Joseph Nicholi Puryear (1973 – October 27, 2010) was an American mountain climber.

Early life

Puryear was born in 1973 to Gail and Shirley Puryear and was raised on their winery in Yakima Valley,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. In his youth, he took up carpentry, winemaking and farm work, and developed an interest in mountain climbing after his parents took him to Mount Adams when he was fifteen. He attended the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

, where he earned a degree in mathematics.

Mountaineering

Beginning in 1996, Puryear worked for four seasons as a climbing ranger at

Mount Rainier National Park Mount Rainier National Park is an American national park located in southeast Pierce County and northeast Lewis County in Washington state. The park was established on March 2, 1899, as the fourth national park in the United States, preservi ...

, where he met fellow ranger Mark Westman. Puryear and Westman climbed together in the

North Cascades The North Cascades are a section of the Cascade Range of western North America. They span the border between the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. state of Washington and are officially named in the U.S. and Canada as the Casca ...

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ...

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

, and most frequently, the

Alaska Range The Alaska Range is a relatively narrow, 600-mile-long (950 km) mountain range in the southcentral region of the U.S. state of Alaska, from Lake Clark at its southwest endSources differ as to the exact delineation of the Alaska Range. ThBoar ...

. In Alaska, they made ascents of

Mount McKinley Denali (; also known as Mount McKinley, its former official name) is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. With a topographic prominence of and a topographic isolation of , Denali is the thir ...

's south buttress and Cassin Ridge (2000) and

Mount Foraker Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

's Infinite Spur (2001). Puryear's other achievements in the Alaska Range included the first ascent of the Black Crystal Arête route on the

Kichatna Spire Kichatna Spire, sometimes called the Kichatna Spires, is a spire-shaped peak in the Kichatna Mountains of the Alaska Range, in Denali National Park and Preserve, southwest of Denali. Cul-de-sac Glacier, Cul-de-sac, Shelf Glacier, Shelf and Shado ...

, the Goldfinger route on the Stump, the Harvard Route on Mount Huntington, the

Mount Silverthrone Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

's west face, and the first speed ascent of Mount Barill via the Cobra Pillar. Using his own photographs and graphic design, and based on 30 ascents and a decade's worth of climbing in the region, Puryear wrote a guidebook to the Alaska Range, which was published by SuperTopo in 2006. Shortly afterwards, he was hired by Sherpa Adventure Gear as a photographer and the editor of their product catalog, which allowed him to finance his climbing trips after leaving his job at the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

. Puryear began climbing in the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

in 2003, attracting sponsorship from companies and winning a climbing grant to support his attempts to ascend unclimbed mountains in China and Nepal. Over seven years, he made seven trips to the Himalayas. In China, he and Chad Kellogg made the first ascents of Lara Shan, Mount Daogou and the Angry Wife; in Nepal, he and David Gottlieb made the first ascents of Kang Nachugo, Takargo and Jobo Rinjang.

Death on Labuche Kang

In October 2010, Puryear and Gottlieb traveled to Tibet to climb

Labuche Kang Labuche Kang (or Lapche Kang, Lobuche Kang I, Choksiam) is a northern outlier of the Himalayas inside Tibet. It rises northwest of Rolwaling Himal and east of Shishapangma. The peak belongs to a little-known section of the Himalaya variously ca ...

, a remote mountain in the Himalayas. While he was climbing unroped on the mountain, on October 27 Puryear broke through a cornice and fell to his death. At the time of his death, the '' Seattle Times'' referred to Puryear as "one of the country's most elite alpinists".

Personal life

Puryear met Michelle O'Neil at Mount McKinley in 2001, and they married on the Pika Glacier of the Alaska Range in 2004. Puryear and O'Neil lived in

Leavenworth, Washington Leavenworth is a city in Chelan County, Washington, United States. It is part of the Wenatchee− East Wenatchee Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,263 at the 2020 census. The entire town center is modeled on a German Bavarian ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Puryear, Joe 1973 births 2010 deaths American mountain climbers Mountaineering deaths Sportspeople from Yakima, Washington University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences alumni People from Leavenworth, Washington