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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jan 8, 2012 - 08:10pm PT
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A unique and nostalgic moment in American climbing as seen in Life magazine April 9, 1965.
This was a tough article to scan at home being oversize but it is a unique slice of American Life. A trip down memory lane simply flipping through a copy of Life! What a cool rag!
Having put Americans on top of Everest in 1963, mountaineering was clearly in the national consciousness and I will be very interested to see what people actively climbing at the time recall about this event.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Thanks, Steve. Oddly timely in that Jim Craig, the Canadian climber on the team, just died in November. Here's the memorial, extracted from the January 2012 B.C. Mountaineering Club newsletter.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 8, 2012 - 08:37pm PT
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gf- If you have that bio could you scan and post the relevant section?
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bergbryce
Mountain climber
South Lake Tahoe, CA
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Interesting. I just read about this ascent in a Washburn bio. Apparently Kennedy was a whiny little female dog the whole time and threw crazy ass parties at the hotels. It was a publicity stunt that in the end, Washburn didn't particularly care for.
Thanks for the article.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Mount Kennedy was then the highest unclimbed peak in North America. The Canadian government decided to name it in honour of the dead president.
The article suggests that they did the climb in three days, which is fairly fast.
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go-B
climber
Habakkuk 3:19 Sozo
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 8, 2012 - 10:02pm PT
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Anyone know if RFK ever climbed again after this adventure?
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Steve: The Nov 1965 National Geographic also glorified the climb.
Heidi gave all our old National Geos to a local thrift store 2 years ago, and I was able to recover most all the climbing issues, but missed that one.
Per David Robert's fine bio of Bradford Washburn: The Last of His Kind --- The National Geo has 3 articles on the climb.
Canada's Mount Kennedy: The Discovery, by Bradford Washburn.
A Peak Worthy of The President, by Robert Kennedy, &
The First Ascent, by Jim Whittaker.
It appears that the climb was a big PR stunt, and as mentioned: David Roberts asserts that Brad Washburn remembers Kennedy behaving poorly, before, during, and after the climb.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Most interesting! I never knew that Bill Prater was on that trip. Being
the quintessential Ellensburg farmboy I'm not surprised he never bragged about it.
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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He synchronized his breathing as he had been instructed, with a slow, steady "rest" step, in which the knee of the trailing leg is locked to take the weight off tired muscles, and moved up alone to a summit believed to be more than 14,000 feet high. He was the first man ever to stand atop the superb peak that Canada had named for his dead brother. He took off his goggles to look out upon a vast panorama of granite tyrannosaur teeth extending in all directions across the roof of the Yukon as far as the eye could see, and he stood very still for one private moment. Then, as James (Big Jim) Whittaker and Barry (The Bear) Prather, both veterans of the U.S. Everest expedition, watched and an aerial armada of photographers' planes circled overhead, Senator Robert F. Kennedy planted a family memorial flag. He also placed in a cache in the snow a copy of President Kennedy's inauguration speech, which was tightly wound in a metal cylinder of the type used for mountaintop registers, and three PT-boat tie clasps. Thus ended the climb of an obscure peak which had started in secrecy in Washington and evolved into the biggest story in Yukon Territory since the cremation of Sam McGee.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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BJ,
Thanks for that bit on Barry. A neighbor of Bill Prater who was a couple of
rooms down the hall from me at the UW got me into alpine climbing so I got to
meet those guys* early on. They were all so low-key but hard core.
I spent part of a summer vacation working there with my friend baling hay.
That's why they were so hard core - that's the hardest work I've ever done!
You'd spend all day out in the fields in 90+ temps looking up at the cool
heights of Mt Stuart and come back into the farmhouse and sit down to a nice
cold glass of freshly squeezed milk. I wonder if there's a reality TV show there?
Nah, the only drama was whether or not it was gonna rain before you got the
baling done.
*The Praters, Prather, Stanley, Dunham.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 10, 2012 - 08:14pm PT
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Bump in the Yukon...
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 20, 2012 - 08:07pm PT
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This is the 1965 AAJ writeup concerning the naming of Mount Kennedy.
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Tobia
Social climber
GA
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Jan 20, 2012 - 08:16pm PT
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I thought whining was an inherent part of an ascent; especially cyber-ascents.
What is the altitude is Mount Taco?
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Jan 20, 2012 - 11:04pm PT
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Tobia: I usually understand & appreciate your posts.
Would you share more of your thoughts on the previous one??
I thought whining was an inherent part of an ascent; especially cyber-ascents.
What is the altitude is Mount Taco?
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Tobia
Social climber
GA
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Jan 21, 2012 - 04:12pm PT
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Sure. Simple humor about the word "whining" and its association with climbing, and posting on this website. The word comes up a lot, mostly off topic, sometimes on topic.
Something I didn't write earlier was my thought that Robert Kennedy achieved a pretty remarkable ascent. especially considering his lack of experience. It might have been a photo-op; but at least he earned it (as opposed to a staged photo-op).
I would be proud to make it to that summit.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 21, 2012 - 07:39pm PT
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The full expedition account from the 1966 AAJ.
A real climb for sure! Five day RT for RFK!
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Jan 21, 2012 - 08:03pm PT
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So, Steve, have those juicy ridges or faces been climbed?
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 21, 2012 - 08:37pm PT
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Can't say as I'm up on the Yukon but I don't imagine that ridge went untried for long. Not with Saint Bradford's glass eye at hand...LOL
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jan 21, 2012 - 09:11pm PT
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The north ridge of Mount Kennedy was climbed in 1968, by David Seidman, Philip Koch, Todd Thompson and Joseph Faint.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 22, 2012 - 02:55pm PT
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That had to be Joe Faint's biggest ascent!
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Dolomite
climber
Anchorage
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Jan 22, 2012 - 07:30pm PT
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Actually, Steve, I think Faint became estranged from the others and didn't summit. Would love to hear his side of the story.
I was with the second ascent group in '77. We walk/skied in and out from the road at Kluane Lake. We had about 2,000 feet of rope that we kind of moved around on the route. We took all the stuff down with us. I think the first ascent guys used 6,000 feet of fixed which is hard to imagine, sort of, because it's about a 6,000 foot route. We had heard they left it on the route, but we didn't see any of it. We hardly had two good days in a row, so it would have been hard to alpine it, even if we had been up to it. I think a lot of failures on that route were simply due to running out of time. The weather isn't life-threateningly horrible, but just bad enough that you'd rather be in base camp.
Thirty-five of the best days of my life.
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Nohea
Trad climber
Living Outside the Statist Quo
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Jun 23, 2012 - 09:25pm PT
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I've been drive by camping for the past week through parts of Alaska and the Yukon. This place is gorgeous! We drove by Kuane NP got passed by one truck and hardly seen anyone else except bear and moose. Coming back into the US we took the northern most recognized entry and it was such a clear day we could see mountains to the North, mountains to the West and another beautiful range to the South.
Now sitting by a stream north of the Chugach this was an enjoyable read. Thanks!
Aloha,
Will
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ms55401
Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
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Jun 23, 2012 - 10:24pm PT
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So sweet to name Mount Kennedy after a president who mounted interns.
JFK was cool
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Jun 23, 2012 - 11:03pm PT
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Dolomite
Sadly Joe left us a number of years ago.
I would love to see some photos of your climb in 77.
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Tobia
Social climber
Denial
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Jun 24, 2012 - 06:37am PT
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Nohea, Sounds like a nice way to spend your time. I would love to be doing the same.
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Jun 24, 2012 - 11:10am PT
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Great thread, Steve, with some fine digressions, of the type that occur only on ST.
I remember being enthralled by that Life magazine article when it came out and now it seems pretty impressive that Bobby Kennedy was able to climb that thing.
It ain't flag football.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 24, 2012 - 03:12pm PT
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The cover of Life was pretty unavoidable BITD.
Interesting to ponder how different events would have been had Bobby become president.
We may yet have a climber in the White House should a Udall throw his hat in.
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philo
Trad climber
Somewhere halfway over the rainbow
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Jun 24, 2012 - 04:05pm PT
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Far Freekin' Out! Totally cool trip down memory lane.
As always Steve, TFPU!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 21, 2013 - 09:39pm PT
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Icy Blue Camalot Bump.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 27, 2014 - 10:45am PT
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A press photo of RFK at work as it appeared in the Miami Herald Wednesday March 24, 1965.
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Avery
climber
NZ
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Dec 27, 2014 - 04:27pm PT
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I've got to hand it to you, Steve, your a living encyclopedia!
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
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Dec 28, 2014 - 03:30am PT
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Kennedy on Kennedy
I remember reading that article, and I recall that it was fairly inspiring at the time.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 28, 2014 - 10:45am PT
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Nice!
Lots of names at that event!
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Brian in SLC
Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
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Dec 28, 2014 - 11:30am PT
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Saw an inscription from RK to Washburn in RK's book that he'd gifted to Brad. Signed it "Bobby", which, I'd heard was fairly rare and indicated they'd had a more than casual relationship.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 26, 2015 - 01:01pm PT
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Bump for Bobby...
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 27, 2016 - 02:12pm PT
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Another press photo from this expedition featuring Jim Whittaker and Bradford Washburn alongside Bobby Kennedy.
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