www.johngill.net
Bouldering Companions
Rich Goldstone
:
(Richard Goldstone) This is photo was taken
in the mid 1960s on some rocks
off the road to Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain
NP. I first met Rich at the Jenny
Lake boulders in 1961, when he was about
17. He became very interested in bouldering
and in gymnastic-inspired training
techniques for bouldering and rock climbing.
Rich became adept at rope climbing and
improved the carryover to rock by occasionally
climbing very thin cords, rather
than the traditional 1.5” diameter. When
climbing traditional rope he would never focus
on speed, but climbed slowly, taking maximum
reaches with one hand at a time. He was
also one of the first climbers to use surgical
rubber tubing for learning various strength tricks,
referring to the tubing as an FFD (you’ll have to
ask Rich!).
He quickly became
an exceptional boulderer and
one of the most graceful rock climbers
I've known. We spent many hours in
the 1960s bouldering together in the Tetons
and Black Hills, pulling torn flesh off our
fingers and using vast quantities of chalk
and tape! We also climbed together at Dixon
Springs, where Rich challenged the existing
standards (even at temperatures of 5 degrees F).
Back east, he became a legend in the Gunks, climbing
many difficult routes, including the FA of
the thin face climb, Farewell to Fingers(5.11)
in 1970. Rich climbed widely, and made notable
FAs in the Needles of the Black Hills, including
the first free ascent of the famous and intimidating
Needle's Eye Spire.
Dr. Goldstone
is a mathematician, and teaches
at Manhattan College in New York
State. (When he and I and R. F. Williams
got together on the rocks it was
to answer the question: how many mathematicians
does it take to solve a boulder problem?
Three, apparently.) Rich was one of the best
boulderers of his generation, and a wonderfully
witty and skilled climbing companion!