Richard Harrison has passed away

With each departure, those of a certain age inhabit a smaller less familiar world.

If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.
Isaac Newton

In the climbing game, Richard was all in...

Talking with him the weekend before he passed we talked about our plans of getting dirt bikes

As we got ready for the summit push, Richard went through our food bag and edited out a few things. He had his back to the void, and pulled out half of a greasy two pound block of cheddar, and without saying a word hucked the thing over his shoulder. I had the time and the tie in to move over to the edge and watch it hit the wall and shower orange nuggets over a party getting an early start on The Salathe.

The next thing out of the bag was a small can of mystery meat which he read the label of with distain. "Beef lips? Tripe?"

Over the shoulder.

The morning we woke up on Chickenhead Richard was a bit grumpy. I awoke first and the first thing I saw was him face down, heavily stubbled cheek pressed firmly into the cold stone, a pirate like scowl on his sleeping face. He was bivyed in an old half bag and an older duvet, both stained, tattered, and festooned with a variety of tape patches.

Kevin-I know that half sleeping bag VERY well- it was my childhood sleeping bag. It has quite the stories to tell!

It was like riding the crest of a tidal wave

Because there was no local climbing culture or heritage to directly draw from back then

Richard was once interested in ice and alpine climbing

we were already our own tribe after a few months so we mostly just built the ship as we sailed it.

And there was a memorable road trip in 1975 to the Canadian Rockies, with Tobin, Mike, Richard and me, all stuffed into Mike's little Datsun station wagon. A high light was Richard and Tobin doing the Beckey/Chouinard on the north face of Mt. Edith Cavell one day, and Mike and me the next, because we only had enough ice gear for one team at a time.

TNB: Climbers We Lost in 2014
By Alison Osius

Richard Harrison, 60, October 24
Richard Harrison lived and climbed in Las Vegas for 35 years, pioneering at least 100 routes there, but he left his mark far more widely: in Suicide-Tahquitz, Joshua Tree, Yosemite and Tahoe, with further ventures to big faces in Mexico.

The author of so many bold, hard routes in Red Rocks that any climber today will probably follow his path, Harrison was one of the original Stonemasters memorialized by the writer-climber John Long (who plans to write about him in our upcoming annual compendium, Ascent). Still, Harrison remains something of an unsung hero.

He, Long and Rick Accomazzo all went to high school in Upland, California, and learned to climb together.

“Ricky had all the talent,” John Long posted on Supertopo, “and Richard had all the commitment. I just talked loudly.”

Harrison’s routes in Red Rocks include Adventure Punks (5.10d), Cloud Tower (IV 5.12a), Buffalo Wall (V 5.11 A3), Lone Star (IV 5.10+) and Sergeant Slaughter (V 5.10 A2) with Paul Van Betten and others; Rock Warrior (III 5.10) with Jay Smith and Nick Nordblom; and the Woodrow (5.10- R) with John Long. In Yosemite he established the classic Electric Ladyland (VI A4 5.10a), named for a huge thunderstorm, with Gib Lewis and Rick Accomazzo on Washington Column, and bold early 5.10s such as Greasy But Groovy with Long and Accomazzo, Shake and Bake with Accomazzo, and Spooky Tooth with John Yablonski and Fred East. He, Long and Accomazzo did the first free ascent of Le Toit (5.11c), a multipitch aid line with a roof high on Tahquitz, in 1973, and Harrison and Long freed the big second pitch of Iron Cross (5.11) on Suicide. The two also put up Imaginary Voyage (5.10d) in Joshua Tree in 1977. At Lovers Leap and in the greater Tahoe area, Harrison climbed many fine routes, including Purple Haze (5.10d) with Jay Smith, also in 1977. Another landmark was the first free ascent of D7 (5.11) on the Diamond Face of Long’s Peak, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, with John Bachar in 1977.

Harrison died unexpectedly October 24 only four days after his wife, Christina (“Tina”) succumbed to the depredations of a brain tumor. They had met 35 years ago in Yosemite, and leave a daughter, Lisa, 22, around whom the climbing community has rallied.

An obituary in the Las Vegas Review Journal states: “He pioneered rock climbing in Red Rock National Conservation Area, establishing some of the area's most popular routes that are enjoyed today by climbers from around the world. … Off the rock, Richard loved listening to punk rock music and all types of racing, especially Formula One. He dabbled in motorcycle racing and had a passion for Porsches. His success on the rock was matched in business. For more than 20 years he ran his thriving window cleaning business.”

Says Rick Accomazzo, “Whenever I caught up with him on the phone or in person over a 43-year time span, I’d ask about his family and what he had been doing. He’d chuckle and his response was always the same, ‘Family’s great and you know, the usual: been doing some new routes.’ Richard was dedicated to the climbing life like no one I’ve known, except [John] Bachar. Yet for how much he loved climbing, you got the contradictory sense that he never took it too seriously and appreciated the underlying absurdity of risking life and limb to struggle up some piece of rock. So he really couldn’t be bothered to spend time discussing himself or his climbs in the climbing media or guidebooks. The focus was always on the next climb, the next new route, preferably partnered by his wonderful daughter, Lisa.”

"Frank Smith = Craig Fry"

Kevin-I know that half sleeping bag VERY well- it was my childhood sleeping bag. It has quite the stories to tell!