Stewart M. Green's Blog, page 7

Ed Webster: Desert Travels with Climbing Buddy

Ed Webster flying below Castleton Tower near Moab, Utah.Ed Webster--climber extraordinaire, Everest mountaineer, and prolific first ascensionist--was out here in Colorado from his Maine homestead for the past couple weeks. He gave lectures on his desert and Colorado ascents in Boulder, Golden, and Colorado Springs. Unfortunately, I couldn't attend the Springs talk last week since I was getting over a dizzying case of vertigo (not a good thing if you like high places!).So over the weekend, Ed and I climbed into my white pickup and headed west to Moab for a blitz two-day trip. Ed did a quick interview with Julie Potsdam, an 83-year-old climber living over there, and we stayed with Karl Kelley, guidebook author and owner of the Desert Bistro, a stellar restaurant that's a tasty leap up from the Moab Diner. Ed was shocked, and actually I was too, by the crazy building going on there as well as the hordes of tourists infesting Moab's sidewalks. That place is changing, and not for the better.On Saturday afternoon we drove down the River Road from I-70, passing over the new Dewey Bridge, the old burned husk of the classic original dangling from burnt cables over the Colorado River. Back in the '70s Ed reminded me, we saw the Dewey Bridge as the portal to the vast and undiscovered canyon country, a climbing playground that we shared with almost no one else. Not even mountain bikers since the fat-tire two-wheelers hadn't been invented yet.We stopped at the Fisher Towers and went for a hike in the 97-degree heat, a stiff wind buffeting our hair. Ed wanted to go over to Lizard Rock first. The Lizard rises east of the parking area. At the base of a shallow crack, Ed looked up. "Hey, the bolt I placed in 1984 is still there." He bouldered up the crack ten feet. "I think that's high enough." Ed had done the first ascent of that crack, calling it Leapin' Lizards.Ed Webster Jamming up Leapin' Lizards at the Fisher Towers, Utah.We drove over to the Castleton Tower parking area with its designated campsites and information board. Ed remembered it a lot differently when there was simply a few dusty parking spots and you could spread the sleeping bag out anywhere. I took his photograph, arms spread, below the great proud tower. Castleton figured prominently in Ed's illustrious desert climbing career. He made the first free ascent of the West Face, a route I pioneered with Jimmie Dunn and Billy Westbay in 1971; the first free ascent of the North Face, another Jimmie route; and first ascents of Stardust Cowboy, Arrowhead Left, and Black Sun. He also made an early ascent of the nearby Priest.Back in Colorado Springs, Ed hung out at Jimmie's house, sorting JD's old photos. On Monday evening, the three of us, who Jimmie was calling "The Saints," headed over to the Garden of the Gods to do a few pitches. Here's a shot of Jimmie and Ed in the fading evening light on the sandstone terrace below Cowboy Book Crack.It's always good to see old friends. It reminds you of who you once were and who you've become, of the story in your book of changes. I've been friends with Edster since 1975, when Jimmie took me over to Cutler Hall at Colorado College. We had been climbing at the Garden and Jim said, "There's this new climber at CC you should meet." We went into his dorm room, but he wasn't there so we looked out the open window. Ed was bouldering up the stone wall of the building to his second-story room. That's how friendships begin....Ed Webster and Jimmie Dunn below Cowboy Boot Crack at the Garden of the Gods, Colorado.

1971: First Ascent of Castleton Tower's West Face

In late November 1971, I made the first ascent of the West Face of Castleton Tower near Moab with Jimmie Dunn and Billy Westbay. We had already had a successful desert climbing trip, doing the 3rd ascent of Standing Rock and the 5th or 6th ascent of North Sixshooter Peak. We set our hearts on doing a new route up Castleton and the obvious line was the wide crack system up the West Face. Base camp for the climb was a cheap motel, the only motel, in Moab, which offered hot showers and lumpy beds. The first day we humped loads to the base of the route and climbed the first pitch, with pitons gently tapped next to loose hanging blocks. On day two we jumared up a 9mm rope, which ended up being half cut through near the anchor where the wind had whipped it across a sharp edge. Scary! Above we climbed wide cracks, mostly protected with occasional bong pitons stacked against each other in the 6- to 8-inch wide cracks. Here's a photo I took at the final belay niche of Billy Westbay launching up the final pitch, a 5.10- off-width crack, in the late afternoon. After completing the 8th overall ascent of Castleton, we laughed on the summit, then celebrated by tossing off some of the timbers left behind by the crew of the 1964 Chevy car commercial. Earl Wiggins in his book Canyon Country Climbs (1989; co-authored with Katy Cassidy) called the West Face "one of the hardest desert climbs of the era." I know that all three of us felt privileged to climb that proud tower and stand alone on its sky-island summit, surrounded by the untrodden red rock desert, on a cold November day. Incidentally, Jimmie and I were the 12th and 13th people to climb Castleton, and Billy was the 15th. Kind of amazing when considering the 80,000 or more ascents that Castleton now has...Billy Westbay leading the last pitch on the West Face of Castleton Tower. Jimmie Dunn and I sat in the belay cave looking out across Castle Valley. As Billy climbed the pitch, Jimmie and I watched a golden eagle riding the breeze, slowly wheeling around the tower, its wings a scant 60 feet from us. Photo @ Stewart M. Green

Dateline 1911: John Otto Climbs Independence Monument

Here's a photograph I shot with a 600mm lens of a couple climbers rappelling off Independence Monument after a successful ascent of Otto's Route in Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction in western Colorado. John Otto, a crazy redneck cowboy, trailbuilder, and general pain in the neck to local politicians and newspapers, did the first ascent of the 450-foot-high tower in 1911. He laboriously drilled a ladder of pipes with a big railroad hand drill, chopped about 60 steps in the Wingate sandstone, and wedged juniper tree trunks in the route's infamous off-width crack to facilitate his ascent. Otto also tirelessly lobbied to have the sandstone canyons southwest of Grand Junction turned into a national park. His efforts paid off in 1911 when President William Howard Taft proclaimed the area as Colorado National Monument. Otto was appointed park superintendent for the princely wage of a dollar a month. He held the position until 1927 when the Park Service relieved him of his duties because he was, as one local put it, a "virtual pest." The great climber Layton Kor told me that a lot of the pipes we still in Otto's Route when he climbed it in 1960 with Harvey Carter. The following couple years the Park Service removed most of them. Check out the second edition of Layton's book Beyond the Vertical (which I edited and made photo selections for) of Mr. Kor grabbing pipes on the last pitch. That photo took me 9 hours of Photoshop work to make it presentable. If you haven't climbed Otto's Route, go do it! I've been up the beast 16 times, which pales to the 100+ ascents my buddy Brian Shelton with Front Range Climbing Company has done. Great climbing Mister Otto...you crazy old bastard!Climbers rappel off the top pitch of Otto's Route on Independence Monument in Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction, Colorado. Photo @ Stewart M. Green

Two New Books Released May 1 by FalconGuides

Yesterday, May 1, I had two new books released by FalconGuides: Best Easy Day Hikes Colorado Springs (3rd Edition) and Best Easy Day Hikes Carlsbad Caverns & Guadalupe Mountains National Parks. I wrote the second and the new third edition of the best-selling Best Easy Day Hikes Colorado Springs book, detailing 25 hikes in the Pikes Peak region up to five miles long. Tracy Salcedo wrote the first edition of the book. Click on this link to Best Easy Day Hikes Colorado Springs at Amazon to purchase your own copy to guide you to the best trails. I'll sign it if I see you on the trail.My newest book is Best Easy Day Hikes Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains National Parks. The pocket-sized guidebook details 25 fabulous hikes in the national parks in Texas and New Mexico. Guadalupe Mountains is a hiker's paradise with over 80 miles of trails threading through the compact desert range. One of the best climbs to the summit of Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas. Also check out the hikes at Carlsbad Caverns. Several of the trails explore the cave, one of the most beautiful caverns in the United States. Pick up a copy of Best Easy Day Hikes Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains National Parksat Amazon and make plans for a national park holiday. See you on the trails!

Dateline 1927: Stettner Brothers Climb Hardest Route in America

Joe Stettner climbs a face at Camp Hale in 1943. He helped train 10th Mountain Divisionsoldiers during World War II.Stettner Brothers Drive Motorcycles to ColoradoOn Saturday, September 23, 1927, Joe Stettner (1901-1997) and Paul Stettner (1906-1994), two German immigrant brothers from Chicago, Illinois, rode their Indian motorcycles west from Chicago through sunshine and rain storms to the Colorado Rockies on a 24-day road trip. The pair was laden down with climbing equipment, including German pitons which had arrived a few hours before their departure, a "sign of good fortune" they believed. Speeding along concrete roads in Illinois, the brothers made good time before slowing down to 20 mph on the rough dirt highway across Iowa and later bouncing down a muddy road filled with potholes in Nebraska.Ride up Pikes Peak and Climb at Garden of the GodsAfter reaching Denver, the Stettners turned south and drove to Colorado Springs, racing against an automobile with speeds reaching 80 mph. The next day they rode their motorbikes to the summit of 14,115-foot Pikes Peak on the world's highest auto road. They wrote in their journal: "A glorious view was the reward for our effort. The very cold temperature on the summit admonished us to quickly turn around." The following day they "gathered equipment for a new trip to the Garden of the Gods" and spent the "entire day climbing, photographing, and patching up our pants (torn by the sharp rocks)."Search of a New Climbing RopeThe next day they traveled north to the Longs Peak Inn near the base of famed 14,256-foot-high Longs Peak, centerpiece of Rocky Mountain National Park. Here they attempted to purchase a rope, the only piece of gear that they didn't have, but "the owner refused to sell it or let us use it," saying it was too late in the season to attempt the East Face of Longs Peak. Others told them that "there had been several serious falls on this wall and, of the eight parties that attempted to climb it this year, only one had been successful." With dwindling supplies and hopes of climbing, the Stettner brothers went north to Estes Park where they found "some sisal hemp rope-a big coil, half-inch thick, stiff and heavy" in the general store. They bought 120 feet of it.Hike to Timberline CabinThat same day they headed up the trail to spend the night in Timberline Cabin at Jim's Grove. They reached the hut, three-and-a-half miles up the trail, just as a big storm hit. They patched the roof to keep rain and cold out, fired up a stove to brew hot drinks, and stretched out on "sacks of straw to sleep." They noted, "The only thing we mountain rats lacked was good music."Finding a Route on the Lower East FaceThe following day, September 14, they woke to clear skies at 5 o'clock in the morning. "It was a promising day for our climb." The brothers hiked across boulder-strewn slopes on the north side of Chasm Lake below the monolithic East Face, then stopped and eyeballed the wall. They noted the two established routes--Keiner's and Alexander's Chimney--and studied them, but their goal was "to find a new route." Using binoculars, they pieced together "a line of broken plates, ledges and cracks that we could eventually use as a route" right of Alexander's Chimney. "We finally decided," they wrote, "to ascend via these ledges as close as possible to the water markings coming down from Broadway," a horizontal ledge that divides the East Face.Snow Climbing to the Route BaseThe Stettners quickly climbed steep hard snow beneath the face, using crampons and ice axes for purchase. Below the proposed route, they changed from hobnail boots into "felt-soled rock climbing shoes" (called manchon) and bundled up the ice gear and slid it down the snow slopes for later retrieval. They soloed the first 100 feet, then tied into the rope. "With great trouble we fought our way upwards. Time-wise it appeared that we would have to retreat."Cracks, Slabs, and a SlipPaul Stettner described the climbing, "Slowly we made our way over smooth slabs. The view down the steep wall to the snowfield far below was wonderful. All around us was deep silence, broken only by a call from one of us to the other, or the sound of a hammer being used on a piton." The pair slowly worked up cracks and slabs and short overhanging sections. At one point Joe slipped but Paul him tight with the belay. He said, "The rope round my waist wrung me totally together, like a wet rag…."Paul Takes a Leader FallThey hammered pitons in cracks for protection but also found long sections where no cracks were found. Here Paul led "without much security." At one smooth section, he took a short leader fall, writing, "My fingers gave way, and so did my toes, and I found myself going down. Through friction my speed was lessened, and Joe, who was stationed at the piton, brought me to a stop." After a short rest, Paul tried again and successfully smeared up the slab. Above, a light snow began to fall as the pair scrambled up easier rock to Broadway, reaching the ledge system five hours after starting. Paul had led every pitch.Seven Hours to the SummitThe Stettners continued climbing above Broadway, following Kiener's Route to the summit of Longs Peak and reaching the summit at five o'clock in the afternoon after seven hours of climbing. They said, "…we shook hands and recorded our climb in the register. We decided to stop for a short break and ate bread and sardines, our only meal of the day." They descended down the steep North Face, locating a thick metal cable in the snow and growing darkness, which they hand-over-handed down to the Boulderfield below and the trail back down the mountain.Back to the Cabin and ChicagoA couple hours later, the brothers reached the cabin, made a meal, and crashed for the night. "Soon there was again peace for us in this little house." The next day they retrieved their equipment below Mills Glacier and hiked down to the motorcycles. A few days later on September 19, they left Rocky Mountain National Park and headed east to Chicago.Stettners Tell Only One Person about RouteAfter climbing what was arguably the hardest route climbed in the United States at that time, Joe and Paul Stettner modestly said nothing about their ascent and achievement. Men of actions rather than words. They told Charley Hewes, a writer and poet, who told Swiss mountaineer Walter Kiener who lived near Longs Peak. So for years no one knew about the route except a few local climbers.Hardest Climb in the United StatesIn 1935 climbers made several attempts to do the second ascent; one ended with a broken foot and rescue. The second ascent came in 1936 by Warren Gorrell, Charles Hardin, Ernie Field, and Eddie Watson; and the third not until 1942 when Joe Stettner teamed up with leading Colorado climber Bob Ormes. For almost twenty years, the route, named Stettner's Ledges, was the hardest rock climb in the United States along with Lizard Head, also in Colorado and led by Albert Ellingwood in the early 1920s.Stettner's Ledges ascends the lower East Face below the obvious Diamond on Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. Photo @ Stewart M. Green

Climbing in the Black Canyon with Layton Kor

Layton Kor and Ed Webster enjoy a cold beer in Layton's backyard in Kingman after climbing in western Arizona in April, 2009. Photo @ Stewart M. GreenI'm in the barren wilds of western Arizona hanging out with the great 1960s American climber Layton Kor. Layton, along with Royal Robbins, was probably the most prolific and influential rock climber during that seminal golden period in American rock climbing history. Layton climbed everywhere, putting up first ascents that are still being climbed and revered by today's rock stars.Layton Spins TalesIn late April, 2010, while driving out to attempt an ascent of a 300-foot-high soaring prow of rotten volcanic chiprock in the Black Mountains near the Arizona and California border, Layton entertained me with wild tales of his vertical adventures.Layton Kor Loved the Black CanyonOne of Layton Kor's favorite climbing areas back in the 1960s was the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River, now a national park, in western Colorado. The Black Canyon, a deep gorge lined with huge cliffs, was Layton's personal playground for ten years. He made the first ascents of all of the canyon's major walls, including North Chasm View Wall, South Chasm View Wall, and The Painted Wall.Kor Worked as a BricklayerHere's a funny story that Layton told me as we sped across the Golden Valley from Kingman to the Mount Nutt Wilderness Area above Bullhead City in Arizona. A bit of backstory: Layton Kor worked as a bricklayer for most of his adult life. "A good job," he says. "Gave me lots of time to climb." His father Jacob Kor was a mason also, who traveled with his family, including Layton, all over the United States to find construction work.First Ascent of a Pillar in the Black CanyonThis story recalls the first ascent of an unnamed 1,800-foot pillar below the South Rim of the Black Canyon in 1962. With a 1 p.m. start, Layton led his climbing partner down a steep brush-filled gully, doing a rappel off a large chockstone that choked the gully halfway down, to reach the base of the pillar by the Gunnison River. The pair did a few pitches and bivouacked on a ledge. The next morning dawned cloudy, with a faint mist dripping from the gray sky.Caught in the Rain"I was climbing in the Black Canyon with Jim Marts back in the sixties," said Layton, "and we got caught in a bad rainstorm after bivying on the wall. There were black clouds everywhere but I had told him, 'We don't have to worry about rain. It never rains down here.' Boy, was I wrong. We got caught about halfway up the wall in rain. I was soaked, water dripped into my boots. I ended up finishing the last pitch, aiding up a bushy groove to the rim at night with a flashlight in my mouth. Near the top the batteries burned out."Driving Back to Boulder"We got to the rim and had to drive back to Boulder. I had to be at work the next morning on Monday. At one time while we were driving, I thought he was falling asleep so I grabbed the steering wheel. We had a wrestling match with the wheel."The Bricklayers Rib Layton"When I got to the jobsite, I grabbed my toolbag but I was so tired I grabbed my rope instead of my level. I walked over to the wall and all the guys were staring at me. 'Layton, what are you doing with your rope?' 'Layton, you gonna use that rope as a line?' I never heard the end of that on the construction site. The other bricklayers ribbed me mercilessly. 'Layton, you bring your rope? You need to get that wall level!' Jeez, those guys gave me a hard time."Layton Kor uncoils a haul line before we climbed the first ascent of Kor's Kastle in the Black Mountains in western Arizona. April, 2009. Photo @ Stewart M. Green

John Gill and the Zen of Bouldering

John Gill on a low boulder problem at Little Owl Canyon, Colorado. Photo @ Stewart M. GreenHere's a photo I took in late April, 2005 of John Gill, former mathematics professor at the University of Southern Colorado and one of the first pure boulderers. Actually John basically developed the discipline of bouldering back in the 1950s, bringing his gymnastic strength, skills and mindset to climbing. These days John is called "the father of modern bouldering." Bouldering, the art of climbing small rocks, used to be an esoteric discipline. When I was younger, most climbers treated bouldering as "practice climbing," a way of training and increasing strength for longer climbing routes. And it was a good way to train., but bouldering was also much more. Like John Gill, I viewed bouldering as more of a moving meditation on rock than mere training. Bouldering was spiritual, a way of moving through the world on stone.A good boulder problem was never flashed or done on the first try. Instead the problem slowly unfolded over time. First, I would look at the rock and think, maybe I could climb that arete or that blank face. And then hands were put to holds and feet found the right balance. I would work on the movements on boulders, especially at the Ute Pass Boulders west of Colorado Springs, until my body learned how to climb the rock. Then came practice, climbing a good problem over and over again until it was wired, until I could climb it without thinking, until my body knew the moves and instinctually moved up the boulder. Wiring the problem, what is called "habit formation," was essential for bouldering to be a spiritual discipline. It freed the mind and body from the mundane task of figuring out what to do when confronted with a piece of vertical rock. I just stepped up and climbed, hand to that hold, foot stemmed over there, fingers crimping a crystal above, two-handed mantle onto the sloping summit. There's freedom in those unthinking movements. It's also a way to practice nonattachment. It always seemed so ego-driven to name and rate a problem that ascended only ten or twelve feet of stone, to want to leave your marker there, to pee at the base or paint a red dot to show "I was here, I did this." No, bouldering is about the movement, about busting hard moves close to the ground, about climbing without ropes and carabiners and all the other accoutrements and gear, and about freedom from ego and achievement. On this spring day, John Gill, Eric Hörst, Colin Lantz, and myself went out to Little Owl Canyon, one of John's secret bouldering spots west of Pueblo. Even then, in his late 60s, Mister Gill could crank some of his old problems. Amazing man and amazing climber. John, thanks for the inspiration.John Gill points out one of his boulder problems at Little Owl Canyon, Colorado. Photo @ Stewart M. Green

Coyote at the Great Sand Dunes: Omen of the Trickster

Coyote (Canis latrans) is the wily trickster of mythology, who, like Prometheus, stole fire from the gods as a gift to the people. In Native American stories, Coyote is a contradictory shadowy figure who is cunning, funny, frightening, foolish and sly. Shamans sometimes assume the form of Coyote, and it is said that it is a bad omen if Coyote crosses your path.Here is a photograph of a coyote, wading through deep snow, at Great Sand Dunes National Park in southern Colorado on a five-degree winter day. I viewed this coyote, who ignored me, as a propitious event, a crossing of paths of two tricksters Coyote at Great Sand Dunes National Park. Photograph @ Stewart M. Green