John Bachar
John Bachar (March 23, 1957 – July 5, 2009) was an American rock climber. Noted for his skill at free soloing, he ultimately died during a free solo climb. A fitness fanatic, he was the creator of the climbing training device known as the Bachar ladder. Early life and education Bachar was born in 1957. He grew up in Los Angeles, California, and started climbing at the bouldering hot spot of Stoney Point in the northern San Fernando Valley. After attending Westchester High School, graduating in 1974, he attended UCLA, where his father was a math professor, but dropped out to climb full-time. Obsessed with the sport, he immersed himself in books on physical training and nutrition, and soon was able to outperform his fellow climbers. Fellow students at his high school remember him scaling the exterior high school gym walls on many occasions. Climbing career John Long, John Yablonski, Ron Kauk and Mike Graham, whom Bachar met in the early 1970s, all free soloed with him, start ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tuolumne Meadows
Tuolumne Meadows () is a gentle, granitic dome, dome-studded, sub-alpine meadow area along the Tuolumne River in the eastern section of Yosemite National Park in the United States. Its approximate location is . Its approximate elevation is . The term ''Tuolumne Meadows'' is also often used to describe a large portion of the Yosemite National Park, Yosemite high country around the meadows, especially in context of rock climbing. Natural history The meadow vegetation is supported by shallow groundwater. The water comes from 1,000 mm (39 inches) of precipitation annually, predominantly in the form of snow. Water arises from snowmelt and hill-slope aquifers, and flows through the Tuolumne River, Budd Creek, Delaney Creek, and Unicorn Creek. In spring, as soon as the snow melts, it is not uncommon to see large areas of the meadows flooded and practically transformed into lakes. While the mountains of the Sierra near the meadows have had some permanent snowfields, in the summer they ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Camp 4 (Yosemite)
Camp 4 is a tent-only campground in Yosemite National Park in the United States. It became notable after World War II as "a birthplace of rock climbing’s modern age." It is located at an elevation of 4000 ft (1200 m) on the north side of the Yosemite Valley, close to base of granite cliffs near Yosemite Falls. Nearby boulders have long been used for bouldering, including the Columbia Boulder, which is known for the boulder problem called the ''Midnight Lightning (bouldering), Midnight Lightning,'' first done by Ron Kauk in 1978. It is easily recognizable by a painting of a white thunderbolt next to it. History Physically unimpressive, Camp 4 nevertheless "served as a seedbed for the exchange of ideas, training and the development of new equipment that vastly improved the speed and safety of climbing" (LA Times) during the time from after World War II until around 1970. Dozens of the most famous climbers in the world congregated at Camp 4 for years, learning from each other ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Half Dome
Half Dome is a granite dome at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park, California. It is a well-known rock formation in the park, named for its distinct shape. One side is a sheer face while the other three sides are smooth and round, making it appear like a dome cut in half. The granite crest rises more than above the valley floor. Geology The impression from the valley floor that this is a round dome that has lost its northwest half, is just an illusion. From Washburn Point, Half Dome can be seen as a thin ridge of rock, an arête, that is oriented northeast–southwest, with its southeast side almost as steep as its northwest side except for the very top. Although the trend of this ridge, as well as that of Tenaya Canyon, is probably controlled by master joints, 80 percent of the northwest "half" of the original dome may well still be there. Ascents As late as the 1870s, Half Dome was described as "perfectly inaccessible" by Josiah Whitney of the Ca ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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El Capitan
El Capitan ( es, El Capitán; "the Captain" or "the Chief") is a vertical Rock formations in the United States, rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The El Capitan Granite, granite monolith is about from base to summit along its tallest face and is a popular objective for rock climbers. Naming The formation was named "El Capitan" by the Mariposa Battalion when they explored the valley in 1851. ''El Capitán'' ("the captain", "the chief") was taken to be a loose Spanish translation of the local Native Americans in the United States, Native American name for the cliff, “Tutokanula” or "Rock Chief" (the exact spelling of Tutokanula varies in different accounts as it is a phonetic transcription of the Miwok, Miwok language). The "Rock Chief" etymology is based on the written account of Mariposa Battalion doctor Lafayette Bunnell in his 1892 book. Bunnell reports that Ahwahneechee Chief Tenaya explained to him, f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Enchainment
In mountaineering and climbing, enchainment (an anglicisation of the French word ''enchaînement'', meaning "linking") is climbing two or more mountains or climbing routes on a mountain in one outing (often over the course of a day or a series of days). Rock climbing two or more routes in this manner are also called a "link up" in the United States. Climbers may do an ''enchainment'' of easy routes as a way of training for a more difficult objective, but some ''enchainments'' of hard routes are a prize in their own right, a notable example being the great north faces of the Alps. In alpinism By the 1970s, the number of possible new routes in the Alps seemed to be drying up, and so alpinists looked for other challenges. Developments in hang glider and paraglider technology, as well as advances in extreme skiing and the use of helicopters, meant that mountains could be descended much more quickly than they could by foot, making possible enchainments of long and difficult face route ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Peter Croft (climber)
Peter Croft (born May 18, 1958) is a Canadian rock climber and mountaineer. He has concentrated much of his rock climbing career on big routes in Yosemite National Park, Squamish, British Columbia as well as the High Sierra. He received The American Alpine Club’s Robert & Miriam Underhill Award in 1991. Croft listed ''The Evolution Traverse'' ( YDS class 5.9 grade VI) which links Mount Mendel, Mount Darwin, Mount Haeckel, Mount Fiske, Mount Warlow and Mount Huxley as one of his favorite climbs in ''Fifty Favorite Climbs: The Ultimate North American Tick List'' Royal Robbins, a leading climber of the previous generation, wrote about Croft and his climbing achievements in 2000: "Peter has been my hero for many years, ever since he came blazing out of nowhere with his stunning free solo ascent of Astroman on Washington Column in Yosemite. Tom Frost and I had made the second ascent of this route, mostly with direct aid in the early sixties. That one could climb this route ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rappel
Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling the person descending controls their own movement down the rope, in contrast to lowering off in which the rope attached to the person descending is paid out by their belayer. This technique is used by climbers, mountaineers, cavers, canyoners, search and rescue and rope access technicians to descend cliffs or slopes when they are too steep and/or dangerous to descend without protection. Many climbers use this technique to protect established anchors from damage. Rope access technicians also use this as a method to access difficult-to-reach areas from above for various industrial applications like maintenance, construction, inspection and welding. To descend safely, abseilers use a variety of techniques to increase the friction on the rope to the point where it can be controlled comfortably. These techniques range from ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Anchor Bolt
Anchor bolts are used to connect structural and non-structural elements to concrete.. The connection can be made by a variety of different components: anchor bolts (also named fasteners), steel plates, or stiffeners. Anchor bolts transfer different types of load: tension forces and shear forces. A connection between structural elements can be represented by steel columns attached to a reinforced concrete foundation. A common case of a non-structural element attached to a structural one is the connection between a facade system and a reinforced concrete wall. Types Cast-in-place The simplest – and strongest – form of anchor bolt is cast-in-place, with its embedded end consisting of a standard hexagonal head bolt and washer, 90-bend, or some sort of forged or welded flange (see also stud welding). The last are used in concrete-steel composite structures as shear connectors. Other uses include anchoring machines to poured concrete floors and buildings to their c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bolt (climbing)
In rock climbing, a bolt is a permanent anchor fixed into a hole drilled in the rock as a form of protection. Most bolts are either self-anchoring expansion bolts or fixed in place with liquid resin. Description While bolts are commonplace in rock and gym climbing there is no universal vocabulary to describe them. Generally, a ''bolt hanger'' or a ''fixed hanger'' is a combination of a fixed bolt and a specialized stainless steel hanger designed to accept a carabiner, whereas in certain regions a ''bolt runner'' or a ''carrot'' describes a hangerless bolt (where the climber must provide their own hanger bracket and sometimes lock nut). A ''ring bolt'' has a loop on one end so it presents as a U-shape embedded in the wall. A climbing rope is then clipped into the carabiner. Generally quickdraws or slings are employed between bolt hangers and the rope to reduce drag when ascending, belaying and rappelling. Use Bolts are used in sport climbing as a backup to catch a fall, but ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Stonemasters
The Stonemasters were a group of rock climbers and adventurers in the 1970s, roughly 1973 to 1980, who originally climbed in Southern California—principally Tahquitz, Suicide Rocks, Joshua Tree—and later, Yosemite National Park further north. The initial group were those of the first ten ascents of Valhalla on Suicide Rock. The Stonemasters included some of the following members: Rick Accomazzo, Dale Bard, Jim Bridwell, Dean Fidelman, Richard Harrison, Mike Graham, Robs Muir, Gib Lewis, Bill Antel, Jim Hoagland, Tobin Sorenson, John Bachar, Lynn Hill, Ron Kauk, Ken Yager and John Long. Loosely organized, the senior member and leader of the group was Jim Bridwell Jim Bridwell (July 29, 1944 – February 16, 2018) was an American rock climber and mountaineer, active since 1965, especially in Yosemite Valley, but also in Patagonia and Alaska. He was noted for pushing the standards of both free climbi .... References * * American rock climbers {{Climbin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tobin Sorenson
Tobin Sorenson (June 15, 1955 – October 5, 1980) was an American rock climber and alpinist famed for establishing bold first ascents on Yosemite big walls, in the Alps, Canadian Rockies, and New Zealand. Early life and education A California native, Sorenson was the son of a minister, Lee Sorenson, and was raised in Covina, California. As a teenager he played the guitar at church and sang in the choir, and continued to emphasize faith and spirituality throughout his life. Sorenson graduated from Biola University in 1980. Career Sorenson honed his climbing skills at Tahquitz Rock, Joshua Tree National Park, Suicide Rock, and Yosemite Valley. Later he turned his attention to the European Alps, and conquered several dangerous ice climbs in the Mont Blanc massif and the Eiger north face. Sorenson is considered by some to be the best all-around climber of his time. A contemporary of John Long and John Bachar in a group they called the Stonemasters putting up daring new routes ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |