Clint for compiling all this info.
It's still hard for me to read any of the posts about John without tears running down, and I wasn't even his friend. That's how special and important his legacy is.
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Jul 16, 2009 - 09:49pm PT
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Given that Bachar was the premier solo rock climber in the US at the time, when I first heard his offer, it rang quite hollow. It seemed more like a boast than anything else. Who was out there that was anywhere near as good? Who did he think his competition was?
I've always wondered if, as he grew older, if he ever wished he could take that back.
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marty(r)
climber
beneath the valley of ultravegans
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From the Black Diamond Spring 1995 catalog...
"Peter Croft on the amazing Moongerms" (photo by Greg Epperson)
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