Chongo's Big Wall Bible
Sebastian Walter
does anybody know how to get Chongo' s Big Wall book?
Even in Europe?
Is it worth it, either in the educational point of view or weird
enough?
Thanks,
and greetings from the surprisingly sunny Frankenjura,
with best regards,
Sebastian.
Undercling
if a copy can be made. As Rob does not have email etc, contact me to further
this inquiry. Apparently it is an amazing, weird ramble, and probably should
be safeguarded as another true relic of our culture!
Peter Haan
Undercling
Pat Nay
Perhaps it would be better to refer him to Chongo or Nomad Ventures or some
other place that is selling it, even general delivery Yosemite might work and
make sure Chuck gets a little dough for his time spent on Todd sofa.
pat
Tom Evans
selling it for $75 this summer in the Valley. There is some good stuff in
it and there is some that is very tedious in application. Remember, Chongo
is noted for taking longer on the big wall routes he has done than the !st
ascent parties. I don't know anyone who has thought longer and harder about
the various problems and systems we encounter in wall climbing. I think it
will be a very slow seller and a value because of the author as well as the
content. Most of the respected Valley wall climbers who know Chongo and
this particular work will say to get what you can out of it and browse the
rest, but that's what you do with any instruction book isn't it!?. The
sections on hauling are quite interesting and the set-up he recommends for
carrying and marking gear is quite involved and probably too slow to suit
most. At best you may learn a lot of things you never thought about in
quite his way and at worst you have a true collectors item!!
DCONDIT
>enough?
It's the most complete book on aid climbing you'll ever find...and this is just
volume one!
Dave
brian_...@my-deja.com
Its a great book. To get it you will have to track Chongo down. It's a
little expensive ($77 to be exact) but its over 600 pages and has many new
concepts. He spent 4 years getting this book ready. It may be hard for you
to get it in Europe...maybe a trip to the valley? or have someone buy it for
you and then ship it to you. Well i hope you can get your hands on it, its
great.
Brian
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
-N.
to Chris, he can sell you a copy.
-Neal
--
N
To reach me, remove _xxx from my address.
jc5...@my-deja.com
dco...@aol.com (DCONDIT) wrote:
> >Is it worth it, either in the educational point of view or weird
> >enough?
>
> It's the most complete book on aid climbing you'll ever find...and
this is just
> volume one!
>
> Dave
>
Who is the Author(actual name)?
who is the publisher?
where is it available?
What is the cost?
It sounds like there are a lot of interested customers, which means
there is a demand ,but where is the supply?
Jim Cormier
Cormier Mountaineering
Michael Schaefer
DCONDIT wrote in message <19991115190907...@ng-cg1.aol.com>...
>
>It's the most complete book on aid climbing you'll ever find...and this is
just
>volume one!
WOW, thats funny! Last time I looked at the book there wasn't any info on
how to actually aid climb. I think the book is a ground manual just like
chuck refers to it as. And like Chuck you will never be able to get off the
ground with the book.
mike schaefer
Joe Chen
I got a copy directly from Chongo this summer. At the time, the book was
available only through him, but he said that it will become available at
the Yosemite Mountain Shop eventually. He also said that he didn't have
any plans to hand it over to a publisher for professional publication.
He told me that if any of my friends wanted a copy, they should send him
mail with a check for $70 + $10 for shipping & handling. Reading other
people's posts, that price may have changed by now. You best bet is to
send him mail.
He's receiving mail at
Chongo
c/o Yosemite Lodge, Front Desk
Yosemite, CA 95389
(not sure about the zip-code)
I'm not sure if he'll be spending this winter there, but he sent me a
package from this address just a month ago (he was kind enough to ship
back an ascender I dropped, rather than keeping it as booty!)
Please make sure that he gets a little dough for his efforts and don't
distribute illegal copies.
Joe
On Mon, 15 Nov 1999, Sebastian Walter wrote:
> Hi there,
> does anybody know how to get Chongo' s Big Wall book?
> Even in Europe?
> Is it worth it, either in the educational point of view or weird
> enough?
>
Dennis Murphree
> Does anyone have a status report on Chongo's planned solo of Sea of
> Dreams? As of 10/17 he was still bivied at the base. Has he left the
> ground yet? Completed the solo? bailed?
>
possibly a more appropriate question: has chongo left the ground in the
last 3 years? even jose was teasing him at the Camp 4 celebration!
;)
dennis
-N.
Dreams? As of 10/17 he was still bivied at the base. Has he left the
ground yet? Completed the solo? bailed?
Cheers,
Clint Cummins
>> Dreams? As of 10/17 he was still bivied at the base. Has he left the
>> ground yet? Completed the solo? bailed?
Dennis Murphree <dmu...@leland.Stanford.EDU> wrote:
>possibly a more appropriate question: has chongo left the ground in the
>last 3 years? even jose was teasing him at the Camp 4 celebration!
>
>;)
Earlier in October, he had several haul bags fixed about 1 pitch
off the ground, and the next pitch also fixed. He jumared around a
bit during the 3 days I was in the area, and tried to lift a bag
which was fified to the lower anchors, but no dice.
I read a little of his book when I was belaying from the ground;
I didn't learn anything new, but he did have some decent advice -
rookies should avoid a "team of three". The book did not seem very
dense with good advice or diagrams, though. I don't think the book
would be very good for learning how to do big walls; the information
is just spread across too many pages. "Advanced Rockcraft" is
better in my opinion (although I'm biased since I learned using it,
and the gear it covers is a bit outdated). Apparently he has
only been up El Cap about 3 times (all solo). No doubt he has spent
a lot of time thinking about how to do walls, but I'm not sure if
that translates into being able to make a useful book.
Clint Cummins
cj...@my-deja.com
cl...@leland.Stanford.EDU (Clint Cummins) wrote:
> >On Wed, 17 Nov 1999, -N. wrote:
> >> Does anyone have a status report on Chongo's planned solo of Sea of
> >> Dreams? As of 10/17 he was still bivied at the base. Has he left
the
> >> ground yet? Completed the solo? bailed?
>
> Dennis Murphree <dmu...@leland.Stanford.EDU> wrote:
> >possibly a more appropriate question: has chongo left the ground in
the
> >last 3 years? even jose was teasing him at the Camp 4 celebration!
> >
> >;)
>
> Earlier in October, he had several haul bags fixed about 1 pitch
> off the ground, and the next pitch also fixed. He jumared around a
> bit during the 3 days I was in the area, and tried to lift a bag
> which was fified to the lower anchors, but no dice.
>
Around the first week of Nov. I met him below the base of SOD. His
(partial) stuff was 2-3 pitches up and he was gearing up to haul more
stuff up there and trundle a loose block/flake. Funny part was, to me
at least, his lines were fixed to "two bodyweight placements equalized,
toootally bomber, and if that blows, I've got two more copperheads below
that....hmmm, maybe I should equalize those...."
According to his estimates, he should be 12-14 pitches up by now ;?)
Cheers,
Christian
Karl Baba
photocopying such a thing) or can't deal with trying to find Chongo for
a copy and copies a substantial portion, that a fair solution would be
to send some bucks to the address quoted below. I guess it would be
nice to know what name would be acceptable for money orders and such.
Anybody?
In article
<Pine.GSO.3.96.99111...@gsb-kwanza.Stanford.EDU>, Joe
Chen <che...@leland.Stanford.EDU> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I got a copy directly from Chongo this summer. At the time, the book was
> available only through him, but he said that it will become available at
> the Yosemite Mountain Shop eventually. He also said that he didn't have
> any plans to hand it over to a publisher for professional publication.
>
> He told me that if any of my friends wanted a copy, they should send him
> mail with a check for $70 + $10 for shipping & handling. Reading other
> people's posts, that price may have changed by now. You best bet is to
> send him mail.
>
> He's receiving mail at
> Chongo
> c/o Yosemite Lodge, Front Desk
> Yosemite, CA 95389
> (not sure about the zip-code)
>
> I'm not sure if he'll be spending this winter there, but he sent me a
> package from this address just a month ago (he was kind enough to ship
> back an ascender I dropped, rather than keeping it as booty!)
>
> Please make sure that he gets a little dough for his efforts and don't
> distribute illegal copies.
>
> Joe
http://extra.newsguy.com/~climbing/
Rockclimbing Guide (remove NOSPAM from the return address)
Simon Witcher
>nice to know what name would be acceptable for money orders and such.
>Anybody?
Charles Tucker is his feature-length name, I think.
Simon
rick
Russ etc, what is Tucker Tech's (mr mooooodddddddyyyy) real name?
d
Joe Chen
On 17 Nov 1999, Clint Cummins wrote:
> >On Wed, 17 Nov 1999, -N. wrote:
> >> Does anyone have a status report on Chongo's planned solo of Sea of
> >> Dreams? As of 10/17 he was still bivied at the base. Has he left the
> >> ground yet? Completed the solo? bailed?
>
> Dennis Murphree <dmu...@leland.Stanford.EDU> wrote:
> >possibly a more appropriate question: has chongo left the ground in the
> >last 3 years? even jose was teasing him at the Camp 4 celebration!
> >
>
> Earlier in October, he had several haul bags fixed about 1 pitch
> off the ground, and the next pitch also fixed. He jumared around a
> bit during the 3 days I was in the area, and tried to lift a bag
> which was fified to the lower anchors, but no dice.
That's real funny to hear - when I came through at the end of August, he
just got his bags to the top of pitch 1. Sounds to me like he's managing
a pace of about 1 pitch per month. So to do 26 pitches....
Joe
Rex Pieper
> Apparently he has only been up El Cap about 3 times (all solo).
I don't know that you could even actually say he CLIMBED El Cap 3 times
*all solo*. Our "hero" is known for hitchiking his way up trade routes
a la "I'll let you guys pass, but do me a favor and fix my line up the next
pitch." and then kickin' it until the next party catches up, and so on...
I'll wager a sixer of beer that I'll see him before Xmas bumming it
in Josh and that his lines will still be up there, fixed to pitch 3, come
spring. Sounds like his "South Seas" attempt a few years back...lots of
sitting at the base, little actual climbing.
> No doubt he has spent a lot of time thinking about how to do walls,
> but I'm not sure if that translates into being able to make a useful
> book.
Yeah it's got a few innovative concepts, but a whole lot of kooky stuff
too. Reminds me a lot of the Unibomber's Manifesto for some reason...
Definitely one for the book collectors.
-Rex Pieper
remove ".XSPAM" from signature to reply
brent ware
> cl...@leland.Stanford.EDU (Clint Cummins) wrote:
> > No doubt he has spent a lot of time thinking about how to do walls,
> > but I'm not sure if that translates into being able to make a useful
> > book.
>
> Yeah it's got a few innovative concepts, but a whole lot of kooky stuff
> too. Reminds me a lot of the Unibomber's Manifesto for some reason...
> Definitely one for the book collectors.
And if you catch him in the parking lot and give him a beer, he'll
show you his innovative concepts on the spot. Much cheaper than
popping big bux for the book.
I'm not dissing the dude's ideas -- he put me onto the 2:1 haul (which
I think rules, though my less spatially-inclined partners think it's a
hassle (beats the hell out of space jugging and 3:1 systems)) and the
garda knot. Neither of which are exactly unknown, but until he
started telling me how they worked, I was unfamiliar with them.
-bw
-N.
<Pine.GSO.3.96.991117...@gsb-kwanza.Stanford.EDU>, Joe
Chen <che...@leland.Stanford.EDU> wrote:
> > Earlier in October, he had several haul bags fixed about 1 pitch
> > off the ground, and the next pitch also fixed. He jumared around a
> > bit during the 3 days I was in the area, and tried to lift a bag
> > which was fified to the lower anchors, but no dice.
>
> That's real funny to hear - when I came through at the end of August, he
> just got his bags to the top of pitch 1. Sounds to me like he's managing
> a pace of about 1 pitch per month. So to do 26 pitches....
Indeed, what would the world do with a speedy Chongo? All species and
organisms are naturally defined by certain limits and methods of
locomotion. "Ye Ole Tyme Climbers' have oft lamented that the swiftness of
ascent practiced by younger generations has distanced them from fully
enjoying the views and internalizing the complete climbing experience.
These heroic and deep-feeling pioneers bravely admonished the future
climber to beware the ills of excessive speed. Chongo has not only
addressed this issue, but has also augmented his climbing strategies by
entraining an elaborate scopic regime worthy of the size and scale of El
Capitan...a 'bivy and survey' strategy. Unless you bivy at the base for
several months it is difficult to move 'within the mountain's time', hard
to engage all your senses...you aren't 'climbing' in the true sense of the
word. Had the original settlers of our American West bulleted overland and
crossed the continent in a day or two, they would have been denied the
vast and epic American journey. Anything less than an El Cap Wagon Train:
four haulbags, as many buckets, and a few backpacks just serves to
distance the climber from the climb as well as keeping the window of
adventure securely shut. Lacking that, why even bother to climb? With all
this talk of New Wave Ratings vs. Old Wave vs. 'whatever', it is a shame
that the coveted corollary to a Grade XXXVI is not mentioned, alongside
the more common Grade IV's and V's.
I can confirm Chongo's successful implementation of this ennobled
doctrine, as I was one of many who assisted in the hoisting of the
'Kon-Tiki' over the lip of his last excursion on El Cap. In all fairness,
I have never seen another climber identify with the East Ledges descent
trail as fully as Chuck has. On day two (or was it day three) of his
descent, I had walked a ways up the East Ledges Trail and found Chongo in
the middle of the trail peaceably day-bivying, sitting in a heap of his
gear...obviously transported into a transcendent sleepy trance as a result
of his focused efforts to fully embrace this great mountain's descent.
To those that have voiced the evils of committing to the life of a
climbing bum based on the concept that too much climbing would destroy the
enterprise through overindulgence, Chongo exists as superb proof that one
can judiciously avoid the evils of over-climbing with strong discipline
and resourcefulness, and can live the dedicated life of a climbing bum
without falling victim to the so called degenerative effects of the need
to climb.
-N.
> I read a little of his book when I was belaying from the ground;
> I didn't learn anything new, but he did have some decent advice -
> rookies should avoid a "team of three". The book did not seem very
> dense with good advice or diagrams, though. I don't think the book
> would be very good for learning how to do big walls; the information
> is just spread across too many pages. "Advanced Rockcraft" is
> better in my opinion (although I'm biased since I learned using it,
> and the gear it covers is a bit outdated). Apparently he has
> only been up El Cap about 3 times (all solo). No doubt he has spent
> a lot of time thinking about how to do walls, but I'm not sure if
> that translates into being able to make a useful book.
I've only skimmed his book but have talked and argued with him allot about
it and his wall ideas, and I've seen him defend it (his defense to Eric
Kohl's drunken yet informed tirade was rather elegant...Chongo shrugged
off credit and claimed it was not his 'ideas' that were superior but
rather the laws of physics on which they were based).
It is definitely not addressed for beginners. It is massive and detailed:
a rookie, armed only with Chongo's book and advice, would probably get
confused. The latter is one of his major selling methods: waylay the new
wall climber en-route to a climb and begin a conversation about technique
bringing in esoteric and advanced (yet sound) information...a seed of
doubt is planted as to whether one's knowledge is up to snuff. On the
other hand, once the basic act of doing a wall is under one's belt, the
book can be a useful source of reference, and is probably more
encyclopedic than anything out there. I can't see that it has serious
competition for status as the modern benchmark big wall book. But, it
helps to have prior experience of wall climbing before one can be in a
position to edit and judge the usefulness of the information therein.
Eric D. Coomer
brent ware <bw...@bware.org> wrote in message
news:m3ogcrd...@tera232.terabeam.com...
> I'm not dissing the dude's ideas -- he put me onto the 2:1 haul
(which
> I think rules, though my less spatially-inclined partners think it's
a
> hassle (beats the hell out of space jugging and 3:1 systems)) and
the
> garda knot. Neither of which are exactly unknown, but until he
> started telling me how they worked, I was unfamiliar with them.
Hey! I am not spatially challanged... I still think the 2:1 is just
a pain when a little back-breaking feet-on-the-wall grunting will
accomplish the same thing. I think you're just lazy... :)
cheers
Eric
Karl Baba
department. Unfortunately, so am I.
Peace
Karl
In article <816o5v$ik6$1...@nntp4.atl.mindspring.net>, "Eric D. Coomer"
<coo...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
Eric D. Coomer
Karl Baba <gu...@NOSPAMnewsguy.com> wrote in message
news:221119990717125998%gu...@NOSPAMnewsguy.com...
> I think you guys are both just "well endowed" in the hauling
> department. Unfortunately, so am I.
I've been trying to cut down on the donuts, but damn, the alpine belly
is bound to keep me warm this winter. And just in time too, since it
finally got cold. Looks to be at least 6" of new on the ground. I
should be skiing...
Cheers
Eric
brent ware
> Hey! I am not spatially challanged... I still think the 2:1 is just
> a pain when a little back-breaking feet-on-the-wall grunting will
> accomplish the same thing. I think you're just lazy... :)
We're both spatially challenged, in the sense that neither of us will
fit in a small one.
But I agree, if you can grunt it up solo, grunt it up (that's what I
did on the last few of SS). But if you're waiting for your partner to
get up so's he/she can counterweight, then get it out and get going.
Of course I'm lazy. Perl is not the only discipline in which laziness
and hubris are attributes.
-bw
Wendy Joseph
>Perl is not the only discipline in which laziness
>and hubris are attributes.
Yeah, but they aren't that helpful in the discipline of
*spelling*.
Obligatory spelling mistake in a spelling flame follows:
Wnedy
Geoff Clitheroe -USGS EHZ-
Hmmm, I guess this is fall in the US. Climbers get desperate and
start discussing editors and scripting. The ice is coming.
-Geoff
Russ Walling
>
> > Charles Tucker?
> >
> > Russ etc, what is Tucker Tech's (mr mooooodddddddyyyy) real name?
> >
> years ago his real name is ... Tucker Tech.
>
> Actually John Tucker Tech, but he hates the name John.
>
> Cheers, DH
Missed the thread but....
Chongo is Chuck Tucker of the infamous "Tucker Brothers" or "Chongo
Brothers". So, I guess "Charles" would break down to Chuck in a pinch.
The other Tucker is as above. John Tucker Tech, not the writer or
follower of any Bible.
adios,
Russ
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david_h...@my-deja.com
> Charles Tucker?
>
> Russ etc, what is Tucker Tech's (mr mooooodddddddyyyy) real name?
>
I've never met the guy but according to a profile in Climbing a few
years ago his real name is ... Tucker Tech.
Actually John Tucker Tech, but he hates the name John.
Cheers, DH
david_h...@my-deja.com
> Missed the thread but....
> Chongo is Chuck Tucker of the infamous "Tucker Brothers" or "Chongo
> Brothers". So, I guess "Charles" would break down to Chuck in a pinch.
> The other Tucker is as above. John Tucker Tech, not the writer or
> follower of any Bible.
>
>
Thanks for clearing that up. This thread was starting to become rather
confusing to us distant aliens.