Dwayner Posted February 20, 2002 Posted February 20, 2002 Question: what does the flaming torch of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and last night's Club Pub gathering in Seattle have in common?Answer: the word "spectacular"!Once again, a veritable Who's Who of climbing was present last night. I was surprised to be greeted by the pop of flashbulbs as I entered the venue...the European climbing paparazzi were in full force and were removed by the managers in short order. (Unfortunately, Alpine K's driver, personal chef, and masseuse were all tossed out with the reporters. "They're used to it," he said, and continued drinking.) So many people showed up that THE TABLES HAD TO BE ACTUALLY REARRANGED!!! Matt P was already there when I arrived...effortlessly cool, signing autographs for droves of fans of all ages. I finally intervened with a stern: "Hello!!! Uh, Private Par-tay!!!" That seemed to do the trick. Speaking of tricks, Uncle Tricky was there and tricked us all by being virtually unrecognizable. Apparently the Amish expelled him from the commune and he's now clean-shaven, and was being checked out by both the barflys and sportclimbers on the troll. Lookin' good, babe, but have you thought of the long-term effects it's going to have on your ZZ-TOP tribute band? At one point, the bar manager came up to us with a big stack of papers..."enough", he yelled. "I'm out of FAX paper and I'm turning the machine off!" It was basically a fistful of telegrams: Royal Robbins said he might show up late but don't count on it. Warren Harding wished us the best of luck for a fun-filled evening. Doug Scott's plane was late so he probably wasn't going to make it. etc. Clint Eastwood and George Kennedy,etc. Gaston Rebuffat would have been there, but he's dead. Ed Hillary called MattP on his cell phone and asked if we liked Uncle Tricky's new look. "Yes we do", we all yelled in unison. We got a FAX from Argentina from a "Mister Andrew Warhol" but we think it was a fake. Did I mention that Erik from Tacoma was there and his friend John? And Dr. Jay, looking suave in his Bangkok-purchased silken medical pajamas...Dave, Matt, and a dozen other celebrities too numerous to name were also present... Was it a Sausage Ranch, you ask? HECK NO! The lovely and talented Allison appeared, dressed to stun...and she did. There was another young lady there (Victoria?) who didn't talk to me so I didn't give her the dozen fresh roses I brought for her...that's the breaks...I gave them to an anonymous girl at the 7-11 on the way home in exchange for a Slurpee. There was a lot of grumbling and mumbling about Icegirl. She had chosen the location of this gathering (with its crappy parking) yet was nowhere to be seen. She finally arrived around 10 PM, and it was well worth the wait. This delightful young alpinist should change her internet name from "Icegirl" to "Cutegirl"! Yowsa! She charmed the socks off of several of us. Then again, that's pretty easy to do when you're sitting next to Alpine K.There was lots of beer....torn up and thrown beer coasters, and a variety of entertaining party-like antics. Beta was swapped, modified and swapped again. Party fouls? Here's a big tip from the pro's: Festive social gatherings are no place to discuss climbing ethics, especially if you have deeply held beliefs...but several made the mistake of asking me, and they received "the rant". The effect of my animated conversation was that of a "Baby Ruth in a swimming pool", to quote one of those present, and it wasn't long before I was isolated...alone near the end of the table, just me and Al the Rainier-climbing airline pilot, and we had a good "we don'ts cares what nobodies says" conversation. The party raged until 12:30...and if you weren't there, ten years from now, we'll be hearing the old Woodstock effect:Number of people at last night's Pub Club: 25Number of people claiming to have "been there" at last night's Pub Club: 2,500. - Dwayner Quote
icegirl Posted February 20, 2002 Posted February 20, 2002 fantastic trip report! once again, for those who didn't catch it, and those who missed it... some picts are posted at: http://staff.washington.edu/ljames/pubclub.html more to follow... Quote
Uncle_Tricky Posted February 20, 2002 Posted February 20, 2002 Dwayner, you're too modest. All would agree that the highlight of the evening was Dwayner's demonstration of how to use ancient Egyptian knot-making techniques to weave a functional, dynamic lead climbing rope from nothing more than soggy bar napkins and pubic hair. Now that's old school! Quote
AlpineK Posted February 21, 2002 Posted February 21, 2002 I'm not sure if Dwayner is making fun of me or not, but I had a fun evening. Quote
To_The_Top Posted February 21, 2002 Posted February 21, 2002 Agreed that last night was fun, and as the auditor there we were able to leave the place with the bill paid and a tip too. It was tough with all the help we had there, and of course all the beer that was drunk. Quote
erik Posted February 21, 2002 Posted February 21, 2002 yes it was very fun, and i always have even thoughi tend to leave early....gots to get up early to go running..must maintain my girlish figure somehow...... though there seemed to be a controversy brewing in the mind of one ccer that has got me perplexed!?!?!!? ahh the myteries of the world.... Quote
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