Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
Subscription Form

Get notified of the best News

Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn
22K Followers
25K Likes
5K Followers
1K Followers
Mountain Life
Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
  • CLIMBING

Yosemite in the Fifties: New Book From Patagonia

  • August 17, 2015
  • Ben Osborne
Total
4
Shares
0
0
4
0
0
0
Total
4
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 4
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Yosemite in the Fifties
John Salathé and Ax Nelson on the north rim following their ascent of Lost Arrow Chimney, Labor Day, 1947.
Photo: Yosemite Climbing Association Collection

A forthcoming book from Patagonia looks at Yosemite long before the likes of Tommy Caldwell, Kevin Jorgeson and Dean Potter were making national news from the park.

Yosemite in the Fifties (on sale 10/13/15) features restored photos and original source material that transport readers to climbing’s “Iron Age.” Compiled by John Long and Dean Fidelman with designer Tom Adler, it chronicles the historic first ascents of Yosemite’s granite walls, the legendary personalities who risked their lives to climb them, and how their endeavors initiated the birth of adventure sports.

Yosemite in the Fifties
Overhanging Rock, Glacier Point, a favorite locale for “I was there” photographs. Photo: Jerry Gallwas Collection

“Generations of climbers have since shown us that the Yosemite pioneers caused a sea shift in a sport now regularly practiced by over 20 million people worldwide,” says Long, a veteran climbing writer. “Yosemite in the Fifties is not so much a book as a wormhole back to a charmed moment in the history of exploration, and a classic era of America now lost in time.”

The book, which was designed by Tom Adler, is a companion to the classic Yosemite in the Sixties (by Glen Denny, Patagonia, 2007) and uses the words of the climbers of the time and artfully restored photographs to chronicle the historic first ascents of Yosemite’s “mile-high” granite walls, the legendary personalities who risked their lives to climb them, and how their endeavors initiated the birth of adventure sports.

Yosemite in the Fifties
Warren Harding (circa 1961) on Leaning Tower.
Four years later Harding’s rival, Royal Robbins, made the second ascent in a historic solo effort. Photo: George Whitmore

More than half a century after the first ascent of El Capitan, the deeds of Yosemite’s 1950s-era “Iron Age” are no longer viewed as climbs or mere adventures—they were assaults on the human barrier, pushing that much higher. The Iron Age marked a period of innovation where pioneers of the sport invented new hardware and techniques as needed.

The book features original source material, first-person narratives, rare archive photos, and memorabilia from the most influential climbers of the time.

Yosemite in the Fifties

Fidelman, co-author and and a longtime climbing photographer, calls the compilation a collective telling of the Yosemite climber’s story—a chance to bring the campfire stories of their legends forward. “I want readers to take away the concept that less is more, that true adventure is about the unknown.”

Yosemite in the Fifties
Bob Swift, stoked to be climbing in the valley of giants, on the summit of Yosemite Point Buttress. Photo: Allen Steck

 

Yosemite in the Fifties
George Whitmore, Wayne Merry, and Warren Harding toast on the summit of El Capitan. Photo: Ellen Searby Jori

 

Yosemite in the Fifties
Mark Powell, Dolt, and Warren Harding (circa 1957) hitting the cheap jug after a rainy
exploratory on El Capitan. Photo: Beverly Powell Woolsey

 

Yosemite in the Fifties
John Salathé and Yvon Chouinard, Camp 4, circa 1961. Photo: Tom Frost

 

Yosemite in the Fifties
The Valley is long and girded by rocks. The river is deep and moves silently. Photo: Dean Fidelman
Total
4
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 4
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • Books
  • Climbing
  • Dean Fidelman
  • Dean Potter
  • Fifties
  • history
  • John Long
  • Kevin Jorgeson
  • Patagonia
  • Tom Adler
  • Tommy Caldwell
  • Yosemite
Ben Osborne

Previous Article
  • The Great Outdoors

Man Wearing Bear Costume Harasses Real Grizzlies In Alaska

  • August 14, 2015
  • Ben Osborne
View Post
Next Article
  • Ontario
  • Paddling

Lake Superior’s Slate Islands: Sanctuary for the Crowd-Phobic

  • August 19, 2015
  • Ned Morgan
View Post
You May Also Like
Jessy-Braidwood-and-Neve-Petersen-Paradise-Valley-Squamish-REANNAN-SHAY
View Post
  • CLIMBING
  • Food & Drink
  • In This Issue
  • Mountain Biking
  • Mountain Lifer
  • Paddling
  • Photography
  • Trips & Expeditions

ML Coast Mountains Summer ’22 Issue Out Now

  • Mountain Life Media
  • June 8, 2022
elevated-Eddie-Bauer-film-Sonya-Wilson
View Post
  • CLIMBING
  • Videos

Friday Flick: Elevated

  • Mountain Life Media
  • June 3, 2022
Jason-Hardrath-Journey-to-100-standing-peak
View Post
  • CLIMBING
  • Videos

Friday Flick: Journey to 100

  • Mountain Life Media
  • May 20, 2022
Full-Circle-Everest-The-North-Face-Nepal-prayer-flags
View Post
  • CLIMBING
  • Trips & Expeditions

Full Circle: First All-Black Team Attempts to Summit Everest

  • Mountain Life Media
  • May 9, 2022
Ryan-Carter-surfers-walking-Lake-Huron-Ontario
View Post
  • CLIMBING
  • Ontario
  • Paddling
  • Photography
  • Skiing
  • Surfing

Paddle, Climb, Surf, Shred: Winter in Ontario

  • Mountain Life Media
  • March 22, 2022
Rockies-Leonard-Maglalang-photo-Crevasse-Rescue
View Post
  • CLIMBING

Movin’ On Up: Filipino-Canadians Build Community in the Rockies

  • Mountain Life Media
  • March 21, 2022
Will-Gadd-Helmcken-Falls-in-Wells-Gray-Provincial-Park-BC-CHRISTIAN-PONDELLA-RED-BULL-CONTENT-POOL
View Post
  • CLIMBING
  • Mountain Lifer

Risking It All: Are the Mountains Worth Dying For?

  • Mountain Life Media
  • December 16, 2021
Life-Lived-Wild-Adventure-at-the-Edge-of-the-Map-Rick-Ridgeway-patagonia-Books-cover_roskelley_PR
View Post
  • CLIMBING
  • Mountain Lifer

Life Lived Wild: Adventures at the Edge of the Map

  • Mountain Life Media
  • October 5, 2021
Featured Posts
  • Hiking-with-children-mountains-kid-and-parent-Todd-Lawson 1
    Hiking with Children: Suffering Builds Character
    • June 28, 2022
  • Diana-Lee-Sunrise-SUP 2
    What SUP: Hardboard or Inflatable?
    • June 27, 2022
  • Nic-Groulx-Sam-Dickie-on-the-Great-Divide-Trail crop 3
    The Legend of Sam Dickie & the Cougar
    • June 23, 2022
  • Mason Mashon Photo - Xaays Canoe Journey ML 4
    The Great Canoe
    • June 21, 2022
  • Mountain-Life-Blue-Mountains-Summer-2022-spreads-cover 5
    ML Blue Mountains Summer 2022 Issue Out Now
    • June 22, 2022
RECENT POSTS
  • The-North-Face_SS21_Vectiv_Trail-Run_Saunders-
    Gear Shed: Summer Trail Shoes
    • June 20, 2022
  • The-Yin-and-Yang-of-Gerry-Lopez-still-2
    Friday Flick: The Yin & Yang of Gerry Lopez
    • June 17, 2022
  • Property-Valet-HQ-group-Kristin-Schnelten
    Property Valet: Creating (and Managing) Beautiful Memories
    • June 16, 2022
Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn
INSTAGRAM
mountainlifemedia
22K Followers
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…
In the 10 years I’ve been paddleboarding, one of the most frequently asked questions I hear is, “Hardboard or inflatable: Which is better?” - @only1phoenixx
Morning rip with @jessemunden_ 🫡 #mountainlifer
Who’s having a multi-sport day?! 😆 @timemmett probably is.
Bruce County is much more than the Bruce Peninsula. We’re here to let you in on a secret: a thriving community nestled in Bruce County’s interior region, just waiting to be discovered. The village of Paisley offers something for everyone, and isn’t overrun by summer crowds.
The mere thought of a cougar or any other apex predator in our midst can turn a backcountry adventure into a psychological test of mind over matter. Luckily, our fears are mostly in our heads and few have experienced a negative wildlife encounter. But, for ultramarathoner @samuel.dickie, it got real. #Linkinbio to read more!
MAG DROP! 🤩
Happy National Indigenous Peoples Day (today and every day)!
Together with our partners we’ve picked our favourite summer trail shoes, in alpha order, for your crush-it summer. #linkinbio
Happy Father’s Day to all the RAD DADS out there!! 🙌
Follow

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…
In the 10 years I’ve been paddleboarding, one of the most frequently asked questions I hear is, “Hardboard or inflatable: Which is better?” - @only1phoenixx
Morning rip with @jessemunden_ 🫡 #mountainlifer
Who’s having a multi-sport day?! 😆 @timemmett probably is.
Bruce County is much more than the Bruce Peninsula. We’re here to let you in on a secret: a thriving community nestled in Bruce County’s interior region, just waiting to be discovered. The village of Paisley offers something for everyone, and isn’t overrun by summer crowds.
The mere thought of a cougar or any other apex predator in our midst can turn a backcountry adventure into a psychological test of mind over matter. Luckily, our fears are mostly in our heads and few have experienced a negative wildlife encounter. But, for ultramarathoner @samuel.dickie, it got real. #Linkinbio to read more!
Mountain Life
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Advertising

Input your search keywords and press Enter.