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Re: [ryanb] How many trad lead falls have you taken?:
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healyje
Nov 12, 2009, 10:23 AM
Views: 4589
Registered: Aug 22, 2004
Posts: 4204
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ryanb wrote: I can certainly relate to not bouldering for the reasons you mention but you also said you bouldered when you were younger. How much of your development as a free climber do you think traces back to this?
I wouldn't say no influence, but it was sporadic at best. The bouldering / buildering we did back then was pretty limited to on-campus walls (at SIU in SoIll. - see Doug Drewes on one in my profile pics) and roofs that were either too low to the ground or had lips right on the busy park road so you couldn't top rope them (there is still no bolting allowed in the park). One like that was "Leaves of the Failing Faith" which was a highball flat roof problem we stacked a row of leaves about 12' high and 20' long under to fall into way before pads. On the very last lunge to the top you had to be careful not to swing out over the edge of the road when you fell. We each took about 25 horizontal and vertical leaf dives before sticking it.
All in all they were more like random short side excursions driven by curiousity or boredom more than anything you'd call a practice. We were pretty focused on steep lines and roofs. There was a fellow we called 'Farmer' who didn't like heights much but did a lot of amazing bouldering out of holes and caves close to the ground. I particularly remember one he did that, on turning the lip, you had to work your middle finger way into a hollow, razor-edged, ring-like hole to move up and if you fell you weren't going to get it back and it was hard to get out again after you moved past it. I wouldn't do it, and it still gives me the willeys just thinking about it.
Adam Grosowsky and Alan Carrier started doing a long traverse in Giant City and bouldering around Little Grassy Lake which was probably more the reincarnation of dedicated bouldering in 70's SoIll.
Edit: Found a pic of LotFF from a visit back to SoIll a couple of years ago. The green dot is the top out and the leaves in the pic under the roof are a bit deceptive in that they about 5' deep at that point.
(This post was edited by healyje on Nov 12, 2009, 10:50 AM)
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Post edited by healyje
() on Nov 12, 2009, 10:36 AM
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() on Nov 12, 2009, 10:37 AM
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() on Nov 12, 2009, 10:38 AM
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() on Nov 12, 2009, 10:41 AM
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Post edited by healyje
() on Nov 12, 2009, 10:42 AM
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Post edited by healyje
() on Nov 12, 2009, 10:44 AM
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Post edited by healyje
() on Nov 12, 2009, 10:46 AM
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Post edited by healyje
() on Nov 12, 2009, 10:46 AM
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Post edited by healyje
() on Nov 12, 2009, 10:50 AM
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