Gunks History - Fritz's Timeline

Sunday morning we warmed up in the Nears on a classic named Layback that, according to this site, was put up in 1941 (which is really, really, really amazing).

So Fritz did his first route in Millbrook (5.5 Classic Route), what was his second, third, etc?

Did he do Classic Route then move to the Nears? Where did Weissner go after putting up his first Gunks route? Did he stay in Millbrook?

I could Google this but its alot more fun to learn from others. Thank you.

(p.s didnt Lynn Hill free an aid route in the Nears? My Buddy and I thought it was Kansas City but according to this site am wrong. What, if any, aid routes did Lynn free at the Gunks altogether?)

He and Hans Kraus did High Exposure-- a much more impressive achievement-- the same year as Layback.

Take a look at the history section in your Dick Williams Trapps guide and you will get the basic story of Fritz's "discovery" of the Gunks. He started at Millbrook in 1935 (!!!) with what is now called Old Route (5.5), and then put up routes at all the major Gunks cliffs; the Trapps came relatively late because Weissner at first thought it was too vegetated and dirty. As far as development at the Gunks is concerned, Weissner's most enduring contribution was his partnership with Kraus, as it was Kraus who continued to develop the Gunks after Weissner moved away.

It seems fair to say Weissner was the best free climber of his day, certainly on this side of the Atlantic, at least. In 1946 he put up a 5.8 at Skytop called Minnie Belle which remained the hardest climb in the Gunks until well into the next decade. If you travel around the East, you will find a surprisingly hard Weissner route pretty much everywhere you go! (He may have put up the nation's first 5.8 in the 1930's with Vector in Connecticut.) I'm not even going to touch on his alpine accomplishments.

There are threads devoted to him on Supertopo:

Man for All Mountains

and there was a nice revisionist article by David Roberts in about his fiasco on K2 in the 2013 issue of Ascent.

Also you can read chapter seven of Yankee Rock & Ice, a book about Northeastern climbing history.

Google books

Lynn Hill put up numerous routes in the Gunks but because she came to the scene after most of the main cliffs were developed her most significant routes are at the more minor cliffs. You can do the Lynn Hill Traverse (V8) right in the Uberfall, however.

Seth good stuff man! Thank you. His accomplishments are amazing. I love seeking Weissner routes out and imagining what it was like for him on the FA. what was he (they) wearing, how was their attitude, how long did it take for each pitch, where would they protect with just pitons, etc.

thank you again.

SethG wrote:It seems fair to say Weissner was the best free climber of his day, certainly on this side of the Atlantic, at least. In 1946 he put up a 5.8 at Skytop called Minnie Belle which remained the hardest climb in the Gunks until well into the next decade. If you travel around the East, you will find a surprisingly hard Weissner route pretty much everywhere you go! (He may have put up the nation's first 5.8 in the 1930's with Vector in Connecticut.)

I would probably vote for Stettner brothers. I believe Lizard Head route in San Juans put by Albert Ellingwood in 1921 was considered America's hardest climb for a long time (until perhaps after the WWII??) - the easiest way up Lizard Head today goes at 5.8+. Not sure if Lizard Head was free climbed, one would think it was since it was only protected with 3 soft pitons. If Lizard Head didn't go free, I believe Stettners Ledges on Long's Peak (5.8) did in 1927. From the book "The Stettner Way", it sounded like they climbed it free, Paul even took a whipper.

BTW Lynn Hill was part of a group that freed To Be Or Not To Be (5.12) in the Nears, along with Raffa and Clune. Maybe that's what you guys were thinking of.

Lots of classic Weissner and Stettner brothers stuff at Devils Lake too, not among the hardest routes, but certainly interesting and historic for their time back then.

Also see: The Adirondacks.

Weisner is all over up there too. And some equally impressive stuff (for the time).

I met Fritz in 1986 or 1987 at the Trapps. He was soloing around and down climbing the pitches too.

I think he was in his mid eighties at this point. I talked to him a little bit but you could tell that he wanted to be left alone to climb. Soon after, he had a stroke. I knew one of the nurses who was taking care of him at his home in Stowe, VT. He kept climbing right up to the end.

In the 90's I climbed a tower at Teplice in the Czech Republic (The Koruna) that Fritz had done the 1st ascent of in 1929, right before he emigrated to the US.

I sat on top and tried to picture Fritz climbing this thing more than 60 years before. I don't think we have progressed as much as we might think.

Weissner and Kraus were incredible climbers in their day. What confidence it must have taken to launch up some of those routes in the Gunks with no information, relatively primitive gear, and an ethic that encouraged minimal use of it.

Weissner was also the first to freeclimb Devil's Tower- his route is worth repeating, although you may want to place more than the one piece of pro he did on the 3-pitch 5.7+ climb.

Indeed, it is easy to forget that we stand on the shoulders of giants such as these to climb what we do today.

P.S. FFA Kansas City: John Bragg, 1973.

P.S. Albert Ellingwood climbed the Bishop Chimney in the South Platte, Colorado, in 1924. Rated 5.8 today (and believe me, it is), he lowered his two partners down the route, and then downclimbed it (rappelling technology being rather primitive in those days).

The Stoned Master wrote:Seth good stuff man! Thank you. His accomplishments are amazing. I love seeking Weissner routes out and imagining what it was like for him on the FA. what was he (they) wearing, how was their attitude, how long did it take for each pitch, where would they protect with just pitons, etc. thank you again.

I was too at one point fascinated with Fritz and sought the climbs he established. Not to take away from his climbing achievements and prowess, but after reading The Last Man on the Mountain: The Death of an American Adventurer on K2 I'm not so sure. Even if there is only 100th of truth in the story, the book still is painting not a very flattering picture of the man's character.

Steve Levin wrote:Weissner and Kraus were incredible climbers in their day.

Each separately did at least one First Ascent in the Dolomites of northeast Italy -- both routes are still popular classics today.

Its too cool to stare at the walls/routes at the Gunks (just as an example) and pretend there are no established routes. Now if I were the first climber to approach this cliff/area/feature where would I go? What routes would I choose/create/try?

Ill tell you Fritzs and Hans routes are usually above anything Id be comfortable leading (given pitons, boots, static rope, etc). There is no way they protect well enough for me to feel comfortable enough to lead. Example: Layback. Theres no way just below, getting into and on that first pitchs layback section that you can protect with a piton. We protected the layback with a bomber #4 cam at the base of the layback and it was still a gnarly runout to the anchors (you can get other gear, we just happened not to)! in 1941 with boots (terrible smearing usually), static rope and a few pitons!

This leads me to a conclusion that they were so intune with anything stone/vertical that they could do what they did. They had a certain intuneness with themselves and the vertical experience(exposure, falls, precarious anything, etc) their experiences prove it.

too cool!

anyone want to climb fritzs original routes with me with the rope (can be dynamic) around the waste, no cams (modern passive is cool) and boots?

when fritz and hans used to visit the Gunks would they camp out? Did they regularly stay for a weekend? week? day? on average.

if they camped was it wherever their project was or did they have a established/favorite area?

did fritz ask for permission first to climb or climb then get permission?

did they make their own pitons (like yvon, etc) or did they purchase theirs?
if they purchased where would one get pitons in the 1930s and 40s? was there a climb shop around the NY area? mail order?

was there 1 (or a handful) of routes that weissner or hans used to solo alot/regularly? If so what route(s)? depending on the route itd be nice to solo in their footsteps.

Im curiously fascinated by these "hardened" climbers. Thank you.