Oliver Perry-Smith (October 11, 1884 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

– 13 May 1969''Proceedings of the Club: Secretary report for the year 1969'', AAJ 1970, pp. 224, lines 6-8 (for pdf version, see External links)) was an American

rock climber Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically and ...

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

and

skier Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

who moved to

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

in 1902 to attend a

technical university An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...

Climbs in Saxon Switzerland

He became well known in the Sächsische Schweiz for the first ascents of major

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

rock towers such as: *Schrammtorwächter (VI) in 1905 *Kanzelturm (VI) in 1905 * Teufelsturm (VIIb) in 1906 (at 5.8+ - with a shoulder stand - a very difficult rock climb) and first ascents of several climbing routes that are still very popular today, e. g.: *Spannagelturm Perrykante VIIb in 1906 *

Falkenstein Falkenstein or Falckenstein ("falcons' stone" in German) may refer to: Places Austria * Falkenstein, Lower Austria, a market town in the district of Mistelbach Germany * Falkenstein, Bavaria, a market town in the district of Cham * Falkenst ...

Südriss (VIIa) in 1913 *Daxenstein Klavier (VIIa) in 1913 *Daxenstein Perryriss (VIIb) in 1913 (All grades Saxon rating) In total "he made more than 90 ascents in Saxon Switzerland, 33 of which are rated VI or above; there were 32 first ascents, 13 solo climbs and 36 additional ones on which he led".J. M. Thorington, ''In Memoriam: Oliver Perry Smith...'', ''AAJ'', 1970, pp. 218 (see section "Sources")

Alps

On a trip to the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

in 1908 he and his friend

Rudolf Fehrmann Rudolf Fehrmann (22 June 1886 – 1947), a German, was a pioneer rock climber at Elbsandsteingebirge near Dresden. Climbing career He began climbing at the age of 17 and was soon at the leading edge of the fledgling sport. He and Oliver Perry-Sm ...

made a number of first ascents. * The most famous is the "Fehrmann Corner" (in German, ''Fehrmannverschneidung''), V-, on

Campanile Basso Campanile Basso is a mountain in the Brenta group (''It.: Dolomiti di Brenta''), a subgroup of the Rhaetian Alps in the Italian Region of Trentino-Alto Adige, with a height of (). It is of a slender, almost fully vertical shape on all sides, ri ...

, SW face (also known as "Guglia di Brenta", in Brenta group in

Dolomites The Dolomites ( it, Dolomiti ; Ladin: ''Dolomites''; german: Dolomiten ; vec, Dołomiti : fur, Dolomitis), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form par ...

, on August 28). Despite its name, this route was led by Perry-Smith (because, as explained in biographical article in AAJ 1964, "Fehrmann was the first to sign the summit book and later he was assumed by later climbers to be a leader"J. M. Thorington, ''Oliver Perry Smith; Profile of a Mountaineer'', AAJ, 1964, p. 113 (see "Sources")). * One of others of their new routes is the north face of Cima Piccola di Lavaredo (in German: Kleine Zinne), Aug 15. In the Alps "his repeated ascents include also

Weisshorn The Weisshorn (German, lit. ''white peak/mountain'') is a major peak of Switzerland and the Alps, culminating at above sea level. It is part of the Pennine Alps and is located between the valleys of Anniviers and Zermatt in the canton of Valai ...

Matterhorn The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the ...

Dent Blanche The Dent Blanche is a mountain in the Pennine Alps, lying in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. At -high, it is one of the highest peaks in the Alps. Naming The original name was probably ''Dent d'Hérens'', the current name of the nearby D ...

Zinalrothorn The Zinalrothorn (4,221 m) is a mountain in the Pennine Alps in Switzerland. Its name comes from the village of Zinal lying on the north side and from the German word ''Rothorn'' which means ''Red Peak''. When it was first climbed in 1864 the mo ...

Wellenkuppe The Wellenkuppe is a mountain of the Swiss Pennine Alps, located west of Zermatt in the canton of Valais. It lies on the range separating the Val d'Anniviers from the Mattertal, just east of the Ober Gabelhorn The Ober Gabelhorn (4063 m) is a ...

Obergabelhorn The Ober Gabelhorn (4063 m) is a mountain in the Pennine Alps in Switzerland, located between Zermatt and Zinal. Geography The Ober Gabelhorn lies in the Swiss canton of Valais at the southern end of the Zinal valley (part of the Val d'Annivie ...

, Kleine Zinne".

Skiing

Beside his achievements in climbing, he also won the Austrian championship in cross-country-skiing and ski-jumping in 1914.

Other aspects

There are a number of anecdotes depicting Perry-Smith as a rather unusual character: *When people doubted his ascent of 'Perryriss', he climbed that route again and wrote in big letters 'Perry' on the rock. (it can still be read today) *He owned a

Bugatti Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a German then French manufacturer of high-performance automobiles. The company was founded in 1909 in the then-German city of Molsheim, Alsace, by the Italian-born industrial designer Ettore Bugatti. The cars w ...

race car and got in trouble with the police several times for driving fast and hazardously. *He was once arrested for getting drunk and disturbing the peace by threatening people with a pistol in the town of Bad Schandau. In the year 1914 Oliver Perry-Smith returned to the US, never to visit

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

again.

References

Sources

* J. Monroe Thorington, ''Oliver Perry Smith; Profile of a Mountaineer'',

American Alpine Journal The ''American Alpine Journal'' is an annual magazine published by the American Alpine Club. Its mission is "to document and communicate mountain exploration." The headquarters is in Golden, Colorado. Subtitled as a compilation of "The World's M ...

(''AAJ'') 1964, pp. 99–120 (with 14 photographs in additional plates) * J. Monroe Thorington, ''In Memoriam: Oliver Perry Smith (1884-1969)'', ''AAJ'', 1970, pp. 218–219

External links

pdf version of article by J. M. Thorington, ''Oliver Perry-Smith...'', AAJ, 1964, pp. 99-120 and l Plates 77-90
(Retrieved February 27, 2011)
pdf version of obituary by J. M. Thorington, ''Oliver Perry-Smith (1884-1969)'', AAJ, 1970
pp. 218–219 (Retrieved February 27, 2011)
''Proceedings of the Club: Secretary report for the year 1969''
AAJ, 1970, pp. 224–226 (Retrieved February 27, 2011)

(Retrieved February 27, 2011) {{DEFAULTSORT:Perry-Smith, Oliver 1884 births 1969 deaths American rock climbers American mountain climbers Sportspeople from Philadelphia Sportspeople from Dresden