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DonC
climber
CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Feb 12, 2017 - 11:52am PT
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in case there is more than one, I'm mean the one in southern Calif where Don Lauria was at. what years what is open? late 60's - early 70's?
I know there has a been a few mentions of this, but can't find this information.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Feb 12, 2017 - 12:05pm PT
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
Dec 24, 2015 - 01:47pm PT
In 1964 we opened the "little" West Ridge Mountaineering on Pico Blvd. in West LA. Mike Sturm was repping his Eiger stuff. He continued to be one of our main suppliers after we moved into the "big" store on Olympic and Bundy. from
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=1343654&tn=80
I found this by typing the following into google:
site:supertopo.com "West Ridge" store Lauria
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DonC
climber
CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 12, 2017 - 12:28pm PT
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thanks Clint, I did a similar search and just missed that reference.
Does anyone know when it closed? With messaging not working, hard to send Don a question directly.
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EdBannister
Mountain climber
13,000 feet
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Feb 12, 2017 - 12:36pm PT
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The "Sturm" in the quote was Mike Sturm who was the principle buyer at Liberty for many years, he also wangled commissions from some manufactures in Europe for the goods he imported! Example, EB.
Eiger was the Liberty in house brand.
Dennis Henneck, Russ McClean, Don Lauria were the managers in the old days....
Edit: Deleted misinfo
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Jamesthomsen
Social climber
Mammoth Lakes, California
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Feb 12, 2017 - 10:58pm PT
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Ed,
Mike's company was originally Eiger Mountain Sports. We made gaitors for him in 1972. We was also the importer of Millet backpacks and when they were 6 months behind in shipments he asked us to make copies for him. Greg developed about 5 styles and showed them to Mike, but at that point the Millet shipment arrived and he said he no longer needed them.
So, we put some labels from our mountaineering guide service (Wilderness Experience) on the packs and took them to West Ridge. Don started the conversation with, "That's all the world needs, another pack company." But he ordered a few for the store and they sold, so he kept ordering.
Thanks again Don.
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life is a bivouac
Trad climber
Bishop
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Feb 13, 2017 - 01:25pm PT
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Hello Ed, I was there that X-mas. It's now more than a few years ago, however I do remember that evening...
Bill used to drop by the store all the time with new gear ideas and prototype. He was after all, one of the original store "family members"; going back to the early '60s store.
The Westridge always had parties and Christmas was a bash... There were a lot of employees and customers celebrating. Bill however hadn't been coming by for quite awhile, it may have had something to do with his personal life; he was fairly private, but I knew he'd had a break-up with his wife not too long before.
A bunch of us were sitting around in the boot room on couches by the fake fire place. Some one of the employees, it doesn't mater who, came over to Don telling him he had a phone call. It was long before cell phones.
Bill had not, to the best of my recollections, asked Dennis, or my self to go climbing any time during or around those holidays. I feel you are insinuating something that may be incorrect.
I'll leave the rest of this story up to Don, as he'll see this Post some time today...
Russ McLean
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Feb 13, 2017 - 01:34pm PT
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Ed, I don't know where you got this information regarding Dolt asking any one of us to go climbing. To my knowledge he never asked any of us, ever, to go climbing. As for the night of the Christmas party, it goes something like this:
On December 6, 1971, while delivering some Dolt Rope, Bill mentioned that he was definitely leaving McDonnell Douglas after 10 years to go into Doltco on a full time basis. He was asking my opinion. A great idea I was sure he could do it. He was elated by the encouragement.
One week later, Bill telephoned, his voice quavering, "I'm thinking of selling most of my interests in Doltco, are you interested?"
"But Bill, I thought..."
“I changed my mind, Douglas has offered me such a good deal I can't let them down." He sounded unconvinced and subdued.
"Okay, Bill, I'll buy whatever you're selling." I really didn't believe he would do it.
"I'll call you later to arrange a meeting," he replied weakly.
On Christmas Eve 1971, the telephone rang at the shop in the midst of a Christmas party.
"Hello, Don?", Dolt asked in a hushed tone.
"Yeah, Bill, what's up?"
"I just called to wish you a Merry Christmas", Dolt answered, his voice almost a whisper.
"Merry Christmas to you too, Bill."
He didn't answer.
"Bill, what's with the deal we were talking about a couple of weeks ago?" I was searching for a subject that might break his silence.
"Oh, I'm not sure what I'm going to do", he replied slowly.
I had never heard him sound so depressed. He continued, "I just
called to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year."
"Well, thanks, Bill. Same to you", I replied awkwardly.
"Thank you, Don. Goodbye."
As far as I know those were the, last words William Andrew Feuerer ever uttered.
One week later, the police were summoned to Dolt's apartment by Ken McNutt who had noticed the week's accumulation of newspapers on Dolt's porch and found his door chained from the inside. Dolt was found hanging from a water pipe on his back porch.
He left no note, no will ... nothing. His funeral, paid for by his veteran's insurance, was attended by fourteen people, only six of whom were from his climbing world. The priest in attendance knew only two things about Bill Feuerer his name, and how he died.
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Brian in SLC
Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
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Feb 13, 2017 - 01:58pm PT
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^^^Whew...tough stuff...
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EdBannister
Mountain climber
13,000 feet
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Feb 13, 2017 - 03:46pm PT
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Don, i must have misheard Phil Warrender, my apologies. I understood Dolt asked him to go climbing, he was not able, and the way i understood, Dolt told Phil he would or had asked you guys also...
I apologize.
In any case i think everyone liked the man, and all were saddened to have him take his own life.
edit: i deleted the misinfo.
edit 2: so Mike Sturm's impropriety, gave birth to WILD-X ! cool.
Jim! this reminds me how you eventually turned a hostile takeover into a fabulous job, along with the right preparation and attitude, hats off.
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BooDawg
Social climber
Butterfly Town
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Feb 14, 2017 - 10:55am PT
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I was employee # 001 at the old store near Pico & Bundy. Those were REALLY GOOD TIMES since we were all "family," at least at first. We'd open around 5 p.m. on weekdays. I'd usually walk from UCLA to open the store. We had great parties, usually after hours, aided and abetted by the next door bar from which we'd order food and drinks.
I don't remember Dolt coming into the old store, but my aging brain may have forgotten. But i DO remember him coming into the new store quite often and regularly. It was there in 1967 that he offered Don and me his prototype pitons for us to take up the Nose when we did the 8th Ascent in March of that year.
We felt that the anvil on the head of the prototype was too small since our hammers sometimes missed it while hammering. So he changed the head design, enlarging and strengthening the next generation as one can see in the photos below.
Perhaps this should go on or be linked to one of the Dolt threads.
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Feb 14, 2017 - 12:21pm PT
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Hey, Boo. We didn't open the big new store until 1969 ... so Dolt must have given us those pins at the Pico store. Right?
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LilaBiene
Trad climber
Technically...the spawning grounds of Yosemite
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Feb 14, 2017 - 12:54pm PT
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Here's Dolt's granddaughter (by birth) with a shoe that she "invented" a couple of days ago after I gave her a couple of empty egg cartons. :) (The wood came from a board she broke for one of her tae kwon do belt tests.)
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BooDawg
Social climber
Butterfly Town
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Feb 14, 2017 - 01:15pm PT
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Don, You must be right! I lost track of the dates, I guess. Sorry.
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life is a bivouac
Trad climber
Bishop
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Feb 15, 2017 - 07:56am PT
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Hello, DonC...
It seems your initial question never got answered. What is your motivation? Writing a book? You have the attention of at least three primary people from that time.
It was a unique period with a cast of characters that would be near impossible to assemble again...
Just wondering.
Russ
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DonC
climber
CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 15, 2017 - 09:13am PT
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not a problem, and nothing as lofty as a book
I bought a Chouniard hammer in the late 60's - early 70's and was trying to remember where I bought it from, for a collector. West Ridge was one of two options. I recall going there whenever I could, lived in Riverside, but after all these years I was drawing a blank on when that might have been. I think this thread confirms that West Ridge was open in the 68 - 72 window.
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BooDawg
Social climber
Butterfly Town
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Feb 15, 2017 - 12:28pm PT
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DonC: Yes, West Ridge was open during the entire 68-71 window, but as Don Lauria said up-thread, the store moved in '69 from near Pico and Bundy to Olympic and Bundy, a short walk away.
Cosmic: I returned from teaching near JTree to UCLA in the fall of '71 and probably worked there again between late '71 and Spring of '73 when I returned to Yosemite to do the field work on my thesis, "Factors Affecting Meadow-Forest Borders in Yosemite National Park, California."
Edit: Thanks Russ (below): I was trying to remember the name of the bar.
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life is a bivouac
Trad climber
Bishop
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Feb 15, 2017 - 12:37pm PT
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Hello Cos Crag Man, The Old Westridge closed in 1969 and, as you know, moved a block over to Olympic Blvd.
There were only two Westridge stores; one on Pico next to the Arsenal, a Bar of the Highest repute, and the much bigger store on, as mentioned, Olympic. So, the one mentioned in San Berdo wasn't...
Cheers! Russ
P.S. Wow! The Boo beat me to it!! Good on Ya Mate!
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guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
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Feb 15, 2017 - 12:52pm PT
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So... do you remember these two people?
They were responsible for getting me into the sport... Steve on the Left and Louis on the right.
They took me to West Ridge for the first time... I was so excited.
I worked on Cotner st for about 10 years... 78 to 88 ... Aircraft Bearing.
The west side sure has changed.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Sands Motel , Las Vegas
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Feb 15, 2017 - 05:56pm PT
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Cosmic...You must have gotten the scuba tanks with the nitrus oxide..? rj
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Peater
Trad climber
Salt Lake City Ut.
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Feb 15, 2017 - 06:36pm PT
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""So... do you remember these two people?""
That would be Steve B the poet and Louis K the jewelry dealer.
Bought my Kronies and first ice axe at the big store.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Sands Motel , Las Vegas
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Feb 15, 2017 - 09:13pm PT
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I remember a large glass topped display case surrounding an employee- only area...1974..?
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life is a bivouac
Trad climber
Bishop
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Feb 16, 2017 - 07:35am PT
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That would have been the main display of hardware... Unfortunately pins were disappearing when displayed on hooks or pegs that the public could access.
It made for a great area for discussion and information about the store.
Cheers, Russ
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BooDawg
Social climber
Butterfly Town
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Feb 16, 2017 - 01:20pm PT
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Dennis Hennek, who was employee #002 at the old Pico & Bundy store just reminded me of a few stories from that time:
Like sometimes happens in business, the founders, after some time, begin to have personality or other conflicts. Don Lauria and Tom Limp were more simpatico, and Don Nagy, increasingly, became the odd-man-out. At one point Dennis glued one of Nagy's old stogeys into an ashtray, and every time Nagy saw that it needed to be emptied, he'd try to dump it. Since that was impossible, he'd throw the whole ashtray in the trash. Later, Dennis would extract it and soon it would be waiting, once again, for Nagy. We'd snicker to ourselves each time Nagy fell for the same old trick.
There was another time when, before opening the store one day, the staff was smoking weed. Shortly afterward, some sheriff's deputies knocked on the door. Lauria scrambled to light a real cigar and he puffed it all around the store, then finally opened the store earlier than normal hours. The deputies bought some gear, but we never knew if they suspected anything was not quite straight.
Then there was the pass-through the wall between the Arsenal bar next door which made it easy to deliver food and drinks between the two establishments.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Sands Motel , Las Vegas
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Feb 16, 2017 - 06:56pm PT
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LMAO...!! Bar and a climbing shop...perfect...
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Jamesthomsen
Social climber
Mammoth Lakes, California
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Dec 12, 2018 - 10:19pm PT
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Over the last few years I've videoed a few hundred hours of past employees, sales reps, sponsored climbers with the idea of putting together a history of Wilderness Experience.
I was just watching one of the videos I did in 2015 with one of my all time favorite people, Don Lauria. Don was the first person to buy Wilderness Experience packs to sell in a store. In this section he talks about getting into climbing and then opening West Ridge Mountaineering.
I thought it was important to include it in the record here.
Don Lauria and West Ridge Mountaineering.
https://vimeo.com/306117093
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Dec 12, 2018 - 10:32pm PT
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Good old Don. What a memory he owns. Thanks, Jim.
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onyourleft
climber
So Oregon
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Dec 12, 2018 - 11:51pm PT
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Apologies in advance for thread drift:
Does anyone remember the name of a climbing shop in Hollywood circa 1982?
It was on the north side of Sunset Blvd. between Van Ness and Western.
It's where I bought "Freedom Of The Hills" and fondled my first carabiner.
It was run by "Ed" ? (I think...)
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life is a bivouac
Trad climber
Bishop
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Dec 13, 2018 - 07:55am PT
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Good Morning onyourleft,
I kind of remember that store in Hollywood, it was Hollywood Sporting Goods. I bought my first pair of kletterschue there... as a kid of almost 16 the store seemed to be jammed with all sorts of gear and trappings even hung from their ceilings all from Europe. My little pea brain swirled looking at all the equipment for mountain climbing, as I had never seen or tangibly experienced these things. It was the "drehpunkt", "turning point" of my life.
Ropes and pitons and carabiners, the Same kinds of tools and gear that Gervasutti, Buhl, and Rebuffat were using, had used, was within my grasp...
There was even a strange exotic smell that came out of that shoe box holding my Zillertals, I can't explain, but I remember it still to this day, a clean brand new leather and rubber sole smell all the way from Austria... Such romantic times. (but then I babble)
Little did I know that about 6 years later I'd be working at that little climbing shop called The Westridge.
Cheers!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Dec 13, 2018 - 09:45am PT
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And now a move from our sponsor...
]
From Summit October 1966.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
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Dec 13, 2018 - 09:53am PT
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Was in Sportsman Warehouse last night (hunting and fishing vibe type of shop if you're not familiar), and lo and behold Liberty Mountain carabiners on the shelves!
They also had some Black Diamond stuff like an ATC and some carabiners (just enough for the uninitiated to get into trouble with seeing as how the flag pole "ropes" were within 3 feet of the carabiners, lol).
Anyone else try and rappel down the underside of a stair case with that type of 'rope' when they were a kid?
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McHale's Navy
Trad climber
From Panorama City, CA
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Dec 13, 2018 - 01:30pm PT
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The Pico Westridge store was something special to me - A real kid in a candy store I was! I bought at least my first pair of Robbins Blue Boots from there. And then came the big store with it's amazing collection of Black & White blowups on the walls. I have always been amazed that spirit was not emulated more in other shops.
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life is a bivouac
Trad climber
Bishop
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Dec 13, 2018 - 03:24pm PT
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Hey Mc Hale, Next time you're in Bishop... visit Eastside Sports. They have a remarkable collection of old posters and photos on their walls and an intense selection of climbing paraphernalia, shoes, and sporty clothing...
Russ
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Dec 16, 2018 - 11:44am PT
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From Summit May 1966. Note the mysterious Leeper ad featuring what seems to be a Gerry angle in 1960 followed by an very rare Leeper angle later.
From Summit November 1967.
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BooDawg
Social climber
Butterfly Town
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Dec 17, 2018 - 10:12pm PT
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The SHOES pic was taken by Larry Reynolds whom Russ and I met on our trek down from our FA on Mt. Brewer in Sept. of 1963, the year we graduated from high school. I posted pix of that climb here several years ago.
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Dec 17, 2018 - 10:56pm PT
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Grossman,
The little girl in the ad was my next door neighbor's daughter. She was the star of our annual calendar
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hellroaring
Trad climber
San Francisco
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Dec 18, 2018 - 10:07am PT
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All hail the brick & mortar mountain shop! God bless, protect, and let prosper the ones still in existence in this world of cold & detached online shopping. RIP the ones no longer around. You are sorely missed. A place where kindred spirits worked, actual users gave sage advice to the uninitiated, topo maps were scrutinized & future plans hatched, climbing friendships evolved, the dog eared "shop copy" climbing guide(s) photocopied countless times, much beer & coffee consumed, etc. A gathering place as well as a house of commerce. A shout out to all those fabulous shops wether here or not...
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Dec 18, 2018 - 11:21am PT
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1964-1969 Next to the Arsenal
1969-1980 Brick and mortar
Sixteen of the best years of my life
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life is a bivouac
Trad climber
Bishop
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Dec 26, 2018 - 05:17pm PT
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This is the Central Scrutinizer, in the back ally of Pico Blvd. rumors abound... '64 to '69...
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rmuir
Social climber
From the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.
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Dec 26, 2018 - 05:54pm PT
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Although I wasn't a West Ridger, I do recall a lot of hangers-on from LA might have been…
Mike Graber
Hooman Aprin
Alan Bartlett
Rob Dillinger
Dave Black
Jack Roberts
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Roots
Mountain climber
Redmond, Oregon
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Dec 27, 2018 - 04:11pm PT
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Great stuff!
OT but Boo what FA did you do on Brewer? -it's a real nice looking peak!
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McHale's Navy
Trad climber
From Panorama City, CA
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Dec 27, 2018 - 05:01pm PT
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I almost had a job there in the late 60s but they didn't think I would be able to consistently ride my bicycle from the northwest end of the San Fernando Valley. I'm sure they were right!
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BooDawg
Social climber
Butterfly Town
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Not as I remember it. If memory serves, Don and Tom mapped all the Trip Leaders' addresses from the L.A. Chapter of the Sierra Club's Activity's Quarterly publication that was sent to all members in the L.A. area, From that map, they decided that the store should be located near the Santa Monica and San Diego freeways intersection which was in West L.A. The long sloping line in their logo sloped to the left from the center which, of course, would be west on a compass.
Re: Mt. Brewer. I posted a thread on it about 2010 or 2011, I think, but I don't have a thread link at my fingertips on this New Year's Day. To summarize it, in 1963, Russ McLean and I traversed the Sierra from Kearsarge Pass to Cedar Grove in Kings Canyon N.P. Our purpose was to do the FA on Mt. Brewer's N.E face. We succeeded. It was my third multi-pitch climb, having done just two moderate climbs at Taquitz with Russ earlier that summer.
1963 was the year that Russ McLean (Life is a Bivouac) and Dennis Hennek, and I graduated from Canoga Park High School which was very close to Stoney Point and near where Don Lauria acquired a home.
Edit: Here is the link to the Mt. Brewer climb:
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=1079288&tn=20
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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When I mentioned to Chouinard that we were thinking of opening a mountaineering store, he suggested I go up to visit Doug Tompkins. Tompkins had just opened a small mountain shop in San Francisco named "North Face".
I followed Yvon's suggestion and got excellent advice from Doug.
I decided to name the store after some feature or aspect of a mountain, but it couldn't be a face (too obvious a plagiarism of "North Face"). Since the West Ridge of Everest had just recently been climbed, "West Ridge" came to mind. "West Ridge" also fit our location, the West Los Angeles, Westwood area - ergo, West Ridge it was.
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