The Northeast Buttress of Higher Cathedral Rock

Awesome photo trip report on SuperTopo from a classic Yosemite Route.

A Short Talk With a Legend of Rock (Yvon Chouinard)

Great short article from Smithsonian Magazine about Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia and Black Diamond and first ascentionist of many classic rock climbs in Yosemite and elsewhere.

Some interesting passages:

In the 1950s, Chouinard says, there were fewer than 300 climbers in America

and Yosemite National Park estimates that in the park,

climbers log between 25,000 and 50,000 “climber-days” per year.

and

Chouinard thinks that gyms simply don’t replicate the real spirit of rock climbing. “Climbing without risk isn’t climbing,” he says. “And in gyms, there’s no risk. You aren’t leading, and you’re not using your head. You’re just following the chalk marks to the top.”

and

If you follow the chalk marks, you’ll get to the top—but are you really climbing?

The Latest SuperTopo Newsletter

Climbing guidebook publisher SuperTopo sends out a monthly newsletter and the latest one just came out. It links to the site’s best trip reports, forum posts, and gear reviews from the past month. Definitely worth a look.

Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir in Yosemite (Glacier Point) in 1903. John Muir wrote: Any fool could destroy trees. They can’t run away. Unfortunately, God cannot save trees from fools. Only the government can do that.
View Separately

Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir in Yosemite (Glacier Point) in 1903.

John Muir wrote:

Any fool could destroy trees. They can’t run away. Unfortunately, God cannot save trees from fools. Only the government can do that.

Happy Birthday to Chuck Pratt, Pioneering Yosemite Climber

Tom Frost, Royal Robbins, Chuck Pratt and Yvon Chouinard on the summit of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley at the end of the first ascent of the North America Wall route.

^ Photo: (L to R) Tom Frost, Royal Robbins, Chuck Pratt and Yvon Chouinard on the summit of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley at the end of the first ascent of the North America Wall route.

Yosemite climbing legend Chuck Pratt died in 2000, but he would have been 73 today, March 5.

Chuck Pratt’s notable climbs (links to go beta and photos of each route):

  • 1958 - FA of North Face of Fairview Dome, Tuolmne Meadows, CA
  • 1959 - FA of East Face of Washington Column (later renamed Astroman), Yosemite, CA
  • 1959 - FA of North Face of Middle Cathedral Rock, Yosemite, CA
  • 1960 - Second ascent of The Nose, El Capitan, Yosemite, CA
  • 1961 - FA of the Salathé Wall, El Capitan, Yosemite, CA
  • 1963 - FFA of Kor-Ingalls on Castleton Tower, Utah
  • 1964 - FA of South Face of Mt. Watkins, Yosemite, CA
  • 1964 - FA of North American Wall, El Capitan, Yosemite, CA

In his obituary of Pratt, Yosemite climbing patriarch Royal Robbins called him “The best climber of our generation, and the best climbing writer as well.”

[Source]

10 Things You Didn't Know About Granite

Interesting article from Climbing magazine.

Park Life: Bouldering in Yosemite. This great short film clocks in at 25 minutes.

Fun Fact: When Alex Honnold did his epic free solo of Half Dome (a 2,000 foot climb that he dispatched in 2 hours 50 minutes), he took only a third of a liter of water.

[From Honnold’s “Losing Myself on Half Dome”, Rock & Ice, January 2012]