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Brush with Greatness


dkemp

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Talked Old times with Tom Frost a few years ago (he hung out with my folks in Yosemite in the late 60's)

 

Helped Kurt Smith move out of The Ranch in Potrero when things went down 2 years ago.

 

Gave installation lessons on a recently purchased EntrePrise wall to Jim Bridwell in 1996.

 

Alan Watts was my boss at EntrePrise.

 

Hung out with Scott Milton and Fred Nicole last winter at Hueco for an afternoon. Wasn't climbing that day, just socializing and watching them. Talked with Scott quite a bit, Fred was quiet.

 

Got up the nerve to introduce myself to Lynn Hill at a climbers party at that teacher's house in J-Tree.

 

When I was 5 & 6 years old ('67 & '68), hung out in the climbers campground in Yosemite with Yvonne, Royal, Tom Frost, et al for a couple of summers. My mom worked as a baker, and would give them free bread, and my dad was a climber.

 

Know Chad Kellogg pretty well.

 

During the last good season at Hueco, was on first name basis with Todd Skinner. Also, bouldered with Tommy Caldwell a couple of times back then.

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"Got up the nerve to introduce myself to Lynn Hill at a climbers party at that teacher's house in J-Tree."

 

That teacher is Todd Gordon. One hell of a nice guy and solid climber himself. Met him at City of Rocks. He offered me a sip of his "ice cold" Mt. Dew at the back of Parking Lot Rock. It was luke warm. He started the conversation by admiring my antique Fire's that were identical to his.

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I shared Snicker's bars with Colby Coombs.

Boone Speed took photo's of me bouldering, and one became a magazine cover-shot.

Katie Brown thinks I'm a jerk.

John & Karen Yates call me at work.

I gave Steve Schnieder unsolicited beta the Feathers! (Sample dialogue- <me>"So, you're from NoCal....do you climb much at Yosemite? "<steve> "yes. go away."

I bought chalk from Tom Hornbein's daughter.

Fred gave me the evil eye once.

So did Croft.

 

 

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blush.gifOh yeah........ I've taken a dump in the camp 4 bathroom. Fred Beckey called me last week- yelled in the phone for a while, said "I can't hear what the hell your saying" and threw the phone down. I stayed in the same hotel as Andre The Giant (god rest his soul). My ex-girlfriend cheated on me with Jack Johnson, And...........Captain Caveman passed out in the backseat of my car, after attended the "best buns contest" at the Rickshaw. blush.gif
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My funniest brush was seeing Bob Barker get off a plane in Baltimore and REALLY enjoying all the attention. I think I was ten at the time... I've always thought the coolest brush I had ever heard about was when my friend went surfing with Yvon Chouinard.

 

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Drank beer with Joe Simpson when he was in town for a slideshow a few years back. He's a very funny and humble guy... and can definitely put it away.

 

Sat next to Pete Schoening for dinner at a K2 climbers reunion - I met a lot of legendary climbers that night, but having dinner with Schoening was definitely the highlight.

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dkemp said:

I once had BillyGoat stay the night at my pad. He actually fell for the line, "Breakfast is my specialty." smileysex5.gif

 

yellaf.gif I was pretty lit that night. Thanks for not taking advantage of me. Those pancakes were great! Heck you're the famous one, but I'll let you tell that story...

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One time I climbed with Beckey.

 

Then at that time I learned what focus was.

 

Bivy at all costs of the summit and leave everything useful behind at camp it seems.

 

Good thing I brought the radio, pack and tons of extra clothes on the mere 10,000 foot minus summit hahaha.gif

 

I remember the line of leave that shit behind. Similar line when we thought we wouldnt have to bivy on Slesse hahaha.gif No real bivy there but damn we laid down for about 20 minutes and my ass was warmer than my partner.

 

Magical Moments are not forgotten HCL.gif

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I ran a 3 mile cool-down run with Bill Rodgers after a 10k in New York last year. Really nice guy. We chatted about all kinds of stuff, including a flight he had where he sat next to Beck Weathers.

 

I saw Scott O'Grady at a table next to me in Spokane a couple years back and went over and spent a few minutes talking with him. Another genuinely good person.

 

I introduced myself to William Bennett after a flight from Las Vegas to SLC. He must either have been a gracious loser at the tables or it was good trip because we had a short, pleasant conversation.

 

 

 

 

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