New and Experienced climbers over 50 #22

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My baby cooks my eggplant 19 different ways!

Ain’t nobodies business but my own how my baby treats me.

djkyote wrote:

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Great movie

Darrell Hensel wrote: 

Rick Accomazzo, aka, Rockamazzo.  Rick was one of the original core Stonemasters that influenced many of us in the 70's.  They (core Stonemasters) were on the cutting edge at the time, freeing aid lines in Idyllwild, FA's, etc...,and with the numbers of climbers being so much smaller pretty much everyone knew who they were and aspired, at least to to some degree, to be like them.  One great thing about them was that they were quite inclusive about individuals from outside the core "clique" (for lack of a better word) and I was fortunate enough to climb with them early on while I figured out what doing hard climbing was about (hahaha - right) .  Rick was extremely talented, and had the ability to push himself when things got hard - without the need for excessive protection - his technical execution never seemed to breakdown no matter where the bolt was. Since my style of climbing was closer to Rick's than to the others I always took the opportunity to watch how he went about business and tried to apply some of those things myself.  Looking back I remember some key conversations (one in particular) with him that had a profound impact w/r to influencing how I climbed, and would approach climbing for the rest of my life.

Rick is a great all-around guy, and climbing is only one of his dimensions.  Also, he was multi-dimensional and quite talented across the various climbing disciplines'.  But to me personally, I guess I would go as far as saying he was one of the major influencers during my early formative climbing years, something I'm still appreciative for.  When it came to figuring out how to do hard runout slab climbing it was pretty hard to find a better role model than Rick - if only I could have figured out how to stay as cool as a cucumber while doing it like he did.

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Thank you for this, Darrell.  The story is starting to flesh out.  But as I read this I realize I don't have the big picture yet.  I remember where I was in 1975, end of the 60's, still into music and finishing up whatever education.  But I never once thought of climbing.  I don't think I knew there was such a thing.  Growing up in Glendale, my friends surfed, skied, smoked a lot of dope.  But there was no group of guys who got together to develop a sport, compete, obsess over achievements and move the sport forward.  

How did a bunch of rag tag guys find each other, decide to live in Yosemite, congregate in Joshua Tree, Tahquitz, and begin to formulate a sport/lifestyle called climbing?  Who started the fire?  Who said "Hey I think I can climb this route (later to become Beaver)?" and have that catch on.  I can understand someone getting into it today, with Free Solo, climbing gyms everywhere, every kind of shoe, magazine, gear... it is now 'a thing'.  

Lori Milas wrote:

Darrell Hensel wrote: 

Rick Accomazzo, aka, Rockamazzo.  Rick was one of the original core Stonemasters that influenced many of us in the 70's.  They (core Stonemasters) were on the cutting edge at the time, freeing aid lines in Idyllwild, FA's, etc...,and with the numbers of climbers being so much smaller pretty much everyone knew who they were and aspired, at least to to some degree, to be like them.  One great thing about them was that they were quite inclusive about individuals from outside the core "clique" (for lack of a better word) and I was fortunate enough to climb with them early on while I figured out what doing hard climbing was about (hahaha - right) .  Rick was extremely talented, and had the ability to push himself when things got hard - without the need for excessive protection - his technical execution never seemed to breakdown no matter where the bolt was. Since my style of climbing was closer to Rick's than to the others I always took the opportunity to watch how he went about business and tried to apply some of those things myself.  Looking back I remember some key conversations (one in particular) with him that had a profound impact w/r to influencing how I climbed, and would approach climbing for the rest of my life.

Rick is a great all-around guy, and climbing is only one of his dimensions.  Also, he was multi-dimensional and quite talented across the various climbing disciplines'.  But to me personally, I guess I would go as far as saying he was one of the major influencers during my early formative climbing years, something I'm still appreciative for.  When it came to figuring out how to do hard runout slab climbing it was pretty hard to find a better role model than Rick - if only I could have figured out how to stay as cool as a cucumber while doing it like he did.

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Thank you for this, Darrell.  The story is starting to flesh out.  But as I read this I realize I don't have the big picture yet.  I remember where I was in 1975, end of the 60's, still into music and finishing up whatever education.  But I never once thought of climbing.  I don't think I knew there was such a thing.  Growing up in Glendale, my friends surfed, skied, smoked a lot of dope.  But there was no group of guys who got together to develop a sport, compete, obsess over achievements and move the sport forward.  

How did a bunch of rag tag guys find each other, decide to live in Yosemite, congregate in Joshua Tree, Tahquitz, and begin to formulate a sport/lifestyle called climbing?  Who started the fire?  Who said "Hey I think I can climb this route (later to become Beaver)?" and have that catch on.  I can understand someone getting into it today, with Free Solo, climbing gyms everywhere, every kind of shoe, magazine, gear... it is now 'a thing'.  

Sheer boredom.

Any kid stuck near anything is how pretty much all of it started, including surfing, skiing, probably every drug there is. 

Boredom.

One of the local FAs here regularly hiked from Boise to the top of the local hills, about 4,000 foot gain. Their argument then was if it counted if you didn't start at the river, lol!  He traversed the entire perimeter of the Idaho Statehouse at 12. He climbed Mount Borah every year for decades. No idea how old he was the first time.

I've said it repeatedly, I am fully confident my local boulder field, adjacent to the Snake river and upstream from petroglyphs, was "bouldered" by bored kids 10,000 years ago.

Best, H.

Lori, There is a book Stonemasters, California Rock Climbing in the Seventies by Dean Fidelman that tells that particular story. It is somewhat of a collectors item now, so quite expensive if you can even find a copy, but you might be able to get it through your local library. The Stonemasters themselves were following in the footsteps of previous generations. Camp 4 by Steve Roper is probably the best of several books that summarize the history of the early ‘Golden Age’ of Yosemite climbing. There are also those parts of Royal Robbins’ autobiography that he published before he passed away or Pat Ament’s biography of Robbins —Spirit of the Age which also cover the pre-Stonemaster period. Going Up by Joe Fitschen is another well-written autobiography by one of Robbins’s contemporaries.

For a broader overview, though now quite dated, there is Climbing in North America by Chris Jones. So there is a lot of very interesting reading, often accompanied by great photography, to help you get the answers to some of your questions.

this day 10 years ago. Isa on the 2nd ascent of Mad Man 10c  I got the FA of that one. 

Alan Rubin wrote:

Lori, There is a book Stonemasters, California Rock Climbing in the Seventies by Dean Fidelman that tells that particular story. It is somewhat of a collectors item now, so quite expensive if you can even find a copy, but you might be able to get it through your local library. The Stonemasters themselves were following in the footsteps of previous generations. Camp 4 by Steve Roper is probably the best of several books that summarize the history of the early ‘Golden Age’ of Yosemite climbing. There are also those parts of Royal Robbins’ autobiography that he published before he passed away or Pat Ament’s biography of Robbins —Spirit of the Age which also cover the pre-Stonemaster period. Going Up by Joe Fitschen is another well-written autobiography by one of Robbins’s contemporaries.

For a broader overview, though now quite dated, there is Climbing in North America by Chris Jones. So there is a lot of very interesting reading, often accompanied by great photography, to help you get the answers to some of your questions.

Thank you Allan. Realizing that I watched most of the movies and read some of the books about early climbing, maybe what I am wanting to hear is first person stories. Guy, Jan, Kris have shared a few. I’m just trying to figure out how a kid born in say, Chatsworth, winds up on a rock in Joshua Tree and decides this is gonna be my life… In 1975.

Maybe it’s something like this. There’s a guy here, I’m sure Bob knows his name or maybe Randy, he’s older now but he has that blonde tan surfer look and kind of a strut. So I watched him calmly smoke a cigarette at the base of Intersection Rock one day and then casually tie-in and saunter up route called trapeze, the crux requires grabbing a hold and swinging under a ledge before mantling the rest of the way. I’ve watched several other people struggle and give up on this route but this dude has swag and an air, and strength, and had I seen that when I was 21 I would have decided then and there that I wanted to do that too as much for the swag as the climbing.   

I’m not quite clear on the order of things (who was here first) but I’m guessing if I was a young guy spending a day in the desert and saw Bachar strut his stuff on rock I’d be all in and that would change my destiny.  He would be the alpha male and I would be dreaming of doing what he did and maybe the privilege of climbing with him.  Or I’d find another pack of friends and work on becoming as good. That’s my guess as to how a kid born in Chatsworth decides to chuck it all and devote the next 10 or 20 years to Climbing.

I recall that Fidelman’s book presents more information on how the Stonemasters group got going. The scenario you described could be ‘it’ for some, but I think it really varied. Yvon Chouinard, for example, got into climbing from ‘raiding’ bird’s nests. Back in the late ‘40s/ early ‘50s, when Chouinard, Robbins, and their peers were getting into climbing, there just weren’t any/many role models to emulate and virtually no publicity. Many, myself included and a decade plus later, and on the opposite coast, were guys (very much mostly guys back then) who tended to be loners and not good ( an understatement in my case) at the traditional sports, but who felt comfortable in the outdoors and first got into hiking, then hiking up mountains, then getting interested in mountains that required more than just hiking to summit. Options for learning were very limited—some were self-taught, but many learned by getting involved with clubs—such as the Sierra and Appalachian Mountain Clubs or, for many, college outing clubs.

By the time the Stonemasters got started there were role models, magazines, etc. Also there were more local climbing areas to which those who became interested in the sport found their way, met others similarly inclined, and formed circles of friends, who first climbed together in those areas, learning techniques and developing skills which they then took to places slightly further afield and then increasing the ‘radius’ of their travels. So, as I’m sure Guy, Kris, Jan, and Randy can describe, locales such as Stoney Point and Mt. Ribidoux led to J.T., Tahquitz and Suicide, then on to Yosemite and beyond. Similar trajectories played out in different areas around the country.

Alan Rubin wrote:

Many, myself included and a decade plus later, and on the opposite coast, were guys (very much mostly guys back then) who tended to be loners and not good ( an understatement in my case) at the traditional sports, but who felt comfortable in the outdoors and first got into hiking, then hiking up mountains, then getting interested in mountains that required more than just hiking to summit. Options for learning were very limited—some were self-taught, but many learned by getting involved with clubs—such as the Sierra and Appalachian Mountain Clubs or, for many, college outing clubs.

In the late '80' and early '90's, things started to get a little more 'open' and 'rapid' in the Northeast.  IMO, Boston Rock Gym, by Steve, Tom, and Wayne, was a major factor in heralding in the modern era for the Northeast.  But, even with that, the mentality of apprenticeship and "learning the ropes" was still prevalent.  I went through that, starting in '89.  
I am glad that the AMC and many of the college and university's outing clubs (Harvard, MIT, Dartmouth, etc) are still active to this day in the Northeast.  To me, the sport has changed a lot over the past 35 years, much more than in the 7 decades prior to 1987. In in some aspects not for the better.  So it is nice to see bits of the old still embedded in the new.  

Lori Milas wrote:

Thank you Allan. Realizing that I watched most of the movies and read some of the books about early climbing, maybe what I am wanting to hear is first person stories. Guy, Jan, Kris have shared a few. I’m just trying to figure out how a kid born in say, Chatsworth, winds up on a rock in Joshua Tree and decides this is gonna be my life… In 1975.

Lori, Supertopo was the place to ask and read stories like what you are asking for. The archives still exist, though the photos were all deleted by RJ and CMac (admin & owner)...

This thread offers a glimpse of how some climbers of our generation started out:

http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=361002&tn=0&mr=0

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edit:

The "Stonemaster stories" are worth reading, beginning with the original thread started by John Long:

http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=145850&tn=0&mr=0

Part II

http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=150211&tn=0&mr=0

Part III

http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=155821&tn=0&mr=0

Part IV

http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=157408&tn=0&mr=0

Part V

http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=161148&tn=0&mr=0

Thanks for the links Jim.  It's fun to read back through that stuff.  Thankfully JL took the initiative to get those threads rolling and capture a lot of what transpired.   It certainly was wild and crazy.  Hopefully other locales similarly captured some of their history because I'm sure similar experiences were occurring all over. 

I got a laugh from a post early on by Jan in the first thread (partial quote): 

About the time we hit the road the harassment went overboard and John reached down and picked Waugh up by the ankles with one arm and started shaking him up and down. I ran for my life (cause John still had another hand) and laughed so hard as Waugh's head bounced off the pavement. John, you were too f*#king strong back then!

Two thoughts came to mind,

1. Mike actually triggered someone (JL)? 
2. The time I was with Bolton at the base of the Weeping Wall where we had a a slanderous conversation about a JL route variation.  As I finished speaking I turned, and to my chagrin, saw JL standing a few feet away and looking directly at me.  In a low whisper I told Bolton to run left and I'd run right.  Hopefully the Big Man wouldn't be able to catch both of us.  JL was like a misplaced linebacker out climbing, kinda burly, and way to fast, so we weren't overly optimistic re our survival chances.   I'm still not quite sure how I made it through those times without getting my head pinched somewhere along the way.  JL was a catalyst in many ways.  Ho, Man.

This in turn made me remember the time KP and I were at the South Face and JL/BG showed up.  Both are good sized boys.  Somehow they got into a reasonably intense "disagreement" about a Robin Trower song.  KP and I were in immediate fear for our lives.  As KP said, Get ready to run cause the dinosaurs are about to rumble and we're at ground zero. (haha, jk Bob, jk)

OK, enough.  The memories seem bigger than life looking back at them.  Really fun people and times. 

Lori. you would have loved the Taco stand. 

A recent video about ulnar nerve entrapment, replying to a couple of posts on the previous thread.

Finally for the first time in my 60th year I felt healthy enough to solo my favorite boulder problem  Center Crack . I took this shot of a kiddo on it while rope soloing an adjacent route last week.   I used to do it 10 times in an hour after work...   I felt really good on it today.

Then I hiked out via a 3 mile loop.   yesterday I had a photo gig in the morning and then boogied 2hrs north to  compete at the Vermont state Muzzleloaders championships. Somehow I won the  2022 pistol championship   Used my .50 cal trapper pistol. 

pretty cool. I will be engraved on a perpetual trophy...   My first time ever attending this event. ;)

its pretty silly fun. I don't have a mountain man costume like many of the guys and gals...   No roadkill hat ;)

Nick, congratulations on your win!  That’s fantastic!

Alan Rubin wrote:

The Stonemasters themselves were following in the footsteps of previous generations.

The climbing scene in Yosemite (and elsewhere) began to jell in the late 1950s. Chouinard in 1959 created what he called the Yosemite Climbers Club - members being chosen by him to represent the future of rock climbing there (and other areas of the country). Here were Yvon's picks:

           Kamps, Rearick, Pratt, Harding, Herbert, Powell, Wilts, Frost, Robbins, Fitchens, Swedlund, Chouinard, Dornan, and Feuerer. 

A year or so later and the club had evaporated. The Stonemasters were wonderful athletes - and excellent self-publicists - but those who came a decade or more before were very, very good and gave the original impetus to the sport.

John Gill wrote:

The climbing scene in Yosemite (and elsewhere) began to jell in the late 1950s. Chouinard in 1959 created what he called the Yosemite Climbers Club - members being chosen by him to represent the future of rock climbing there (and other areas of the country). Here were Yvon's picks:

           Kamps, Rearick, Pratt, Harding, Herbert, Powell, Wilts, Frost, Robbins, Fitchens, Swedlund, Chouinard, Dornan, and Feuerer. 

A year or so later and the club had evaporated. The Stonemasters were wonderful athletes - and excellent self-publicists - but those who came a decade or more before were very, very good and gave the original impetus to the sport.

I might add that of everyone on that list, Kamps kept the fire going the longest, still climbing 5.11 in his early 70's.  He was climbing hard literally up to his last breath, at the age of 74, in 2005 when a heart attack felled him in a climbing gym.  I think that at that point no one else in the short-lived Yosemite Climbing Club, if they were still alive, was climbing anymore, and many of the stonemasters had come and gone from the climbing scene.

The wonderful stories that could be told about Kamps by many of us here. About JT about the summers in Tuolumne & all the great people Bob drew to him. Any time you traveled or hung out with Bob you were going to meet some great climbers. They would wander into the campsite, great times great stories!

These are such great posts!  Thank you those who have posted more info, even though I know it's mostly all been said before on SuperTopo.  

I was on the couch yesterday with Tony watching TV and turned on Valley Uprising, just to see if there was something I had missed.  There were a lot of things I had missed on the previous viewing. (Tony slept through the entire movie).  I wondered how that first group, led by Jim Bridwell, suddenly came to land at Camp 4.  But maybe it's just like how my friends all found each other, and wound up hanging out together in places like the Sunset Strip.  We just gravitated there.

I guess if a 68 year old woman can catch the fever, then young strong men could too.  For me, some of my inspiration has come from watching great climbers do their thing.  Bob and I spent a lot of time at King Dome wall last season, and there is a pillar off to the left of that wall with an unfinished route.  Bob went up first to check it out, and I remember watching him do this most difficult transition from a side flake onto the main face of the rock.  It looked like a ballet move, so of course, I wanted to climb it, too.  But when I got to that same transition point I totally flubbed it, couldn't handle that move... couldn't get onto the face (without extra positive support).  It's one of those things that has stayed with me, having seen Bob do it, and eager to go back and try again myself.  Multiply that by dozens of hard climbs, it does keep you coming back for more.  

Completely and totally unable to pull it off.    

Nick. I love your pictures!  Isa is something else!  

Lori Milas wrote:

suddenly came to land at Camp 4.  

One reason may be that even back in the 70s and 80s, it was more difficult to get campsites at reserved areas like Pines.  IIRC at that time there were 3 walk-in campsites, first come first served.  There was Camp 4 (Sunnyside), one down by the River called the "backpackers" campground, and there was one, I can't remember the location exactly, but I think I remember it was a bit west of where the Yellow Pines volunteer group camp is now.  The advantage of the walk-in sites is that some people used to take advantage of the walk-in aspect to avoid fees - so some climbers preferred those.  The inability to collect fees is the reason the park service gave for closing the latter of the ones I listed.  And at the walk-ins, people were much more likely to be receptive to strangers walking up and asking to share a site, and thus share the nightly fees.

Non-sequiter, but one thing that still delights me is the transition from guidebooks with written descriptions - like Roper's green book published by the Sierra Club, to guidebooks with topo drawings and a few photos - like Meyers and Reid's 1987 Valley climbs book, to books with route overlays on photos and drawn topos.  I can still remember trying to decide where the start of things were based on descriptions in that Green book like "start at the left facing corner".  I'm still not a fan of phone-apps.  If I don't want to carry a book in, I usually take photos of the book pages to use as reference.  The MP database is useful for new routes and a bit of gear beta if you're uncertain about lugging big gear. 

Guess the route - me seconding a Valley route, belayed by partner Joe (late 80s?):