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takeme
Feb 1, 2005, 1:44 AM
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In reply to: O.K....I've had a little time to work on Casting.... Myself....Mel Gibson or maybe Billy Bob Thorton (it's a toss up) Dangle.....Joe Pesi Devo......Bono
I have no idea how accurate all these entertaining stories involving "Dangle" are, but as he's being portrayed here, he bears an uncanny resemblance to Walter from the Big Lebowski. As such, naturally, he should be played by John Goodman.
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flamer
Feb 1, 2005, 2:20 AM
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In reply to: he should be played by John Goodman.
Too tall...and handsome.
josh
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dmckj
Feb 1, 2005, 4:37 AM
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O.K....I got my popcorn.......I'm ready for the 'Tall Tales from Timbertop' installment from Devo.
Where are you Devo?
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dmckj
Feb 1, 2005, 4:42 AM
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Skinner,
Your skinny photo accurately shows the location of Prodigal Son.
At the VERY left edge of that same photo is the nearly invisible line of Empty Pages (A4/5) and I think (correct me if I'm wrong) the crack at the right edge of the photo is Ball and Chain, which was dramatically freed not too long ago, possibly by someone in this thread.
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bsmoot
Feb 1, 2005, 5:12 AM
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Yeah, as popular as Prodigal Sun is, it's one of 17 lines on the NE face of Angel's Landing (NE Buttress to the Minotuar.) Jeff Lowe's classic route was the first done on the wall in 1970. The second line was the Dunn route. Any of you remember the ABC Wide World of Sports special with George Willig...the guy who got infamous by climbing the World Trade Center? George was gonna climb Angel's Landing for ABC.
The Dunn route is the line George chose...not an easy line, although it's the most obvious. The word is that during George's ascent, he wasn't making fast enough time, so during the night, he and his partner jugged several hundred feet of the cameraman's fixed ropes to get back on schedule! Later, near the top, he took a head-first screamer for the camera! Remember that easy chimney at the top of Prodigal Sun? That's why it's sometimes referred to as "the flying George chimney".
Here are some first ascents I'd like to hear about:
- Thunderbird Wall - this wall is massive, come on Devo!
- Full Steam Ahead - Ammon's HUGE climb on West Temple.
- Levels of Doom - Amanda Tarr's adventure up the 2,000' Twin Brother
- The Radiator - Middendorf's big climb AND descent of Abraham.
- Either of Dave Jones' A5's
Thanks!
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crotch
Feb 1, 2005, 5:29 AM
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In reply to: Levels of Doom - Amanda Tarr's adventure up the 2,000' Twin Brother
Amanda wrote a TR back in '97. http://groups-beta.google.com/...f46bd71?dmode=source
BTW, we bailed off of the Egg back in December. Too cold for us Californians. The line looked great though. We'll be back in February, weather permitting.
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dmckj
Feb 1, 2005, 5:56 AM
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Ballad of Timbertop Mesa
Dangle once had a rack on Timbertop
New as it could be
Knifeblades, baby angles to part the sandstone rock
The route t'would not be free...
Timbertop will always be..
Home sweet home to me..
Good ol' Timbertop..
And Dangle's rack fallin' free..
And Dangle's rack fallin' free..
take it Devo...
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skinner
Feb 1, 2005, 6:48 AM
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October 29 1977
The ascent of mountain climber George Willig to the top of Eldorado Canyon in Eldorado Springs, Colo. marks the first time live coverage of a climb was presented on American television.
The PA legal department pressed criminal trespass against Willig, then iced the cake with a $750,000 civil suit.
It took a second publicity stunt, this one dreamed up by PA's top PR man, Sidney Frigand, to put a positive spin on the Authority's edifice complex. In a courtroom sentencing turned media opportunity, Willig copped a tongue-in-cheek plea, agreeing to pay the city a fine of one dollar and ten cents - a penny for every floor he'd climbed.
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skinner
Feb 1, 2005, 6:54 AM
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This is sort of funny, a photo of George Willig's signature where he spray painted it on the World Trade Center after reaching the top.
http://www.1134.org/gallery/random/aah
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lambone
Feb 1, 2005, 7:01 AM
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the only thing this thread needs is more pictures
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rocknroll
Feb 1, 2005, 11:54 AM
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Hey, I am saving the best for last. One more tale and this involves a song...a song about that wallman, Dave Jomes written by none other but Piton Ron.
Dave, my memory is foggy on this so you'll have to help me out.
Geez, I can't even remember the name of the climb. It is the 5.10 dihedral near the Touchstone Wall. We went out to climb it one day, and some "damn hippie environmentalists" as local pig farmer Dan Gifford calls them, had put up a banner on the second pitch. It read something like "Stop the Dams" in reference to Glen Canyon, or were they thinking of damming the Virgin? Anyhoo, Dave, George Allen and I decide to go climb this route. We were fresh from Tucson, where the cracks will only accept R.P's and we knew we would all be struggling on this nasty off-width layback. Well, George Allen leads the thing solidly. By the time Dave was ready to follow the pitch, quite a crowd had gathered in the parking lot . After all, there's the banner and there's the climbers. Besides the regular touron lookyloos there was just about every climber in the area - all eight of them. Mark and Stacey Austin, Gary Gray, Mark Pey, Conrad Anker, Ron Olevesky, was Flying Fisher there? (R.I.P.)...I think even George Hartilmeyer was there, an old climber from the alps who loved retelling the story of his friends dying on the Eiger, "oh Tony! Poor Tony (Egger)'. Relieved of belay duty, I ran down to join the party below. The doobs were passing around (of course George refused) and we had the stereo cranked in Mark Pey's bright yellow volkswagon Rabbit. As Dave is shoeing up, Ron is shooting off his mouth that Dave isn't gonna make it because he's seen him in off-widths and he knows Dave hates off widths. He starts taking bets. No one is stepping up, but everyone is egging Ron on wondering what outrageous plan he has to be assured that Dave doesn't make it. He tells me to go ask Dave if he wants to bet. I run up to the base and think better of it. After all, my allegiance to Ron had already sparked some animosity and divisiveness amongst the Tucson contingent, But I inform him that Ron is spouting negativity again. "F=== him!" Dave says and starts climbing. As I remember, you don't see the climber from the ground for the first 20 or 30 feet, and then he is well into the business. As Dave emerges from chimney, shouts and whoops fill the canyon. Ron's got his cheerleading going and Dave seems to be on the opposite team, "Hey, climber, climber, climber, SWING!" yells Ron. And to the tune of "We want a pitcher, not a belly itcher" "We want a wallman not a belly crawl man". Everyone was good and baked and had guzzeled thier mandatory ten 3.2 beers for a slight buzz and were laughing at Ron (now that's AT him not WITH him). From my vantage point at the base, I could see that Dave is getting flustered by all the attention. Dave's feet slide on the slick rock; I can hear Ron from below, "See, See, I told you...Fall, Fall, FALL!". Dave considers trying to squeeze into the off-width instead of laybacking it.
Ron: "I told you he hates off widths, well, then why is he trying to get inside it?"
And Dave gets into the classic climber predicament: you don't want to leave the security of that body wedge and start laybacking again.
The stereo goes from cranking Devo to the B-52's to David Byrne and Brian Eno's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. An excellent album if you've never heard it. On the album they take found sound bites and make a kinda funky jungle beat around them like on the Talking Head's Remain in Light album. Well, the song playing is a baptist preacher saying, "Help me somebody!"
Ron: Crank that! Louder, Louder!
"Help me somebody!!"
Dave is now upset, he trys to get back into the layback and his feet slips off the wall, he sucks back into the off width.
The crowd: "ooooohhhh!"
"Help me somebody!!"
Ron is jumping around like that famous picture of Hitler after he learns the invasion of Poland was a success.
"Help me somebody!" repeats the Preacher, " Ask yourself if you've become the person that God wants you to be. It's no big thing, its no small thing, what...people...think, Whoooo! Help me somebody!"
The crowd: Whoooo! Help me somebody!"
Dave has had enough. He hasn't fallen yet so he hasn't lost his dignity. So he whispers up to George, " ...tension...".
George (Loudly): what?
Dave (louder whisper) tension!
George (Loudly) TENSION?
Ron is now besides himself.
The crowd (including the tourists): Whoooo! Help me somebody!"
I run down to the parking lot to join the fun. Ron asks me if he was calling for tension.
"No, he wasn't calling for tension, he was whispering for tension. "
The song on the stereo ends, all is quiet, and Ron breaks into song, inventing the words on the spot:
"He's a 5.10 wall man,
his nuts are made of brass.
His hands are bound in tape,
he's got a Long Dong* up his ass."
"Now 5.10's got bad habits,
some we will not mention,
but when he's on that 5.11 move
he's whispering for tension."
"Everybody now!
He's a 5.10 wall man,
his nuts are made of brass.
His hands are bound in tape,
he's got a Long Dong* up his ass."
* A Long Dong is a piton, not what you think it is. But the pun works.
Well, Ron couldn't get the crowd to sing it (it must have been that Long Dong line) and folks soon dispersed and let Dave climb the route in peace.
But since then, the song has been sung around climber's campfires for years, thanks to some hefty promotion by myself and Ron.
Now, does anyone know what Ron means when he yells "Put the aseptics in the Fass Nord and haul them on the B rope"
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dmckj
Feb 1, 2005, 5:39 PM
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Bono....er, uh, Devo...
Good tale lad! I do recall that day. Now that the statute of limitations is over I can tell you that banner was put up by Mark A#####. The route was/is Coconut Corner.
As far as Dangle's gutteral utterances.....It is common for people with psychological 'differences' to speak in tongues, so maybe this was spoken in Sanskrit. It might mean 'Watch my ass cause I'm doing the famous dangle two-step top step to get to the next drilled placement', or, alternatively, 'I bored with being nice to the rock. Let's go empty a few clips into the Rockville bench.'
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dmckj
Feb 1, 2005, 5:50 PM
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Devo,
Actually, thinking back, George led the first pitch and I was leading, not following, the second. If I recall I ended up sliming my way up inside the crack instead of laybacking it, a horrible mistake from being timid that day.
FYI, George Allen is, unfortunately, now in the advanced stages of colon cancer and was just operated on last week.
Let's all wish him the best for a good recovery.
d
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rocknroll
Feb 1, 2005, 7:57 PM
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As I said, my memory was not so good so I took advantage of the lapses to embellish. Not really sure if all those people were there or even if Ron was leading the cheer. But I do remember the crowd, the new wave songs on the stereo, especially the "Help me somebody", the crowd yelling, me running back and forth and I do remember telling Ron about you whispering for tension. But let's let it go down in the history books as I wrote it. A far better tale.
Timber top is coming soon...Maybe a day or two, but soon.
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epic_ed
Feb 1, 2005, 8:34 PM
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Ok, ok. I'll bite. WTF does he mean by "put the asceptics in the Fass Nord"? These stories are a riot. Ron -- you're not gonna take this lying down, are ya? It's always good to hear both sides of the story, and you fellas have got some great stories and history together, despite the animosity that seems to persist even today. I hope all of you knuckle-draggers can look back with at least a little bit of nostalgia and reflect on how significant an impact all of you had back in the day.
Ed
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rocknroll
Feb 1, 2005, 10:51 PM
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No animosity. I love Ron. What a character! Sure he can be rough around the edges, but then can't we all? I love his boldness, willingness to stand up for what he thinks is right, and his outrageous behavior. And I am sure that over the years he has had some hard lessons, I know I have (I offer to pay for gas now). That's what life is about, learning, growing and having as much fun as possible (and hopefully at no one elses expense).
What was it that Maude said in "Harold and Maude" Something like "You can't let life grab you and toss you aound, you got to reach out and grab it." Ron's done that, I've done that, Jonesey done that. I think that's how we climbers distinguish ourselves from the masses that want to just be comfortable and god forbid, take a risk...try something new...learn something...experience a little pain for the reward of pleasure.
Ron epitomizes a life being lived to the fullest . And I know for a fact, these days he is a lot more pleasurable to be around. Aren't we all, as we get older and realize it's not worth it to sweat the little things. Damn, I wouldn't trade those times with Ron for the world.
How sweet to remember that cotton mouth gravelly voice yelling at me as if his life was about to end from a hundred feet above,
"GODDAM IT BUSMAN, PUT THE ASEPTICS IN THE FASS NORD AND HAUL THEM ON THE B-ROPE!!"
Huh?
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dingus
Feb 1, 2005, 10:55 PM
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In reply to: No animosity. I love Ron. What a character! Sure he can be rough around the edges, but then can't we all? I love his boldness, willingness to stand up for what he thinks is right, and his outrageous behavior. And I am sure that over the years he has had some hard lessons, I know I have (I offer to pay for gas now). That's what life is about, learning, growing and having as much fun as possible (and hopefully at no one elses expense).
Nicely done!
DMT
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dmckj
Feb 1, 2005, 11:03 PM
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Gentle Thread Reader (to Ed in particular)
It has come to our attention that some readers think there is a bit of hyperbole in our tales on Zion climbing history.
As hard as it is for you to believe, we AREN'T exaggerating, and there ain't no other 'side' to this stuff. In FACT, this is toned down from the way things really went down.... Why? A bunch of folks are afraid to comment because of a certain person's propensity to file lawsuits or make threats. But, frankly, that cuts both ways, and soon may if someone is silly enough to attempt to silence the critics. (By the way....stay tuned for more participants as more folks come out of the woodwork).
As to the animosity, I publicly stated here that Dangle could salvage his soul with an apology and a check. Anyway, it is all self-induced, a form of instant karma. Which leads me to believe that thread readers should hear 'THE REST OF THE STORY' as to the court appearance.
Hell, why not air it all.
What about the parties in Zion who were threatened at having their ropes shot (this is called aggravated assault, which in Arizona carries a 2 year minimum sentence)?
What about 'Crimes Against Nature', the route that got erased?
What about walking into a cowboy bar along the north rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison with a pistol stuck down the front of someone's pants? (Yuh cudda herd a pin drop!)
Inquiring minds will want to know more!!!
(stay tuned)
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epic_ed
Feb 1, 2005, 11:28 PM
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I don't think you're exaggerating, at all. I believe you're giving a genuine account of the events as you remember them, which is why this is so compelling to read. But there are different sides to every story. Yours, his, and the rest of 'em. Hell, I couldn't give you the same trip report as my partner on Prodigal from a climb I did two years ago. We'd have wildly different stories, for certain. I can imagine how some of the details have become blurred by the passing of 20+ years while others, I'm sure, are vividly clear.
Ed
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dangle
Feb 2, 2005, 2:14 AM
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Well I was in Salt Lake longer than planned. Outdoor Retailer only took two days but I hung around trying to get a few kids for the freezer. Looks like the boys have been busy.
I've only skimmed through this but think I can see what's happened. Sometimes when one dines out on stories repeatedly they are "refined". The lines that get laughs become "enhanced". Sometimes even roles are swapped for "convenience". Occasionally stories are manufactured out of whole cloth just to keep within a theme.
This is not one of those times.
Devo and Davo have with no interference from the bloodthirsty looky lewes recounted their epic tales with such startling accuracy, such painstaking detail, that I would suspect that they have been keeping clandestine journals or secretly recording all the conversations. Clearly their true calling should have been at the Smithsonian.
What's more the positive effects of their own roles are portrayed with such modesty that I feel compelled to elaborate.
You see the mighty busman only sought to climb with me out of concern for public safety. He wisely knew that someone had to at least bear witness to the perfidy inevitable in my actions. I can understand him being a little miffed at my indication that he was a "special" partner who didn't need to belay me but merely serve as an upward pull anchor while I rope soloed. But his claim to have halted the tour bus with merely his powerful command was only to mask the true nature of his heroics.
You see I had secreted a bottle of nitro-glycerine in the first aid kit. He almost caught on when I insisted that he lower the bag out only 20 feet.
I started a huge rock avalanche that certainly would have taken out the bus which likely had a few small children whose livers I could then eat, but the mighty busman swooped down in front of it green cape fluttering in the wind. With one hand he lifted the entire bus out of harm's way and with the other he stopped the largest boulder dead in its tracks. Regretably he was forced to ignore the destruction of a unique elfen forest that existed nowhere else in the world because of his committment to human life.
The one who truly is deserving of sainthood though is Dave. Where it not for his selfless purity that actually has a mild levitational effect he might not have succeeded on some of his climbs. These are not so much routes as screening tools for the chosen ones. The mandatory free climbing and the aiding of seams that immediately degrade are the pathways for only those possessed of the unadulterated vision of adventure to seek adrenal atonement. God forbid that the masses corrupt these vaunted lines.
Dave climbs for unexpressed rewards. Just ask him.
I've been incredibly fortunate. Without intent I've managed to stumble upon classic routes sometimes dozens of times in a row. I've become friends with people I had held as heroes. In adition to numerous articles I have had my 15 minute interview in Choss and Snow. I've even tricked my way into a video!
As if my inadvertant climbing notoriety weren't enough even my tech stocks made money. Clearly past partners of lesser moral character might be inclined to resent or even envy such good fortune. The profoundly weak or under-confidant might even make attempts to build themselves up by tearing that person down.
Obviously thats not the case here. These guys are big hearted men of the people. Their selfless testamony was performed purely from an obligation to public service. This is their part in the war on terror aside from their numerous death leads which they can't tell you about.
And Dave's apology?
As soon as I figure out what I should say you'l have it. Until then you can just hold your breath and guess which finger I'm typing this with.
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rockprodigy
Feb 2, 2005, 3:18 AM
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Ssssssssnap!
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dmckj
Feb 2, 2005, 5:05 AM
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In reply to: I started a huge rock avalanche that certainly would have taken out the bus which likely had a few small children whose livers I could then eat, but the mighty busman swooped down in front of it green cape fluttering in the wind. With one hand he lifted the entire bus out of harm's way and with the other he stopped the largest boulder dead in its tracks
Wow! I knew Devo was stout, but not THAT stout. Don't be so modest next time Devo.
In reply to: The one who truly is deserving of sainthood though is Dave
O.K., NOW we're getting somewhere...only I'm not Catholic.
In reply to: These guys are big hearted men of the people
In my life I have NEVER heard Dangle speak with such clarity of mind.
In reply to: guess which finger I'm typing this with
Hope you washed it first.
I getting kind of disappointed in this thread. I through Joe Pesci (or Pesi?) was pretty damned brilliant. Also, no responses to the poll.
(hushed overvoice narration to message, seeming to be detached from its author, and therefore carrying the moral weight of impartial truth....)
Gentle readers will note that there is not a rebuttal to be found.....so far....
More history forthcoming.
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dangle
Feb 2, 2005, 5:23 AM
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Gee sorry about that McKjones.
A little insensitive to your religious background was I.
Certainly not something you would do. (your friends yes, but you no)
How about a statue instead? Some soldiers I know can get you a big one.
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rocknroll
Feb 2, 2005, 9:40 AM
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Ron, how honorable of you to tell it like it is. Of course Dave and I had no desire to be ignominious towards you. We have to accept the truth as it happened. And since we have kept the Timbertop story from our dear readers, perhaps we can tell that epic tale together. Or at least, tell each side of our stories. I am sure we will have wildly different versions. After all, you did not witness exactly what happened when the rack took its fateful flight .I just remember your words when you arrived at the anchor, "I am not even going to acknowledge you by yelling at you. Let's go down."
But a fine tale it is...court battles won, mules pissing on our shoes, dreams of sponsors and films to be made, the ill-fated mutiny and exodus as Mark and I left the Kolob. Gee I can't wait to write it. But you first Ron.
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skinner
Feb 2, 2005, 3:15 PM
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In reply to: when the rack took its fateful flight |
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