T-shirt stories: Chasin' the trane

If you’ve spent any time in the climbing world, you’ve likely come across the name John Bachar. This “Stonemaster” was born in 1957, right at the start of Yosemite’s golden age of climbing. At first, it seemed John would become a professional baseball player with a prestigious university education, but fate had other plans, and he discovered the magic of climbing.

John started his climbing life on boulders near L.A. As he became more passionate about climbing, he frequently skipped university classes to spend more time on the rocks. He decided to become a full time climber at the time when “professional climber” wasn’t a career option, and climbing itself couldn’t provide an income. However, the hippie era had also made its way to the rocks, and John was content living simply in his red van, spending his days climbing and his evenings playing the saxophone. Yosemite and Joshua Tree rock areas became his home. And right here the famous group known as the “Stonemasters” was formed, including legends like Mike Graham, John Long, and Lynn Hill.

John Bachar’s climbing achievements include first-ever ascents of Yosemite’s Half Dome and El Capitan in one day (both in 1986, roped with Peter Croft). However, Bachar was outspoken in his disdain for sport climbing.

HE HATED DRILING INTO THE ROCK, THE OVERUSE OF BOLTS, AND BECAME FAMOUS FOR HIS DETERMINATION TO FREE ASCENT AND FREE SOLO STYLES.

The climbing community didn’t always approve of his free climbs, and John would occasionally respond with a bit of arrogance. For example, he once offered a $10,000 prize to anyone who could spend a climbing day with him. No one took up the challenge. His friend Lynn Hill described John as a perfectionist, saying that free soloing was his way of coming as close as possible to what he thought of as perfection.

Bachar’s perfectionism was evident in his trainings too. He designed and built his own climbing equipment, including the iconic “Bachar Ladder”. He also focused on mental condition and explored Eastern philosophies and principles.

In 1981, Bachar visited Germany to be a part of a climbing festival in Frankenjura. He left a deep impression on the European scene by being the first to climb an open project on the Krottenseer Turm. He graded the route 7c+, creating the hardest route in Europe at the time, and one of the toughest in the world. The name “Chasin’ the Train” was inspired by saxophonist John Coltrane and his song of the same name.

Bachar returned to the U.S. and said that Europeans need to learn how to climb solo. Although this statement fired up the European climbing community, sport climbing quickly took over Frankenjura, and ten years after Bachar’s visit, Wolfgang Güllich completed the world’s first 9a route named “Action Directe”.

Bachar’s route, now graded 7c, remains a solid challenge, not just for German climbers. Recently, a new trend has emerged on the route: climbing it Green Point (GP) style, which means “under your own power with your own gear”. Heiko Queitsch was the first to complete the route in GP style, offering inspiration to climbers who aren’t too keen on the heavy progression of sport climbing and the overuse of bolts in the crags.

With a bit of naive optimism, one could say that John Bachar might have been pleased to see GP climbing becoming a popular alternative in the sport climbing world. It also serves as a kind of compromise to climbing without a rope, something that ultimately led to John’s tragic death when, at 52, he fell during a free solo on the Dike Wall in California. Climbing was his life, and it became his death too.

In conclusion, let’s take comfort in the fact that even for those who aren’t into free climbing, there are always new challenges. Whether you decide to try Chasin’ the Train on bolts or load up with your own gear, follow your path, chase your passion and don’t let the train leave without you.