.

"Get your shit together, and pay attention to what your doing, OR SOMEONE IS GOING TO GET KILLED, AND IT'S NOT YOU"

J. BRIDWELL

His quote to me after I set up my first anchor on a Big Wall and he came up and saw what he cleaned off of.

Said to me after building a practice anchor on the ground near some boulderers: "Leave that there for a minute. Don't worry about them, they wouldn't know what to do with it!"

What's the difference between golf and climbing?

Golfers go, Whack, "Shit"

Climbers go, "Shit" Whack!

Unknown origin:"The holds are good - I removed a few, looked at them, and put them back."

My version: "The rock is good - you can dig your fingers in anywhere to make holds."

classic risk analysis

"It's better to be down here wishing you were up there, than being up there wishing you were down here."

I once met an old guy that everyone called 'manky.' My first encounter with him was at table rock, NC. It was raining and I had just finished breakfast in the parking lot. Manky walks up to my partner and i and says "a little vitamin T?" as he hands me a bottle of tequila.

It was quite an introduction to manky and the perils of rainy day activities.

If I fall, you ARE going to catch me?

don't fall

From my mentor about climbing in Eldorado Canyon:

"When in doubt, stem."

"This pitch is kind of hard and run-out, you better let me lead it."

"If you're not bleeding, you're not having fun..."

"This pitch is too good to follow."

"Just remember kid...there are dead alpinists, hanging on their ropes in Patagonia...cause no one has the balls to go cut them down"

-Old Salty Valley Mentor to me.

Thinking of Patagonia... When I was learning to climb, I used to watch La Escoba de Dios over and over again. I still find myself repeating some of Fowler's lines trying to imitate has classic drawl, especially when I am in stressful situations and I am trying to remain calm.

"Sunshine feels good right now..."

"I'll see you downtown..."

That video was awesome, warts and all.

don't remember who said it but, "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you are scared to death"

Tea wrote:great flick.

Yeah, there are a lot of great lines in that movie... and I definitely am the Peter G. of the group. I love the bipolar nature of most of his lines like when he's messing with the jumar: "Come fucking on! Come on! Okay, ready to haul..." Funny shit. Great documentary.

"the're just lucky nothing bad happened....."
- Dave H., referring to 'loose' ascents in the black

Pete,
I can't say enough about how that film impacted my climbing. You guys were an inspiration. I think it was only like 30 minutes long or something, and I would watch it over and over, looking at technique, trying to imagine myself in such a position... but really, the banter between you four really tells what climbing is about for a lot of us. Get John to make that Blooper reel, I am sure it would be good for more than a few laughs.

If there are any stories you want to share with us about that trip, or other adventures with Charlie, Max, and company. I would love to hear them. The bipolar comment was in good fun, your ability to go from pissed or scared to happy and calm really showed the intensity of the moments. Something I have now learned to relate to quite well. Thanks for posting.
Regards,
John

I can state without any kind of hesitation that Peter is not bipolar. He is in fact the most single minded man I've ever known. He has a temper to be sure but it is well known he only uses it as a tool to motivate his comrades to higher ideals and peaks. He is a gentleman and a scholar of the highest level.

Dr. Alvin Swill