More People than Mountain: Ila and John: 01316502.jpg Ila eating sardines on summit of Pointe Isabella, 12300 ft, French Alps, Chamonix, 1960. Grand Jorasses (Walker Buttress) in background. 01527003.jpg Ila climbing up snow before final rock of Pointe Isabella, 1960. Talefre glacier below; one of the principal sources of the Mer de Glace. 0131650_.jpg John on summit of Pointe Isabella, 1960. 01316105.jpg Ila descending Pigeon Peak, Bugaboos, British Columbia, 1961 . 01316106.jpg Ila rock climbing on tower adjacent to Mt. Lemmon highway, above Windy Point, 1962; Ila is wearing heavy mountaineering boots. 2.jpg John, at start of 3rd of the middle towers (Ravens), Mt. Lemmon, ~1977. 1.jpg John setting rappel at top of 3rd of the middle towers, Mt. Lemmon, ~1977. 01316409.jpg Ila and John at home, 1990. 01316302.jpg Ila at Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, 2001. 01316202.jpg John on hike in Southern Purcells, British Columbia, 2001. Hans Kraus: 01316108.jpg Hans Kraus, age 50, at camp below North Face of Liberty Bell, 1956. The North Cascades Highway was not yet built. We had hiked 15-20 miles from the road end to reach camp below the face . Hans was the climbing mentor of Jim McCarthy and myself. When young, living in Trieste, Hans learned to climb in the Dolomites. Among his friends and climbing partners were Emilio Comici and Gino Solda. He carried the Dolomite techniques of high-angle face climbing to this country. With Fritz Wiessner, Hans opened the Shawangunks for climbing in the early 1930's. Over the next 40 years he established many of the classic Shawangunk routes. Hans, a physician, was one of the founders of physical medicine and the father of sports medicine. He was elected to the U.S. Ski Hall of Fame in 1974. He was Associate Professor at New York Univ. Medical College. His studies on children led to President Eisenhower's establishing the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. He was President Kennedy's back doctor and had as patients a long list of other celebrities (Arthur Godfrey, Katherine Hepburn, etc.). Hans combined several full lives into his allotted one, contributing to medicine, public service, and climbing. Fritz Wiessner: 01316119.jpg Fritz Wiessner, age 81, Mt Lemmon, 1981, climbing on the Rupley Towers, first pitch of R3. 01316117.jpg Fritz Wiessner, age 86, Mt Lemmon, 1986, at a belay point on the Rupley Towers. Fritz's love of climbing is obvious in the photographs. From about 1970 until 1986, after each winter season of skiing with wife Muriel, he would begin his climbing year with a trip to Tucson. Fritz was raised in Dresden. His early climbing was in the Elbe Sandstone Towers. He was among the avant garde of "6th Class" climbing duing the 1920's. Routes he put up 80 years ago in the Elbe Sandstone are still considered difficult. He made classic routes in the Dolomites, on the Fleischbank, the Furchetta, and the Civetta. He was a member of German Himalayan expeditions in the 1920's. When Fritz came to this country in 1928, he brought both cutting-edge rock technique and Himalayan mountaineering experience. He made notable contributions to American climbing. Fritz discovered and opened, with Hans Kraus, the Shawangunks, made the first ascent of Mt. Waddington with Bill House in 1936, and the first climbing ascent of the Devil's Tower in 1937. He was the dominant climber on the 1939 American K2 expedition, on which he accomplished the famous feat of climbing past the difficulties to within 800 ft. of the summit, only to turn back in deference to the religion and fears of his Sherpa partner. He was for many years the American Alpine Club representative to international climbing organizations. During his first years in America, Fritz founded a chemical company that specialized in waxes, including a widely-used ski wax. He successfully developed his company during the depression of the 1930's. Fritz Wiessner was a gracious gentleman with wide-ranging interests. He and Hans Kraus were typical of many climbers of the pre-WWII era, who integrated climbing with leadership in other areas. Fred Beckey: 01316402.jpg Fred Becky, age 77, at our home, Tucson, 2000. 01316109.jpg Fred Becky, age 56, on the summit of Mt. Forresta, Alaska, 1979. The sea is in the background, 10,000 feet below. A few hours later, one could see the lights of Yakutat, just off the picture right. Fred was wet and cold, owing to a fall into a crevasse; he was later to be colder, during a bivouac necessitated by an avalanche on the descent. Fred is an elemental force. For over 60 years he creatively searched for and made new routes and first ascents - more than any other American and probably more than any other individual in history. He has spawned a small industry that writes about him - 1500 hits on Google. Fred taught me about alpine climbing when I went to Seattle for graduate study. His ability to move rapidly over difficult terrain was awesome. He understands weather and mountain conditions better than anyone I have known. I was fortunate to climb with Fred frequently for five years and occasionally for another fifteen. His intelligent sensitivity, not often spoken of, is evident in his writing. Fred's mixture of tenacity and boldness tempered by caution and backed by experience, has led to his great success and his survival. Jim McCarthy: 01527004.jpg Jim McCarthy and Dave Bernays, summit Devil's Tower, 1954; note that in those days tennis shoes were worn for climbing. Jim and I were undergraduates at Princeton during the early 1950's. We went often to the Shawangunks, where we met Hans Kraus. We climbed together for several summers, making the first ascent of the Middle Howser Spire in the Bugaboos, two new routes on Devil's Tower, the West Face of Snowpatch with Hans Kraus, the "diretississima" on High Exposure with Hans, and Foops, another Shawangunk climb that still appears occasionally in ads. Jim was a leader of Shawangunk climbing for many years. He has been a major force in the American Alpine Club, as its President and a long-time member of its board. Jim practiced trial law in New York and is now living in Jackson Hole. More Mountain than People: 0152700_.jpg Liberty Bell, North Cascades, 1956. 01316103.jpg Howser Spires, Bugaboos, 1955. 01527002.jpg Kraus route, Snowpatch, Bugaboos, 1956. 01316111.jpg looking up 75ft inside crevasse, Mt. Bona, 1980. 01316112.jpg looking down inside crevasse, Mt. Bona, 1980. 01316123.jpg Dolomites, Italy, Tre Cime; N. face Cima Grande and Cima Ovest. 01316124.jpg Dolomites, Italy, Tre Cime - different aspect. 01316126.jpg Shawangunks from distance. 01316127.jpg Jim McCarthy on High Exposure, Shawangunks, 1957. 01316116.jpg Ila & Ray Salemme, Mons Icefield, Canada, 1990.