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Easter Henry Barber Reenactment Days at Araps

simey

11-Mar-2008
12:40:57 PM

Nice poster Doug.

Both files opened fairly quickly on my computer.


IdratherbeclimbingM9

11-Mar-2008
1:44:20 PM

On 10/03/2008 simey wrote:
>Henry probably would have killed for a pair of those. As I understand things,
>he was climbing in Chouinard boots with steel-shanked soles (must have
>been shit for smearing at Arapiles).
>
>Correct me if I am wrong.

&

duglash wrote
>That's right - you can see them in this photo. Henry talked about them when I interviewed him. >They appear to have heels on them!
http://www.alpinist.com/media/ALP17/alp17-29-1.jpg

>I doubt we'll be able to find a pair of these though sadly...

They are 'Vasque Ascender' climbing boots. Designed specifically for technical climbing (particularly alpine style ascents), i.e. climbing where you wear them all day including hiking back down the trail at the end of a technical climb.
They have sticky rubber on the soles for climbing; good ankle support for hiking, rubber ankle patches for offwidth protection; a low heel for use in ettriers and for trail descents; a plastic shank for use with ettriers and stiff arch-support for edging; plus a grooved tread within the sole and heel to assist in trail walking & anti balling of rubbish underfoot, ... though the edge of the rand is left plain for 'edging'.

I have a pair I still use occasionally for aid climbing, though being circa 1978 (I think they first appeared in a Chouinard catalogue then, but mine were new in early 1979); the rubber is no longer sticky and the toe-box is considerably worn and rough-repaired.

They really were innovative footwear in their time, and many a new ascent of Californian (& Patagonian) granite was done by climbers wearing them. When mine were new I considered them brilliant; particularly on chossy sandstone where you could scrape your foot a little while positioning it on a hold and cause loose sand to migrate into the treaded area thus not standing on potential ball-bearings!!

If you want to borrow them for a re-enactment (They are Australian size 'nine and a half' ~ send a PM); I am happy to loan them however I want them back, as I am a bit like an old Viking whereby I intend to go to my grave with them for use in the afterlife!

... So simey you are probably not wrong about what Henry was wearing, and also you are probably right about them being shit for smearing at Arapiles. Though when new, despite finding them good on Californian granite, my smear technique probably never progressed due to wearing them here in Australia on sandstone, trachyte and limestone.

simey

11-Mar-2008
1:49:08 PM

That sounds right.

I was more familiar with their name being 'Shoenards'.

Check the link below.

http://jpmountainbooks.com/auct/chouinard75/shoenard.jpg


IdratherbeclimbingM9

11-Mar-2008
2:03:28 PM

That's them!
I may even have one of those Chouinard catalogues still hanging around too!

... quite nostalgic reading that link page.

quote from it~
>>This plastic midsole tapers from the ball to the toe for flex in friction climbing and for the thinnest possible profile in narrow jamcracks. >The flex will last the life of the shoe.

They are right; ... but I doubt they thought that their shoe would still be in use thirty years later!!

duglash

11-Mar-2008
3:50:51 PM

>Nice poster Doug.
thanks simey

>I was more familiar with their name being 'Shoenards'.
That's right - that's what Henry called them. I just thought he was saying it funny.

>I have a pair I still use occasionally
How about that! That would be great to have the same model of boot Henry was using... fantastic!


Eduardo Slabofvic

11-Mar-2008
4:30:19 PM

On 11/03/2008 IdratherbeclimbingM9 wrote:
>
>They are 'Vasque Ascender' climbing boots. Designed specifically for technical
>climbing (particularly alpine style ascents), i.e. climbing where you wear
>them all day including hiking back down the trail at the end of a technical
>climb.
>They have sticky rubber on the soles for climbing; good ankle support
>for hiking, rubber ankle patches for offwidth protection; a low heel for
>use in ettriers and for trail descents; a plastic shank for use with ettriers
>and stiff arch-support for edging; plus a grooved tread within the sole
>and heel to assist in trail walking & anti balling of rubbish underfoot,
>... though the edge of the rand is left plain for 'edging'.
>
How do you think they would go with chrome on my tow bar, or the golf ball through a garden hose? They
seem to do everything else.


IdratherbeclimbingM9

11-Mar-2008
6:05:05 PM

On 11/03/2008 Eduardo Slabofvic wrote:
>How do you think they would go with chrome on my tow bar, or the golf
>ball through a garden hose? They
>seem to do everything else.

Yep, ... best thing since sliced bread; but like all things new ~> they eventually became old and were replaced by the 'new' safe-sporting (oxymoron?) breed of thing. This trend has moved on from the gear to the climbs themselves now ...

Like me, Sly Rambo probably still uses them though!


Macciza

11-Mar-2008
8:37:24 PM

Whilst talking old shoes?

height="180" alt="DSCF8446" />
Any ideas anyone?
No name on them whatsoever - Ukrainian? ;-}
Should look the part but may need to be re-masonited as the footbed is deteriorated - oh and they may
be in need of a resole I guess . . .


wallwombat

11-Mar-2008
10:40:59 PM

On 11/03/2008 Macciza wrote:
>Whilst talking old shoes?
>

>width="240"
>height="180" alt="DSCF8446" />
>Any ideas anyone?
>No name on them whatsoever - Ukrainian? ;-}
>Should look the part but may need to be re-masonited as the footbed is
>deteriorated - oh and they may
>be in need of a resole I guess . . .
>

They look like old One Sport shoes. Don't know the model though. The El Poxo or something like that?

Pretty sure One Sport was the brand.


Eduardo Slabofvic

11-Mar-2008
10:51:42 PM

On 11/03/2008 IdratherbeclimbingM9 wrote:
>This trend has moved on from the gear to the climbs themselves now ...
>
>Like me, Sly Rambo probably still uses them though!

I know what you mean. I can lie about in bed for most of the day, then expect to get up bench mark routes with the same level of composure, without spilling my Martini.

duglash

19-Mar-2008
11:25:20 AM

Not only is the weather looking good (probably 26 ish and fine Sat and Sun), but I have THE ORIGINAL boots
that Henry Barber climbed in.. alright, not THE ones, but the same model, thanks to IdratherbeclimbingM9, as
well as a pile of EB's from Noddy, hexes and straight sided wires.. I'm just about to comb the op shops for
white flares and painter's caps.

See you there.

climberman

19-Mar-2008
8:23:18 PM

have fun dug !

ithomas

20-Mar-2008
9:44:46 AM

Actually, no-one has the exact boots worn by Henry. His shoes were the first and only prototype for
what would became Shoenards. I had two pairs, an early dark suede pair made by Chouinard (1975)
and a later, lighter coloured pair made by Vasque (1977ish). Neither could smear, but who smeared
back then anyway; mostly we sneered. Nothing could out edge Shoenards, nothing. At Arapiles they
could be used in those weird shallow, fused, incipient, horizontal breaks that you find between dinner
plate sized bulges. The toe somehow latched on and stuck. In cracks they were very good and
supremely comfortable, if a little insensitive. If you had technique and trusted your feet, they were
superb. Henry's shoes, however, were different. He had Chouinard construct the prototype with softish
(slightly sticky) rubber. His shoes could edge and smear (sort of). None of the shoes which made it
into the retail world had that rubber. Point is, Henry's technique was so good he could climb anything in
anything, including barefeet.
Cheers
Ian

Wendy

20-Mar-2008
5:42:51 PM

It's enough to make a girl cry ... I have to work and miss out on all the fun! But the Climbing Company hire shoe collection still sports quite a few sets of EBs , mostly in the 6-8 range. The set Lou's wearing in that shot from the first on sight of Trojan are probably in there somewhere. Give her a bell if you need some more. And Cate owns a fine set of white flares.

duglash

20-Mar-2008
9:02:23 PM

Thanks Wendy, I'll follow those up..


IdratherbeclimbingM9

22-Mar-2008
10:11:37 AM

Let us know how it all went with a trip report of sorts as an update on your doco!
... ~> would also be good to see a photo or two if anyone took some.

Am looking forward to seeing the finished product, and trust it is proving a fun thing to make rather than becoming a chore.

Fish Boy

25-Mar-2008
5:49:30 PM

Yeah, Muki, how'd ya go? You didn't back out did you?

At least you rip on the slackline!

duglash

29-Mar-2008
8:41:36 AM

Well the Saturday was a bit a thin on Henry Barbers, with only Paul Deacon, who turned in a fine likeness,
apart from Tash and I.

Paul wore the Vasque Ascenders provided by I'dratherbeclimbingM9 - similar to (thanks ithomas) the boots
Henry was wearing - for Didgeridoo, and found them not too bad - they're stiff as anything, but the rubber's
not too bad, and he thought once you got used to them they would be OK - but not for smearing. Glen
Robbins managed a very convincing Don Whillans without even trying!

Thanks to Simey for photos.
Sunday was full of action up at Kama Sutra, with three ascents - maybe the most it's ever had in a day?
Oscar from Sweden showed amazing stamina and determination to onsight it, Matty from Bristol had a few
problems on second, fortunately not after taking out the last piece as Oscar ran it out from the hard
climbing to the Anxiety belay, leaving Matty to face about 6m of diagonal rope after the last hard move..

Dave J and Stuart Wyithe showed it's amazing how much stamina you can lose, much to Glen Robbins'
amusement. Dave made a good effort with the clothing and gear, actually placing the massive tube chock
above the crux.

duglash

29-Mar-2008
8:43:57 AM

The masterclass was provided by Craig Leubben of Colorado (inventor of Bigbros) who found amazing
rests and completely styled it, impressing the young fit lads (and everyone else).

He even managed to keep the flat cap on despite nearly knocking it off several times.

Funnily though, noone was up for leading it on the gear of the day, or with Henry Barber's boots. (Malcolm
has said he's keen on doing it on hexes and wires, I'm not sure about the boots). Interesting too looking at the
shots of Henry - he's got literally half the gear in compared to these ascents. Impressive.

kieranl

30-Mar-2008
2:09:49 PM

Now that's impressive.

There are 76 messages in this topic.