Later Years
Wiessner remained an active climber up into his eighties, often stunning onlookers in the Shawangunks by soloing his early routes. He loved to solo his climb Gargoyle at Skytop by the light of the full moon.
Once, when climbing with a much younger climber sometime in the mid 1970s, the younger climber led the first pitch, and confided to Wiessner that he had soloed the route earlier in the week. "Ah, you must vee climbing pretty goot!" Wiessner said. He then took the lead for the second pitch, putting in no protection - effectively soloing the pitch. When his partner reached the top, Fritz grinned impishly. "I must vee climbing pretty good too" Wiessner (then in his middle 70s) said. (The source for this anecdote is Guy Waterman).
Read more about this topic: Fritz Wiessner
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