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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Topic Author's Original Post - Dec 29, 2007 - 11:41pm PT
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Taken from a Jello post... got me thinking...
"I was once asked by Rock & Ice mag to name the ten climbers who had done the most to influence American climbing. Henry was my choice for the early to mid-70's, followed in time by JB."
I don't know that you can force that kind of number on climbing's influence.
It took Oli 381 pages to capture, quite well, the influencing on free climbing of many many climbers. So trying to capture that influence in 10 people may be near impossible for all of climbing's styles, but it may spark stories and thoughts about what it means to a particular person to have been influenced by certain climbers. [this paragraph edited from original post for clarity]
one figure that always stands out to me is Lynn Hill.
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SammyLee2
Trad climber
Memphis, TN
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Dec 29, 2007 - 11:51pm PT
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No question re. Lynn. Such a great climber and representative. But for me, her ex. BF. John Long holds the high spot. Reading about his and his friends adventures, made me want to climb perhaps as much as my nature did.
Never to forget my local leaders, without whom, I'd be ground bound. Thanks Ted and Scott.
SammyLee
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Todd Gordon
Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
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Dec 29, 2007 - 11:56pm PT
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John Bachar, John Long, Henry Barber, Jim Bridwell, Chris Sharma, Lynn Hill, Warren Harding, Royal Robbins, Todd Skinner, Tony Yaniro, Jeff Lowe, Dean Potter, Randy Leavitt, John Gill, Layton Kor, Tommy Caldwell, Tucker Tech, Harvey T. Carter, Yvon Chouinard, Herb Laeger, Fred Beckey, Peter Croft, and Locker......there;...threw in a few extra in case you need some extras........( I keep on thinking of more...)...honorable mention;...(personal) Dave (Kelly ) Vaught, Dave Evans, Tom Michael, Tom Burke, Al Bartlett, Cyndie Bransford, Mike Paul, Brian Povolny, Tony Sartin, Mike Lechlinski, Kyle Copeland, Andrea Gordon.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Dec 29, 2007 - 11:57pm PT
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Kor
Robbins
Chouinard
Lowe
Lowe
Lowe
Lowe
Hill
Porter
Harding
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WBraun
climber
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Dec 29, 2007 - 11:58pm PT
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For a good long period I would have to say Bridwell belongs in the "10".
He influenced most all the people already mentioned including Long, Lynn, Bachar, Kauk, Graham, Ament Bard etc etc.
The guy was everywhere in peoples heads.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 30, 2007 - 12:11am PT
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no doubt Werner, good call on the actual influence, in addition to lots of spectacular climbs.
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goatboy smellz
climber
colorado
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Dec 30, 2007 - 12:14am PT
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a few missing from todd's list...
Hans Kraus
Chuck Pratt
Wolfgang Güllich
Tom Frost
Mugs Stump
Lynn Hill
Derek Hershey
Rob Slater
Charlie Fowler
John Middendorf
Peter Croft
...
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bachar
Trad climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Dec 30, 2007 - 01:12am PT
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Clyde
Salathe
Robbins
Bridwell
Gill
Kamps
Barber
Porter
Lowe
Kauk
Hill
Croft
oops, top twelve?
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marky
climber
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Dec 30, 2007 - 01:15am PT
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Bridwell & Mugs, Backes & Twight
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Dec 30, 2007 - 01:19am PT
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All right John.
Which Lowe?
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Dec 30, 2007 - 01:23am PT
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John,
Great list.
Don't forget John Muir, Robert Underhill, and you have to include Harding. That makes fifteen at least and, that isn't even close enough to tell the true picture...
Ken
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PhilG
Trad climber
The Circuit, Tonasket WA
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Dec 30, 2007 - 01:27am PT
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Let's not forget to mention:
Walter Bonnatti
Edmund Hillary
John Harlin
Haskett Smith
Mark Powell
Edward Whymper
Patrick Edlinger
Oliver Perry-Smith
Joe Brown
Don Whillians
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bachar
Trad climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Dec 30, 2007 - 01:37am PT
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Top twenty?
Muir
Weissner
Fawcett
Moffatt
Harding
Sorenson
Chouinard
Breashers
Edit: P-ron, Jeff.
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Jaybro
Social climber
The West
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Dec 30, 2007 - 01:39am PT
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Where would Indian Creek (and any where else)'s handcracks be without Joe Brown?
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10b4me
climber
1/2way between Yos and Moab
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Dec 30, 2007 - 02:16am PT
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Robbins
Harding
Bridwell
Bachar
Long
Hill
Gill
Croft
Lowe(s)
Chouinard
Clyde
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Dec 30, 2007 - 02:16am PT
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Kinda figured, John, but at least two (Greg and Yvon) made my list in part by adding to our arsenal as well.
I thought it self-serving to include partners I (was on record for having) put up routes with, but if like you I listed a dozen, then Bird and Charlie would make the cut. Indeed, Alex was there as the person Charlie was handing the baton TO.
(hey, Phil, Munge said "American". Its confusing ENOUGH already. lol)
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goatboy smellz
climber
colorado
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Dec 30, 2007 - 02:23am PT
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Influenced american, not just American Ron.
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bachar
Trad climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Dec 30, 2007 - 02:24am PT
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Top ten is tuff. Top three?
Salathe
Robbins
Croft
??????????
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Dec 30, 2007 - 02:28am PT
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Damn you, Goatboy!!!!!!
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goatboy smellz
climber
colorado
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Dec 30, 2007 - 02:38am PT
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Damn Munge, he started it... I'm off to bed.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Dec 30, 2007 - 02:41am PT
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Amusing that of all the posters, only PhilG caught that there was nothing requiring that the influential climber(s) be American. Croft, Salathe and Muir were/are arguably not American.
Several (at least) of the "ten climbers who influenced American climbing the most" weren't American.
On the other hand, what about Oliver Perry-Smith?
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bob d'antonio
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Dec 30, 2007 - 02:43am PT
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Leaving John Stannard off the list show just how limited these little popularity contest are and how little people know about who really influenced rock climbing in America.
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James
climber
A tent in the redwoods
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Dec 30, 2007 - 02:53am PT
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Chris Sharma
Dave Graham
Lisa Rands
Justen Sjong
Tommy Caldwell
Alex Honold
Matt Wilder
Rob Miller
Mikey Schaeffer
Dean Potter
Sonnie Trottoer
Emily Harrington
....Oh and all those dudes who used to climb
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Dec 30, 2007 - 02:59am PT
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Well I think we know where the lines are drawn NOW.
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Shack
Big Wall climber
Reno NV
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Dec 30, 2007 - 03:01am PT
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Nobody has mentioned Jardine...if only for bringing us cams,
which were IMO a huge influence.
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bachar
Trad climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Dec 30, 2007 - 03:13am PT
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Mighty's right,
Meissner
Brown
....
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Dec 30, 2007 - 03:35am PT
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I love it. Riley on Messner on Denali;
"eh,... not so much."
LOL
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Largo
Sport climber
Venice, Ca
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Dec 30, 2007 - 12:05pm PT
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For my generation of Yosemite climbers it was Jim Bridwell, period, though we were all still riding the vapors or Robbins, Pratt, Frost and Sachar. Most So Cal guys were also greatly influenced by Bob Kamps, because he was so active and paved the way.
JL
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ckalous
Trad climber
Colorado
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Dec 30, 2007 - 12:10pm PT
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Patrick Edlinger
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TwistedCrank
climber
Ideeho
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Dec 30, 2007 - 02:14pm PT
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David Roberts
He inspired east coast climbers to go really big when they needed to and live to tell the story.
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10b4me
climber
1/2way between Yos and Moab
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Dec 30, 2007 - 02:51pm PT
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limiting to the top ten is a disservice to others that have contributed so much; added to my list. . . Kor
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GDavis
Trad climber
SoCal
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Dec 30, 2007 - 02:52pm PT
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Muir
Robbins, for basically creating 'modern climbing.'
Bachar
Alan Watts
Messner
Barber
Bonnington
Chris Sharma - So many have climbed because of him. Very influential to the sport.
John Gill
The Bird
Galen Rowell.
These, in my eyes, are 'influencing' climbers. Pratt, Gullich, Long et al are great peices of the history, but the above are those that impacted the sport to what it is today.
Wanted to put Croft up there.... but he was another guy who was just amazing, not necissarily changing the way the sport went. Interesting stuff to think about for sure.
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GDavis
Trad climber
SoCal
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Dec 30, 2007 - 02:54pm PT
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Messner is only on my list because the ideas he brought to the big mountains influenced us here.
I missed Jardine.... He would be top 5.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 30, 2007 - 03:28pm PT
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Yes, Dam munge. heh
This is just for fun. To think about those that went before us.
Put your full on list up too. There's a lot of names for me.
Also, feel free to post the reasons why. Links to stories, etc?
get the juices flowing y'all.
I'm off to buy a kitchen appliance. Clearly I haven't been influenced enough.
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Dec 30, 2007 - 04:29pm PT
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hey there all... say, obviously i dont know much history of climbing, or what exactly it takes to trigger someone to be highly influenced-upon by what they see or hear, as to climbing, BUT:
after reading that article about BEV and how she was the fist gal to do that solo on EL CAP (hope i remembered that right)--you would think that would greatly influenced both guys and gals that climb, to take up some good adventures of their own...
well, hope it was okay that i pitched in... :)
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bob d'antonio
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Dec 30, 2007 - 04:56pm PT
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Radical wrote:I thought about John Stannard but wasn't Barber much more influential in this region/era/group ?
Who do you think influence Henry???
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deuce4
Big Wall climber
the Southwest
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Dec 30, 2007 - 05:39pm PT
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The Stettner Brothers (for being early bad-asses)
Dick Leonard (FA of Higher Cathedral, also pioneered technical climbing techniques)
Salathe and Nelson (pioneered the American "big wall")
Yvon Chouinard and Tom Frost (as gear designers and clean climbing pioneers)
Royal Robbins and Warren Harding (as diametric philosophers of the "golden age")
Fred Beckey (for his prolific number of climbs)
Jim Bridwell and Charlie Porter (for pushing the limits of the possible on the big stone)
Ray Jardine (for his design of Friends)
Henry Barber, John Bachar and Lynn Hill (for each extending the free possibilities a quantum leap)
All the recent pioneers of free climbing El Cap (like the Hubers) have also changed the game forever, and Yvon's prophecy of the trend to climb extreme rock faces in remote places using techniques gained in Yosemite will continue in a big way.
Ok, so that's more than 10, there's a helluva lot more, of course.
Obviously missing from this list is the Colorado greats: Jim Erikson, Pat Ament, Jim Collins, Steve Wunsch, and the great one, Layton Kor.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Dec 30, 2007 - 05:50pm PT
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"If I can see farther, it is because I stand on the shoulders of giants"
 Isaac Newton, and others
It's always hard to objectively give credit - history is a slippery thing, and a lot depends on perspective. But here are my two cents.
Edward Whymper - ended golden age of Alps with the ascent of the Matterhorn, wrote "Scrambles Amongst the Alps", which introduced many to the idea of mountaineering.
Oscar Eckenstein - inventor of bouldering as a pursuit of its own, inventor of the crampon, participated in one of the first attempts to climb a Himalayan giant, K2.
Inventor(s) of nylon - no nylon ropes = not much climbing. Same goes for other key inventions - aluminum alloy, etc. They may not have been climbers, but we're utterly dependent on them.
Theodore Roosevelt - for establishing parks as places to protect remaining pieces of the frontier, for us all to enjoy. And he was a mountaineer, of sorts.
Various climbers in Europe from 1900 - 1930, who established the idea of rock climbing as a pursuit of its own.
John Muir - for his visionary writing and leadership.
French 1950 Annapurna expedition - first to climb an 8,000 metre peak, lyrically summarized in 'Annapurna' (Herzog), which inspired many to start climbing.
English 1953 Everest expedition - first to climb Chomolungma, less lyrically summarized in 'The Ascent of Everest' (Hunt), which inspired many to start climbing.
(Not to forget the cast of thousands of porters and Sherpas who actually made these expeditions possible, symbolized by Tenzing.)
Vitali Bramani - invented vibram sole.
David Brower - for showing that climbing and conservation were opposite sides of the same coin.
John Salathe.
Willie Welzenbach, Heinrich Harrer, and so on.
The really influential ones from the 1950s - 80s who were from the U.S. include Robbins (especially), Chouinard, Frost, Pratt, Bridwell, Kor, Higgins, Haan, Bard, Bachar, Braun, Roskelley, Jardine, Porter, Barber, Washburn, Beckey, Stannard, etc etc. (Many of the usual suspects omitted for lack of space.) Those who were not only good climbers but community leaders, innovators, and writers, stand out. Non-Americans including such as Sutton, Burton, Croft, and now Sonnie Trotter.
In modern times, those who created the Access Fund, to fill a compelling need. And all those who work in a similar vein - Greg Mortenson, Ed Hillary, the ASCA, etc etc.
I'm not so well informed about climbing in Europe, and poorly informed about climbing in places like Japan, India and Korea. Influential people from the 1950s - 1980s include Hermann Buhl, Ardito Desio, Joe Brown, Don Whillans, Chris Bonington, Walter Bonatti, the Lecco Spiders, Terray, Rebuffat, Vitali Abalakov, the people who invented and popularized nuts, and on and on and on. But it's important to remember that climbing in the U.S. was something of a backwater through the 1950s, relative to Europe, that there was a surge from the late 1950s to the mid 1980s when the U.S. set many standards, and that it's now very much more internationalized. People from places like Slovenia and Spain now seem to often set the pace in terms of climbing standards.
Not to forget the social and economic reformers who created the conditions that allowed ample leisure time, and a rising standard of living to make it possible to enjoy it.
I'll cut it off at the late 1980s, both because of limited knowledge and because there hasn't been enough time to really know who if anyone has been influential.
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bob d'antonio
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Dec 30, 2007 - 05:52pm PT
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Wow...no one has mentioned Alan Watts....
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Dec 30, 2007 - 06:50pm PT
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More than thirty years ago I met one of the Stettner brothers below the East Face of Long's Peak when he came back for the fiftieth anniversary of his route there, but I had no idea that they had beat Kamps and Rearick to the FA of the Diamond.
Wow!
Well Deuce has edited, but his correction is incorrect.
Stettner's ledges was a groundbreaking route, but not the first on the face.
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Wheatus
Social climber
CA
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Dec 30, 2007 - 06:59pm PT
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First, it should be the first one hundred climbers. There are so many that influenced American climbing it is unfair to list only ten.
Below are a few of my favorites but many greats left out.
Alpine:
Herman Buhl
Jeff Lowe
George Lowe
Alex Lowe
Jim Bridwell
Yvon Chouinard
John Roskelley
Voytek Kurtyka
Reinhold Messner
Jerzy Kukuczka
Steve House
Most of the Eastern European alpine climbers who can take suffering on big peaks to new dimensions.
Rock:
Ron Fawcett
Bob Kamps (personal mentor and master of footwork)
Royal Robbins
John Bachar
Peter Croft
Ron Kauk
Huber Brothers
Tommy Caldwell
Lynn Hill
Beth Rodden (you don't have to look like a steriod puppy to climb really hard)
Chris Sharma
Jim Bridwell(you can chain smoke unfiltered Camels and climb hard)
Kevin Thaw (best all around climber: rock and alpine)
All the East German climbers who climbed barefoot with knotted rope for chocks in the Elbsandsteingebirge during the cold war.
All those crazy Brits who lead climb gritstone.
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deuce4
Big Wall climber
the Southwest
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Dec 30, 2007 - 07:02pm PT
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For the record, my note on the Stettner's was edited...
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Jaybro
Social climber
The West
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Dec 30, 2007 - 07:12pm PT
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I've had a soft place for those stettner bros, since they taught Me, how to climb.
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TwistedCrank
climber
Ideeho
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Dec 30, 2007 - 07:43pm PT
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Richard Jensen and Mark Smith
Hahhahehhaehahehahehaheahehaehaehahehaeh
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Apocalypsenow
Trad climber
Cali
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Dec 30, 2007 - 08:10pm PT
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Frank LeBone,is so often over looked for his bold FA's. He developed some of the most remote areas as well as chipping holds on established routes to make them more interesting.
If you read Bachers book,"Where Did the Masters Go?",you will learn more about Frank. Truly a legend.
Last I talked with him he was working a chipping project on the south face of Half Dome.
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bachar
Trad climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Dec 30, 2007 - 08:26pm PT
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"Where Did the masters Go?"
huh?
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deuce4
Big Wall climber
the Southwest
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Dec 30, 2007 - 08:28pm PT
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Yeah, I just looked it up on Amazon, thought you might have written a book I hadn't heard about (which of course I would have bought immediately).
Sounds like a good topic, John.
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Dec 30, 2007 - 11:12pm PT
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Well, the standards have of course gone up and up, and many amazing climbers are responsible for that. But from my 50-year perspective, there is no single change in American climbing that even comes close, in magnitude, to the change from pitons to nuts, and the climbers responsible for this change are, in terms of ultimate effect, by far the most influential American climbers.
I don't think it is possible now to appreciate what it meant to a generation reared driving iron to put aside everything they understood to use an entirely different system of protection of unknown utility and effectiveness. Every climb was a heart-pounding question mark. The people who convinced an entire generation to abandon everything they knew about security for a new ideal had an influence that has not and may never be matched.
So far, these towering figures haven't been faring all that well in the lists. Here's my perspective, perhaps an idiosyncratic one. No doubt I've missed important things; I'm not a historian, of climbing or anything else. But I'm convinced a few people stand out from the even the rest of the pioneers, so here is my list.
First came Royal Robbins, who came back from a trip to England with the word that nuts really could be effective. But the nuts we were getting from Britain were never going to be more than a supplement to a rack of pitons in this country, until Yvon Chouinard produced a full range of effective sizes. One has to understand Chouinard's production and promotion of nuts in the context of the damage he did to his own piton business---this was a man whose principles went way beyond the profit motive. Chouinard's contribution to rock climbing, first through his production of chrome molly pitons, then through his production of a genuinely useful range of nuts, and finally through his many contributions to ice climbing equipment and technique, taken together, make him the single most influential American climber.
Once Chouinard's nuts were out, things didn't change overnight. Interestingly enough, Western climbers were not at all quick to embrace the new technology, which still seemed limited in more or less parallel-sided cracks. Doug Robinson wrote poetic exhortations to use natural protection, but in terms of really hard climbing, the scene shifted to the East Coast, and there can be no question that John Stannard played a pivotal role, one in retrospect that made him the person most responsible for the complete changeover.
Stannard did several things. First, using his analytical skills as a physicist, he went about field testing what kinds of falls nuts could actually hold. Stannard was the first person to understand that relatively small wired nuts were not just the aid pieces everyone else thought them to be, but could be used for free-climbing protection. He knew, in a way that makes him as unique today as he was then, pretty much exactly what kinds of falls he could take on what kinds of placements and gear. He then went about using his expertise to do scores of hard 5.10, 5.11, and a touch of 5.12 face climbs with devious protection that could never be judged or even anticipated from below. I don't think anyone has ever made a case for how revolutionary, how ahead of their time (and arguably now ahead of the present time) these climbs were.
Stannard had a profound influence on a small band of disciples, including Henry Barber, John Bragg, and Steve Wunsch, who, before the rest of the country, simply put aside their pitons and decided to either succeed or fail using only nuts, Wunsch together with Jim Erikson in Colorado, and Henry and Bragg at the Gunks and New Hampshire. Other talented climbers took notice and followed suit.
The second thing Stannard did was to sink his own money into the production of a newsletter, the Eastern Trade, that was devoted to the promotion of clean climbing. This process was not simply arduous, he took a lot of flak from climbers who wanted to keep driving chrome molly into the same placements over and over, and he was sometimes reviled as being responsible when someone who didn't understand nut placements had one pull with nasty results. Eventually, Stannard realized that perhaps beginning and intermediate climbers would not be up to the challenge of protecting mid-range climbs with nuts, and so, again at his own expense, he designed and placed a number of extremely burly soft iron pitons at critical spots on moderate climbs. These pitons proved to be significantly hardier than any chrome molly, and a number lasted as reliable protection for nearly thirty years.
Although nuts were certainly in use on the West Coast, a second wave washed over Yosemite when Barber showed up and did everything with just a rack of nuts, including his famous ascent of Butterballs. The changeover to climbing with no pitons and no hammer brought Westward by Barber and Wunsch had its roots in Stannard's insights and accomplishments, and so he stands, with Robbins and Chouinard, at the fountainhead of modern American tradtional climbing.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Dec 30, 2007 - 11:39pm PT
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rgold, an insightful perspective on this. Here are two of the people you mention, Royal Robbins and John Stannard, who met for the first time at the FaceLift in September. The third person is Tom Frost.
It's interesting that for all three, and Chouinard and many others, they've maintained a lifelong interest in climbing and the climbing community. One is even a SuperTopian.
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WBraun
climber
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Dec 30, 2007 - 11:43pm PT
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I love these 3 guys. To top it off they're genuine.
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Curt
Boulder climber
Gilbert, AZ
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Dec 31, 2007 - 01:28am PT
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John Stannard makes nobody's top ten list? Perhaps east coast contributions to climbing don't count. Additionally (and along those lines) I'll also toss Steve Wunsch into the mix.
Edited to add that I hadn't read rgold's post before posting this. Well said, Rich.
Curt
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GDavis
Trad climber
SoCal
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Dec 31, 2007 - 01:37am PT
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" Wow...no one has mentioned Alan Watts...."
At first I had Christian Griffith up there, changed it with Watts. The key word being "influenced" warrants watts a top 10 on the American climbing list, no doubt.
A top 50 list would apply. Hell, half of these guys posting should be on SOMEONES....
I am but an incredulous youth, I need to do some research on some of these fellas. East coast climbing is a somewhat empty zone in the histories I've read. Seems like chapter one is Barber, chapter 2 is written... probably. Us Californians are just to self centered maybe :D
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 31, 2007 - 01:37am PT
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perfect rgold, gracias.
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NinjaChimp
climber
someplace in-between
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Dec 31, 2007 - 01:41am PT
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The most influential climbers to American climbing means, to me, who's actions on or off the rock have influenced, for better OR worse the way American climbers climb and think about climbing. So, in no particular order.
J.Salathe (opened the big walls to all that followed)
R.Robbins (set the standard in climbing difficulty and ethics on and off the walls)
J.Bridwell (please refer to JL's comments earlier, nuff said)
R.Messner (Alaska expoits were great, sure...but how many people have read his books?)
J.Bacher (worshiped here and in Rolling Stone)
R.Jardine (Friends)
P.Croft (ask JB how badass he is, and how often is referenced in guidebooks and magazines)
L.Hill (defines rock climbing for a generation)
A.Watts (anyone ever go sport climbing?)
C.Sharma (more people, especially youth, climb now than ever. guess why)
Honorable mention goes to J. Muir. He would begin the list except that by todays standards he would not really be considered a climber. There are others obviously but I had to choose 10 right?
-Justin
Edit: Ugh! How could I forget Gill! The list is now sh#t.
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SteveW
Trad climber
Denver, CO
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Dec 31, 2007 - 08:43am PT
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Todd
Is Herb Laeger still climbing? I haven't seen him
since we both moved west, me to CO and he to SoCal.
But he was always pushing limits at Seneca when we
were climbing there in the 70's. Talk about a modest,
and really fun guy to be around.
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Todd Gordon
Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
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Dec 31, 2007 - 10:48am PT
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I believe Herb and Eve are still climbing;....I think Herb has done over 1000 first ascents;......that is an impressive feat, and one that I wish to reach some day. Herb's eye for a route , and his unstoppable motivation to climb and explore new turf for decades puts him in a catagory of super climbers; in my eyes anyways. He's the Man.
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bob d'antonio
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Dec 31, 2007 - 12:34pm PT
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This is a heavy west coast thread. Just look at the people being mentioned and where they are from. The Cali boys always have a provincial way of looking at climbing. John Stannard was doing the hardest routes in America in the early to late 70's. He also changed the way people climb as Rich pointed out in his post.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Dec 31, 2007 - 02:35pm PT
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"influenced American climbing the most" seems to imply to me a change of direction. Not merely doing the same type of thing "only harder", but rather doing things in a novel way; getting people to view climbing potential in a new perspective.
Thats why Warren was on my list. I remember how Lito Tejeda Flores wrote to Mountain Mag after the WOTEML about the significance of the experiential content of 'life on the wall', and how that tactic could be carried to the greater ranges.
Likewise, Yvon not only pushed the envelope climbing (NA, Muir Wall etc), but he, probably more than anyone else, was responsible for the clean climbing revolution that changed the very SOUND of climbing here.
The same could be said of Greg Lowe. I think that the innovation he gave to our tools was likely even more significant than Jardine's.
But most of the lists are OF americans, yet people like Bonatti, Cassin, Terray, Messner etc. had a most profound influence on climbing in this country. Their leadership surely changed the direction for some here.
With climbing being one of the few true world communities we should be wary of provincialism.
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Melissa
Gym climber
berkeley, ca
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Dec 31, 2007 - 02:50pm PT
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(Considering rock only...)
Salathe
Harding
Skinner
Johnson
Hill
Sharma
The guy that drilled the bolt on Ship Rock
Jardine
Bridwell
Florine
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bob d'antonio
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Dec 31, 2007 - 04:54pm PT
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Anyone ever hear of Albert Ellingwood???
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Jeremy Handren
climber
NV
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Dec 31, 2007 - 05:42pm PT
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You're wasting your time Bob, these guys are as myopic as it gets....see if you can find an old copy of the original "The Monty Python Paperbock", its got a great spoof of the very thing that you are dealing with here.
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TwistedCrank
climber
Ideeho
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Dec 31, 2007 - 05:49pm PT
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Anyone ever hear of Albert Ellingwood???
Wasn't he named after an arete in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains?
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Dec 31, 2007 - 05:53pm PT
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Well I'd like to see the Monty Python, but must admit to being put off by Handren's condescension.
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bob d'antonio
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Dec 31, 2007 - 06:11pm PT
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Jeremey...it's kinda like politics...the truth doesn't matter.
This thread should be called 'name 100 people..." and even then we would fall short.
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Jaybro
Social climber
The West
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Dec 31, 2007 - 07:32pm PT
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"The guy that drilled the bolt on Ship Rock"
DB?
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 31, 2007 - 07:39pm PT
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Bob D'Antonio, come on man, throw up some links to your references or post some thoughts. We know we aren't going to get it perfect, but if we don't hear the stories, the references will be lost altogether.
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Bob, its not so much that the truth doesn't matter as that we don't have a common understanding of what it means to influence American climbing. I think it fair to say that a number of the climbers mentioned were and are outstanding climbers but, for various reasons, have had little or no influence on the sport, and I think further that, perhaps, some people are confounding the notions of admirable and influential.
Gill is an extreme example, in my opinion. I wonder whether anyone in the history of climbing has been so far ahead of his or her contemporaries. But I think Gill had almost no effect on American climbing. His contemporaries had no idea what he was up to and considered him, if they knew about him at all, as a talented but marginal figure, engaged in a niche activity of little relevance. Gill's stature has only been understood and recognized in retrospect, when the rest of the world, primarily of its own accord, started retracing his footsteps. And so, amazing as he is, I don't think he could be viewed as particularly influential.
Much as we celebrate the latest accomplishments in difficulty and/or boldness, the fact of the matter is that these developments are intrinsic to the sport, they are part of its flow, and might be viewed as inevitable evolutionary advances. We don't know who will make the next leap of into a new world of possibility, but we know that a leap will happen. This is not meant to detract from those who actually rise above the standards of the day and show that more is possible, but I don't think they can be viewed as influential in the same way as the far smaller number of climbers who have, as I suggested earlier, given rise to a genuine paradigm shift, something completely different from a predictable evolutionary event, that has pointed the entire activity in a different direction.
I do understand, being rather long in the tooth, that many (but certainly not all) of the posters have entered the stream at a point beyond it's radical rerouting, and so speak from a perspective that does not include a sense of the enormous power needed to redirect the flow. Not many climbers would set off today on---let's say---an obviously difficult first ascent, with a rack consisting only of nuts, even though today's climbers know full well how effective nuts can be. So try to imagine how much more radical it would be to give up the only way you know to achieve any adequate protection, using instead some new method that no one understands particularly well and which may not work in critical situations.
The legacy of Robbins, Chouinard, and Stannard is somehow moving the country, indeed the world, (British use of nuts never influenced anyone else to try them) in a completely different direction, one that was neither evolutionary nor predictable, one that, even in retrospect, seems unlikely to ever achieve the near universal support these pioneers somehow managed to engineer.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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As someone who has climbed since the 1960's, I cannot decide on just ten people. A "generation" of climbers seldom lasts more than a few years, so later climbers don't know who influenced the previous generations. Mark Powell, for example, started at least two trends that greatly influenced Yosemite (I won't purport to speak for non-California American climbing)-- he became a full-time climber, sacrificing the traditional American post-War measures of success, and he chopped the non-Salathe bolts on the Lost Arrow. He, perhaps more than anyone else, established the ethic of minimizing bolt usage, and demonstrated that the most difficult free and aid techniques could -- and should -- be used on the biggest Yosemite routes.
Similarly, the boldness of his leads shocked previous generations. His climb of Bridalveil East caused David Brower to comment on the apparent lack of safety of then-current Yosemite climbing. Pratt and Sacherer certainly pushed the level of boldness -- few today realize how terrified we were of Sacherer's leads, where he seemed to ignore the concept of protection, and Pratt's leads of Crack of Doom and Twilight Zone seemed off the boldness chart. Indeed, when I started climbing in 1967, Pratt and Sacherer were the climbers I tried to emulate, unaware how Powell and Robbins had influenced Valley free climbing standards before them.
All of that being said, to me Robbins stands apart from any other Yosemite climber. His free ascents of Open Book at Tahquitz and the East Chimney of Rixon's Pinnacle set standards from which all other trad climbing evolved. Admittedly, Salathe really set the standard for big wall aid climbing, but Robbins' boldness on routes like Arches Direct, the Direct Northwest Face of Half Dome (not to mention the Undercling Pitch and the Narrows, both of which he led more than 50 years ago), the Chimney of Horrors on Higher Spire, and innumerable other climbs, set him apart as the leader of not just a few years, but of two decades.
Bridwell, of course, directly influenced my generation and was our clear leader, but looking back, nothing we did seems revolutionary when compared to what was done before us. Similarly, John Stannard was, to me, a great prophet of clean climbing and one to which we provincials paid great heed, but the ethical concept seemed less a revolution than a logical extension of Powell's actions on the Lost Arrow.
Sorry for the length of this rant, but the more I think about it, either there were very few truly revolutionary climbers, or the number of significantly influential climbers greatly exceeds ten. In any case, I wish I could thank them all for making our sport one I still enjoy after all this time.
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hobo_dan
Social climber
Minnesota
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Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.........
Eric Beck --for the quote........."there lies a leisure class at both ends of the social spectrum"
Todd Skinner for his 'come one come all' attitude that changed the sport away from the elitist attitude
John Bachar for making the sport way dangerous and elitist and giving it total mystique
David Roberts for climbing Huntington
Jim Bridwell for living, breathing total coolness
Greg Child because he almost climbed the shining wall on Gash 4
Tony Yaniro for doing Grand Illusion
Fritz Weissner--Devils Tower, Waddington K2
The Lowe/Kennedy/Donnini teams that did all that rad sh#t in the seventies
Fred Beckey
Chouinard
Robbins
and all the rest of you dumb bastards that I ever tied in with or tied one on with. Thanks for the best times I ever had
murf
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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I'm suprised these two haven't been mentioned.
If it weren't for their development of a certain Southern California crag these guys may have never formed the next wave.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 1, 2008 - 11:56pm PT
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kewl pics TGT.
Chuck Wilts?
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Gary
climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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Number one has to be Robert Underhill.
John Mendenhall belongs on that list as well.
And don't forget the godfather: Bolton Brown.
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atchafalaya
climber
Babylon
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Another vote for Robert Underhill
John Muir
Fritz Weissner
Fred Beckey
Royal Robbins
Yvon C.
Jim Bridwell
Alan Watts
Lynn Hill
Chris Sharma
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burp
Trad climber
Salt Lake City
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I'll post my list:
Salathe
Harding
Robbins
Gill
Bridwell
Barber
Bachar
Watts
Hill
Sharma
Honorable mention:
Chouinard/Frost (equipment)
Kor (famous in these here desert parts)
Beckey (a climber list along with a FA list would be incomplete without Beckey)
Lowes (collective impact -- equipment innovation, alpinism, etc)
Long (folklore, bada$$)
Kauk (right place, right time, right friends -- Midnight Lightning)
Yaniro (Grand Illusion)
Croft (no explanation needed)
Skinner (was great at self-promotion)
Vermin (a whole rating system named after him!)
Caldwell (doing some cool things right now!)
etc....
Enjoy!
burp
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Off White
climber
Tenino, WA
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Great rosters, can't much argue with any of 'em, but I have one to add:
Greg Epperson
He did a lot to redefine the whole realm of climbing photography and had a huge influence on how many people saw the game, and he certainly affected most folks working in that field today. Oh, he's no slouch as a climber either, but I think the work he put into getting the angles and shots he did was truly visionary and inspiring.
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nutjob
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
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Al Gore has to be in there somewhere, since he invented the Internet and made this free exchange of information and community consensus-building possible :)
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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"OK, now that we have a list of names going, write a one to two sentence summary of each person's accomplishments and add it to the Wikipedia "List of Climbers" page."
And if the non-climbing "archivists" in charge of this silliness can't verify those accomplishments with a Google search, chances are they'll delete 'em as fast as you add 'em.
Is there some reason, beyond the fact that an "archivist" once read a mountaineering book, why the world needs a list of climbers?
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rockermike
Mountain climber
Berkeley
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"Is there some reason, beyond the fact that an "archivist" once read a mountaineering book, why the world needs a list of climbers?"
Because its raining.
As to Gore and the internet, get the story straight and don't believe a word that comes from W and his minions.
http://www.perkel.com/politics/gore/internet.htm
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Risk
Mountain climber
Minkler, CA
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Honorable mention, at a bare minimum, is owed to the fine authors of the guidebooks that have helped lead us to the summits and up the routes. For Yosemite and the Sierra, names that come to mind include:
Walter A. Starr Jr.
Hervey Voge
Andy Smatko
Steve Roper
George Meyers
Chris McNamara
Don Reid
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Moof
Big Wall climber
A cube at my soul sucking job in Oregon
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BNP, JP, who taught me to climb.
Aeyal (sp?) the crazy Isrealy who in a week realy put me on the right path.
John Long who wrote all those books and stuff.
Tad who keeps it fun and light, yet serious.
Moose who let me nearly kill us a few times figuring out leading and multipitch by trial and error.
That's about it that stick out in my mind.
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GRJ
climber
Juneau AK
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Feb 24, 2008 - 12:01am PT
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Well here is my two cents or rather 22. Climbing has gone so many directions that Rock and Ice need their own lists. It is just my opinion. So here goes:
ROCK
1. John Muir
2. John Salathe
3. Royal Robbins
4. John Gill
5. Jim Bridwell
6. Ray Jardine
7. Derek Hersey
8. Lynn Hil
9. Tommy Caldwell
10. Joe Kinder
Notable Mention: Layton Kor
ALPINE
1. Fred Beckey
2. Walter Bonatti
3. Herman Buhl
4. Reinhold Messner
5. Dick Bass
6. Jim Whitaker
7. Jeff Lowe
8. Mugs Stump
9. Alex Lowe
10. Steve House
Notable Mention: George Lowe
So here's how I came to these conclusions
ROCK
1. John Muir covered more new ground for euro-americans than anyone. He sought out the vertical and got people out into the hills. It really is really hard to begin the history of euro-american climbing without starting with muir.
2. John Salathe gave us a way to "get the rope up there." His accomplishments on the big stone and at the forgery helped to make Yosemite Valley CA the single greatest rock climbing destination in the entire world.
3. Royal Robbins changed the way we approach our climbs and the american alpine ethos. He was one of the first that said style mattered. Pratt, Frost, Herbert, and that whole clan helped, but he was definitely the front man. Harding had a great influence, but his ascent of the nose was just an extension of a style that had been used for years. I was amazing, ground breaking, and gave us one of the greatest rock routes on earth, but his style has died out whereas Robbin's has not. He also helped to bring in clean aid and set standards in the Free Climbing Realm.
4. Jon Gill said why bother with ropes when you can have plenty of good hard fun on little rocks and now the country is covered with guys that can do 12 move 5.12-5.13 boulder problems but can't lead a 100ft 5.10 hand crack. He left his mark to say the least. Go Thimble.
5. Jim Bridwell was one of the first too cool for school uber badass climbers. Dope smokin hardman. His list of FA's is too long to list.
6. Ray Jardin invented cams. Enough said. Who cares about chipping and all that. The guy gave us the tool to climb splitter cracks safely and blah blah blah. The guy invented cams.
7. Derek Hersey was a soloing legend. Now he is a dead soloing legend. He did huge link-ups hard lines and died doing it. Bachar, Croft they are still around and that is a good thing. Hersey was a free spirit, he reminded us why we solo, and also the consequences.
8. Lynn Hill broke the gender barrier by not only being strong "for a girl," but doing routes that no man could. Not tough to add to the list. As a footnote she really helped develop competition climbing.
9. Tommy Caldwell brought sport the big stone. Combing super human comp/sport strength and technique with a solid gear background he has climbed more free routes on El Cap than anyone.
10. Joe Kinder? Are you kidding me. I added him and not Layton Kor, Fritz Weisner, or even Warren Harding, what is wrong with me? It's sad, but he is the ghetto blasting thug climber poster child. His gangster bravado shows up everywhere climbing and while it would be just as easy to blame Tupac, Joe stands out as the guy that thugged out sport climbing, and well lets face it there are a lot gymed out sport climbers out there.
Notable Mention: Layton Kor was a pioneer. Strong in body of mind. He found some of the greatest lines on earth (think Lotus Flower Tower). Then he vanished. He was an explorer and reminded us to go hunting for our own super routes.
ALPINE
1. Fred Beckey climbed everywhere and got there first. He has probably led more dirty mossy cracks than any other person in the history of climbing.
2. Walter Bonatti is the end all be all of alpinism. His ethos, routes, eccentric persona, and writing have inspired almost every great American in the last 30 years. He climbed on the greatest alpine peaks on earth. He went to K2, G4, Cerro Torre and had endless FA's in Europe. There have been many great Euros but Bonatti was one of the few that said style matters most.
3. Herman Buhl was a monster. He climbed like a madman and did things that are unthinkable even today. His 8000m quest got everyone ignoring beautiful lines and going for altitude above all else. I admire him, but very few rich American mountains have pictures in there offices of a guided bike tour to climb the Liberty Bell.
4. Reinhold Messner got them all first. He did some solo, some alpine style, but he climbed all 14 8,000m peaks first. Then he wrote 627 books about it......
5. Dick Bass was the great white conquerer. He climb the 7 summit and drank bubbly in basecamp. A lot of people have followed suit.
6. Jim Whitaker climbed Everest for America for Peace and pretty much made REI. I would say he helped to get Americans in the mountains by making good gear available to everyone. On a personal note it was a assembly at my elementary school, after the peace climb, where he had all his equipment and pics from the trip that first drew my attention to mountaineering.
7. Jeff Lowe took ice technique to a new level. He traveled the world climbing new routes in Asia, South America and all over North America. His book ice world was a staple of alpine climbing libraries for years. Oh and there was this little mixed thing he really kick in the ass. I here a few people do that now.
8. Terrance "Mugs" Stump was a visionary. The guy just climbed hard. He was and still is an inspiration to the alpine world. The Cassin, the Moonflower and his bold leads in the SW set him apart from the climbing world. Move fast, climb clean. He fathered light and fast.
9. Alex Lowe was the professional. "The Mutant," "the Lung with Legs," he had many nicknames, but lets face it he was a freak. He was the ultimate all-arounder and professional climber. His passing sent tremors throughout the entire climbing universe.
10. Steve House is the modern master. Big sure, hard alright, both now you are talking. The guy just crushes at the highest level and if it just below well he is home by 5. He has had many great ascents M16, Rupal Face and so on but what I find truly amazing is he and Rolo's 25 hour ascent of the Infinite Spur. That route isn't really that difficult technically, but it is huge and covers a lot of ground. Go Steve have fun on Makalu.
Notable Mention: George Lowe was the North American pioneer of the 70ish generation, but he kept his mouth shut and lets face it not too many climbers have followed suit.
Anyway, there you go.
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Anastasia
Trad climber
Califlower
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Feb 24, 2008 - 12:28am PT
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Norman Clyde
John Gill
Royal Robins
Bob Kamps
Jim Bridwell
Jeff Lowe
John Long
John Bachar
Lynn Hill
Peter Croft
Plus one new addition that I am adding for his extreme competence in various sports and ability to catch people's imagination about all the extreme sports (including climbing...) *He is the "present" influence...
-Will Gadd-
"Plus, his wife Kim Csizmazia is just as fantastic!"
AF
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Anastasia
Trad climber
Califlower
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Feb 24, 2008 - 12:40am PT
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Thinking about class acts...
Tom Frost
Bob Kamps
John Gill
Jeff Lowe
(I really admire them.)
------------
The ultimate wild man...
Warren Harding
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 24, 2008 - 02:15am PT
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"Fred Beckey climbed everywhere and got there first. He has probably led more dirty mossy cracks than any other person in the history of climbing."
werd
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jstan
climber
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Feb 24, 2008 - 04:55pm PT
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When you really get down to the heart of the matter, this thread is a celebration of how interconnected we all are, and of the hope that we may, together, yet continue to build good things. When you look at what Ken Yager is doing, and when you look at the fact something like Chris’s ST can even exist, you know. You can’t doubt we are all moving together. I was very lucky and got a chance to watch people coming together to make the 70’s happen. Much of what I see now, reminds me of those days.
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10b4me
climber
hanging by a thread
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Feb 24, 2008 - 06:40pm PT
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Thinking about class acts...
Tom Frost
Bob Kamps
John Gill
Jeff Lowe
(I really admire them.)
I was fortunate enought to meet Jeff a few years ago.
You are correct, he is a very classy person.
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mark miller
Social climber
Reno
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Feb 24, 2008 - 07:48pm PT
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Dude Knott to piss in your weaties but Krakouer was a c#&% on everest, He had some serious Alaskan Climbing under his belt( albeit 20 years previous, but if you know the gig?) and If any of my partners pulled that crap on me.... We all go home or no one does, read about Shackelton( The first shack).
What about Rene Desmaison between him and Pierre Mazeuad the euros were kicking our soft assess. Until Robbins and Harding and Those folks started doing Grade VI's in the valley....
Hardings eyes were dark( you looked into them and got scarred, even though he was 5' something) and even almost to the end he was a ladies man, much better looking then that gentleman, but kinda similar.....
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Double D
climber
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Feb 24, 2008 - 10:50pm PT
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I’m surprised that Randy Leavitt has only been mentioned once or twice on this thread. I mean, how many guys have put up A5 & 5.14’s? The diversity of climbing and climbing areas he has done hard routes in, is incredible. Anyway…just my humble 2 cents worth.
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Raydog
Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
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Feb 24, 2008 - 11:11pm PT
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in terms of influence on American climbing - remember the impact Edlinger and Moffat had...seemed huge at the time. I'd include one of those guys for top ten. Pioneers not necessarily the most influential, how many climbers of the 80's were really influenced by the early pioneers? Underhill? A guy from the books - a heavy weight for sure but hey, we're talking influence and when you say that, numbers matter. Guys like Bachar, Moffat - huge influence.
But, if you really wanna go modern - then Lynn Hill for sure - her influence on (womens) climbing (and womens athletics in general) huge, hard to calculate.
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WBraun
climber
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Feb 24, 2008 - 11:17pm PT
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Yeah Dave D
They left out guys like Kauk and Potter
Threads like these are mostly popularity contests.
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goatboy smellz
climber
लघिमा
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May 11, 2014 - 12:19pm PT
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Bump for the old farts with long term memory loss.
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Flip Flop
Trad climber
Truckee, CA
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May 11, 2014 - 01:38pm PT
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Conrad Kain
John Muir
Norman Clyde
David Brower
Yvon Chouinard
John Salathe
The Underhills
The Mendenhalls
Ray Jardine
Lynn Hill
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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May 11, 2014 - 01:55pm PT
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I'm not sure it is time to decide who had influence... obviously as we do better history the names change... take Frank Sacherer, for instance, who seemed to have been very influential in Yosemite, and that influence grew and spread beyond his direct contributions.
But if I think of who influenced me in climbing, by which I mean evoked the thought "what would he/she do?" the list is much shorter:
Eric Shipton - the idea of just going anywhere in the world and climbing anything in a small team, and doing it on the local terms was hugely influential in what I wanted to do as a climber.
Doug Robinson - who was an early influence through his writing in the '72 Chouinard Equipment catalog, where his appeal to go to the mountains with a "light hand" fused climbing style with ecological ethics. Later, his hand in writing Climbing Ice influenced my entry into that aspect of our sport.
John Bachar - who was a late influence, on how to climb, I think "what would John do?" when pushing myself outside (as meager as that is).
I have derived a lot of inspiration and motivation from many climbers, many of them listed above, but influence is something that is different, influence is not only a driver, but a map of what direction to drive in.
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climbski2
Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
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May 11, 2014 - 03:19pm PT
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Who got in peoples heads the most? Who is still clearly there?
Muir
Bonatti
Mesner
Salathe
Robbins
Brown/Whillans
Bridwell
Jeff Lowe
Stump
Gill
These seem like more key people who changed complete paradigms and who's ethos are still clearly present today, such that most others you could place on this list derive from them.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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May 11, 2014 - 03:57pm PT
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one more, but it is "climbing related"
Galen Rowell - for his approach to climbing photography. As I read him he was an advocate for capturing an image "in the moment" which is difficult to do, and while he has a number of very good "staged" climbing shots, the ones which were captured in that fleeting moment were ones that affected me the most.
it was through these sorts of considerations that I came to understand, more fully, making images in nature. In particular, to appreciate the subtle dynamics that play out in an otherwise seemingly static environment. Ansel Adams was very formal, to me, before Rowell.
When shooting a climber, I am often aware of anticipating what the climber might do, how they might move, and react to, the climbing, and wait for that image to compose itself to be captured.
Rowell influenced my approach to representing climbing, and especially that attribute where we are in that moment. That carried over to the climbing itself, where sometimes it is just the experience of that moment that matters, unrecorded except in memory, unrehearsed, intimate.
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Oldfattradguy2
Trad climber
Here and there
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May 11, 2014 - 05:03pm PT
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Rich Romano
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mongrel
Trad climber
Truckee, CA
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May 11, 2014 - 05:19pm PT
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Only one post (John E) has mentioned Sacherer, who was not only incredibly skilled and bold (judging from his FAs and FFAs), but perhaps a bit too far ahead of his time in advancing the game of free climbing big Yosemite walls. A decade or two later, he'd have been doing Astroman or the free Salathe. And I'd have to assume Lowes (at least 3), House, etc., trace their super-alpine exploits back through Bonatti and Messner. My 2c.
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Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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May 11, 2014 - 05:43pm PT
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If you mean influenced with impacting the most people...Alan Watts and few others who started sport climbing in the early 80's.
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Ottawa Doug
Social climber
Ottawa, Canada
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May 11, 2014 - 06:00pm PT
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Mark Twight
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Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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May 11, 2014 - 06:28pm PT
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You could go in so many different directions with this but if you had to pick one then it'd have to be Robbins.
First 5.9
First Grade VI
First continuous ascent of El Cap
First solo of El Cap
Climbing the Steck-Salathe in 2:15
First A5
Importing the Yosemite big wall techniches to Europe on the Dru, etc.
Huge props to folks like Sacherer, Barber, but they appear mostly to have continued what he started. Kor was a mad man as well.
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steveA
Trad climber
Wolfeboro, NH
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May 11, 2014 - 07:17pm PT
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I feel very lucky to have climbed with a few on most everybody's list. I just got back from a beautiful day of climbing. It is about the only thing, that still keeps me going. Thank God for climbing, even thou in my case, it is pretty much a figure of speech, since I'm not very religious.
Before the age of media and magazines etc, I would have to go back to the early pioneers; F. Wiessner, John Turner,, ( who just passed away), Salathe, and quite a few more, who paved the way for later generations. I'm sure if you asked Robbins, Chouinard, Pratt etc, they would mention only a few really early American pioneers.
I'm sure it is the same for the Europeans.
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skcreidc
Social climber
SD, CA
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May 11, 2014 - 07:34pm PT
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This is NOT a jab at anyone in any sense at all, but I'm not sure why every list doesn't name Royal Robbins and Jeff Lowe among the rest.
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goatboy smellz
climber
लघिमा
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May 12, 2014 - 06:15pm PT
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Ed Hartouni
one more, but it is "climbing related"
Gallen Rowell
Right up there with Ansel Adams.
Photos will always be more inspiring to me than some run of the mill or Dr. Death trip report.
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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May 12, 2014 - 06:47pm PT
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I tend to think in deeper terms, and go back to the pioneers of the sport instead of the modern hard men and Lynn Hill (who IS an exception to my comment!) By the way, Lynn is the best known American climber in Europe.
The Underhills (R.L.M. Underhill and Miriam O'Brien Underhill); brought the science of modern rope management to the U.S. from Europe.
A.R. Ellingwood, pioneer of hard technical climbing on major mountains; (Ellingwood Ridge, la Plata Peak, CO; Ellingwood Arete, Crestone Needle, CO.)
Fritz Wiessner. 'Nuff said?
Jack Durrance; Durrance Route, Devil's Tower, WY.
David R. Brower, Hervey Voge, and Raffi Bedayn; Early Yosemite technical routes.
Glenn Exum and Paul Petzolt; Tetons pioneer climbers.
The "Modern Era" or climbers I've known and climbed/bouldered with who influenced me and my "style" of climbing:
Bob Culp. My first mentor, taught me how to smoothly move on rock.
Layton Kor. Madman. My friend.
Ray Northcutt. Early bouldering partner.
Chuck Pratt. Convinced me to see Yosemite.
John Gill. Amazing individual to emulate; master of rock.
Along the way of life there've been others too numerous to mention, and I hope they forgive me for my callousness in leaving their name from this list.
Finally, Jello. I'm saddened that I didn't meet him until recently, but he's a true gentleman of the mountains and rocks.
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aspendougy
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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May 12, 2014 - 06:52pm PT
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Beverley Johnson did not show up on anyone's list........I suppose maybe not the top ten, but she was a pioneer for girls, paving the way for later greats like Lynn Hill, etc. She imparted lots of sweetness to the sport, that much can be said for her.
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