stillcrankin

Last week in Tahoe City. Fred’s doppelgänger........

Jeez Bruce!!! I remember asking you in the last few years if you ever wanted to part with your old pins and you said NO! I feel violated! Hahahaha 😆!! Davis gave me his old bongs and tube chocks and i’m gonna make a wind chime out of them. You enjoying retirement? You’re welcome to come down my way if you want.... BTW- your yard sale flyer gave me a hernia from laughing so hard to go with the heartbreak of not getting your old pins...

I had to fight the urge to hide under my bed after I saw it....

Negative, Mr max. That picture was taken on the Truckee River between Reno and Truckee. There’s actually a little crack climbing area in the cliffs in the background but I can’t remember what it’s called.

num1mc, is this the camper you remember? I’m still trying to figure out who you are. Are you in that Tuolumne hacky circle picture I posted?

Jeebus! That is an AWSOME picture! Beautiful black and white with perfect clarity. EB’s. Perlon and webbing slung hexes and stoppers. Maybe even a MOAC. Hole in the seat of your pants. Doesn’t get much better than that. You’re throwing down some beauties, Mr. Off_White. I still can’t believe we never crossed paths. Here’s another Reeds area climb on the far left side. Probably 1974 or so. The Left Side of the Remnant. A burly, overhanging, hard to protect, wide, horror show. Perfect. What could possibly go wrong.

Timson, on that same fateful day in the Reeds Pinnacle parking area before heading up.

OK Mr Off_White, here’s another B&W photo. This is at the top of the 2nd pitch of Reeds Direct in 1974. This might have been the time Timson, Bob Crawford and I did all three pitches when Timson gave Crawford a bunch of slack on the desperate 3rd pitch off-width.

I can’t believe we never crossed paths in the 70’s, Mr Off_White. The Central Pillar is a proud climb-especially back then. 1977 wasn’t that long after the 1st ascent. Here’s an old pic of MisterMo on Moby Dick Center in 1972. This is an old-school Yosemite crack that goes from 3/4” to 3-1/2”. I’m one of the proud few that can say I backed off this climb when I was 16 after I ran out of 3-1/2” bongs.

More oldies: Hardman Timson on the Slack Center at the base of El Capitan 1974. This is a pretty stout 5.10, even today. I really like black and white photography and shot B&W film for a couple seasons in the 70’s.

num1mc, I’m still waiting for an answer.... Meanwhile, here another oldie. Not mine, though. Bruce Albert took this one of Carla Firey, probably sometime in the 70’s, somewhere at Peshastin Pinnacles. One of these days Bruce (MrMo) is gonna kick my ass for using his photos.

I know it’s hard to believe but I don’t recognize you from that picture of you when you were 12 years old so you’re gonna have to tell me your name. You might even be in this hacky-sac circle next to the Tuolumne Meadows gas station. From right to left, Marko Milano, Eric Thixton (facing the other way), Rick LeDuc and three other Washingtonians.

Hahahaha! Fake news!!! Actually, not so fake, although mother and my home had nothing to do with this incident. I may have been heard to say, “I don’t know about you fuckers, but I’m going down”. Dave Anderson, Dave Davis, Don Brooks and I were attempting the Norwegian buttress in ‘74 or so. Donn Heller wasn’t along. I may have uttered that shocking statement after doing a horrendous half lead through an overhanging loose block section that no one else was willing to finish. So which one of those kids is a Tarver and which one is you? I met Annies brother John many moons ago. Here’s Anne in Tuolumne in 1980. The cowboys LOVED her....

You got that right tan-staff. This is what he looked like 44 years ago and he might be even more fit today. Mutant doesn’t even start to describe him. Driven beyond reason might be closer.

Are all of those kids Tarvers? OK, here’s another. Dave Anderson taking a swing at the 1st free ascent of Japanese Gardens in the mid 70’s. All we had were hexes for protection and neither of us was willing to commit. Probably would have been a grounder from way too far up...