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John Salathé
John Salathé (June 14, 1899 – 31 August 1992) was a Swiss-born American pioneering rock climber (and particularly in big wall climbing and in aid climbing), blacksmith, and the inventor of the modern steel piton. In his later years he promoted Christian spiritualism and vegetarianism. Biography John Salathé, also known as Jean Salathé, was born on June 14, 1899, in Switzerland in the village of Niederschöntal, near Basel. He was one of six children. In his hometown, he was an apprentice blacksmith before moving to Paris first, and then Le Havre where he enrolled as a merchant seaman for 4 years, traveling as far as Africa and Brazil. In 1925, Salathé left Bordeaux, in France and travelled to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada before travelling to Montreal where he met his wife, Ida Schenk. In March 1930, at the age of 30, Salathé, together with his wife and child, emigrated from Montreal, Canada to finally settle in San Mateo, United States. In 1932, he founded Peninsula Wr ...
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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 othe ...
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Le Havre
Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very close to the Prime Meridian (Greenwich), Prime Meridian. Le Havre is the most populous commune of Upper Normandy, although the total population of the greater Le Havre conurbation is smaller than that of Rouen. It is also the second largest subprefecture in France, after only Reims. The name ''Le Havre'' means "the harbour" or "the port". Its inhabitants are known as ''Havrais'' or ''Havraises''. The city and Port of Le Havre, port were founded by Francis I of France, King Francis I in 1517. Economic development in the early modern period was hampered by European wars of religion, religious wars, conflicts with the English, epidemics, and storms. It was from the end of the 18th century that Le Havre st ...
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Lost Arrow Spire
Lost Arrow Spire is a detached pillar in Yosemite National Park, in Yosemite Valley, California, located immediately adjacent to Upper Yosemite Falls. The structure includes the ''Lost Arrow Spire Chimney'' route which is recognized in the historic climbing text '' Fifty Classic Climbs of North America''. The spire is the location for a dramatic and famous Tyrolean traverse, which has since become an equally notable slackline. Climbing In 1946, the spire was first summited by lassoing the tip from the main valley rim wall, 125-feet away, after which 29-year old Ax Nelson prusiked the lassoed line to the peak, followed by Jack Arnold. Steve Roper called it "one of the greatest rope stunts ever pulled off in climbing history", climbers did not recognize it as a true rock climbing ascent with Nelson saying: "Spectacular and effective though twas, this maneuver required very little real climbing". That same year, 48-year old Swiss immigrant, John Salathé, had also been att ...
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First Ascent
In mountaineering and climbing, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in climbing guidebook, guide books), is the first successful documented climb to the top of a mountain or the top of a particular climbing route. Early 20th-century mountaineers and climbers focused on reaching the tops of iconic mountains (e.g. the eight-thousanders) and climbing routes (e.g. the great north faces of the Alps) by whatever means possible, often using considerable amounts of aid climbing, and/or with large expedition style support teams that laid "siege" to the climb. As all the key tops were summited, the manner in which each top was reached became important, particularly the ability to complete the ascent without artificial aid, which is called free climbing. In free climbing, the term first free ascent (abbreviated FFA) is used where a mountain or climbing route is ascended without any artificial aid (devices for climbing protection, protection in the event of a fall could be used as long as the ...
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Bivouac Shelter
A bivouac shelter or bivvy (alternately ''bivy'', ''bivi'', ''bivvi'') is any of a variety of improvised camp site or shelter that is usually of a temporary nature, used especially by soldiers or people engaged in backpacking, bikepacking, scouting or mountain climbing. It may often refer to sleeping in the open with a bivouac sack, but it may also refer to a shelter constructed of natural materials like a structure of branches to form a frame, which is then covered with leaves, ferns and similar material for waterproofing and duff (leaf litter) for insulation. Modern bivouacs often involve the use of one- or two-person tents but may also be without tents or full cover. In modern mountaineering the nature of the bivouac shelter will depend on the level of preparedness, in particular whether existing camping and outdoor gear may be incorporated into the shelter. Etymology The word ''bivouac'' is French and ultimately derives from an 18th-century Swiss German usage of ''Beiwacht ...
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Climbing Route
A climbing route () is a path by which a Climbing, climber reaches the top of a mountain, a rock face or an ice-covered obstacle. The details of a climbing route are recorded in a climbing guidebook and/or in an online climbing-route database. Details recorded will include elements such as the type of climbing route (e.g. bouldering route, sport climbing route, traditional climbing route, ice climbing route, and alpine climbing route, etc.), the Grade (climbing), difficulty grade of the route–and beta (climbing), beta on its crux (climbing), crux(es)–and any risk or commitment grade, the length and number of pitch (climbing), pitches of the route, and the climbing equipment (e.g. climbing protection gear) that is needed to complete the route. There are definitions as to what is a valid ascent of a route (e.g. the redpoint (climbing), redpoint in rock climbing), and the class or style of ascent (e.g. onsighted, flash (climbing), flashed). The coveted first ascent (FA), first f ...
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Half Dome
Half Dome is a quartz monzonite batholith 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. It stands at nearly 8,800 feet above sea level and is composed of quartz monzonite, an igneous rock that solidified several thousand feet within the Earth. At its core are the remains of a magma chamber that cooled slowly and crystallized beneath the Earth's surface. The solidified magma chamber was then exposed and cut in half by erosion, therefore leading to the geographic name Half Dome. 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 ...
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Black Diamond Equipment
Black Diamond Equipment is a manufacturer of equipment for climbing, skiing, and mountain sports, based in Utah, United States. The company also has a global office in Innsbruck, Austria. The company is owned by Clarus Corporation, which also owns Pieps and ClimbOn! Skincare. History Black Diamond Equipment's history dates from the late 1950s, when climber Yvon Chouinard began hand-forging Piton, pitons and selling them from the trunk of his car in Yosemite Valley. Chouinard's pitons quickly gained a reputation for quality, and Chouinard Equipment Ltd. was born soon after in Ventura, California. In early 1989, after several product-liability lawsuits and a continued lack of profitability, Yvon Chouinard placed the company in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Black Diamond was founded on December 1, 1989, when the assets of Chouinard Equipment Ltd. were purchased by a group of former company employees led by (now former CEO) Peter Metcalf, and a few outside investors. Metcalf moved the c ...
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Granite
Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies underground. It is common in the continental crust of Earth, where it is found in igneous intrusions. These range in size from dike (geology), dikes only a few centimeters across to batholiths exposed over hundreds of square kilometers. Granite is typical of a larger family of ''granitic rocks'', or ''granitoids'', that are composed mostly of coarse-grained quartz and feldspars in varying proportions. These rocks are classified by the relative percentages of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase (the QAPF diagram, QAPF classification), with true granite representing granitic rocks rich in quartz and alkali feldspar. Most granitic rocks also contain mica or amphibole minerals, though a few (known as leucogranites) conta ...
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Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park ( ) is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in California. It is bordered 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 in four County, countiescentered in Tuolumne County, California, Tuolumne and Mariposa County, California, Mariposa, extending north and east to Mono County, California, Mono and south to Madera County, California, Madera. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1984, Yosemite is internationally recognized for its granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, groves of Sequoiadendron giganteum, giant sequoia, lakes, mountains, meadows, glaciers, and Biodiversity, biological diversity. Almost 95 percent of the park is designated National Wilderness Preservation System, wilderness. Yosemite is one of the largest and least fragmented habitat blocks in the Sierra Nevada. Its geology of the Yosem ...
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San Mateo, California
San Mateo ( ) is the most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It is part of the San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan region, and is located about south of San Francisco. San Mateo borders Burlingame, California, Burlingame to the north, Hillsborough, California, Hillsborough to the west, San Francisco Bay and Foster City, California, Foster City to the east and Belmont, California, Belmont to the south. The population was 105,661 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Some of the biggest economic drivers for the city include technology, health care and education. History The earliest known settlers of the Bay Area were the Ramaytush people, since at least 10000 BC. Spanish era In 1789, the Spanish missionaries had named a Native Americans in the United States, Native American village along Laurel Creek as ''Los Laureles'' or the Laurels (Mission San Mateo, Mission Dolores, 1789). At the time of Mexican War of ...
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Alps
The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. The Alpine arch extends from Nice on the western Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean to Trieste on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Vienna at the beginning of the Pannonian Basin. The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrust fault, thrusting and Fold (geology), folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn. Mont Blanc spans the French–Italian border, and at is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains 82 peaks higher than List of Alpine four-thousanders, . The altitude and size of the range affect the climate in Europe; in the mountain ...
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