Just Like The Pros- On Set With Bob Scarpelli and Peter Mortimer

[I’m trying something new, posting the photos at the end of the article. Check-m-out.]

I’m not going to start this blog post by apologizing for not updating. We’ve been busy with logistics and if you have a problem with that then we can fight to the death by the fires of Colorado. Which is where we are, and where we will be for several weeks. We even moved into a house! The RV (Residential Versatility) Project continues, and despite the record highs in Fort Collins, we couldn’t be happier to be in the epicenter of USA Climbing, which everyone knows is not Capen Park, Missouri. The Front Range is to the climbing scene what Hollywood is for the celebrity rehab scene.

Cliffband bouldering at its worst. Chossy, lowball, chossy, and humid. And chossy.

Case in point: We dropped the trailer in Brad’s driveway on Saturday. (Remember Brad, the chiseled hand-stand-walking offwidth master with laser-eyes, whom we met in Hueco?) On Sunday morning, we drove an hour north to Vedauwoo, WY to meet Pete, Bob, Nick and Becca.

Pete is Peter Mortimer, who, along with Nick Rosen, runs Sender Films. Becca is a Sender employee until the fall semester at USC rolls around. The three Sender folks were filming for this year’s Reel Rock tour, specifically for a segment about off-width climbing. Brad had told them about the RV Project crew, and luckily for us, Sender was happy to have us along.

Bob is Bob Scarpelli. We met him in the parking lot. He is 63, and conjures up a shorn version of Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler, except his skin tone doesn’t come from a spray bottle. Bob has been been climbing in Vedauwoo since around 1968. To call him a “local” is to call Yo-Yo Ma a musician. Bob is the Wizard of Wide, a legend, a pillar of ethics and a respected all-round badass. He did scary wide first ascents before big cams mitigated the scary. He looks like the sort of person who could do Dominik Hasek’s job in his underwear. There is even a SuperTopo thread about how rad he is.