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Days gone by ........

Original Post
Kevin McLaughlin · · Colorado Springs · Joined Dec 2007 · Points: 1,540

Then - There was adventure on every outing. There was a risk. Gear was a swami , a rope,some stoppers,hexes and a few ovals. RRs and EBs were the footwear . If you were a climber you were part of a very small crowd. When harnesses came around - now THAT was a leap forward! It was certainly a different game.
Now- on a crowded day at Shelf Road as dogs run over my rope and kick up dirt into my beer ,dusting my sandwich - I long for days gone by.
Then - There were no Tradsters, Sport Monkeys , Beanie Worms ( boulderers ) or Ice Gods. There were Climbers. Period.
Now - Indoor plastic....... climbing?? Whatever.
Then - All the climbers I knew I respected.
Now - ...........??
Before the flames get to my feet ......... Yes I do Sport climb , a bit of Bouldering ( beanie on cold days) , I've been known to go as far as to compete on plastic- it is good for training , Still no Ice though. Am I slamming the young breed - NO WAY . Am I impressed by some of the things and people in climbing today- Hell Yes!! Don't misinterpret my post for anything other than a looking back in time longing for days gone by.
Maybe I am just revisiting some memories before I get senile .
Any old schoolers out there going back in time right now??

Mike Lane · · AnCapistan · Joined Jan 2006 · Points: 880

Just today I was cleaning out my garage, and came across boxes of stuff I had to get out my dad's garage after he passed. Aside from a stack of mid-80's Climbing and R&I's, I also found a box of slides. Looking through those, it was my old slide show. Remember the era when everyone had slide shows ready to go, even if it was just for a few buddies over some beers?

Olaf Mitchell · · Paia, Maui, Hi, · Joined Mar 2007 · Points: 4,190

This is too good to let the flood gates open unabated!But I'll post this one that just surfaced out of the blue in a stack of slides that I had done at Costco. We can make this the thread of all time ! I give you Erickson!

Jim Erickson in Eldo. Photo: Olaf Mitchell

1Eric Rhicard · · Tucson · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 10,101

I don't know Kevin, I don't miss those days that much. I camped in eldo in 1976 after hitchhiking there from Minnesota. We spent a month there then hitched to the Tetons and eventually the Sawtooths. I was there "back in the day".

I love the harnesses, sticky rubber, ball nuts, micro cams, easy lower offs, enthusiastic new climbers, some of the dogs, baby wipes for road trips, big fat bolts, a lot more beautiful fit women, the fact I don't have to climb for two weeks straight to get my head together, how strong I get doing 10 routes a day instead of 3 a day, the fact that the odds of dying have gone way down, quickdraws, skinny ropes, cinches and gri gris. I do miss the Chouinard shorts and painters pants for 6 bucks.

But in my area it is easy to get away from the crowds.

AWinters · · NH · Joined Apr 2007 · Points: 5,120

I'm not old school, but it seems a lot has changed even since the 90's- I can certainly appreciate your post.

Joe Huggins · · Grand Junction · Joined Oct 2001 · Points: 105
Kevin McLaughlin wrote: Maybe I am just revisiting some memories before I get senile . Any old schoolers out there going back in time right now??
Funny-we had a Fiftieth Birthday Bash yesterday for myself and two buddies,friends since middle school. Some pretty rad folks were there;people who've done the Eiger,P.O....first ascents in Eldo,(back when that really meant something). When I was young, I wasn't really susceptible to a lot of nostalgia. Now I choke up easily,thinking about past,good times;opportunities missed;mostly the friends who are gone.I definitely can relate to your sentiment;but I remain more determined than ever to go down swinging.
rgold · · Poughkeepsie, NY · Joined Feb 2008 · Points: 526

I'm of two minds. For one thing, I'm a lot older than all the other posters so far, having started climbing eighteen years earlier than someone who rightly considered his 1976 ascents to be BITD. I've seen all the major equipment revolutions, starting with the transition from soft to hard iron!

I too have nothing but respect and admiration for today's good climbers, and I have no quarrel with sport climbing per se. But, to quote Robbins, "sport climbing is the child that tried to eat its mother." I do think that the kinds of adventures I had as a youth on local crags are now available only to those who can journey to remote places, and although this does not affect me at all, I think it is a loss for the current generation and those to come. Sport climbing techniques and attitudes refuse to stay put in sport climbing, and continue to "infect" trad climbing in ways that blur a distinction I think should remain bright.

The worst feature of the modern climbing scene is crowding. I hate it. I can't get used to it. I try as best I can to avoid it by going to more remote lesser-known locations and climbing when I can during the week, but even so it is pretty unavoidable.

As for safety, there is no comparison. I'm proud of the bold things I did, but now that I'm older, frailer, and a hell of a lot wiser, I appreciate every protection trinket, every piece of newly lightened gear, every rubber formulation, and every rope improvement. They keep me going, even as my physical and mental powers wane. I often wonder whether I'd still be climbing at all, 53 years after I began, if I had to do it with the gear I started with. I suspect not.

Jon H · · PC, UT · Joined Nov 2009 · Points: 118

Well said, Rich.

- A certified young'un, despite a 10 year climbing "career"

Woodchuck ATC · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 3,280

Back in 70's, we would hike in to Notchtop in RMNP and set up our bivy or basecamp at backcountry campsite. Climb the next day, and hike out the third. Those were the days of easy backcountry access. Now people hike in to the Petit Grepon in the AM, climb it and hike back out at dusk. Quite a difference for sure.

Ed Wright · · Unknown Hometown · Joined May 2006 · Points: 285

Kids nowadays refuse to believe me when I tell them we used to climb without harnesses or belay devices.

Hank Caylor · · Livin' in the Junk! · Joined Dec 2003 · Points: 643

I just remember spandex, shitloads of spandex......
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edit-my Mom was way into McGuyver so she frosted my tips?

Bill M · · Fort Collins, CO · Joined Jun 2010 · Points: 317
rgold wrote:The worst feature of the modern climbing scene is crowding. I hate it. I can't get used to it. I try as best I can to avoid it by going to more remote lesser-known locations and climbing when I can during the week, but even so it is pretty unavoidable.
rgold,

If you like secluded climbing come out to the Organs in New Mexico. Last weekend was 70's and sunny, and did not see another group on Sugarloaf all weekend. Sandias are almost as secluded.
tradryan · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2008 · Points: 63
Hank Caylor wrote:I just remember spandex, shitloads of spandex...... edit-my Mom was way into McGuyver so she frosted my tips?
+1

And nothing has changed BTW, so long as you avoid shelf road, the gym, rei, and a select few other pits

Edited to add: I mean the adventure hasn't changed. The spandex has changed.
Ed Wright · · Unknown Hometown · Joined May 2006 · Points: 285
Bill Matlin wrote: rgold, If you like secluded climbing come out to the Organs in New Mexico. Last weekend was 70's and sunny, and did not see another group on Sugarloaf all weekend. Sandias are almost as secluded.
Just be prepared for looong approaches.
Bill M · · Fort Collins, CO · Joined Jun 2010 · Points: 317
Ed Wright wrote: Just be prepared for looong approaches.
Long if you stay on the trails. Epic - like in one of those old John Wayne Wild West movies, where the cowboy is found crawling through the desert looking for a water hole - if you miss the trail and try to bushwhack to the base of a feature like we did.
Mike Lane · · AnCapistan · Joined Jan 2006 · Points: 880

Speaking of an era, I still have @ 100 R&I's and Climbing's from '87 to @ '94 for anyone who wants to come get them (free).

Mike Anderson · · Colorado Springs, CO · Joined Nov 2004 · Points: 3,265

I think much of it could be a change of your perception as you age. I remember being a bright-eyed teenager in the early 90s (yeah, I'm "young", I know) reading climbing mags and thinking how badass everyone was. I was naive and humble, so everyone and every climb apeared "rad" to me. Now that I'm older, and some of those dudes in the mags are younger, I view it with a more critical eye, and I have a different perspective of what "hard" is.

I have to disagree with the crowding thing. Sure, at the Gunks it's going to be crowded, but I've been to numerous crags out west that I think are shamefully UNDERcrowded...all these really great climbs someone slaved over to create that may never get an attempt in a year. Wyoming, southern Colorado, Utah and Idaho are littered with such climbs...such a shame that many climbers today have no more imagination than to camp out at Rifle in line for a chance to fall off Pumparama again.

Alicia Sokolowski · · Brooklyn, NY · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 1,781
Bill Matlin wrote: rgold, If you like secluded climbing come out to the Organs in New Mexico. Last weekend was 70's and sunny, and did not see another group on Sugarloaf all weekend. Sandias are almost as secluded.
Agreed, we were out in the Organs last October/November and in 5 days saw 2 other people total. Gorgeous weather every day.

As for the bushwacking, last month I was still finding cactus spines in my shoes. I wouldn't document my injuries (gross looking), but hubby was brave enough to let me take this shot:

Needless to say, we stuck to paths after this. No shortcuts. Just cuts.
Captain Fastrousers · · Hobart, Tasmania · Joined Jan 2009 · Points: 0

Ah, nostalgia; it's not what it used to be.

Peter Beal · · Boulder Colorado · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 1,825

This post is reminiscent of many many threads at Supertopo. I started climbing in the late 1970s and have fond memories of that era as well. However there were aspects of that era that were not so great. I wrote about this feeling in Alpinist last year.

alpinist.com/doc/ALP30/wire…

Paul Rezucha · · Alameda · Joined Mar 2003 · Points: 1,765

Great post! I was thinking of starting a similar post a week ago when an old friend sent me some photos... These were taken at Monument Mountain near Great Barrington MA in '73. Anyone remember these cliffs? Climbing not allowed currently I understand...

My brother Tom leading a route (Devil's Pulpit?) at Monument Mountain near Great Barrington, MA. RR's, bowline on a coil, some hexes and stoppers. Did we even have a clue what we were doing?

Brother Tom following some route same cliff. RR's and PA's. I stitched "Go Climb" on one boot and "a Rock" on the other. I'll have to look for those!

Tom on left, Guy Keene, myself, and our dog Poky who went with us everywhere!

The old photos do bring back good memories!

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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