The Stonemasters were a group of

rock climbers 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 ...

and

adventurers An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme sp ...

in the 1970s, roughly 1973 to 1980, who originally climbed in Southern California—principally Tahquitz,

Suicide Rock Suicide Rock (once Suicide Peak) is a granite outcrop () near Idyllwild, California, which is popular with rock climbers. Over three hundred climbing routes have been described. It is located near Tahquitz Peak. According to legend, the name of ...

Joshua Tree ''Yucca brevifolia'' is a plant species belonging to the genus ''Yucca''. It is tree-like in habit, which is reflected in its common names: Joshua tree, yucca palm, tree yucca, and palm tree yucca. This monocotyledonous tree is native to the ar ...

—and later,

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 ar ...

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 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 ...

, Dean Fidelman, Richard Harrison, Mike Graham, Robs Muir,

Gib Lewis Gibson Donald Lewis, known as Gib Lewis (born August 22, 1936), is an American politician and political consultant from Fort Worth, Texas. He was the first person to be elected five times as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, but he ...

, Bill Antel,

Jim Hoagland Jimmie Lee Hoagland (born January 22, 1940) is a Pulitzer prize-winning American journalist. He is a contributing editor to ''The Washington Post,'' since 2010, previously serving as an associate editor, senior foreign correspondent, and columnis ...

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 Californi ...

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 Bach ...

Lynn Hill Carolynn Marie Hill (born January 3, 1961) is an American rock climber. Widely regarded as one of the leading competitive climbers, traditional climbers (and particularly big wall traditional climbers), sport climbers, and boulderers in the ...

Ron Kauk Ron Kauk (born 23 September 1957) is an American rock climber. Kauk is associated with Camp 4 in Yosemite Valley, where he lived for decades, now a resident of El Portal, California. In 1975, he made the first free ascent of the east face of Wa ...

Ken Yager Ken Yager (born January 5, 1947) is a Republican Party (United States), Republican politician who is currently serving as a Tennessee Senate, State Senator in Tennessee, for District 12. Yager was first elected to this position in 2008 and repr ...

and John Long. Loosely organized, the senior member and leader of the group was

References

* * American rock climbers {{Climbing-stub