Desert Spires by Jerry Gallwas

Desert Spires Spider Rock, Cleopatra’s Needle, Totem Pole Climbing Pictures with Original Articles and Selected Reading

Jerry Gallwas Mark Powell Don Wilson with Bill Feuerer on the Totem Pole 1

Table of Contents Subject

Page

Introduction

3

Acknowledgements

4

Background

6

Players

7

Equipment

8

Spider Rock

13

Cleopatra’s Needle

29

Chimney Rock

36

Totem Pole

37

Appendix

52

2

The Desert Spires Spider Rock, Cleopatra’s Needle, & the Totem Pole Introduction and Personal Recollections with Original Articles, Pictures, and Selected Reading Materials Jerry Gallwas The desert spires of the southwestern US were little known to the climbing community prior to the ascents of Ship Rock in 1939 and Agathlan in 1949. It wasn’t until the mid-­1950s with the first ascents of Spider Rock, Cleopatra’s Needle, and the Totem Pole that more widespread interest developed. This period has been well documented by Eric Bjørnstad in his classic climber’s guide to the southwest canyon country, Desert Rock, published in 1988 by Chockstone Press.

In recent years, I have been asked for my recollections of the early desert spire climbs made over 50 years ago. I find that my memories have faded and the Kodachrome transparences have degraded. In January 2007, I had a call from Steve (Crusher) Bartlett about photos taken on the first ascents. I took most if not all of the Spider Rock and Cleopatra’s Needle pictures and Bill (Dolt) Feuerer took all of the Totem Pole photos. Steve spent two days capturing high resolution digital scans of my collection, some number of which are included in this document. The Totem Pole Dolt photos, besides the ones given to me by Dolt after the climb, are in the possession of Don Lauria. Don graciously spent a day with me at his home in Bishop, California going through the entire collection and a number of those photos are included herein.

The purpose of this document is to bring together the original publications, many of which are obscure, with the photos of these first ascents for use by family and friends. I have added my comments to elaborate and in some cases have tried to correct misimpressions. There is no commercial intent. Beyond that, copies will be sent to the American Alpine Club library along with the digitized images to provide the most complete record possible in one document.

3

Acknowledgements Publications The original publications recording the first ascents are generally obscure and limited in their availability. To give the reader easy access, I have copied the articles into this document as well as selected summary documents to give perspective to those not familiar with the subject of these desert spires or the Southwest.

1. Mugelnoos (MN), a monthly news bulletin published by and for the Ski Mountaineers and Rock Climbing Sections of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club.

2. Sierra Club Bulletin (SCB), a publication of the Sierra Club, San Francisco, California.

3. Ascent, the Sierra Club Mountaineering Journal, Sierra Club, San Francisco, California.

4. Summit Magazine, Co-­Publishers & Editors: Jene M. Crenshaw and H. V. J. Kilness, Big Bear Lake, California. (Summit Magazine rights now owned by Jim Ellis of Eagle, Idaho.)

5. Arizona Highways, published by the Arizona Department of Transportation, Phoenix, Arizona.

6. The Utoco Torch, published by the Utah Oil Refining Company, Salt Lake City, Utah.

7. Desert Rock, A Climber’s Guide to the Canyon Country of the American Southwest Desert, Eric Bjørnstad, Chockstone Press, Denver, Colorado.

8. The National Geographic Magazine, National Geographic Society, Washington D. C. 9. The Saturday Evening Post, Independence Square, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

4

Acknowledgements People Many people are to be thanked for assistance in the assembly of this document and include: Mark Powell and Don Wilson for their friendship, participation in these ascents, and publications recording our desert spire adventures. To Mark, also, for his review of this document.

Bill (Dolt) Feuerer for his wonderful pictures of the Totem Pole.

Don Lauria for his assistance and access to the Dolt photo archives.

John Ripley for his assistance and access to the Mugelnoos archives.

Steve (Crusher) Bartlett for the inspiration to put this document together, the superb digital images of my Kodachrome transparencies from the desert spires, and his meticulous proofreading.

Eric Bjørnstad for our brief telephone conversation that led me to read Desert Rock and learn more about the desert southwest than I had previously known as well as his publication of the Eiger Sanction Totem Pole article in Summit Magazine. Then of course, there is the retrieval and return of the Totem Pole summit register which now resides in the collection of the Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering Museum in Golden, Colorado.

Sandy Krishnamurthy, my wife, for putting up with all this nonsense and proofreading with good humor.

5

Background Royal Robbins, Don Wilson, and I began our climbing adventures in the early 1950’s. The benefit of nylon rope was well established but climbing gear in general was still rather primitive.

Pitons were of soft steel and bent easily, climbing shoes were simply tennis shoes, and the techniques of free and aid climbing were still under development. Royal and Don started at Stoney Point in Chatsworth north of Los Angeles and I in Mission Gorge north of San Diego. The three of us met and climbed actively together at Tahquitz Rock near Idyllwild, California beginning in 1952. We went on to Yosemite Valley in 1953 where Royal and I did the second ascent of Yosemite Point Buttress and the three of us the second ascent of the North Face of Sentinel Rock.

Those experiences led to discussions of what we might consider as the next step in our climbing aspirations and two ideas surfaced. The Northwest Face of Half Dome was obvious while the sandstone spires of the Four Corners area were intriguing. Don and I went onto explore both Half Dome in the summer of 1954 and the desert spires during Easter week of 1955.

We were both students at the time while Royal was employed at Union Bank in Los Angeles. The three of us teamed with Warren Harding in the summer of 1955 to attempt what is now referred to as the Regular Route on Half Dome. However, for some reason Royal’s interest was not drawn to the desert spires. Don and I had come to know Mark Powell. I met him during Easter week of 1954 when the two of us climbed the Lower Cathedral Spire in Yosemite. He visited Tahquitz where the three of us discussed the desert spires and over the Easter week of 1956 climbed Spider Rock in Canyon de Chelly. That began the sequence of climbs recorded herein.

6

The Players

Mark, Jerry, Don, & Dolt Totem Pole summit Gallwas collection

Mark Powell in Yosemite Dolt photo Jerry Gallwas in the Sierra Gallwas collection

Don Wilson at Tahquitz Rock Gallwas photo

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The Equipment Publications, that include an article about the first ascent of the Northwest Face of Half Dome or the desert spires, often comment about the pitons used. As an example, in the Bjørnstad publication Desert Rock, there is a comment about the “special aluminum channel pitons that worked in the often flaring wide cracks, made for Jerry Gallwas at the suggestion of John Salathé.” Layton Kor in Beyond the Vertical, credits the angle pitons used on the Totem Pole to Bill Feuerer. “The first ascent of the Totem Pole was by the Californians Mark Powell, Don Wilson, Bill Feuerer, and Jerry Gallwas. The climbing was almost exclusively artificial and wide aluminum channel pitons (the forerunner of the Bong-­Bong), made by Feuerer, were used extensively.”

More recently, Huber and Zak comment in Yosemite, Half a Century of Dynamic Rock Climbing “They forged their own Lost Arrows as well as early Knife Blades”.

To clarify the hardware issue, when I began climbing in 1951, the only sources of pitons were those from Europe and Holubar Mountaineering Equipment in Colorado. The pitons were nicely designed, relatively expensive, and made of soft steel hence were short lived as they bent easily. The benefits of hardened steel were clear from the Anton Nelson article, Five Days and Nights on the Lost Arrow that appeared in the March1948 issue of the SCB. A picture of the Salathé designed pitons was included in the article, see page 10.

A fortuitous event in the Spring of 1952 provided a solution to the soft steel piton problem.

While on a backpacking trip to Carizzo Gorge (east of San Diego) with Omar Conger (a climbing friend) we found a blacksmith’s anvil in a deserted mine. We discussed the possibility of forging our own alloy pitons in the style of Salathé and decided to carry the anvil five miles back to the car. The anvil was heavy but there were two of us. A friend of Omar’s, Bud Bernhard, had a machine shop in Coronado (across the bay from San Diego) so we found ourselves on non-­ climbing weekends learning to make horizontal and wafer pitons. We developed a Salathé-­like design copied from the pictures in Nelson’s SCB article. They were made using aircraft steel, 4130 chromium molybdenum, which I bought from a local metal supplier. Another climbing friend, Henry Mandolf, arranged to have the finished pitons heat treated to the hardness of Salathe’s.

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The angle pitons, in contrast, were made from soft steel, as were Salathé’s. They were in two configurations. One was a standard triangular cross section angle piton with a rather sharp taper for flaring cracks of the variety found at Joshua Tree National Monument. The second was from channel stock with a slightly rounded but nearly flat back and a more slight, nearly parallel taper for cracks found at Tahquitz Rock and Yosemite. They ran up to 2.5 inches in width and could be placed back to back to span wider cracks.

To deal with very thin cracks in granite rock, we used knifeblade pitons fashioned after the design of Chuck Wilts, made at the direction of Henry Mandolf by one of his machinists. These were of 4130 chromium molybdenum steel and hardened as well.

When expansion bolts were required, we used the standard “Dryvin” with a lead expansion shield and nail available at most hardware stores, 3/8” x 1.5” for granite and 3/8” x 2.0” for sandstone. Bolt hangers with holes for the bolt and carabiner were made from standard 1/8” aircraft aluminum sheet stock. For climbing on the volcanic plugs along the Colorado River north of Yuma, Omar Conger created some four-­ and five-­inch bolts. One style was made from a 3/8” piece of standard screw stock with the end ground to a taper which was driven into a lead expansion shield. The second was from 3/8” steel rod with a welded eye and four teeth on the end created by cutting parallel to the axis of the rod with a hacksaw, then grinding the teeth to sharp points.

For the desert spires, angle pitons were the most useful as few cracks were narrow enough to take even a wide horizontal with the longer and wider angles serving more effectively.

Aluminum bongs only appeared later and were independently developed by Tom Frost and Dick Long for use in much wider cracks such as those found on El Capitan.

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Salathé certainly influenced my design but unfortunately, I never met him or had direct contact. Lost Arrow pitons appeared in the 1960s and the name is a trademark of Chouinard and later, Black Diamond. However, characterizing the pitons I made in the 1950’s as “Lost Arrows” communicates the design much more effectively today than the much more obscure Salathé reference.

Salathé horizontal and angle pitons, SCB, Vol. 33, No. 3, pp.102-­103, March 1948, Anton Nelson

Gallwas horizontal and angle pitons used on Half Dome & the desert spires 10

Hardware Comparisons

Salathé horizontals

“Dryvin” expansion bolts 3/8 X1.5 in for granite 3/8 X 2 in for sandstone

Gallwas horizontals Mandolf copy of Wilts’ knifeblade

Gallwas angles

Wilts & Sherrick knifeblades

Salathé angles Notice the flat backs Bolts designed for volcanic plug use

by Omar Conger 11

Picacho del Colorado

Climbing on volcanic rock required 4” or 5” expansion bolts created by Omar Conger Gallwas photos 12

Exploring the Desert Spires When Don and I toured the Four Corners area over the Easter Holiday in 1955, our first stop was Canyon de Chelly. We arrived just at dusk and stopped by a low rock wall at Spider Rock Overlook to view the canyon. We stepped up on the wall and just three feet away, the canyon dropped off over a thousand feet to reveal the stark beauty of Spider Rock. We would return!

Spider Rock, March 30, 1956: MN, No. 280, p. 2, April 12, 1956, Don Wilson and SCB Vol. 42, No. 6, pp. 45 to 49, June 1957, Don Wilson.

Easter week, 1956, Mark, Don, and I drove Mark’s chartreuse Ford convertible through the night to arrive in Chinle the following afternoon. After checking in with Superintendent, John Aubuchon, we went to the canyon rim to give Mark his first glimpse of the spire. Don and I held back letting Mark view Spider Rock as we had done the year before in the drama of the late afternoon shadow. Yes, he too was impressed! I had written the Superintendent requesting permission to climb and he in turn presented our request to the Navajo Tribal Council.

Accompanying the request was a copy of the Saturday Evening Post article (February 25, 1956,

by Hal Burton, They Risk Their Lives for Fun) about the Robbins, Harding, Wilson, Gallwas Half Dome attempt the year before as one of our qualifications to climb. Much to our relief and appreciation, the Council approved our request.

It was a cold week in the canyon with freezing temperatures and high winds. We camped by the river, our only source of water, which was heavy with red silt and required boiling to both sterilize the water and precipitate the silt. There were many memorable moments but after a long cold week and an exhilarating view from the summit, we returned to the car late in the evening to find all that was left was a can of peaches and half a jar of pickles. Chinle was without a hotel or restaurant in those years so we downed the peaches and pickles and crawled into our sleeping bags. The drive home was filled with talk of what we might climb next. Mark had seen a picture of Cleopatra’s Needle in a travel advertisement. That became our next target.

13

Canyon de Chelly

Spider Rock from Spider Rock Overlook taken in 1955 during the reconnaissance trip.

Superintendent John Aubuchon was our gracious host during the week in the Canyon and facilitated our negotiation with the Tribal Council. We were very grateful for the opportunity to climb on this sacred ground. Most appreciated was his driving us down the canyon and back to the car after our decent from the summit.

Gallwas photos

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Spider Rock As seen when driving up the Canyon

The climbing route begins with a chimney separating the two summits Gallwas photos

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First pitch The perfect chimney between two summits

Don led up the chimney Gallwas photo

Mark followed Don then started up the main spire Gallwas Photo 16

SCB, Vol. 42, No. 6, pp. 45-足49, June, 1957, Don Wilson (right)

MN, No. 280, p. 2, April 12, 1956, Don Wilson (above) 17

18

Mark below the Black Hole Gallwas photo

19

Jerry & Mark above the Black Hole climbing to the bivouac ledge Gallwas collection

20

View of the canyon from the bivouac ledge Gallwas photo

Postcard sent to Jerry’s parents

Mark with Don in the background after a cold bivouac on the morning of the last day Gallwas photo 21

Mark above the bivouac ledge Gallwas photos 22

Don and Mark on the summit Gallwas photo 23

Don and Mark on the summit with Spider Rock shadow Gallwas photo 24

Views from the Summit Mark & Don with the cairn

Don Gallwas photos

25

Spider Rock Summits from Spider Rock Overlook.

Note Don in the white T-足shirt, see p. 23, and Mark on the right side of the summit next to the cairn.

Aubuchon photo

Gallwas photo 26

Mark rappelling from the summit Gallwas photos

27

The NPS press release found its way into many newspapers

Dolt Photos Mark, Don, & Jerry from Ascent, 1970 page 31

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Cleopatra’s Needle MN No. 286, p. 3, October 11, 1956, Don Wilson On Labor Day weekend, the three of us and Don’s wife, Nancy, bundled into Don’s VW Beetle with our climbing gear and drove to the Valley of Thundering Water. See page 13 for background.

This travel advertisement attracted Mark’s attention Source unknown

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Cleopatra’s Needle was Elusive!

Mark had first seen the picture in a travel advertisement but finding Cleopatra’s Needle took some searching. Notice Don’s comment on the postcard below. Google Earth was not yet available!

30

Cleopatra’s Needle

The spire as we arrived in Don’s VW Beetle seen at the base Gallwas photo

Viewed from the opposite side Gallwas photo 31

Cleopatra’s Needle

Don scrambling at the base just after we arrived Gallwas photos

Viewed form the opposite side 32

Jerry replacing the piton ladder that Don had placed the afternoon before Gallwas collection

33

Mark placing a bolt at the overhang Gallwas photos

Mark and Don on the summit 34

SCB Vol. 42, No. 6, pp. 63-足4 June, 1957, Don Wilson

Mark and Don on the summit Jerry rappelled from the top to take this picture Gallwas photo

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Chimney Rock, Bill Williams Mountain

On the return trip from the Labor Day weekend 1956 ascent of Cleopatra’s Needle, we stopped at Bill Williams Mountain and climbed Chimney Rock. Right, Mark and Don on the summit, Jerry is at the base of the pitch. No sign of an earlier ascent was found. It was a short 6th class climb. The first free ascent was by Mark Powell and Bob Kamps (5.9 or 5.10) July 28, 1967.

Gallwas collection

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Totem Pole Summit Magazine, Vol. IV, No. 4, April 1958. pp. 8-­11, Mark Powell and SCB Vol. 43, No. 9, p. 72, November 1958, Don Wilson.

The first ascent of the Totem Pole was the culmination of the Easter Holiday scouting trip that Don and I made in 1955. In June,1957, Don, Mark, and I returned to the desert with Bill Feuerer to climb in even higher winds but fortunately higher temperatures than we had experienced on Spider Rock.

I was a student at San Diego State College and had final exams the first week of June.

Don and Mark’s schedules allowed their arrival in Monument Valley early that week. I finished my last exam at noon and left for Monument Valley in my recently rebuilt 1942 Ford Jeep. I had made a test drive to Idyllwild three weeks earlier and had driven it back and forth to school so I felt confident in its reliability. It had no top so it was quite wet during the thunderstorm driving north of Prescott but I arrived in Flagstaff that evening only to have the Jeep starter solenoid fail. I spent the night in a hotel and had the solenoid replaced the following morning, then drove the final miles to the Goulding’s Trading Post. During the family style meal that evening in the trading post dining room, Don, Nancy, Mark, and Bill brought me up to date on the progress that had been made.

Don and Mark had graciously saved the summit pitch lead for me the next day.

Meeting Bill was a surprise. I had only expected Don, Nancy, and Mark for the climb. Bill turned out to be a very likeable guy and a great photographer. That was fortunate because he captured a wonderful photo record of the climb. The following morning, we piled into the Jeep and drove to the base of the Totem Pole followed by a caravan of sightseers and the Goulding’s green, four wheel drive tour bus. The wind was fierce. The story of the ascent is well told in articles by Mark in Summit Magazine and Don in the SCB. So ended a great climbing partnership between Don, Mark, and me. A few weeks later I climbed the Northwest Face of Half Dome in Yosemite with Royal Robbins and Mike Sherrick, Mark teamed with Warren Harding and Bill Feuerer to begin the ascent of the Nose of El Capitan, and Don went onto become an assistant professor of biology at Stanford University.

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Mark, Don, and Nancy waiting out the rain in Monument Valley Dolt photo

Jerry prusiking on the way to the summit pitch, Summit Magazine, April, 1958

Jerry with his 1942 Ford Jeep Gallwas collection

Dolt photo 38

Summit Magazine Vol. IV, No. 4, pp. 8-足11, April 1958, Mark Powell

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SCB Vol. 43, No. 9, p. 72, November 1958, Don Wilson. (Right)

Totem Pole viewed from the north Swift photo 41

Don leading up to the base of the spire on the afternoon of the first day Dolt photo

Mark climbing above the bolt ladder Dolt photo

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Mark leading with Don belaying Dolt photo 43

Mark leading up to the base of the summit block Dolt photo 44

Mark leading to the base of the summit block

Mark approaching the base of the seamless summit

Dolt photo.

Dolt collection

45

Summit block Jerry and Mark profiled against the sky Dolt photo

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Jerry at the summit Don prusiking

Don and Bill prusiking to the summit

Dolt photo

Dolt collection

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Totem Pole Summit Photo

Mark, Jerry, Don, & Bill That’s urine in the foreground No place to pee and lots of tourists watching Gallwas collection

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The film box register Recovered during filming of the Eiger Sanction.

Now in the collection of the Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering Museum, Boulder, Colorado. Directly behind the cairn is a green speck which is the Goulding’s tour bus.

Mark, Don, & Bill (below)

Film box register & cairn Mark, Don, and Jerry (above) Dolt photo

Dolt collection

Goulding’s four wheel drive tour bus (above) Dolt photo

Summit register Bartlett collection 49

Totem Pole Navajo viewing the cairn

Jerry arriving at the summit Gallwas collection

50

Last Photo from the Totem Pole Adventure

Mark, Jerry, Don, Bill Dolt collection 51

Appendix Article

Page

The Utoco Torch, No. 189, pp. 5-­8, July 1957, Monument Valley, Tom Broadbent

53

Ascent, Sierra Club Mountaineering Journal, Vol. 1, No. 4, p. 30, May 1970, Four Corners, Steve Roper

57

Mugelnoos, No. 313, p. 1, January 8, 1959, Totem Pole – Second Ascent, Dave Rearick

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Desert Rock, Desert Climbing History, pp. 16-­19, Navajolands, pp. 373-­377, Cleopatra’s Needle, pp. 377-­380, Spider Rock, pp. 383-­386, & the Totem Pole, pp. 414-­417, Eric Bjørnstad

59

The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. CXIV, No. 6, p. 830/831, December 1958, Better Days for the Navajos, Jack Breed

71

Summit Magazine, Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 24-­29, June, 1976, The Totem Pole and the Eiger Sanction, Eric Bjørnstad

72

Arizona Highways, Vol. 61, No. 2, pp. 29-­35, February 1985, Clinging to a Crack on the Competitive Edge, John Annerino

75

Bartlett E-­mail, Totem Pole Climbing History

79

The Saturday Evening Post, Vol. 228, No. 35, pp. 34, 35, 99, 101, 102, February 25, 1956, They Risk Their Lives for Fun, Hal Burton

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Superintendent Aubuchon Correspondence, Spider Rock

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Postscript: Cleo Perspective and a Fun E-­mail from Steve Roper

92 52

First Publication Recounting the 1st Ascent of the Totem Pole

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Climbing the Totem Pole has become problematic! The Bartlett E-足mail, pages 79-足83, records the history of early ascents.

Gallwas photo

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Ascent, Sierra Club Mountaineering Journal, Vol. 1, No. 4, p. 30, May 1970, Four Corners, Steve Roper

Dolt photos 57

Totem Pole -足 Second Ascent MN, No. 313, p. 1, Jan. 8, 1959 Dave Rearick

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Desert Rock Eric Bjørnstad

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The National Geographic Magazine Vol. CXIV, No. 6, pp. 830-足831, December 1958, Better Days for the Navajos, Jack Breed & Charles W. Herbert

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Summit Magazine, Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 24-­29, June 1976, The Totem Pole and the Eiger Sanction, Eric Bjørnstad Two articles of interest that reference the first ascent of the Totem Pole follow.

The first, by Eric Bjørnstad, appeared in the June,1978 issue of Summit Magazine.

Eric was contracted by Clint Eastwood and Universal Studios to put up ropes on the Totem Pole for filming of the movie, Eiger Sanction. As part of the contract between the Navajo Tribal Council and the Studio, all foreign objects were to be removed including the expansion bolts and film can register that we left on the summit. The story is told in the Summit article. The summit register now is at the Bradford Washburn American Mountain-­ eering Museum in Golden, Colorado thanks to Eric and Steve Bartlett.

The second article appeared in the February 1985 issue of Arizona Highways.

By John Annerino, it recounts the use of the Totem Pole as the site of an IBM advertisement photo shoot. The first ascent is mentioned in reference to use of an expansion bolt on the summit.

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Arizona Highways, Vol. 61, No. 2, pp. 29-足35, February 1985, Clinging to a Crack on the Competitive Edge, John Annerino

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If you think the spire is impressive, just look at the shadow

IBM “secretarial services� atop the Totem Pole 77

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Totem Pole Climbing History Steve Bartlett E-­mail RE: Totem Pole From: stephenbartlett@yahoo.com Sent: Wed 6/17/09 9:45 AM To: Gerald and Sandy Gallwas (gegallwas@msn.com) Hi Jerry, The other route on the Totem Pole, Never Never Land, was done, according to Bjørnstad’s Desert Rock guidebook of 1988, by "the Banditos" in 1979. It is widely known as the "Bandito" Route. .

The Banditos were a loose knit group of climbers from Arizona. The core of the group were Glenn Rink, Stan Mish, Jeff Bowman. They did a lot of climbing on the towers of the Navajo Nation. I believe they preferred to go by the Bandito moniker, rather than real names, partly because of the dubious legality of what they were doing.

Second ascent of this route was Bill Forrest and Jim Waugh, in 1984. Bill Forrest confirmed the second ascent of the route, though not the year, to me last year.

This route is the only one anyone climbs anymore. I don't believe anyone has repeated your climb since the Eiger Sanction filming. Partly because the fixed anchors (bolts etc) were all removed, but also because your route is easily seen from the road. The newer route is hidden round the back, thus giving a better chance of concealment. Modern ascents usually involve being dropped off by a getaway driver. Many climbers climb around New Years, so as to minimize the numbers of people who may be around.

Fran and I hiked around the tower spring 2009, and our Navajo guide was surprised to see that someone was building a hogan right under the north side of the tower. If this becomes occupied, future ascents may be much harder to get away with.

It seems that most of the locals (who all seem to be part of just one or two large extended families) who live there don't really mind about climbers climbing on Totem Pole, but the Traditional Navajos (the elders, who don't live locally, but have much influence) do, and they set policy for all who live on the Reservation.

Here is an incomplete, rough list of the ascents: 79

Totem Pole Ascents: 1. Mark Powell, Jerry Gallwas, Don Wilson, Bill Feuerer, June 13th 1957 Register comments: Sierra Club June 13, 1957 "A very windy day. Previous days have been fair and included 13 climbing hours, not including prusiking time. During this time Powell and Wilson shared leads and reached a high point at the base of the bolt (summit) pitch. Gallwas finished the pitch and at present Wilson and Feuerer are prusiking up."

Mark Powell Fresno Don Wilson LA Bill Feuerer LA Jerry Gallwas SD 2. TM Herbert, Tom Condon, Dave Rearick, December 15th, 1958.

Register Comments: T.M. Herbert LA Tom Condon LA Dave Rearick LA Sierra Club R.C.S. "It took us 3 1/2 days due partly to short daylight. We placed a couple more bolts.* There was evidence of a recent attempt which reached the first cave—we salvaged their pitons.** Today is a beautiful calm day. We are very impressed by the climb and by the fine job done by the first party." * According to Kor, one of the new bolts was placed, by Dave Rearick, at the top crux of the fourth lead, just where Powell traversed right to the tiny belay ledge, using tension from a hand-­placed piton behind a small block. Rearick does not remember. ** This attempt was probably by Harvey Carter, who tried the tower twice but never reached the summit.

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3. Layton Kor, John Auld, Rick Horn, November 22nd, 1961.

Register Comments: Layton Kor Colorado John Auld Colorado (Nov 22, 61) "1 1/2 days, no new bolts, tremendous job on First Ascent. My congrats to Kor.* Beautiful day—a little chilly, no sign of injuns so far" *the whole climb was led by Kor. Yet he declined to write in the register;; Auld wrote the first entry, Horn wrote on a separate page: 3rd ascent M.E. Horn, Jr. Jackson Wyoming.

"I’m stickin’ to granite!"

4. Roger Dalke, Tom Ruwitch (date/year unknown) Register Comments: 4th ascent Roger Dalke, Tom Ruwitch "Nine hours time. Beautiful day. Our respects to the 1st ascent party. Very spectacular climb."

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5. Ken Wyrick, Eric Bjørnstad 1975 Register Comments: 5th ascent Ken Wyrick, Eric Bjørnstad with the filming of the “Eiger Sanction” Eastwood movie Bjørnstad and Wyrick were obligated to clean all the fixed gear from the route. Even the summit anchors, summit register and cairn. The fifth ascent was the last ascent of the original route. After this, the register was in the possession of Eric Bjørnstad, in Moab, for a number of years. In 1979, the tower was climbed on the east side, up cracks on the opposite side of the tower to the first ascent line. Subsequent ascents have all been on the east side route.

Information on later ascents is incomplete, in part because all these ascents have been covert.

6. Bandito Route Glen Rink, Stan Mish, Jeff Bowman 1979 7. Bill Forrest, Jim Waugh 8. Gordon Banks et. al.

9. Tim Toula, Tim Coats Spring 1985 10. Rob Slater, Jim Bodenhamer May 1985

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11. Kyle Copeland, Alison Sheets, Charlie Fowler Dec 28th, 1985 12. Tom Cosgriff Jan 2nd, 1986 13. Bill Roberts, Paul Hauser Dec 31st, 1986 14. Chip Wilson, Jerry Rock Jan 1st, 1987 15. Jim Olson, Brad White, Jackson WY Sept 29, 1987 16. Galen Howell, Sonia Paspal Both climbers were National Park climbing rangers. They were hired by Navajo Nation to clean bolts and other paraphernalia from the Never Never Land climb. They climbed on the tower twice, in 1993 and 1994. In 1993, they did not summit, out of respect for the Navajo nation ban. In 1994, they did summit.

Two other ascents I have heard of, but with no dates: 17. Jim Bridwell, John Middendorf 18. Todd Gordon and Dave Evans.

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Spider Rock Introduction & Reference

The article, They Risk Their Lives for Fun by Hal Burton, appeared in the February 25, 1956 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. It was inspired by and included a description of the attempt on the Northwest Face of Half Dome in 1955 in which Don and Jerry were participants.

Don included a copy with his letter of request to climb Spider Rock as an indication of our qualifications. Superintendent John Aubuchon presented the letter and article to the Navajo Tribal Council and to our delight, our request was approved.

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Superintendent Aubuchon Correspondence Spider Rock

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Postscript: Cleo Perspective and a Fun E-­mail To: gegallwas@msn.com Subject: Re: Half Dome and Desert Spires Date: Fri, 3 Sep 2010 14:43:35 -­0400 From: steveroper@aol.com Hi, Gerry. Of course. Please send. Fascinating stuff, I'm sure. In June 1958 I went up 60 feet (!) on Spider, with my dad nervously belaying. A girlfriend and I made the second ascent of Cleo. So I'm quite familiar with 1/2 Dome and the desert. For your amusement, here's something I wrote a decade ago for a John Cleare book in England.

Steve My most petrifying climbing experience in the Southwest took place in 1962, when I was barely old enough to vote, let alone possess judgment. I badly wanted to climb a spire called Cleopatra's Needle, an awesome formation 225 feet high, thin as a knifeblade. This freakish pinnacle had been ascended only once, six years earlier. A few sentences in the first-­ascent account had both scared and intrigued me: "The second man had no problems taking pitons out. Few of the thirty even needed pounding with a hammer." Surely this wasn't true! I was traveling with a non-­climbing girlfriend that autumn, and we zigzagged through the region, hiking and doing things young lovers do. I had brought climbing equipment, thinking I could teach Sharon if necessary. She was a brave lass and on Cleo I easily dragged her up to a belay ledge 100 feet above the ground. She stared up at the next section, a dead-­vertical wall 125 feet high, soft as cheddar, and split by a single thin crack, through which we could see daylight-­-­the other side of the spire. She rebelled. I too wanted no part of it. But I was brimming with a dangerous drug, testosterone, and so, after teaching Sharon the rudiments of belaying and promising glibly that I wouldn't fall and that she needn't go to the summit, I set off, pounding pitons into the buttery sandstone with blows Thor would have been proud of. This was classic artificial climbing: a piton every five feet. On granite, it would have been a dream, but here the pitons kept shifting under my weight, and a few lower ones rattled out as I progressed. After two hours of this I was sacred witless and covered in red dust and sweat, wondering why Sharon and I weren't instead cavorting naked in a motel room. If a piton popped while I was perched on it, I wouldn't have to worry about my questionable belayer holding me: I would zipper every piton, smash down onto Sharon's ledge, and end up the size of Tiny Tim. As happens near the top of all artificial pitches, or so it seems, I began to run out of the correct size of pitons, hammering big ones part way into narrow cracks and tapping little pitons until they almost disappeared into wider cracks. Just as I was about ready to self-­destruct from panic, I pulled up onto the minuscule summit to see the rotting rappel slings left by the first-­ascent party. Somehow I got down alive (cleaning many of the pitons with, yes, my hands) and found poor Sharon weeping from fear, rage, and relief. I promised her we wouldn't do any more climbing, and we didn't for a full week.

September 6, 2010

Jerry Gallwas 2524 Tarrytown Drive Fullerton, CA 92833 E-­mail: gegallwas@msn.com H: 714-­449-­9724 C: 714-­343-­5504

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