You’re so beautiful
I have been receiving your magazine since around 1973 or ’74, and I have never seen a more beautiful issue for color photos than issue No. 234 [October]. The photos in the three El Cap articles were stunning, and those from “Bunjil’s Castle” were otherworldly. The Gallery was also outstanding. Many thanks.

— Richard Parker, Holderness, New Hampshire

These boys suffered, too
Just a quick note in response to the blurb on page 26 [Hot Flashes] of the October issue: Well, Sue Nott and Karen McNeil weren’t quite the only climbers to summit Denali via a route other than the West Buttress this year. The weather started out pretty bad, but then cooperated long enough to allow us (Peter Shin, Southard Jones, and Chris Hamilton) to summit via the West Rib. We did see Karen and Sue on the Cassin (although we didn’t know it was them until Lisa, the basecamp manager, mentioned it on the evening weather broadcast).

— Chris Hamilton, San Francisco, California

Star qualities we can use
After picking up and reading your October issue tonight, I felt compelled to write. The article on “The Dihedral Wall” by Tommy Caldwell was an illuminating insight into what some of the greatest climbers go through, which many not in the spotlight could relate to as well, at their own crag, working over and over to finally get that route. I realize that you have received some flack for not documenting more on the average woman or man, and I won’t say I disagree, but if articles such as Tommy’s continue to fill your pages, then by all means keep ’em coming!

— Ben Nadler, Waterloo, Iowa

Love means never having to say you’re sorry
I find it hard to believe that Jeff Achey’s editorial “Yosemite Fever” [October] opened with an apology for yet another Yosemite issue. I think you’ll be forgiven for such a terrible sin, Jeff! Yosemite Valley is where it’s at: Camp 4, El Cap, swimming in the Merced River, passing by Dean Potter in the Mountain Shop — even watching everyone and their grandma fall off Midnight Lightning — is a pastime found nowhere else.
The Valley is a community, and it’s the capitol of our climbing world. From France and Australia, to New York and Utah, Yosemite still tingles the senses of even the most hardened climber. It’s one of the few places the everyday climber can be a part of a not-so-everyday environment. Viva Yosemite!

— Charlotte Johnson, Merced, California

Say What, again?
I was reading the December issue of Climbing when I saw what the editor said to Ryan in response to his “Say What?” letter about creating a 600-page illustrated glossary of all the climbing terms. [Editor’s note: It could be done, but we were joking.] I think that this is a great idea. I have been climbing for two years or so and I also don’t know all the fancy climbing lingo. It would totally come in handy for those of us who love to climb, but are not as linguistically advanced as more experienced climbers! I also just wanted to say that I love your magazine and eagerly wait for it to appear in my P.O. box!

— Kate Kendall, Buena Vista, Colorado

Kate, until the book comes out, here’s a few more terms from Mike Freeman’s master list:
Beach — a large, sandy handhold
Dink — to fiddle with trad protection
Dirt me — “lower me to the ground”
Free snake — to toprope an overhanging route without the draws clipped
Piano — to switch hands, one finger at a time, on a narrow hold

Plebes in peril
I am currently a plebe (freshman) at the United States Naval Academy. There is a great myth that if a cover (hat) is placed on top of the chapel dome, the plebes no longer have to do the annoying tasks of being plebes. We have gathered four people that have climbing experience and are looking for any safety hints for climbing a building because we are all clueless. This is the most important thing in my life right now because we would be the first class in 25 years to attempt this. When we are successful, the whole class will be thankful.

— Michael A. Record, Annapolis, Maryland

Hint: your greatest risk will be ending up in the brig. Other suggestions? Send them to Michael at: MicRicci@aol.com.

Tami rules
I read with disappointment that Tami Knight’s sarcastically obese ’toons will no longer be gracing the pages of Climbing. As a young climber and artist, I first flipped to her work when sitting on the floor at the local gear shop, intent on figuring out why it was considered funny. I was naive to the history and depth from which her puns and observations stemmed; her humor obviously was the result of more vertical and Camp 4 exposure than I could ever dream of.
The more I absorbed from books, the ’zines, and campfire history, the more I appreciated what she had to say through catapulted Avy Poodles, Nude Rats in offwidths, and unrelenting ego stabs at the elite. Years later, bored and bumping elbows at a party in Boulder, Tami was pointed out to me by a friend. Standing out from a crowd draped in Schoeller and Capeline, Knight refused to dress the part. Striped stockings, a flared multicolored skirt, and a thrift store T-shirt were topped by a wide, impenetrable grin and infectious laugh. And she was short — like, Lynn Hillian short — with steel paws that could crush a hex, and calves like coke bottles that proved her love for steep summits up north.
Unbeknownst to some, Tami has 50-some odd collections of her classic ’toons in book form, usually found on toilet lids around the world, and even the rare coffee table. Thanks, Tami, for poking fun at the pretentious, exposing the dark side of egocentricity, and opening the doors for the rest of us to scrape by in the “niche” of rock art.

— Jeremy Collins from somewhere in Iowa

Editor’s note: Tami’s masterpieces include: Climbing Tales of Terror; Tami Knight Returns; Vicious Lies and Heinous Slander, Volume II and Everest: The Ultimate Hump.

Fog in the East
I hate to be a nitpicker, but a couple leaped out of the December 2004 issue.
It’s Taughannock Falls (not Toughannock), though the mistake is understandable, as that’s just one of several variations — Taghkanic and Taconic are two others. The story about Nova Scotia bouldering was beautifully illustrated, but I’m sure lots of Newfoundlanders, who’ve been Canadians since 1949, will be surprised to learn that Nova Scotia has drifted to the east and become Canada’s easternmost province, replacing Newfoundland and Labrador.

— Peter Sistrom, Brooklyn, New York

Oops. Also, Leif Erickson and his Vikings did not discover Nova Scotia.