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RyanD
climber
Squamish
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Saw Wayne's presentation at the Squamish mountain fest a few weeks back. He's the real deal. Funny, kind, & straight from the heart was how I interpreted all of his stories. It was A real pleasure to be there.
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tom Carter
Social climber
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY WAYNE!
We shared some great times together - thanks.
TC
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Big Happy Birthday Wayne!
Great to spend time with you at Oakdale last Fall. Hope you can make it out again this October.
I first met Wayne my first season in Yosemite in 1958 and had the great opportunity to work with him the first season the Yosemite Mountaineering School opened in 68. It has been an honor to consider you a friend for all these years.
I just finished the book, "Forever on the Mountain" by James Tabor about the disastrous 1967 Wilcox expedition on Mount McKinley. Wayne was working with the NPS at the time and here are some excerpt about Wayne that pretty much sum up the man.
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Leggs
Sport climber
Tucson, AZ
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Oh my goodness... this thread just made my heart swell and tear up, and swell and smile, all over again.
Happiest of New Years to you, Mr. Merry!
~Peace, Lisa Mae
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Risk
Mountain climber
Olympia, WA
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Wayne, 40+ years later, I recall vividly assembling with you everything (including Goldline ropes) for "basic rock climbing" out of the closet of the old Yosemite Lodge lounge and walking behind the place past the "fly fishing" pond and going up to some nearby cliff to the left of Swan Slab. There, you taught us how to tie a swami, water-knot and a bowline. You told us how the local Indians kids climbed and told us to mimic them, and to stand up and look at the rock and not hug it. Little did I know then that everything you taught us that day would be with me for the rest of my life. Thanks, and Happy BD!
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Meeting Wayne is a supernatural experience. He is so vital, so healthy, so alert and cognitive, one has the firm impression he is maybe late fifties or early sixties. In other words, it seems "uncanny". In fact he is eighty-two. I think time stood still for this man. Such a happy, high-functioning character, admired by thousands. All the best for another however many decades, Wayne!
Dougie Robinson likes to tell the story of being rescued on Pywiack Dome as a child when he got stuck 'just climbing' up it without benefit of any sort of equipment, training, or knowledge, having wandered away from the family campsite on the south end of Tenaya Lake. Feral, basically and unsurprisingly for Doug, to those who follow his life. It turns out it was Ranger Wayne, and I gather this was in the early 1960's, more than fifty years ago.
ph.
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Wayno
Big Wall climber
Seattle, WA
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Meeting Wayne is a supernatural experience. He is so vital, so healthy, so alert and cognitive, one has the firm impression he is maybe late fifties or early sixties. In other words, it seems "uncanny". In fact he is eighty-two. I think time stood still for this man. Such a happy, high-functioning character, admired by thousands. All the best for another however many decades, Wayne!
Yeah Peter, I had very similar impressions. When I first saw him at the Oakdale Fest and didn't know who he is, I was impressed with his demeanor. Upon finding out more and talking with him, I was further impressed.
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Happy birthday Wayne. All the best to you and Cindy.
Roger
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Happy birthday Wayne Merry, Yosemite pioneer and exemplar of a life being lived well!
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ron gomez
Trad climber
fallbrook,ca
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Happy Birthday Wayne. Ironic that my son turned 24 on August 4th and my wifes Birthday is November 12, she was born when they were finishing the Nose.
Peace
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guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
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Happy Birthday to You....
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Roots
Mountain climber
SoCal
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Hi Mr. Merry!!
From everything I have heard, and from our email exchanges you seem like an excellent dude!!
Congratulations on your birthday but more so on an excellent life and paving the way for us that came after you climbing pioneers!
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LilaBiene
Trad climber
Technically...the spawning grounds of Yosemite
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Hope you're still celebrating, Wayne! Wishing you a very Happy Belated Birthday.
Retiring? What the heck are you going to do with all that free time? Take me up the Nose?
:D
Hope our paths cross again soon and looking forward to meeting Cindy!
Edit:
P.S. That story about your backcountry self-rescue and rehab is about the coolest ever in my book (especially the making stuff yourself parts - grin).
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Branscomb
Trad climber
Lander, WY
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Thanks for recognizing a very understated and wonderful person. I've known Wayne and Cindy for many years, stayed with them several times at their place in BC, just really very fine people.
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BBA
climber
OF
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April '62 Wayne organized the climbers in Camp 4 to carry the NPS winch and cable up to the cliff overlooking the Notch on the Lost Arrow. I can still remember hiking up the trail in the moonlight. We winched Wayne down along with gear for Glen Denny and another who got caught in a late snowstorm with only T-shirts. They couldn't get out of the Notch and would not have made it through the night. Us winchers on the top kept warm cranking that handle.
Wayne got my partner who had been bitten by a rattler off Sunnyside - that's told elsewhere on Supertopo.
Great guy, good works. What better can you say?
Bill Amborn
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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BBA
That wasn't Colliver with Denny it was an east coast climber, with a last name that started with a W, I believe. Just for the record old man since you have been spell checking and grammar correcting me for over 53 years!
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Wayne is more appreciated than he might imagine.
He's even highly-thought-of.
Thanks to Owen Hoffman for the picture, and this insight:
Like Roger Rudolf, myself, and many other former NPS'ers, Wayne received his undergraduate training in biological conservation at San Jose State. Dr. Carl W. Sharsmith was among his professors.
Safe travels, Wayne.
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Park Rat
Social climber
CA, UT,CT,FL
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 4, 2014 - 02:35pm PT
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“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
Wayne Merry's life of service is a quiet example that Emerson would have appreciated.
Super topo gives us a place to remember the pioneers of mountaineering as well as the current participants who are busy creating tomorrow's history.
It would be regrettable if we did not celebrate people like Wayne in their lifetime.
Thanks to this forum we can review and in a small way relive their accomplishments.
Here's to all of the pioneers whose lives and stories have enriched our lives.
Cheers,
January 2014
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Park Rat
Social climber
CA, UT,CT,FL
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 3, 2014 - 04:19pm PT
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Super topo has become a great place to exchange birthday wishes. It is also a place to show our appreciation to those individuals who paved the way for the present day mountain climbers.
The climbers who created many of the first Ascent's deserve to be talked about around campfires as long as climbing remains popular.
Wayne Merry is one of these pioneer climbers.
Wayne has contributed more to climbing than just First Ascents, as a climbing Ranger and one of the first SARS, in the creation of the Mountain Shop as well as Yosemite Climbing School.
Added to that Wayne is a genuinely nice person, what more could we want in one of our climbing legends.
Happy birthday Wayne Merry,
Cheers,
Susie
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Happy B-day, Wayne.
All the best, Roger
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