Who is the most famous climber you have ever met? What circumstances?

lee hansche wrote: Yeah i touched his butt once while spotting him... i still havent washed that hand...

I met Chongo Chuck in Joshua Tree.....I saw him passed out on my sofa at my house;.....

When I first became interested in climbing in the summer of 1993, my girlfriend and I hired a guide for the day in the Tetons (Irene's Arete, I think). It turned out to be Chuck Pratt.

I didn't know much about him or his accomplishments at the time, but I can vividly remember how effortlessly and efficiently he climbed. He was *so* smooth up the rock....

I got to meet Ron Kaulk in Yosemite. Actually, he opened up for a movie that featured his poetry and climbing. The scenes in the movie were great, but his poetry is nothing to write home about. Still, he was a super nice guy and called Tom Cruise a pussy! Till this day I find his climbing to be the most fundamentally sound technique. His foot work always seems perfect and he never seems to be struggling.

I was at the Gunks several years ago, sizing up this scary 5.6 crack... and some frenchy guy is soloing Junior (5.10) Ranger Bob came by and said "Hey that's Danny Andrais" I didn't know who he was, but was quite impressed with his climbing skills. Suppose I'd had asked him to climb with us had I known, I'm sure he would have loved climbing the tricky gunks moderates with me and my son!

copied from an earlier thread
In the early eighty's I was working for a contractor in Denver.
One particular day my task was to deliver materials to one of our various projects.
I was often assigned to this location and I was quite familiar with everyone on this job site.
I noticed that there was a new fellow there that day.
He was a quiet,very tall,and sort of ordinary looking, older man.
I didn't think much about him at first.
I remember the project superintendent asking him "How would you do this, Layton" and then a while later some one on his crew shouted , "It's break time Layton".
Of coarse being a mere slave I didn't get to take breaks.
I just kept stacking those bricks.
I started putting a few thoughts together while I worked, like; this guy is a tall middle aged brick layer named Layton.
I asked myself "could it be HIM?"
I just had to know.
I walked over to the guy and said "your last name wouldn't be Kor, now would it?"
He turned to me and responded, "Yes,Do I know you?"
I told him,No that we had never met before, but that I was a very big fan of his.
I explained that over the years I had done some of the routes that he had put up in places like the Utah desert, Rocky Mountain National Park, Eldorado Canyon, and in the Yosemite Valley.
I said "I would like to shake your hand."
"So your a climber?" He said .
He looked me in the eye and extended his large callused right hand and gave my puny mitt one firm shake.
He then turned and went back to his work.
I guess I don't have to tell that my day was made!

I've met Darren Knezek.

Glen Dawson. Had lunch with him a couple of times for work. He shared great stories about the FAs of East Face of Whitney, Pee Wee, and The Mechanic's Route.

I know somebody who once gave sharma pancakes. he said "thank you"

John Sherman...The Vermin (inventor of the Bouldering V rating)
When I was 13 (1990) I had just started climbing and lived in El Paso, TX at the time. I entered the second annual Rock Rodeo at Hueco Tanks. Kids climbing wasn't as common then and I was bouldering at a v1 to 2 level so I entered the Novice division and ended up winning. At the awards ceremony at Pete's afterward, they started by giving the gag awards, like (most beat up climber) some guy with a bunch of flappers won that and they gave him a bottle of tequila. Then they announced me as the winner of the Novice division and also said I was only 13... A number of the dirtbags in the audience yelled out "give him a bottle of tequila!" everyone laughed and Sherman awarded me with a chalk bag, a chounard carabiner, a chounard hip-pack, a misty mountain harness, and a Rock Rodeo t-shirt. One of the best memories of my climbing life.
I just wish I had a picture...

Warren Harding camping down the 'street' from my house while with a group doing the CoTrail. A perfect place to meet such an icon.

Reinhold Messner in RMNP while on the way to spearhead, a couple of days after we saw a pretty good show he gave in Denver.

I met Dean Potter at the Crossroads Cafe in Joshua Tree in December of 08.

I met Steve Green a few times. one time he stayed at my roomates house and got raging drunk and broke the front door.
josh

The name Steve Green sounds familiar but I can't quite place it. Do you have a picture handy that you could post?

Hot Henry:

Got a ride in his truck on the way down from the top of Cathedral. It's pretty awesome how accessible our sport is. Imagine being playing some baseball and having Mickey Mantle walk on the field...

cheers.
-chris

Well, I didn't meet him, but I almost accidentally killed Jimmy Surette on Saturday with a #10 BD nut.

I have been lucky enough to meet some of my personal hereos while out climbing. They include; Eric Bjornstad. Jimmy Dunn, Dale Bard, Steph Davis, Katie Brown, Dean Potter, Charlie Fowler, and Nathan Martin.
Dean Potter made sure before I belayed him that he might fall... "so go ahead and give me a real belay" he said. This was right after he had free soloed El Cap and Halfdome in a day. I belayed him on a couple splitter cracks at the Creek.

I met Steve House when he taught a half day ice climbing clinic at the Ouray Ice Festival last year. Very nice and understated.

I have also had clinics there with Kelly Cordes and Jack Tackle. Just one more reason why Ouray Ice Festival is awesome.

Todd Skinner and Paul Piana at their crag outside Lander WY. Shook hands with both and watched Todd working on his project 'Throwing the Houlihan'. In the early 90's this was a 5.13D or 14a, and he was pulling these overhung moves like a monkey at the jungle gym. Incredibly nice guys that always made time to chat with us mere mortals. God rest his soul...