Thomas H. Osborne, Ph.D.

Mattie first showed me the ropes a couple of years ago and I've never looked back, I mean never looked down, since. You can read about some of my adventures in the Los Alpinistas climbing archives.

Hans Floreen is the best climber around. He keeps telling me, "Yeah, Tom, I'm gonna introduce you to my sister", but he never does. I offered to teach her how to climb.

Of course I like Rock and Roll music the best. You know anything to do with rock sounds good to me. And that Beatles song, Helter Skelter, that goes, "When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide", well that just about sums up my climbing. Clint Eastwood was my idol before Hans Floreen. As a child, I was captivated by the movie, "The Eiger Sanction", and always wanted to stand on top of a desert pinnacle like Clint.

Yes, my favourite beverage is Margarita, made the way only Alpinistas know how. Failing Margaritas, though, I'll take a beer; my favourite's the Amber at the San Diego Brewing Company. Spinach has got to be the best source of vitamins. Just look what it did for Popeye. My forearms are only half as big but I'm working on them.

Rock & Ice is my favorite magazine, then Climbing of course. There's too much sport climbing featured in those magazines though. If you guys are listening, "How about featuring some off-width climbing?". I don't feel like I've been on a good climb unless I'm covered in scabs the next day. That's why they call me "Scabman".

Climbing's all about pushing your limits. My best lead to date is Sundance, the classic 5.10b *** at Suicide Rock, Idyllwild. After once climbing it with Patsy and Richard, I later led Audrey up all three pitches.

Pushing your limits has its drawbacks though. Sooner or later you're going to take a whipper. My whipper was at Suicide Rock. I got a bit off route on Surprise and, more to my horror more than my surprise, I took an 80 foot fall. Jean Scally was belaying me. Although she held the fall okay, one of her hands was a bit charred and she's hasn't climbed with me since.

My largest piece is my number 5 Camalot. That piece of gear was made just for me. One day I've got to team up with Bruce Bailey and we can do some heinous off-widths together.