I had just gotten my Drivers license, but no car.
I had just bought a pair of boreal gold (?) from REI.
I spent the last weeks or days at high school thumbing the meadows guide book looking at routes...
My brother’s high school teacher was an old Yosemite instructor and we had talked with him about climbing.
“You boys need to go to the meadows and learn there. Don’t mess up cuz I don’t want to hear about your asses in the news!”
So after high school graduation, me and my brother loaded up moms car and headed to the meadows.
The lesson was casual and the instructor gave us beta on where to bandit camp, we had no reservations.
After our lesson we decided on great while book...rout went to the top. We climbed it with nuts, hexes and 1 #2 Camelot. And you had to have a damn good reason to place it!
I’ll never forget pitch 3_4?? My brother was out of rope and not to the belay. I was gripped, freaked out.....climbing up to my brother....who was belaying off of the sacred Camelot. I lead past him, not sure if I placed anything, most likely not. I get to the bolted belay on the face. Whatever feat I had, totally gone. We finished the climb and stumbled down.
We were hooked after that trip.
Later in the fall my brother told his teacher we had climbed great white book.....his response, I used to solo it all the time.
Sigh!!!