Form Follows Function

eatsalaska:

alaskamuseum:

The First Flag to Fly over Denali

Guest Curator Angela Linn examines the flag Robert Tatum made during the first ascent of Denali in 1913. Tatum used materials from the team’s gear — bits of silk, strips of cotton, even a shoelace. The flag was flown at the summit of Denali on June 7, 1913.

The artifact arrived at the museum last week, along with the letter from Hudson Stuck inviting Tatum to join the expedition.

The flag was thought to have been lost, but Linn tracked it down through family members to Doug Tatum, the great grandnephew of the first ascent team member. The family had it professional conserved and mounted. It had been hanging in Doug’s office.

Four climbers reached the summit of Denali together: Stuck, Tatum, Walter Harper, and Harry Karstens. The museum will tell their stories in the special exhibit, Denali Legacy: 100 Years on the Mountain. It opens in May.

(via ladyinbluejeans)

Dhaulagiri first ascent - Peter Diener and Ernst Forrer, 13th May 1960.

John Roskelley and Ngawang Sanden on Dhaulagiri Summit, May 12 1973.

Behind the Great Pacific Iron Works store near Ventura Point is the small tin shed where Yvon Chouinard set up his blacksmith shop in 1966. The shed once housed Bob Cooper’s Australian Surf Shop and Morey-Pope’s shaping room. The location was ideal for everyone’s passion: surf and building the finest mountaineering gear in the winter, climb and sell the gear in the summer. Chouinard Equipment Company went on to redesign and improve virtually every tool used in mountaineering, from carabiners to crampons. In 1973, the company branched out to make outdoor clothing under the Patagonia label.

http://media.patagonia.com/tinshed/

wornwear:

The Grandfather
Yvon Chouinard, Ventura, California

Dear Patagonia,

Little did we know this blue prototype fleece developed in ’76, which we referred to as rare Siberian blue poodle fur, would be the grandfather of all fleeces.

I knew that people like myself were seeking the joys of outdoor activities in greater numbers and they needed warmer, lighter, quick-drying clothes that did not bog down with moisture as did the  cotton and wool garments then commonly in use. I came to believe that the solution was synthetic layers: a base layer to wick, a fleece layer for warmth and an outside layer for wind and moisture protection. Once we came to that conclusion, Patagonia’s team proved they were up to the task of creatively identifying and developing the necessary fabrics.

As they say, “necessity is the mother of invention,” the “necessity” in this case being the need for a nonabsorbent insulating layer and the “invention” representing the resourcefulness of my wife, Malinda Chouinard, who was willing to try even an ugly fabric intended for toilet seat covers because we suspected it best fit our needs. That’s  how synthetic fleece was born. We made the first fleece jackets out of a near-bankrupt company’s left-over inventory of muddy, nondescript tan and bilious blue fleece, but it did indeed work, although it pilled badly, which made it look even worse. It has evolved, through trial and error, from that “base” into today’s fleeces. 

This first fleece jacket hangs proudly on the wall at Patagonia headquarters, but I had to take it down and try it on for old time’s sake.

―Yvon

(via patagonia)

Ascent III by Ferdinand Hodler

“To be simple is not always as easy as it seems.

thenorthcountryfair

(via kenhatter)

mudwerks:

We Stormed Kilimanjaro (by paul.malon)

Philip Ronfor

No longer can we assume the earth’s resources are limitless; that there are ranges of unclimbed peaks extending endlessly beyond the horizon. Mountains are finite, and despite their massive appearance, they are fragile…

We believe the only way to ensure the climbing experience for ourselves and future generations is to preserve (1) the vertical wilderness, and (2) the adventure inherent in the experience. Really, the only insurance to guarantee this adventure and the safest insurance to maintain it is exercise of moral restraint and individual responsibility.

Thus, it is the style of the climb, not attainment of the summit, which is the measure of personal success. Traditionally stated, each of us must consider whether the end is more important than the means. Given the vital importance of style we suggest that the keynote is simplicity. The fewer gadgets between the climber and the climb, the greater is the chance to attain the desired communication with oneself—and nature.

There is a word for it, and the word is clean. Climbing with only nuts and runners for protection is clean climbing. Clean because the rock is left unaltered by the passing climber. Clean because nothing is hammered into the rock and then hammered back out, leaving the rock scarred and next climber’s experience less natural. Clean is climbing the rock without changing it; a step closer to organic climbing for the natural man.

Doug Robinson

Chouinard Equipment Catalog 1972.

1963 was a good year for Ventile in Great Britain…

It was worn by the 19 members of the first American summit of Everest, exactly 10 years after Edmund Hillary’s Expedition. 

Could easily be mistaken for a Double RL 2013 look book shot …

legrandcirque:

Doris Ulmann, Southern mountaineer, ca. 1928.

Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Warren and Margot Coville collection

(via scrapzion)