"Pilgrims of the Vertical": Climbing Technology, Consumerism, and Nature

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Abstract SES 01-17993Joseph E. Taylor III, Department of History, Iowa State University "Pilgrims of the Vertical:" Recreational Technology, Consumerism, and NatureThis project examines the innovation, production, and uses of recreational technology through a history of modern rock climbing in Yosemite National Park. Yosemite Valley has been a principal site for developing climbing technology and techniques during the 20th century, and locals became leading innovators in the sport in order to solve challenges presented by the local environment. Climbers placed a premium on avoiding permanent anchors, reducing weight, and minimizing erosion, but these were not necessarily mutually compatible demands. Gear designers (ranging from highly educated individuals such as Sierra Club President Dick Leonard and Cal-Tech engineer Charles Wilts to vagabond blacksmiths such as John Salathea nd Yvon Chouinard) used a wide array of materials from found objects such as construction anchors, cast iron stove legs, and car axles, to the newest breakthroughs in nylon, metal alloys, and space-age materials such as Kevlar. Some products became standard climbing tools, others were soon forgotten, but all contained social, cultural, and environmental consequences that were neither expected nor desired. A history of rock climbing in Yosemite will reveal critical lessons about recreation, consumerism, and environmentalism in modern society. The research strategy for this portion of a larger project on the environmental history of Yosemite Valley rock climbing focuses on inspecting public archives and private collections in California, Oregon, Washington, and Colorado. The PI has already identified many important innovators, including: Leonard, Raffi Bedayan, Salathe, Wilts, Frank Tarver, Chouinard, Tom Frost, William Feuerer, Edward Leeper, Steve Komito, Jim Bridwell, Jeffrey Lowe, and Raymond Jardine. Relevant archival records for these people exist at the University of California, Berkeley; Stanford University; California Institute of Technology; the University of Oregon; the University of Washington, Seattle; and the University of Colorado, Boulder. Important business and correspondence records for merchants and climbers are located around the western states, and owners of some documents will allow access. The research is to be conducted during the summer 2002 break.