Layton Kor show last night...

(Edited slightly from original Post.)

It was great. It felt like sitting in a big den while Layton Kor shared experiences about one of the most amazing rock climbing careers anyone ever sent.

He was palpably decent, modest, and dryly humorous.

He is so humble about his unsurpassed climbing record that you wouldn't know you were listening to one of the iconic shapers of our sport. In a soft voice he described a diverse sampling of climbs, including pioneering first ascents, personal weekend explorations, and glorious days on traveled Dolomite classics.

He seemed to love the them all the same, like children with different personalities.

What did you all think?

I enjoyed it. I agree that it was a bit of a ramble but, as far as I know, that was the first slide show Kor has ever given in public (at least in the last 25 years or so) and he has always been kind of a quiet guy anyway. He wasn't as nervous as I thought he would be and was quite a bit funnier than I anticipated. My favorite story was about the lost, almost dead, dog that he rescued out of the Black. It shows how compassionate the man is. A pleasure to share an evening with the legend. Harvey T needs to put on one of these shows!

I enjoyed the show very much. It's amazing the stuff he was able to get up back then. It was quite a history lesson on the climbing style of the day, primarily piton craft. His era was pre-camming devices, dynamic ropes, even harnesses (they used swami belts). He had some well known friends - Ingalls, Ament, etc. Layton was well prepared, he had notes on every slide and he put a lot of advance work into it. It was more than I expected given his age and ailing health.

I couldn't hear him too well, but my hearing sucks anyway. I probably caught about 60-70% of what he said. It would have been better if he had faced the audience instead of the screen, but that probably would have been intimidating to him.

It was great to see everyone turn out for the show, hopefully the money will be a big help for his medical bills. I saw many familiar faces in the crowd, a who's who of Colorado climbing.

I thought the climbs he elected to discuss, and the order in which he discussed them, was one of the most interesting parts of the show. He mixed the old ('60s) with the new (late 80s - early 90s), giving the impression of decades of continuous climbing. I had always thought there was a lengthy hiatus in the middle. Also interesting was the omission of the Eiger Direct, but for a few remarks in passing. That experience, including Harlin's death, must have had a deep effect.

was nice to hear about him talk about his many friends and climbing companions.

EDIT: shawn, nice meeting you last night!

The "who's who" part was very cool. My buddies and I quickly realized we were in a select crowd, with the likes of Lynn Hill, Harver T. and Jimmy Dunn just strolling around. That was a Hall of Fame crowd. I was glad it wasn't a performance. It felt much more like you were just hanging out with the man, as opposed to someone attempting to entertain you. Definitely a show for the books.

Amen, Cody. What a gallery!

A highlight for me came before the show even started. Lynn Hill dashed up onto the stage and gave him a big hug. Visually, that was funny, but not as funny as when she reached a hand up as high as she could and her fingers barely extended above Layton's head! The punchline to the visual joke came when he raised his own arm up high. :)

Even knowing Kor's story, it was kinda difficult to get a true sense of the dynamo he was as a climber. Advancing age hasn't been as kind to him as it has been to Royal. It's tough to see your heroes age, but it's a great lesson in how to approach that task yourself.

I wish him well.

Great show. I wished there where more photos of Eldo. The few he showed were historical - Wisdom, Red Dihedral etc. The word "bivouac" seemed to roll of his tongue about every five minutes or so. He is a hard man.

i thought it was absolutely phenomenal. it was just like he was sitting in your living room chatting with you. i have always had a huge amount of respect for the man, but his humility, compassion, and 'just being a typical everyday sort of person' really elevated him in my opinion. his delivery really makes a person feel like they can achieve greatness also, without the 'self-help' aspects that are so prevalent today.

his story about the dog in the black canyon, in particular, really amplified his greatness in my mind. i will definitely never forget this slideshow.

also, thanks a ton to everybody who went to the show. your behavior was absolutely applaudable. everybody was quiet and respectful, and your treatment of mr Kor really showed what a great group of people we can be.

He expressed his love of climbing in a heartwarming and inspiring way.
He seems so modest about his achievements, which is a refreshing break from the numbers game that drives many a climber's self image today.

Last night was really special. I was really grateful to be allowed inside the universe of one of my all time heros.

One of the things I was most impressed with was that last night Layton, at his age, was able to outlast my teenage son, who after 2 1/2 hours told me he had to leave because he hadn't eaten since breakfast and his blood sugar was too low. Needless to say, I made him wait a little longer.

Agree Slim. Definitely a feeling of deep respect in the room last night.

One thing I found very interesting in the show was how he spoke of his partners on the routes. For some of the heady FAs, he played it off like he was the sketched one, and gave the credit to the guy(s) he was with at the time. Loved his jokes of how he "screamed" on falls. From all of the documentation on Kor, the common theme is that it was the other way around. Some of his early partners said they were more afraid of him than they were of the route they were attempting, because of his incredible energy and intensity. Very humble guy. I was impressed.

Hey guys, I think all your posts are right on. It makes me think some of my critique was a little jerky. Should I edit it so the whole thread can be something Kor would be gratified to read?

Please don't quote this post. After any feedback, I'm going to edit my original post...or not, and then delete this one.

* Good to meet you too, Darren.

EDIT: Thanks for the input, Hank and Deaun. Some of the later posts conviced me to overrule it. My reaction to hearing from Layton Kor was overwhelmingly positive...I want the post to read that way, so I edited the tone lightly.

Keen Butterworth wrote:. He wasn't as nervous as I thought he would be and was quite a bit funnier than I anticipated. My favorite story was about the lost, almost dead, dog that he rescued out of the Black. It shows how compassionate the man is. A pleasure to share an evening with the legend. Harvey T needs to put on one of these shows!

Agreed, the fluttering in his voice when he told that story about the dog made the wife and I almost bawl our heads off. All really great comments so far folks.

Shawn, don't delete anything!

I agree with Hank, don't delete your post Shawn.

I also agree with all of the great comments above. My biggest critique was that he just went a little too long. 30-40 minutes shorter and I would have had to make something up to find a complaint.

Truly amazing to see someone pack so much climbing into such a short career. He re-defines prolific!

As I said on another thread, I thought he was humble, understated and very humorous.

Finally, what a great crowd to be a part of. When I end up in heaven (or hell), that is the crowd I expect will be there with me!

truly great to see so many generations of climbing legends there, including several friends i have not seen in such a long time.. so much energy there last night, almost cosmic. Kor is a superhero, one of the immortals, and i am proud to have been in that space last night. Donini's introduction was actually pretty profound (in that Kor really doesnt need an introduction.)

my only complaint was that they should have given him a laser pointer that worked. hilarious.

I really enjoyed the show. I felt like I needed to be sitting in an overstuffed chair smoking a cigar, drinking some good port and I could have listened to him talk for another hour. I thought what he had to say about marmots and dogs was unexpected and showed a side of him I hadn't expected. The stories and flow of the show at the beginning were engaging and very entertaining. For him, in his tired physical state to entertain the crowd for over two hours, was I thought, impressive.

I thought that maybe showing slides of and sharing his experience on the Eiger with John Harlin, Dougal and the rest of that gang was maybe too difficult and personal for him. A great evening all round.

Jack

FYI anyone who wants a book signed, any book, can drop it off at Neptunes before 1 pm today. The cost is $50 per book and it all goes to Layton. I'll be taking them to him and return them to the shop on Saturday morning for you to reclaim.

Yes, good show indeed. I didn't know who Layton Kor was before this, but I do now![/noob]

I wished I could have attended. I have his book that I wished could have been signed. I guess I must be out of the loop, if there is one: but a few of you mentioned his health. Politely, what sort of health issues does he have and is there a 'fund' that can be donated to on his behalf. I know the US has so many uninsured people. Just chiming in, thanks and hope all have a great day.

Juan

I, too, thoroughly enjoyed his presentation. His photographs were absolutely stunning considering the time at which most were taken. Heard a lot of "ahhhs" and "ohhhs" during the slideshow. I agree that more photos of his climbs in Eldo would have been cool. I also thought he would have included some photos of the Eiger Direct with Harlin, but I can understand why he may have chosen to leave those out. I recall Dougal having real nice things to say about Layton in his books where he spoke of that climb.

As a climber of modest ability, I found his presentation to be very inspirational. Considering the type of climbing he was doing back then, and the difficulty of the routes he was pioneering, it really makes you want to go out and push your limits a bit considering all the fancy, modern gear we have now.

If anyone took any pictures of the event, I'm sure many of us would love to see them.

Truly a phenomenal evening. Thanks Layton!