Devil's Lake Zine - Collection for Volume 2 has begun.

Hello world of mountain project - 

I have officially started collecting photos, slides, essays, poems, love letters, rap battles, knit sweaters, interpretive dances.... for Volume 2 of the Devils Lake Climbing Zine.

My goal is to create an "encyclopedia of DL history" of sorts. My impression through these early stage of research is you can find some history preserved online (but not all) after extensive digging. Then there's the stories by word of mouth if you're fortunate enough to befriend the storytellers. Speaking frankly, this isn't good enough. What I envision is a thick-spined coffee table book that any lover of Devil's Lake, young or old, can sit down and receive not just a comprehensive history, but an extensive one. We're going back to the dawn of climbing at DL, all the way up to present day. Then and now. And all the generations in between.

Devils Lake's history is long, rich, and fascinating. if you know where to hunt, you can unearth some hidden gems. With climbing's rise in popularity, and the number of mentees outnumbering the mentors, I don't want to see these stories get lost to time. Our home crag's history deserves preservation and accessibility (this looks like scanning those old slides deteriorating in basements, and printing into a book for our growing community to easily read and gain appreciation for DL's unique history.)

I'm proud to say, with the help and support of Dave Erickson, I'm almost finished scanning in his 500 slides from him & Jim's time putting up first ascents at DL in the late 60s. I'm astounded to report that these slides haven't seen the light of day in nearly half a century. Dave tells me the Hoofers used to have Thursday night slideshows in the 70s, but stopped in 1980. His slides went into storage, and haven't been seen since.... until now. I'm discovering photographic evidence of Jim's FAs, like Blow Up (today 5.10b), Brinton's direct, Chicago, Mouse's Misery 10a, and more... I'm about 2/3s the way through scanning, and discovering more historical photos daily. My deepest thanks, Jim & Dave, for your trust and for keeping these photos safe after all these years! 

Next up on the scan list is Dave Groth, then Paul Kuenn (thank you both!!) - Who's next?!

If you have anything you'd like to see included in this project, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. This is a community project, and wouldn't be made possible without community support.

Attached photos: (1) Kaden Enters on the first lead of Defeat of the DLFA Boys, Sept 2024. Text from Leo Hermacinski's 1985 Extremist Guide to Devil's Lake

(2, 3) Historical DL postcards (Turks & Son of a Great Chimney) purchased off ebay, along with an unknown high school Phy Ed class (crazy!) found on MP

(4) Jim Erickson Nov 1968, photo by Dave Erickson

(5) On the Cover: Garrett Hopkins & Collin Giese beneath Dippy Diagonal. Photo by Michael Hall

Kenz, dunno how interested you might be, but I, along with some of the members of the Chicago Mountaineering Club like Olle Swartling, were of the DL prehistory before PC and a bit before Jim and Dave.  You can reach me through MP if you think I might have something to add to your project.

Here's a shot of me I dug up on Roger's Roof.

And here's one of me on Peter's Project

These are both from the early sixties, when I was 19 or 20 years old.

This archival task is long overdue. Great to see so many legends coming out of the woodwork! Kenz is legitimately the best person for the job, and all of Jim's, Dave's, and others' photos are in good hands. Rich, I have no doubt Kenz will be very interested (if not, I would be haha)

rgoldwrote:

Kenz, dunno how interested you might be, but I, along with some of the members of the Chicago Mountaineering Club like Olle Swartling, were of the DL prehistory before PC and a bit before Jim and Dave.  You can reach me through MP if you think I might have something to add to your project.

Here's a shot of me I dug up on Roger's Roof.

And here's one of me on Peter's Project

These are both from the early sixties, when I was 19 or 20 years old.

I can attest that Rich and other U of Chicago climbers, Steve Derenzo, in particular, were the ones who, after a gap of several years, were beginning to repeat John Gill's routes and establish new ones of ( almost) comparable difficulty ( Upper Diagonal is one example). At the time they began this process, most of the rest of the Devil's Lake climbing community--small as it was---and like much of the established climbing community in the country, was quite 'conservative'---early in my climbing career I remember one of the more 'senior' Hoofer climbers disparaging their efforts as 'gymnastics'!!!

Their group laid the foundation upon which folks such as the Erickson's and, of course, PC built starting over the next few years, including a period in the mid-60s when they all 'overlapped'.

Kenz,

Sounds like a great project. The history of climbing at the Lake and the many “characters “ involved is a worthy goal. I have some slides and stories from the old school DLFA era. Some photos of the more classic variety are on Mtn project.

Cheers , Steve 

Photo 4 is of Dave Erickson.

Can't remember all I what articles I sent you but Climbing #75 has page 54 - 57 have some thoughts about DL.  Some of it may be fiction.

Hi all,

Thank you deeply to everyone who's reached out and offered to contribute stories and photos to this big (and I firmly believe overdue) project. 

Rich, incredible photos. I've thoroughly enjoyed hearing at length (thanks Alan!) about that time period in the 60s. Alan, I love how you say "Their group laid the foundation upon which folks such as the Erickson's and, of course, PC built starting over the next few years, including a period in the mid-60s when they all 'overlapped'." Keep em coming! 

Steve, I've saved a few of your classic shots found on MP. I'd love to get some more high res files, MP does compress them quite a bit. Thanks for your contribution!

I'm happy to say I'm officially done scanning Dave Erickson's slides and checking my labelling for accuracy (thanks Kurt! Btw - You submitted your "editor at large" correspondence via Climbing Mag #75 Dec 1982; and your "Old #5 Love Story" fiction piece (was it really *all* fiction? Lol) via Climbing Mag #74 Sept-Oct 1982. Along with your piece "Summit Vacation" featuring your, Bob Siegrist, Steve Risse, and Dan Murphy's summer ascent of Mt McKinley via the Western Rib, published in Wisconsin Athlete Vol 1 No. 2 in Jan 1982. That year '82 was a big year for you!) 

I've now caught up on emails. If my email got lost in your inbox, please reach out to me and I'd be more than happy to set up submissions: kenzhackcreative@gmail.com