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jt512
Jun 15, 2007, 5:31 AM
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curt wrote: jt512 wrote: fracture wrote: jt512 wrote: The problem with the internet isn't it's existence, but it's misuse. The Other GriGri. Fuck. I can't believe I put apostrophes in "its" twice in one sentence. Jay Well, its good that you caught you're own error. Curt
I don't know if I can even look myself in the mirror.
Jay
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caughtinside
Jun 15, 2007, 5:35 AM
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jt512 wrote: curt wrote: jt512 wrote: fracture wrote: jt512 wrote: The problem with the internet isn't it's existence, but it's misuse. The Other GriGri. Fuck. I can't believe I put apostrophes in "its" twice in one sentence. Jay Well, its good that you caught you're own error. Curt I don't know if I can even look myself in the mirror. Jay
In the meantime, have a look at this handsome devil.
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majid_sabet
Jun 15, 2007, 5:38 AM
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In reply to: you have a nice point there, next time I'm with my mentor, I'll ask him bout this (he's like 50 y/o and has been climbing for at least 30)
Back in Himalayas, we stopped in a small tea house to get a coffee and there it was a picture of legend Mr. Anatoli Boukree, a Russian climber who save a few on Everest. I never met the guy but I have so much respect for him. He was killed during an expedition and that was big lost.
Below his photo he had this written
“We left every thing we ever gained in our life behind to come here and go after some thing that we knew we may never get".
signed
Anatoli Boukree
(This post was edited by majid_sabet on Jun 15, 2007, 5:40 AM)
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rgold
Jun 15, 2007, 5:43 AM
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I was a noob in the late 50's and early 60's. I started out with other noob's. My first experience was a guided climb of the Owen-Spaulding route on the Grand. After that, we read books, then we went out to the crags and mountains and did our best to live up to what we had read. Some of the books had recommendations as preposterous as the worst of the web. If it seemed stupid, we didn't do it.
We were, especially by today's standards, very cautious. We did a lot of easy and moderate leading before we got on anything hard. Lead falls were out of the question. We were relatively fast and very comfortable on moderate X-rated ground long before we got into difficult climbing, in part because we did a lot of mountaineering early on. We'd start a climbing season in the Gunks by soloing all the 5.0's, 5.1's, and 5.2's.
Our ideas about safety and our practices were utterly rudimentary by today's standards. We neither practiced nor even thought about most of the "inviolable" rules you read about today. We set up belays with no anchors when a well-braced stance was available. No one carried even a single locking biner. Redundancy was a subliminal concept at best. Our gear was simple and quite basic. No gadgets for belaying or rappelling, no harnesses. Bowline around the waist, later a bowline around a swami belt. Breathable parkas made of tightly woven cloth and an impermeable cagoule for downpours. Climbing shoes inferior to todays approach shoes. Big packs with external aluminum frames.
Twelve pitons, 15 biners, and a few shoulder-length 1" runners got us up pretty much everything from 60 foot crags to the North Face of the Grand Teton and the South Buttress of Moran.
On the other hand, we practiced catching leader falls and knew what it was like to hold very high fall-factor falls with hip belays. We avoided rappelling as much as possible. I do more rappels in a few days of climbing in the Gunks now than I did in a year of climbing 45 years ago.
There were relatively few of us, and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. If I saw someone in NYC in a down jacket, it was guaranteed that I knew them. Ditto anyone leaving a vibram sole imprint.
Looking back, we made a lot of errors. Most, but not all of us, survived.
(This post was edited by rgold on Jun 15, 2007, 5:54 AM)
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climbsomething
Jun 15, 2007, 6:26 AM
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curt wrote: jt512 wrote: fracture wrote: jt512 wrote: The problem with the internet isn't it's existence, but it's misuse. The Other GriGri. Fuck. I can't believe I put apostrophes in "its" twice in one sentence. Jay Well, its good that you caught you're own error. Curt
(Or this.)
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jt512
Jun 15, 2007, 6:30 AM
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climbsomething wrote: curt wrote: jt512 wrote: fracture wrote: jt512 wrote: The problem with the internet isn't it's existence, but it's misuse. The Other GriGri. Fuck. I can't believe I put apostrophes in "its" twice in one sentence. Jay Well, its good that you caught you're own error. Curt What's funny is that their are people who won't even get that. (Or this.)
Your incorrigible.
Jay
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phillygoat
Jun 15, 2007, 9:56 AM
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jt512 wrote: climbsomething wrote: curt wrote: jt512 wrote: fracture wrote: jt512 wrote: The problem with the internet isn't it's existence, but it's misuse. The Other GriGri. Fuck. I can't believe I put apostrophes in "its" twice in one sentence. Jay Well, its good that you caught you're own error. Curt What's funny is that their are people who won't even get that. (Or this.) Your incorrigible. Jay
Hey! I thought it was funny to!!
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gunkiemike
Jun 15, 2007, 10:28 AM
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There were very good reasons why 5.7 was considered a difficult grade to lead 35 years ago.
Lack of an Internet is somewhere on the list...near the bottom to be sure. Someone mentioned books - I think there were only 2 or 3 available when I got interested in the sport.
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overlord
Jun 15, 2007, 11:22 AM
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microbarn wrote: obviously they all died because they didn't have the ability to read your insightful posts
TROPHY!!!
ROFLMAO. that just made my day
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healyje
Jun 15, 2007, 12:09 PM
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j_ung wrote: Trial and error.
Devils Lake Trial and Error School of Climbing wrote: Place thy protection well, lest the ground rise up and smite thee...! |
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zionvier
Jun 15, 2007, 5:20 PM
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shanz wrote: The dude leading this offwidth brought a tape measure and measured the width while his belayer was sawing 2x4's to fit as pro. Now that old school
Well, that would be a lot cheaper than buying big bros... Be careful, you may start seeing REI selling lumber soon if it catches on.
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oldrnotboldr
Jun 15, 2007, 5:46 PM
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dingus wrote: It was uphill in all directions cause we lived in a Hell Hole. But you know where you stand in a Hell Hole. DMT
AND, we wore our helmets.
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reno
Jun 15, 2007, 5:55 PM
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jt512 wrote: climbsomething wrote: curt wrote: jt512 wrote: fracture wrote: jt512 wrote: The problem with the internet isn't it's existence, but it's misuse. The Other GriGri. Fuck. I can't believe I put apostrophes in "its" twice in one sentence. Jay Well, its good that you caught you're own error. Curt What's funny is that their are people who won't even get that. (Or this.) Your incorrigible. Jay
So please don't encourage him.
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rgold
Jun 15, 2007, 6:29 PM
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As for books, I remember one by Kenneth Henderson published by the AAC, that had some of the most hair-raisingly nutty recommendations I've ever seen anywhere. The Guttenberg Bible would have been a critical accessory for anyone who took some of that stuff seriously.
I recall a book by Charles Evans, called, I think, On Climbing, that advanced the British perspective. Probably the turn-of-the-century British perspective. The intricacies of "three-point support" were expounded, and I vaguely recall the Tarbuck knot for tying in, esssentially a prussik loop that was supposed to absorb fall energy. Of particular non-interest was an erudite discussion of the pro's and cons of "rubbers" vs. nailed boots.
It was here too that I learned that those who were foolish enough to find themselves on slimy rock without their nailed boots should pull a pair of wool socks over their "rubbers." This doesn't work too badly if the slimy rock you are climbing happens to be 3rd class, but don't try any edging with one of these rigs, and bring a few hundred pairs of wool socks if you're going to be doing this for more than a few feet.
Finally, we had the first edition of FOTH, which felt like a breath of sanity compared to the other wacky options.
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stymingersfink
Jun 15, 2007, 6:36 PM
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curt wrote: jt512 wrote: fracture wrote: jt512 wrote: The problem with the internet isn't it's existence, but it's misuse. The Other GriGri. Fuck. I can't believe I put apostrophes in "its" twice in one sentence. Jay Well, its good that you caught you're own air. Curt
Fixed that for ya Curt. His original post is proof positive that real fart smellers exist!
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shanz
Jun 15, 2007, 6:38 PM
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Per my previous post i finally found it.
Ok found it in the guide book - the rating was off its - fear of flying cedar bluff is a 5.9(offwidth) to quote from the guide book --- "FA steve nelson c. 1975 1st free lead Bob Ward, Greg Clark 1981. Bob used measuring tape on lead & called the dimensions to Greg, who promptly sawed the 2x4's to size for Bob to haul up for pro''
Makes me wonder about the belaying compared to this day and age.
(This post was edited by shanz on Jun 15, 2007, 6:39 PM)
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fitzontherocks
Jun 15, 2007, 6:56 PM
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rgold wrote: [IMG]http://i18.tinypic.com/2csgn7l.jpg[/IMG]
So who's The Man, rgold?
(And btw, I love reading your posts. You make so much gosh darn sense.)
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reno
Jun 15, 2007, 7:09 PM
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majid_sabet wrote: Below his photo he had this written “We left every thing we ever gained in our life behind to come here and go after some thing that we knew we may never get". signed Anatoli Boukree
You mean "Boukreev", I assume.
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fitzontherocks
Jun 15, 2007, 7:55 PM
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rgold wrote: Note that primitiveness did not necessarily extend to fashion; my color coordination is impeccable if perhaps lacking in subtlety.
You could show Anna Wintour a thing or two about fashion. Hey, rgold, I've only been to the Gunks once (and got mostly rained out), but I'm dying to go again and would love to climb with you, if you'd have a partner who's merely in his forties.
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rgold
Jun 15, 2007, 8:40 PM
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Fitz, send me a PM; we'll see what we can work out. But be forewarned, I'm happy with all my newfangled gear and gadgets. That old-school stuff is fun to reminisce about, but I ain't goin' out with no goldline tied around my waist...
...actually, I left my harness and belay gadget in the car last fall at Poko-Moonshine and did tie in directly with the rope rather than lose our place at the head of the line for Gamesmanship. Got some really funny looks from other climbers for tying in this way and using a hip belay, and more when I improvised a diaper seat with runners and used a carabiner brake to rappel.
They probably thought I was embracing old-school practices as a matter of high principle, as opposed to compensating for early-onset Alzheimers. I chose not to disabuse them of this misconception.
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mikitta
Jun 15, 2007, 9:49 PM
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LOL Rgold, at least you didn't rambo it totally and body belay. Rope Rash really is NOT fun!
(yeah, I tried a body rap once down a real mild grade JUST to see what it was like.)
It's actually good to know how to tie a bowline on a coil, how to rig a swiss seat and how to set up a rap with biners. While there are folks who might leave a stranded touron on top of something that can't be walked off, I prefere to not have blood stains from their fall mess up my belay stations :p
(Stranded tourists actually happened with some regularity at Veedauwoo. Not sure how common it is elsewhere - we locals were nice though and helped them down just to be nice :p)
Plus, you never know when the unthinkable might occure and you loose your gear down the face of a cliff because it's not secured when you thought it was - so you have to improvise.
God Bless,
mik
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rgold
Jun 15, 2007, 10:02 PM
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Vertical to overhanging body rappels were ok for Victorians clad in boiled wool dress suits over horse hair undergarments. Try that shit with shorts and a t-shirt and you'll learn the meaning of human barbecue. Been there and done that too, unfortunately. The burn scars took about five years to disappear.
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the_climber
Jun 15, 2007, 10:11 PM
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Body Raps suck!
Ever notice how fleece melts unlike the wool of yeaster-year
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