Alan Rubin



climber Amherst,MA. May 10, 2010 - 10:26am PT Steve, Thanks for posting the article. It has always been one of my all-time favorite climber profile articles--a truely exceptional performer. I was only able to do one of OPS's routes during my very brief visit to Dresden in 1981--the Sudriss on the Falkenstein--solid 5.8, maybe 9 wide crack--and far from his hardest, but what a great climb up an amazing formation. If it wasn't for a team of East German climbers whom we met on the summit and led us down the inobvious descent "maze" we'd still probably be up there today!!!! (No guidebook etc, just recognized the route from one of the photos in the article, so we were lacking in little details such as how to get down.) Even in the strictly-controlled society that East Germany was then, the locals whom we met were exceptionally open and friendly, even inviting us to spend the night in their tiny weekend home to save us from having to take the train ride to and from the city despite the possible risks from the Stasi-- the secret police. I remember one of the most enjoyable evenings ever communicating quite effectively despite knowing few words of each others languages and passing the tiny German/English dictionary back and forth looking for the correct words as we learned of each others lives and climbing in the then very separated societies. And the next day they brought us to some most excellent climbs--though not OPS's.