Crazy Dave?

Anyone ever heard of a dude named Crazy Dave? I read a thread about him a while back, there was a story that he was climbing at the Gallery in Red Rocks and he free soloed the whole time while tied into a rope. I guess he would talk to an imaginary belayer too? Anybody know about this guy?

I know a dirty Dave in Vegas. He mostly boulders though.

Alex Dziaba wrote:Anyone ever heard of a dude named Crazy Dave? I read a thread about him a while back, there was a story that he was climbing at the Gallery in Red Rocks and he free soloed the whole time while tied into a rope. I guess he would talk to an imaginary belayer too? Anybody know about this guy?

I don't know him, but heard that story over ten years ago around a campfire, and then posted it to rc.com because I thought it was so funny at the time.

rockclimbing.com/cgi-bin/fo…

yeah this is where I heard about him. just wanted to find out whether he was a myth or not. if he is the real deal though, that is a hilarious story

Ha! I know that guy. Spent some time in Mexico a few years back. That's a true story about the soloing roped up. As the story goes, he was backed up by his phantom belayer, "Chief". Dave - "okay Chief, ya got me?" Pause. "Great. Climbing!" Dave starts up a 5.12. At the crux, Dave looks down and says "Alright Chief, I'm cruxing out a bit, ya got me??". Silence from the crowd as every one watches to see if Crazy Dave goes splat. Dave sends, gets to the top and says "alright Cheif, you want to climb this one?" Pause. "Ya sure, it's real good!" Pause. "Alright, I'll rap then. Thanks for the belay!"

Rumor has it more than one person vomited just watching the scene unfold. Dave also admitted he hadn't felt totally secure on the crux there but he WAS confident in his belayer!

And thus, the legend of Crazy Dave and Chief On Belay was born.

I believe I met him in Utah, even rode in the back of the van with him and a few others out to Stansbury Island. Sick climber, talks to himself quite a bit and gets crazy money sent to him monthly. I wanna say he is from WVA. He soloed some sick highball choss that day, he chases purdy cows too.

Good friend of mine. Crazier and more sane than most at the same time. I'll always remember at El Salto when we were setting up a rope for his solo of that 11c mushroom climb, and someone made a comment about needing a rope for the solo, Matt responded - only if you're chief-on-belay (having heard the story but not knowing it was Dave)

With the passing of Patrick Edlinger Dave said (ha, another one I outlived) and named a problem Edlinger had spotted him on. He says Edlinger called him the man who climbs alone, or something like that in french.

I think he was totally solid at the crux but played it up like he was about to sketch to see how people would react, and still can't believe nobody ran over and put him on belay.

I have seen Dan Mills call himself Dave and climb some stupid hard stuff it might be him. YouTube him to see if that the guy

Aaron Phillips wrote:...but played it up like he was about to sketch to see how people would react, and still can't believe nobody ran over and put him on belay.

This is what I was surprised by. Maybe I'm a busy-body, but I would have been on belay pretty damn quick in the described situation. Funny as hell though, good story.

Paul Carlson
8 hours ago
growing up we just always called him whiskey dave (or whiskey dick to poke fun) b/c he always had that bottle with him in the early days. not sure if the crazy drove him to drink, or the drink drove him crazy. either way, he's still a great guy

Not the right guy, Dave doesn't drink, never been drunk in his life.
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Joe De Luca
9 hours ago
I have seen Dan Mills call himself Dave and climb some stupid hard stuff it might be him. YouTube him to see if that the guy

Also not him, last name Sobocan (look for FA's in Red Rocks guidebooks as he set routes there with AZ guys - Black Corridor (Dave rant- we named it Crude Corridor, how did it become Black Corridor?)
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TRmasta
19 hours ago
I believe I met him in Utah, even rode in the back of the van with him and a few others out to Stansbury Island. Sick climber, talks to himself quite a bit and gets crazy money sent to him monthly. I wanna say he is from WVA. He soloed some sick highball choss that day, he chases purdy cows too.

Sounds like him, he has a couple of VW vans. I need ot know more about the purdy cows?

Hey Aaron. Sounds like you are sure about who this Crazy Dave is, so maybe you can confirm some of these rumours ;)

I've heard that Dave hardly ever climbs. He apparently comes from the flattest place in the world, and won't climb in a gym. After spending a year or so without climbing he will travel to a climbing mecca, meditate for 2 weeks while barely sustaining himself on tourist leftovers and then solo hard 5.12.

I've also heard that he made his fortune by delivering phonebooks, getting paid by the phonebook. He managed to secure all the deliveries to large hotels and skyscrapers in a number of cities, thus earning enough money in a few days of work to retire.

Can you verify?

Alex Dziaba wrote:Anyone ever heard of a dude named Crazy Dave? I read a thread about him a while back, there was a story that he was climbing at the Gallery in Red Rocks and he free soloed the whole time while tied into a rope. I guess he would talk to an imaginary belayer too? Anybody know about this guy?

I have a photo of a friend free soloing at the Gallery with a rope on. The rope was kind of necessary for him to rap down.

Sam, your information sounds accurate, you must have a good source. I've also had recent concerns that years of eating cans of discounted tuna may have caused elevated levels of mercury that may be contributing to his erratic behaviour. Do you know a chemistry guy that could analyse this?

camhead wrote: rockclimbing.com/cgi-bin/fo…

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That is a tale of legends are made of. Funny and incredible at the same time.

Ya "Chief On-Belay" is a great story all the better because it's real. The full version runs about 1 hour or more. The last time I heard him tell it was Lion's Head maybe 8 years ago. Said it was the last time he would tell it, if that's true the world is a sadder place. The live LP version is pure gold. Dave has many stories that leave your sides sore. He has an off-width story that runs 3 hours, he carried the PowerBar from that story for 15 years, never mentions an off-width and had me laughing so hard I almost had to pull the car over. I've encouraged him to do a book even offered to write it for him... no luck yet.

AARON, SAM!
WTF? You guys have time to post about Lazy Dave! Drop me a line. Better yet (physically) pick Dave up and put him on a plane...send him to me! Put him in box with some holes and tuna and ship him, he'll be fine. It's sunny and 70-80 degrees here and I only have partners for the weekends. If he gets here by May 18 I'll take him to Mallorca. Make sure he grasps the concept... photos, ocean, tufas, photos, Spanish food, DWS, photos, climbing, photos At the very least let me know if he's not coming... I'll take up another sport.
Cheers