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Chockstone Forum - General Discussion

General Climbing Discussion

 Page 2 of 4. Messages 1 to 20 | 21 to 40 | 41 to 60 | 61 to 64
Author
Rock Odyssey: Simon Carter's new book & slide show

ChuckNorris
2-Dec-2011
11:11:07 PM
http://www.chockstone.org/Forum/Forum.asp?Action=DisplayTopic&ForumID=1&MessageID=18429&PagePos=&Sort=&Replies=47&MsgPagePos=40
onsight
4-Dec-2011
10:31:38 AM
Some news at last; we have secured a good venue for a show in Melbourne. Yay!

It's on Tuesday 20th December at 1000 £ Bend, 361 Little Lonsdale Street.

Same time as the other shows: come around 7.30pm, the show starts at 8pm. $5 entry.

I'm looking forward to it and hope to see some of you there!


Edit -- entry is now going to be free!



dalai
4-Dec-2011
12:06:13 PM
On 4/12/2011 onsight wrote:
>
>Some news at last; we have secured a good venue for a show in Melbourne.
>Yay!
>
>It's on Tuesday 20th December at 1000 £ Bend, 361 Little
>Lonsdale Street.
>
>Same time as the other shows: come around 7.30pm, the show starts at 8pm.
>$5 entry.
>
>I'm looking forward to it and hope to see some of you there!

Do you need to book or just rock up at the door?
Tommo
4-Dec-2011
2:09:23 PM
On 22/11/2011 onsight wrote:
>Which photograph has triggered an adventure in your life?
>(Doesn't have to be one of mine).
>
>Tell us your story!
>
>Best story wins a copy of the new book and calendar. Winner announced
>16th December.

Simon, very much looking forward to seeing your new book. Love your work!

Many moons ago, in one of those mini-guidebook inserts in Rock magazine, I found a black-and-white photograph of the huge wall in Little River Gorge, Victoria. The wall was home to the route Grand Old Duke of York (17), one of the least known yet longest routes in Victoria (Australia?). I knew I had to go there, and ogled the picture and vague route description many times over a few years. I was always captivated by enough detail in the shot to get me excited, but enough missing to fuel my intrigue. My choss-buddy and I finally made a trip, arriving in the dark after an epic drive, which included broken bridges and hitting kangaroos. We got a little drunk and bivied next to my old yellow Toyota wagon. We tarted at dawn with a miserable bushwack down into the gorge through sooty bushfire regrowth. Hours later we reached the cliff, with no idea where the route began, but started climbing anyway. The day flew by as the drama unfolded, and then it got dark. With the headlamp technology of the time, we couldn't safely go on. We spent a very cold night huddled together at a small stance, wrapped in the rope bag, and staring into the black void. We could feel the awesome exposure, but not see it. We were clipped to a couple of wiggly carrots from memory, and careful not to fall off our perch when we stood up every half hour to stretch, and massage the shivery cramps from our legs. When light came we finished the climb with relief, then bushwacked some more to a road. We were scratched, bloody, sooty, thirsty, hungry and deliriously tired, and faced a long walk back to the car. A couple of blokes came along in a shiny, sporty looking ute, and offered us a ride. They lifted the cover to the ute bed so we could put our climbing gear in. I saw a lot of guns in there, but the pair of rednecks seemed pleasant enough... until my buddy, in his exhaustion, dragged a sling of climbing hardware across the paintwork as he lifted it over the side, with a horrible jingle-jangle that put fire in their eyes. Scenes from Deliverance flashed through my brain, followed by the image shallow bush graves. But after I cursed at my friend repeatedly, and assured the lads that it hadn't left any scratches, they gave us a ride anyway... in akward silence. We got to the car 27 hours after starting out, having survived on our foolish rations of a litre of water each and a few muffins to share. I arrived home to a pissed off boss (I was a day late for work) and friends and family about alert the authorities. It was a top trip, and a top photo that triggered it.

Some pics from the climb (horribly scanned transparencies):





onsight
4-Dec-2011
5:35:52 PM
On 4/12/2011 dalai wrote:
>
>Do you need to book or just rock up at the door?

Just rock up. There is no way to book.
onsight
4-Dec-2011
5:39:41 PM
Great story Tommo. I was hoping read about some adventures.

ChuckNorris
4-Dec-2011
11:01:32 PM
OK simon, I'll be serious for a bit.

Three photos that changed me for how I view climbing:

#1: A pic in Rock of someone retreating off Shivling (i think) in near white out conditions. I don't have the photo to hand, but my recollection you could see someone abseiling into the whiteness - the rope was wrapped around either a snow bollard or a granite flake and there was a guy huddled in foetal position next to the rap anchor. I *think* it was an trip with people such as Muir, Moorehead and others (if I am wrong please correct me as I'd appreciate being reminded of the truth). It was a photo that haunted me when I first saw it, and continues to haunt me. When I say haunt I mean I thought "F'ck this is the sort of shit that humans can do and deal with".

The next two are great photos that lead to disappointments:

#2: The best bum shot I've ever seen was Roland Foster on "Shadows and Light", I'm pretty sure it was a glen robins shot on the contents page of a mid eighties rock. Like I said it was a bum shot, but enough perspective to see a punk hairstyle, a perfect arete of smooth bummy arapiles stone. (RF also looked a bit porky but maybe that was just the perspective). That photo was on my wall for years - serving as an inspiration to say if I keep climbing and climbing I will be able to do shit like this. When I finally when I got around to climbing the beast I thought it a piece of pox, grunting and slapping around on crimpers way over on the left side of the arete to get to the bucket that I now realise RF was clearly posing from.

#3: a pic by god knows who of Chris Shepherd on the FA of Endless Love (a Moonarie climb) in either a Thrutch or an Argus. The first time I did the climb was a few months before I saw the photo. The description in the guide at the time (Quentin Chester's) said no more than "crank through the roof and blast up the middle of the wall above - nothing easier than 22." I had an epic climbing it, I kept trying to keep to the middle of the wall, but there was no gear and the line kept pulling my to the right arete, but I kept fighting to stay on line "in the middle of the wall". I cursed everyone and everything whilst f'cking about on mossy rock trying to fiddle in dodgy rps for hours, getting shit scared, up and down climbing etc. I ended up deciding to go with the flow and just get to the rap station via the line of least resistance, up a crack near the right arete. Anyway, you guessed it the aforementioned picture of Chris on the FA was of him cranking up the crack near the right arete. You have no f'ckn idea how pissed off I was when I saw that photo. Anyway, next edition of the guide I made sure to get the description changed.
mikllaw
5-Dec-2011
5:07:28 PM
On 4/12/2011 useful wrote:
>Three photos that changed me for how I view climbing:
>
>#1: A pic in Rock of someone retreating off Shivling (i think) in near
>white out conditions. I don't have the photo to hand, but my recollection
>you could see someone abseiling into the whiteness - the rope was wrapped
>around either a snow bollard or a granite flake and there was a guy huddled
>in foetal position next to the rap anchor. I *think* it was an trip with
>people such as Muir, Moorehead and others (if I am wrong please correct
>me as I'd appreciate being reminded of the truth). It was a photo that
>haunted me when I first saw it, and continues to haunt me. When I say haunt
>I mean I thought "F'ck this is the sort of shit that humans can do and
>deal with".

I heard from someone in the shot that from this position one climber said "lets just jump down to the snow" as it didn't look far and the snow was sure to be soft. They decided to rap anyway, and a full 50m rap on a single rope which they left, then all of their slings knotted end to end, still left a 10m drop onto the (fortunately soft) snow.
gfdonc
5-Dec-2011
5:22:31 PM
My recollection (recounted to me by one of the participants).
Jon Muir, Roddie MacKenzie, Craig Nottle and Mark Moorhead.
I think Craig took the shot on his Olympus XA. The fact it was blown up to a large poster from such a small camera was always amusing.
They got a fair way up the peak but then had to bail when the weather closed in. They wanted to leave as much rope fixed for the next attempt, but rapped to the end of the rope which was still some distance off the deck.
They tied all the remaining slings together but it was still short. With the weather and the snow below, it was hard to estimate the distance. Eventually Roddy plucked up the courage to jump off the end, fell a few feet (probably more like 5m than 10) and landed in soft snow. The others followed.
widewetandslippery
5-Dec-2011
6:03:48 PM
I rate that one from memory an.MDs add. Desent was by all the shit they had left,maybe a buried pack anchor. It showed space and emptiness.
onsight
5-Dec-2011
8:50:14 PM
Cheers Useful, thanks for the reminder about those shots, the images are there in the dark depths of my memory...
The Shivling one was totally out there. And the story... Quite likely it it helped put me off any serious alpine stuff... ; -)
Yeah that Shadows and Light pic was just a sandbag. Good send! I could never get keen enough to try it twice.

Pat
5-Dec-2011
9:45:07 PM
I'm pretty sure the picture was not of the four you mention above, but of Michael Groom.

wallwombat
5-Dec-2011
10:25:35 PM
It wasn't Groom.

It was a full page ad for MDs and it was in Wild in the mid/late 1980s.

I reckon Micheal Groom would have been a teenager then.

I think it was some members of the ITP (who useful mentioned earlier). Not sure of the mountain.
kieranl
5-Dec-2011
10:31:24 PM
On 4/12/2011 useful wrote:
>OK simon, I'll be serious for a bit.
>
>Three photos that changed me for how I view climbing:
>
>#1: A pic in Rock of someone retreating off Shivling (i think) in near
>white out conditions.
Close but actually Changabang (1982 I think). There was a poster of it in the Willows for many years.
And Steve has the participants correct.
gfdonc
6-Dec-2011
10:48:51 AM
Yes I was having a mature age moment there, it was Changabang. I knew it wasn't Shivling, that was Rick White and Greg Child I think.

The poster was Chouinard equipment I believe.
kieranl
6-Dec-2011
1:18:09 PM
It's a poignant shot in many ways. Changabang was the last foray of the full Turkey Patrol. Mark Moorhead died in 1983 on Makalu, on the same trip as Bill Denz, then Craig Nottle died on Everest the following year just before Fred From.
onsight
6-Dec-2011
2:47:56 PM

Does anyone in Melbourne have a PA system (mike/amp/speakers) that we can borrow for the show on the 20th? Just to save us hiring it...

ChuckNorris
6-Dec-2011
5:48:00 PM
I did a search to see if I could find a copy of the photo online. Couldn't find the photo but came across this e-book of australian mountaineering. You may have seen it before but the bits I read last night seemed pretty good...This is a link to Chapter 19 about the early days of the ITP

http://epress.anu.edu.au/apps/bookworm/view/Himalayan+Dreaming%3A+Australian+mountaineering+in+the+great+ranges+of+Asia%2C+1922–1990/5361/ch19.xhtml#toc-anchor
onsight
7-Dec-2011
9:37:20 AM
On 6/12/2011 useful wrote:
>... came across this e-book of australian mountaineering.

Wow what a fantastic piece of research. I think it's awesome someone has written all that up.
onsight
7-Dec-2011
9:39:50 AM

I'm psyched for the BIG show in Sydney tonight!

Just wanted to take this opportunity to thank the folk at the Sydney Rockclimbing Club for all their help organising it. Legends! Should be lots of fun.



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