Open Book the FIRST 5.9 - A Rock Climbing Story
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- Опубліковано 10 лис 2020
- Open Book the FIRST 5.9 - A Rock Climbing Story
Open Book is an historic rock climb located on Tahquitz Rock in Southern California. When Royal Robbins did the first free ascent in 1952 it was one of the hardest routes in the country and became the first climb given the grade of 5.9 on the Yosemite Decimal System. To this day Open Book remains an all time classic and an aspiring tick for any leader.
The route was first climbed using aid in 1947 by John Mendenhall and Harry Sutherland, two leaders of the Sierra Club. Mendenhall famously fashioned wooden pitons out of 2x4 lumber which he pounded into the wide crack on the second pitch. He then attached stirrups to the pegs and stood up in them to make upwards progress.
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My goal is to entertain you with original rock climbing videos and maybe teach something along the way. Climbing history, first ascent adventures and obscure choss. Based out of Joshua Tree, California.
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I'm so excited to have our footage included in this amazing History of Open Book! I'm always proud to tell new climbers about the worlds first 5.9 and the true origination of the YDS in Tahquitz. Thanks Giant Rock for the great storytelling and reminding everyone why Royal Robbins will always be a legend!
Thanks you so much for allowing use of your killer footage, really brought the film together!
Thaaas right my brothers, got my license now, so now it’s legal. All right lunger. Let’s do it.
I grew in Idyllwild and was climbing full routes with my friends in junior high. The second pitch of the book is truly amazing. Just bring some big cams and hero lay back the whole thing 💪🏻 Idy is still my favorite place to climb.
Protection: “mainly though I was careful to not fall.” Classic
Confidence in ( and) your competence should be your first line of protection.
Too many now expect to be able to fall their way up any climb.
Yo in 1960 , after a stint of ski bumming @ Alta , having met Gary Hemming the summer before , I arrived at his place near San Diego (La Mesa) and got trucked all around - eventually to Yosemite where I was introduced to Robbins, Galwas and others mentioned in this great piece of climbing history. As soon as I arrived Hemming spoke the legend of "the Open Book" at Tahquitz.
We went up to Tahquitz a few times - fabulous place. Every day I hung out with Hemming the legend of "the Open Book" was reverentially paid homage to. At Tahquitz we would pass below that glistening corner and stare up it in awe. It matters little to the significance of the accomplishment of climbing the Open Book that there are oodles of climbs nowadays that are so much more difficult or that grandmothers and teeny boppers free solo 5.9's. Just as Newton's formulation of the inverse square law of gravitational force can never be eclipsed by today's high powered theories of multi-dimensional space/time continuums of multi-verses. It is so warming and thrilling to be reminded of the legends of "the Open Book". Clawed Sool
That is so cool! Thanks for sharing that!
Great story. I climbed the Open Book 35 years ago, didn't find it particularly difficult, but a great climb none the less.
The amazing story I've been waiting to get covered! Slamming it out of the park again!
Thank you man, much appreciated and I'm so happy you enjoyed it!
Most climbing movies on youtube: "ARGH, so hard! I have to overcome obstacles to send this! Yay, I sent it!" Dude, your videos are so refreshing. You put a story, history, into the place, into the practice.
Thanks dude much appreciated!
Yes climbing history is much more interesting than X boulderer sent V16!!!
Chanelling my inner Royal Robin's tomorrow. "Before the deed comes the thought. Before the achievement comes the dream. Every mountain we climb, we first climb in our mind." -Royal
Thank you for this beautiful contribution. I truly needed it. Tomorrow I will stand on top of Open Book and think of John Mendenhall, Harry Sutherland, Royal, and Don Wilson and the visions that they have shared with us.
Climbing Fantasia at Lovers Leap I truly felt Royal's spirit.
We do walk in Legends paths.
What a well done video! Beautiful and poignant. My climbing career was not illustrious, but I am proud to have climbed Open Book, doing the second pitch as a pure lay back.
Before anyone types another comment about how 'Open Book was Not the first 5.9', just don't. YDS was established on this Crag and Open Book was the first route given the 5.9.
Now, their may have been harder Free Climbed routes in the world, but that would need to have been officially given whatever rating they had over there at that time. IE: if in france, 5b/c on a Alps route.
Or 750 years ago, an adventurous Cahuillan could have climbed Open Book, and called it 'interestingly hard'.
But for the YDS, Open Book and Royal Robins free ascent IS the first 5.9 climb. Let's close this book and move on.
Thank you Giant Rock, you should be one of the largest climbing channels on UA-cam, the quality you put out is astonishing.
It's 5.8.
Thank you so very much for this video! This was my favorite place to climb as a young man with my friends Ralphy and Dave. I may still have the orange colored guide book shown in your video. It was always fun to come across some old pins on the early routes.
Watching this before my first go at Open Book!
Heck yeah I love to hear that! You are gonna have a great time.
This is a stunning film. Imagining a young Royal on this route in the last moments of the film really made me feel something like gratitude and admiration, but also that I couldn't have been the one to FA 5.9. Some people just don't care to let what is considered possible stop them from trying.
I just want to mention that stuff of equal difficulty had been climbed in the alps and the uk at that point. Still a great video about a historically significant climb.
Brown and Whillans were climbing 5.10 in the late 50's. Think Forked lightening crack and sentinel crack plus more.
From the victorian pioneers to todays rock gymnasts , climbing has a rich and varied history and most nations play their part along the way , the American big wall climbers certainly showed what was possible . from Robbins to Bonatti to our own loveable Joe Brown the one thing that comes through from all of them is a love of climbing and a mind set to push their own limits . I certainly derive a lot of pleasure from all of those great climbers .
As usual, another fantastic video! Well done, guys!
What a great movie. Us softies these days have no idea how hard the 1960’s men were. Open Book is a fantastic climb. Tahquitz is just a blast to climb.
thanks dude, they built em' different back then that's for sure!
As a 5.12 climber I almost slipped off of Open Book. It was really hard. Its a beautiful climb but I can't imagine doing it free how Royal did it back in the day.
I feel you! Basically my entire trad career I could technically climb around 5.12 but still got completely worked on 5.8-5.10 trad climbs lol. Worked and scared!
@@GiantRock the more I have climbed the less I understand climbing grades. Haha!
@@Cragdognamedbear Looks like they didn't have a great handle on it when they made the YDS either! All the Tahquitz climbs listed in Wilt's guide of '74 graded 5.0-5.4 have all been bumped up to 5.4-5.6!
Absolutely beautiful, loved it! I can't get enough history of this sport, keep them coming!
Thank dude, starting the next one now!
I love this! Tahquitz is an amazing mountain with great history. Thanks for taking the time to make this video.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Well done Cole! This is like a film version of a chapter out of Robbins book "Fail Falling". Respect to the elders!
I remember attending a talk by Royal during the late sixties in Birmingham UK. Not long after the North America Wall 1st ascent. Such a gracious unassuming man with a witty dry sense of humour. He talked enthusiastically about his fellow team members Yvon Chouinard, Tom Frost and Chuck Pratt and showed some amazing slides of the climb. That was the first time I had heard of Yosemite and I was in awe of those huge walls.
Wow thats awesome!
I love that route.
Outstanding!
WOW! Thank you!
Well done Cole!
This inspires me to sandbag everything to 5.9
Wow!! This is amazing!!!!!
Just getting into climbing, this was rad and inspiring.
Rock climbing stars in Italy and Germany in the 30's
Thank you, great video!! :)
Wow, thanks guys!
Hell yeah!! Best one yet!! Keep up the good work!!
More to come!
How do you not have more subscribers?!?! I love your content!!
Great video & amazng history. What fortitude!!
psyched you enjoyed it, thx!
4:33 - its a brave man that sends on home made wooden pitons. mega cap doffing to you sir
Awesome video ! Love learning all the history around here 🙌
So glad!
Great video very well done
Great short film btw.
More More More!
Now I have a new goal! Please do more like this. Love all your videos!
Heck yeah get on it!
Thank you so much for this content, incredibly inspiring and well put together. Bravo
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks Cole for another quality video!
My pleasure!
Ah man this makes me want to go climb. Nice work Cole!
thanks brotha! We'll be climbing again together soon!
spectacular!
i'm gonna channel next time. Thanks for this great video.
Great video!!
Great job
This was inspiring to no end, I need to go climbing now lol
heck yeah that's the goal!
Nice one, dude!
Quality video, again!
😀 thank you!
more of this! thanks
More to come!
For the algorithm and for the quality! Thanks amigo!
thanks so much!
My grandad was either in or on his way to Korea. Crazy to think about history
wow that is crazy to think about!
Do one of these for north cutter crack in eldo!! The first 5.10 in the US. It's supposed to have a pretty cool story it it. I've climbed it and can tell you even with modern protect and shoes it's pretty heady!
Climbing back then was nuts!
They made em different back then that's for sure!
That ending speech was epic.
😀 thx im glad you got a kick out of it!
Excellent!
Many thanks!
Good job Giant Rock!
thanks man!
Classic
This is great stuff. Love the sketched POV at the end - hilarious!
So, I have a vague recollection of hearing or reading of this climb being associated with with early dynamic rope. Point being that RR was indeed willing to risk a fall. This account, however, makes the case that existing pro would likely not have held a significant fall. Are you able to fill the “Open Book” in my brain re the role of gear (and/or belay technique?) in opening up 5.9? That seems an important part of the story - at some point.
Thanks.
You are completely correct. Royal even mentioned this in his interview but I wasn't able to work it in the story, I should have! He said he had read some research about dynamic ropes being able to hold a fall so he started to climb with the mindset that a fall would be ok. However this was for the first pitch, as you said the second pitch was no fall territory as the the two old pitons were rotted and likely to hold a fall.
Incredible! Any chance of you covering the first ascent of the sentinel in the Valley?
I've whipped on that route at the crux.
If I could subscribe to you a million times I would!
What's the song at the end of this? Also, awesome video. Thanks for sharing.
5.9 was perfect for me and my climbing skills (mid-90's) and gear back in the day. 5.12 were considered borderline impossible or the most challenging. I wonder what is the scale now a days.
5.15d ( just a few)
yes
I have a pair of friends, who having never multipitch climbed before, one having just learned trad while in Mountain training for the Marine Corps and the other only having climbed sport or bouldering, thought "Hey it's only 5.9, we got this." I think they made it through the second pitch and then had to bail.
you just got one more subscription . . .
Right on! Thanks so much.
In areas on the east coast of the US, such as Carderock Maryland, 5.9 free climbs existed as early as 1942. The YDS had obviously not existed at that time, and surely not widely adopted by climbers. but climbs like Herbie's Horror had been free climbed long before the Open Book. I doubt we will ever know the first 5.9. Both Herbie's Horror and Open Book are both fantastic in their own way and rich in history.
I get your point, but yes we do literally know the first 5.9. It was Open Book. That's not to say other routes the same difficulty or harder had not yet been established but, semantically, you can't be "the first 5.9" if the rating system didn't even exist. Open Book was the first route officially graded 5.9 on the YDS, thus making it the first 5.9. I see this confusion popping up a lot and I realize I should have addressed this more clearly in the video. Like people are pointing out harder routes were done in Czechoslovakia back int he early 1900's, however, those routes were not and have never been graded using the YDS so they have no place in a conversation about the first YDS 5.9.
I get your point as well. I particularly enjoyed watching the footage of Royal retell the adventure, especially the part about slinging those wooden pitons on the wide bit. Hats off to J. Mendenhall for possibly doing the crux free and establishing the route. I've done many of Mendenhall's routes in the High Sierra. He had an eye for adventure that never disappoints!
Dude! Looks like the video got picked up by Gripped.com! Congrats on the awesome video!
Thanks man! Unfortunately it looks like it might have been removed for some reason, I can't seem to find it on there.
@@toddflanagan5531 Oh sweet thank you for this!! Not sure why I couldn't find it. This is great because now I can thank them on my Instagram, much appreciated.
Damn I miss Stoney Point so much
me too man, me too.
If you want to see giant rock come to Nisapui but it is dangerous to go the giant rock place there is tarantula anaconda
Interestingly The Germans & Czechs had already exceeded modern 5.10 in the 1910’’s on the infamous Sandstone Towers of Saxony & Bohemia.
We need more Climbing History for today’s modern Climber. The lack of historical continuity & ignorance is truly unfortunate
Feel free to contribute instead of posted snide comments...
I mean if it didn't happen on California granite does it even count? Jokes aside that is badass and I do agree about the need for more climbing history which is something I'm trying to tackle with this channel. Thanks for watching.
@@dhayanroark6900 ...... relax YoungBlood. If you think that’s snide .... wait till you meet me in person ; I’m a real Salty & Bitter F’Kr with an earned Advanced Degree in Snark
@@GiantRock ..... Well ..... ya if it ain’t California it’s shite 😂. I appreciate the Channel & the hard work you put into it. I wish I could participate in more than just comments. Your work on the subject is extremely important.
@@GiantRock ...... Robbins Mountain Spirts was our local Climbing Shop. He would at time play videos from his era. I’m talking early to mid 80’s ..... so he was in his early to mid 50’s I believe. Not a big man by any sense but fit as feckin fiddle ...... and an engaging Orator
I heard even Honnold needed TC Pros and Chalk to send. Wanker. Real men free solo in Chuck's and chalkless.
😆😂
John Long didn’t engage in any ‘hyperbole’, he stated the straight 💩💩💩
too many great videos! please stop dont have the free time
:)
It is pronounced the way it is spelled, tahquitz : (tah-quit-s) not (ta-keets). Just FYI .
it's a tomatoe tomato kinda thing.