Friday, March 31, 2000
Unexplored rock height of adventure for climber
BY JOHN JOHNSTON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
In Todd Skinner's line of work, having the strength to do pull-ups comes in handy. But the 42-year-old Lander, Wyo., resident didn't get to be among the world's best rock climbers by mastering run-of-the-mill, two-handed, two-armed pull-ups.
Rather, he can do them using one finger and one arm.
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IF YOU GO
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What: “Climbing in Valhalla,” a lecture/film with rock climber Todd Skinner.
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Procter & Gamble Hall, Aronoff Center for the Arts
Tickets: $23.75 or $21.15 for adults; $12.50 or $11.25 for students. On sale at the Aronoff Center, Music Hall, and Ticketmaster.
Information: 241-7469.
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Some of the rock walls he climbs are so smooth, he's lucky to find a small hole in which he can insert one finger to the first joint. Thus, “We're training all the time to grab a small piece of rock and pull on it,” he says by phone from his Wyoming home.
Mr. Skinner will describe his experiences here Tuesday as part of the “Live ... from National Geographic” lecture series.
He does free-climbing, which means he scales rock using only his hands and feet. Ropes and equipment are used for safety only, not to aid upward progress.
“We can't deny we're somewhat unstable,” Mr. Skinner says of his climbing pals, chuckling. “But it's all in a carefully premeditated way.”
He climbs about 300 days a year, which includes training and expeditions.
“We throw rest days in when they're needed. Rest makes us stronger. We finally have the discipline to admit that. If we didn't have to do that, I don't think I'd ever take a rest day.”
His most harrowing experience occurred in 1988 while he was climbing El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. He and a climbing partner were anchored to a huge boulder when it rolled off the top of the 3,200-foot peak.
As ropes snapped and he flew over the edge, Mr. Skinner managed to clip onto a rope that wasn't cut. He escaped with a few broken ribs. His partner broke his leg in five places.
That was hardly enough to dissuade him from the sport he loves. Growing up on a ranch in the Wyoming mountains, he began climbing at age 10 and hasn't stopped. He learned from his father, who climbed with expeditions all over North America.
For Mr. Skinner, the challenge is to find huge rock walls that have never been climbed; or at least never conquered by Americans. The quest has taken him to remote locations in 38 countries.
He's now eyeing walls in Iran, the Andes and Burma. But next up is a climb in the Northwest Territories of Canada.
“One of the great allures to a wall that nobody's ever done, is that you can't predict where the climbing will get hard. You are looking for a logical way to keep doing each 5-foot section, for 3,000 or 4,000 feet.
“You might get to a spot that the only way through it is to jump seven feet, and catch some little half-inch edge with one hand ...”
Which is why Mr. Skinner trains to do those one-finger pull-ups.
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Unexplored rock height of adventure for climber
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