So did Jerry Anderson and Herb Laeger do any stuff there together?

I know Herb was very fond of the area and climbed there a bunch but gave up in disgust at some point when the dangling bolters arrived.

The Chief wrote:

rhyang wrote:btw On p. 133 there is a topo for what is described as the "Hippo Wall" in the Tollhouse Rock area .. route photo is by Mark Spencer. Comments ?

Grid Bolting Over Rating Maniac.

Found an old thread on rc.com here .. wonder how this stuff made it into the book ?

ksolem wrote:So did Jerry Anderson and Herb Laeger do any stuff there together?

I know Herb was very fond of the area and climbed there a bunch but gave up in disgust at some point when the dangling bolters arrived.

I know for a fact the Jerry is very upset at the same issue that Herb was. He shared with me this last Spring that the manner in which many of the newer routes were going up by, is not at all in lines with his philosophy. He was very adamant about his disgust with it all.

As far as Mark Spencer, all I can say is that many of the locals destained his practices of FAing. I personally can not stand the guy. He is truly a piece of work.

I've spent a fair amount of time on the 'Hippo Wall' or Saturday Slab, or whatever it's called, working on my friction technique (such as it is ) and introducing new partners to slab climbing .. just wondering, who put up those climbs ? Did the bolts used to be further apart ? Fewer climbs ?

rhyang wrote: Did the bolts used to be further apart ? Fewer climbs ?

Don't know about Hippo but Square Nail... don't even go there!

Well it's not much, but I found a perfect handcrack in a short boulder near Wawona on a trail I'd have never been on if we weren't walking the dog!



Tennis shoes are surprisingly adept at foot-jamming! I was really surprised to find other large boulders back there as looks like one of the "trees and grass" sort of areas, but I suppose there is plenty of granite to go around in that park!

Some of that bouldering around Wawona is documented in Spencer's old Southern Yosemite guide.

Kris,
I'm pretty sure Jerry did not do any climbs with Herb. I don't think he really started climbing much in the area until the mid 80s at the earliest, when he in essence, left the Valley scene. He actually puts up a lot of really fine sport routes, so I'm not knocking it by any means. Infact, aside from the chipping, I think that most of the few current climbers in the area have become more or less accepting of one another's approaches to development. But these guys could speak better to it than I, if they are lurking here.

I've got to get out to Queens Throne one day and check out some of Herb's amazing looking lines. Although I probably can't touch them with my mediocre abilities! The old school trad approach to those climbs and most of the new stuff being done in the Gray Eagle vicinity and elsewhere are fairly underrepresented in the hype of Shuteye ridge.

I haven't met Mark Spencer yet, but he and I and Jerry have conversed a fair amount about the history of the area. Seems like a nice guy. Slater approached him to contribute to his guide.

rhyang,
Supposedly Slater mostly developed The Hobbit, and it looks fun, though I haven't been. Dave and I could show you some other really great moderates, if you are interested sometime.

rhyang wrote:

The Chief wrote:

rhyang wrote:btw On p. 133 there is a topo for what is described as the "Hippo Wall" in the Tollhouse Rock area .. route photo is by Mark Spencer. Comments ?

Grid Bolting Over Rating Maniac.

Found an old thread on rc.com here .. wonder how this stuff made it into the book ?

So sad when folks don't do their research, especially when there's the SEKI guide to reference or Old Dad's to ask (ie Mark Hammond Fa'd a bunch of stuff out there in the 70's and route a small guide.....got one of my own). Tom came through Shuteye like a dust devil and gleaned only what he felt was needed to show as "select". Funny, Hobbit Dome is something he found as he came though. That would be like me going to just one Chinese resturant in all of San Fran but never sampling others. Pretty biased IMO.

Kris -

Too bad Laeger "gave up" on the place. There's still loads to do and he's certainly got a bunch to contribute. Send him up to "The North" end. He'll be happy there. You too.....when you stop putzing around Church Dome

Nate D wrote:I haven't met Mark Spencer yet, but he and I and Jerry have conversed a fair amount about the history of the area. Seems like a nice guy. Slater approached him to contribute to his guide.

rhyang,
Supposedly Slater mostly developed The Hobbit, and it looks fun, though I haven't been. Dave and I could show you some other really great moderates, if you are interested sometime.

I would definitely be interested Will take you guys up on it when it gets warm enough again ..

I've never written a guidebook or done any FA's, so I won't criticize anyone else on that score. Just kinda curious about the behind the scenes stuff.

Just kinda curious about the behind the scenes stuff.

When did you want the novel sent to the publisher? First three chapters are dedicated to the SoCal invasion.