Organ Mountains Climbers from the late 1960's

I went through some of my old photos and thought some might want to see these shots of climbers from 1968-71. I would appreciate comments from those who remember these climbers.

Doug Roberts and Mark Losleben

Lee Davis at The Tooth of Time

Lee Davis, Clem Ota, Reed Cundiff, Doug Roberts

Ed Ward, Age 12

Ed Ward, Chris O'Brien

Ed Ward

Goerge Goedecke

Fred Janer

John Parker at Shiprock... note my '56 Ford!

Lee Davis

Paul Seibert

Paul Seibert
Dick Ingraham

Reed Cundiff, Larry Fisher, George Goedecke

Clem Ota
Mike Mcgoey

Cliff Naveaux, Reed Cundiff, Mike Mcgoey in Yosemite

Bill Hackett before the Tooth Decay

Cliff Naveaux

George Goedecke, Bill Hackett, Dave Bailey at Cuevas

John Parker at campfire

Lew Downey, Top of the Needle

Buddy Mays, Sandias

Fred Janer, Dick Ingraham, Clay Goldberg, Chris O'Brien, Lonnie Ludeman, Lee Davis, Sharp Harold, top of Citadel

Reed Cundiff

Bill Hackett on Orp

Bill Hackett on Yagg Ledge Bivuoac, Orp

Reed Cundiff, Fred Beckey, Kings Canyon

Thanks for those, Lee.
It's great to see what was going on back in the day. Thanks for taking effort to scan and post those.

Did you ever get into the Sandias during that era?
Do you have any thoughts on the ID of this climber?:
supertopo.com/climbing/thre…

Thanks for posting. Always nice to see pics from back in the day!

.......Yes, I had the pleasure of climbing in the Sandias (as well as lots of backpacking). After all, I am from Albuquerque, and went to High School at Sandia. Reed Cundiff was my partner for many of the longer climbs, for he was a member of the UNM Mountain Club early on, and did many of the great firsts in the Sandias. We did the SW ridge of the Needle (he did the first), the Prow, The north ridge of the Thumb in winter (I think he did the first, also), and the Zouave, another of his. Here are some pictures from those days.
.......The Knife-edge of the Shield was a winter climb... notice the snowshoes in the pack, and it was back when the Sandias had Bighorn sheep. We figured that if the sheep could do it, we could. I threw in a shot of Reed on Sugarloaf in the Organs, it seems like we did a lot of cold stuff together. I guess that is why Goedecke used to say I had a case of 'frosted kiester'. That was my dog, but he didn't rope up.

Reed approching the Prow

To the Prow

Cundiff and Mackellar

Needle. Sw ridge on right

The Shield. Note the snowshoes

The Shield

The Crest in winter, after the Thumb

Sugarloaf

Jeez! I guess I should write a book on Reed. He was the best partner that you could ever hope to have. Even though he was a dwarf (at 5'8"), he is a superb climber and a careful tactition. After all, he had a tour of duty in Vietnam as a sergeant in the Army, and an airborne Green Beret in the LRRP's. If I could ever chose a companion to be on a serious adventure with, it would be Reed. I had the pleasure of seeing him a few months ago when he came through town with his wife. ..... Reed was a New Mexico boy. His Father, the Admiral, settled in Albuquerque. He worked on a Phd in Physics and went to work for White Sands, and others. But, I think Reed's genuine passion was rock climbing. I think I have mentioned this before... we were doing the North ridge of the Thumb in the Sandias on New Year's day, probably the first winter ascent. I actually wore crampons for a few of the pitches. We had left Mark Milligan at the start, for he was too intimidated. When we were perhaps 2/3 of the way up the ridge, I was suffering. I have long arms and fingers, and I was freezing. It was the only time I wore Chouinard "Millarmits"... the fingerless wool gloves. ...... Reed suggested a halt, then pulled a thermos out of his pack. It was hot buttered rum, and I will never forget the sensation of having my fingers curled around the cup. It certainly saved me. ...... Isn't that the way it is? We remember the little pleasures of a climb, but later write up the impressive moves and accomplishments. I will take the small pleasures with Reed, anyday. Actually, my most vivid and cherished memory is when Reed and I were driving late at night to meet Fred Becky in Domeland Wilderness. Reed was sound asleep in the seat when "Where is your Heart" (The Moulin Rouge theme)by Montovanni came on the radio. I get nostalgic whenever I hear the tune. Lee Davis

Hey Lee - your posts are awesome! Really enjoying the stories, especially here on MP! Did you ever climb with John Peters?

We stopped somewhere in California for gas and coffee around 2 am on the trip to Domelands with Fred. I asked the waitress how much further it was to Wyoming. She looked at me as if I were really stupid, "you're in California!" I turned to Lee and said, "you and your damned no map driving, I told you we should have turned right in Albuquerque but you didn't believe me!" The waitress retreated to the far end of the counter.

Only had one tour and did not finish PhD.

Followed these fantastic guys in the late 60's and 70's they made great trails and were fast moving goats! Thanks for the memories.

Great pictures! I just saw Reed the other night, square dancing! He's got great kids that I'm friends with as well.

I just started a new site swmountaineers.wordpress.com. i want to compile a bunch of information and pictures from the Organs. I have copies of some of the summit registers that I'll eventually post and would like to put up pictures, articles and old topos as well.

wow! cool stuff!

Sadly, Doug Roberts died Dec 11. A Great friend

Bumping a great thread by Lee Davis!

Great thread. But did you old dads actually take some pictures of your routes? I know the kinds of cameras we had to haul into the wilderness sucked, but I'd like to see some of that.

Tim Stich wrote: Great thread. But did you old dads actually take some pictures of your routes? I know the kinds of cameras we had to haul into the wilderness sucked, but I'd like to see some of that.

I did for a while but my climbing partner dropped 3 cameras and I took the hint.

climber pat wrote:

I did for a while but my climbing partner dropped 3 cameras and I took the hint.

You have to have a wrist strap for the camera so they don't do that shit. The Olympus XA was a pretty good camera for climbing. It was rugged and the sliding door hid the lens from abuse when not in use.

I've got a ton of old slides and b&w negs that I need to scan.  I knocked around with an Argus C3, which was tough enough to survive the rough handling.  My brother used a Canon Pelex with a kuban hitch.  

Karl Horak wrote: I've got a ton of old slides and b&w negs that I need to scan.  I knocked around with an Argus C3, which was tough enough to survive the rough handling.  My brother used a Canon Pelex with a kuban hitch.  

Remember when not long after digital cameras came out, slide scanners came out? And we all got either that or a flatbed scanner with a slide attachment. Then computers abandoned the SCSI connection and our scanners no longer worked with our newer computers, so we threw them away. And...

You didn't scan those slides during that brief technological window, did you?

Guess what, there are tons of places that will scan that stuff now, so mail it off and get it done.

Great pics and tales from BITD.  TFPU!