A PEAK FOR THE FERGUSONS IN HONOR OF EVERYMAN CLIMBERS STORY AND PHOTOS BY STEVE GRANTHAM
ABOVE: The Sawtooth Range. OPPOSITE LEFT: Chuck Ferguson on Mount Idaho, Lost River Range. OPPOSITE RIGHT: Dave Ferguson on Gabriels Horn, Pioneers.
6 IDAHO magazine
T
he history of Idaho mountaineering is full of illustrious names, but it also includes hundreds of other men and women who explored the state’s mountain ranges to little or no fanfare. Two such climbers I had the privilege to know were the Ferguson brothers, Chuck (1940– 1998) and Dave (1939–2020), the latter of whom was one of my closest friends for almost four decades. I would like to share some
memories of these quintessentially Everyman climbers. Dave and Chuck were born in Illinois but moved to a farm in Idaho in 1948. They both had an affinity for mathematics. Chuck taught math in middle school in Idaho Falls, while Dave joined the Mathematics Department at Boise State in 1970, having earned his PhD from the University of Idaho. Farming also was central to Dave, who lived on a farm his entire
