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2007 Climber’s Holiday Awards

Scott Sandberg Volunteer of the Year Award
Boomerang Award
Boomerang Award II
Boomerang Awards III
Return After Dark (RAD)
Wanda Lust Award
The Climbing Itch Award
Weirdest Injury of Year Award
The "If Darwin could climb" Award
The Superman Award
Iron Chef Award
The Grey Beard Rapper Award
Award for the Best Chat up Line in Climbing History
The Come-Along Award
The Trad Instigator Award
Creepy Flakes Conquest Award
The Rock Hugger Award
Crab Style Self Rescue Award
The Golden Pen Award
Future Rope Gun Award

Scott Sandberg Volunteer of the Year Award - Jeff Squire

This year the Scott Sandberg Volunteer of the Year award goes to someone who is not an immediate part of the Boston climbing community and who may not be known to many of you. However, through the efforts that he has spearheaded our enjoyment of climbing will be significantly enhanced in the coming years. He’s someone that we should get to know better, and we are pleased that he is here tonight.

The volunteer of the year is Jeff Squire, president of the Western Massachusetts Climbers’ Coalition.

First, he led the multi-year effort to acquire land at the base of Farley Ledge in Erving Massachusetts, thus ensuring climbing access to one of the finest cliffs between the White Mountains and the ‘Gunks. Farley is only a little over an hour’s drive from here and yet for most of us it will be a new climbing area to explore. With $10,000 from the AMC Boston Chapter, $6,000 from the Mountaineering Committee and donations from the Access Fund as well as other organizations and many, many individuals as a result of sustained fund raising efforts on Jeff’s part, the 9 acre parcel was acquired this year.

Second, he led the efforts to control the bolt chopping activity of Ken Nichols. As reported in Climbing Magazine [I will quote the magazine article.]

His efforts and the efforts of the WMCC are not over. There’s still a lot of work to do, so I am very pleased to give Jeff this award as a sign that we strongly support what he has done, is doing and will do for climbers in the North East.

Boomerang Award – Sharlene Sallet

Many of us know that Boston is the best climbing community there is, but some of us don’t find this out without trying out other locations. This year we are very pleased to welcome back four of our members who recognized that there is no place like home. We have some boomerang awards.

You can take the girl out of New England but you can’t New England out of the girl. Sharlene went to Reno with the best of intentions but as soon as summer was over and a new set of friends from "the old place" didn’t show up every weekend she rebounded right back. There is no place like home.

Boomerang Award II – John Roberts

John Roberts who has helped for many classes left us about 5 years ago to go work for our government in the UK. He is Nancy’s "connection" to the Lancashire Mountaineering Club where he is a member and Nancy is an honorary member. Anyway after 5 years his contract is up and he is jumping back to our side of the pond. In fact he just returned late last week in time for Thanksgiving. He will resume helping and being part of the community.

Boomerang Awards III – Judy Bayliss and Yuki Fujita

Judy and Yuki left for Michigan many years ago because of Yuki’s new job with the nuclear industry. But his and Judy’s nuclear climbing family is here, and this fall Yuki took a new job in the Harford area and they have moved into a new home in central Massachusetts. Now they will be able to see us without using so much carbon in jet fuel.

Return after Dark Award – Mike Mullins

Some of us return, and some of us return after dark. Our next award is the coveted Return After Dark award.

Normally when we think about returning after dark, we picture a Red Rocks climb where the approach is long, the climb is long, and it's an effort to cram it all into a day. This September, a friend managed to have an Epic not too far from the Uberfall at the Gunks. It all started with the usual desire for "one more climb". So, beginning at 5pm our intrepid climber started up Classy. This was Classy, a 5.8 which is right next to Classic This is a climb that grade-wise was well within the ability of this climber. But before too long it became obvious that the holds were few and far between. He started to struggle. After a while efforts ended up with him hanging... This repeated as alternatives were tried and failed. Eventually he admitted defeat and diverted to easier nearby routes. At this point his second was unwilling to attempt the pitch. A nearby climber was found who said he could climb the pitch. He tried and failed. By now, darkness has fallen, so our intrepid climber lowered and cleaned most of his gear, but one cam eluded him. With regrets for his lost cam and after packing up gear the climbing pair ended up in the parking lot at 8:30pm.

To commemorate this Gunks Epic, we would like to honor Mike Mullins with the Return after Dark award.

The Wanda Lust Award – Nancy Savickas

Some of us return, but some of us are always going away. One among us stands out. So this year we have a special award,

For the most prolific traveling climbing female this side of the Alps: Nancy Savickas.

The Climbing Itch Award – Dennis Maher and Bob Parent

Some of us have wander lust, but it is possible to have local adventures without jetting off overseas. And sometimes these adventures don’t turn out the way one hopes. To recognize the local wander lust we have …

Bob and Dennis were in North Conway for the weekend and were looking around for what else is in the area to rock climb. They also had to consider in their decision Dennis' daughter, Christi - she wanted something easy to climb.

They find Bear Mountain in Maine, very close by to North Conway. There seemed to be lots of good points to this climbing destination: 1. right next to the road so easy approach, 2. close by to water so a nice dip afterwards, 3. a bit of an adventure since they don't have route descriptions, and 4. by the looks of it, they can top rope too, so may be very do-able.

Having Christi wait at the car, Bob and Dennis hike up to the top of the cliff band to get the lay of land and figure where to climb. After scouting around, they get to a high section at the cliff top and realize that much of the cliff is way too overhanging and doesn't look at all easy. So they decide to rappel down from there and return to car.

This is the sad part - they rappel down..... into a sea of shoulder-high poison ivy. They are both very susceptible to poison ivy and would break out in a painful rash at the sight of poison ivy - never mind landing in the middle of it. So there they land in a poison ivy patch the size of a football field. Not exactly the adventure they were looking for. Not exactly the type of swimming they were looking to do. But they did go swimming in the watering hole across the street when they returned. They walk straight in - shoes, ropes, gear and all. Anything to dissipate the poison ivy now covering their their bodies. For this brilliant adventure in poison ivy diving, we provide Bob and Dennis with the Climbing Itch award.

Weirdest Injury of Year award - Chris Dame

For some of us our wander lust is limited by weak flesh. But the spirit is strong, so to speak.

This award is given occasionally to the weirdest, most befuddling and intractable injuries among the aging climbers in our midst. Honorable mention, from previous years:

This year's winner: Chris Dame and his Laryngeal Spasm, which causes him to pass out when he drinks too fast...which can be a real problem when driving your family around Mexico City.

The "If Darwin could climb" Award - Eric Engberg

Some of us believe the flesh is strong in part due to good genes. We can see this in the kids so, Darwin speaks to us ..

For passing on good climbing genes.

The Superman Award - Pablo Acosta

Some of us with different genes have to work hard on the flesh, and we should recognize those that do and become supermen on a diet.

He can now run faster than a speeding locomotive, and leap small buildings in a single bound, since he has lost over 40 pounds in the past year.

Iron Chef Award - Dave Warner

And how hard it is to be on a diet when we serve such great food for our upcountry winter weekends!

For repeatedly putting all other culinary efforts to shame, with his excellent cooking for the AMC Ice Program.

The Grey Beard Rapper Award – Wes Grace

For some, climbing is just one of our skills, and our skill sets increase as we grow older and reveal talents that we never knew existed.

He had some long winded rap song he sang at the AMC Camp his son ran this summer, and he rapped it for us at the Rumney Summer Gathering. He rapped some of his rap at the party when accepting the award ….

Award for the Best Chat up Line in Climbing History – Jeremy Spiller

Some of us are still young, but already masters at our crafts, and climbing isn’t necessarily the best craft that we master.

At the rock gym, an attractive oriental female climber was on crutches. But when she put them down she was an extraordinary climber. So our award winner says, "Not bad for a cripple". To which she retorts something like, "Yea, and I’m a lot better climber than you are!" Deterred? Not at all: "Hi, I’m Jeremy."

The Come-Along Award – Tom Bielicki

Some us would like the chicks to come along with us. But some of us are hard men and want the rocks to come along with us.

This award goes to a guy who loves rocks: Most of the climbers we know climb on rocks, but this guy seems to enjoy moving them around just as much. Last year he had 12,000 lbs of rocks, yes 12,000 lbs, dumped in his yard and spent most of this year moving them, one by one, to make a rock wall in his front yard. No, not a really cool climbing rock wall, just a wall, made of rocks. One rock was so large that it took him two weeks to drag it 75 feet, prompting a couple of his neighbors to walk over and say "I've just got to ask, what are you doing?!"

This climber bought six 500 lb blocks of granite (that's 3000 lbs of solid rock) and moved it all, by hand, using a 5:1 pulley system into and out of a U-Haul (and U-Haul definitely didn't know what he was doing with their truck by the way).

This climber volunteered to do trail work at Baxter, and he lugged a come-a-long 1 mile up a trail in 90F heat, just for the fun of moving some really big rocks. And just for a change of direction, he put up two routes at a new climbing area which provided a great opportunity to see what happens when you throw some hefty rocks down from the top of a climb, along with piles of dirt and some pretty big trees.

He's also been hard at work developing the Chelmsford quarry climbing area and he surprised a co-developer by accidentally rolling a 100 lb rock into a hole the other person had just painstakingly dug out. And he actually managed to break a Come-Along in an attempt to move a tree stump and retrieve the rock simultaneously. By the way, this is the second Come-Along this climber has broken. For a funny story, ask him how he managed to spend $500 dollars repairing a $35 Come-Along.

But what he really gets the Come-Along award for is not so much for using the Come-Along to move rocks, but for having an uncanny ability to get his friends to give up their weekends to Come-Along and help. That's why I'm nominating Tom Bielicki for the Come-Along Award.

The Trad Instigator Award - Chad Bedard

Here’s an award that is truly about climbing, and how possessive one can become of ones equipment and the result of passion for things made of material.

This award goes to someone who loves his slings. He treats them with tender care, sorts them by color, and knows them by name. It was a heart breaking experience when we forced him to sacrifice his beloved red sling for the sake of our own comfort. He gave her a funeral and knows she's in a better place; although no longer on a rack sorted by color. He'll never let us forget her, and we'll never be able to replace her.

The third pitch of Three Pines involves traversing, ascending, edging around corners, and more traversing... and more ascending. We couldn't hear or see our leader, just that he was taking a long time, over two hours, and It was getting close to sunset. I finally started climbing, leaving all the gear for our third to clean. And, even though I had never led anything in my life, I gained a complete understanding of what rope drag is all about. The inherited drag was so bad that I had to stop and belay our third from an intermediate point, otherwise the pitch could not have been ascended by mere mortals like us. The climb was completed, branded an epic, and it was discovered that our leader had completed a very slippery 5.6 variation while pulling half his body weight in rope drag.

Up, up and away, he ascended, placing gear and slings as he contended. He used a red sling here and a blue sling there, but a green sling no where. He placed Mariette in the crack. He placed Jill on the arête. He placed Jackie on the hill. He climbed harder and harder even though the climb was becoming easier and easier. And at the top, he had a thought. He should have placed Mariette on the arête, Jackie in the crackie, and Jill on the hill.

If you ever want to learn about rope drag and short slings, talk with the master. Chad, come and get your award...

Creepy Flakes Conquest Award – Linda Medeiros

Here is another one about climbing. We think that the ‘Gunks is climbed out. All the routes there have been done. But no! There is still seldom explored territory where only the intrepid dare to go as the next two awards will reveal.

Linda set out to climb Beginners Delight, but ended up not having such a delightful climb. The first climb of the day, the rock was still wet - not from rain but from the sheer humidity of the day. The first pitch was slimy wet but she and her partner made it up. At the second pitch traverse, Linda pulls out the guide book. They hadn't done this route recently. After consulting the book, she scoots across the traverse no problem. She paused as she came to a corner and remembered the guide book saying after climbing "the face to some right-facing flakes, move left and up... So she climbs left and up, but it doesn't feel exactly right. The rocks were crumbly and loose. It was unnerving pulling up on these very flakey rocks that seemed ready to dislodge at the slightest pull, and never mind putting pro in. She hurries herself to the top of this section and pops herself over onto the GT ledge. Then her partner follows up and when she gets to this crumbly section she freaks out. The rock is flaking away,; she feels it will dissolve at her touch. She is relieved it is not a busy climbing day as she looks below to see where these crumbly rocks would fall if they fell. Thankfully no one is around,. Thankfully the rocks didn't fall. And thankfully they finish the climb.

There was no delight in this climb. Well, obviously they had gotten off route and consulted the guide book to see what climbs were around "Beginner's Delight". There was no doubt when Linda reads out loud the words from the guide book "creepy flakes". Sounds like a horror movie. It seems they got onto something called "Seldom Mustard Never Relish" just to the left of "Beginner's Delight". The pitch of this climb is described in the book: "Go straight up the face to touch Beginner's Delight. Diagonal left to the base of flaky, right-facing corner and climb up left past creepy flakes....." Well, horror movie or bad climb, Linda lead through it and survived. And for that we present her for this award.

The Rock Hugger Award – Julie Perault

Last July Julie and her partner decided that Julie would lead up this little climb that crossed over In The Groove (as someone else was on it). Julie crosses the other route and is out of site about 40' to the right and 70' up when this blood-curdling scream let out followed by loud wild uncontrollable shouts of "ROCK - ROCK - ROCK - ROCK" then pure silence. Her partner and the 2 people on In The Groove could not tell who said it or where the screams came from. Then there was a big "THUD" off to the right out of sight somewhere. People came running over from other climbs around both corners to see if everyone was ok. Her partner and the In The Groove guys just shrugged their shoulders as they had no clue what had just happened.

Julie had been climbing up, didn't like the lack of pro so traversed right a bit into a blocky section, put in a piece then grabbed onto this 2' by 1/2' by 1/2' giant flake and it came off into her arms. It knocked her off her perch and spun her around 180. The piece held and she "bear hugged" the rock while yelling ROCK several times, held on as long as she could to let people get out of the way then let the rock go.

Nothing was said and she went on and finished the climb. Her partner seconded her pitch and saw what had happened. He could see where the huge flake had come off, looked down and saw the ledge that it landed on. It had landed on an even bigger flake, tilting it out over the cliff, which knocked loose another block that fell to the ground.

Thank goodness for traversing routes!

Crab Style Self Rescue Award - Paul Sodono

And for some, we suffer injury. While never a good thing, we recognize the great style with which some can deal with their injury.

Paul Sodano took a leader fall and broke his ankle at Rumney on Yoda. He self rescued out by hopping or sitting on his butt and inching his way out holding his leg up so he would not hit it. Pants got pretty dirty and the technique was called "deploying the rectal smear".

The Golden Pen Award - Mark Renson

The next award might be called the unsung hero award. This guy keeps the Mountaineering Committee functioning, on track, and always with clever turn of expression.

For years of service as the Mountaineering Committee's Scribe. His pithy writing and warped sense of humor entice us to actually read the minutes of our monthly meetings.

The Future Rope Gun Award – Roman Maguire

And for our final award, we should all recognize that the future lies with the young.

For the up-and-coming all climbing, no whining gung-ho junior climber, Roman Maguire.