Less is More, Braj.

Yosemite gets a bad rap for being behind the curve at times and I have been a critic of it too, even when I was there.

Warren Harding and Mark Powell getting ready to hit the fixed lines. Base of Nose, 1957. Hemp rope and prusiks.

But sometimes you gotta remember your roots.

Keep in mind you may need less gear than you think.

How am I supposed to protect offwidths if I don't bring the kitchen sink?

Ted Pinson wrote:How am I supposed to protect offwidths if I don't bring the kitchen sink?

Yep, most of the classic Yose chimneys and OWs were done with minimal to no pro.

If you were Harding, you had to have Dolt or George Whitmore make pro for you by sawing up old junk.

Original Nose rack.

Ted Pinson wrote:How am I supposed to protect offwidths if I don't bring the kitchen sink?

Maybe you should take the stove legs

George Anderson First Ascent Half Dome, 1875.

Climbing didn't begin in Yosemite, and there were plenty of hard-men and women before Harding, Robbins et al.

I have climbed some of this guys routes - they are still fun, and I can't imagine doing in 1916

Conrad Kain c. 1916

C Brooks wrote:Climbing didn't begin in Yosemite...

Of course not. No one is suggesting that.

However, I am suggesting that there are American climbing roots there, as there are in other places too, particularly when it comes to climbing gear.

Royal Robbins after FA of Tis-sa-ack, Half Dome. The Master of Less is More.

Royal Robbins Higher Cathedral Spire 1952. Less is More. Check out the La Sportiva "le Super Fantastiques" aka Converse Chucks. First Ascent of this route....

Racking up for El Cap.

In the first photo...note the shaped leather shoulder/neck protector for Dulfer style rapelling that Harding is wearing on his right shoulder. I still have mine from the mid-60's, used for rapping on laid Goldline ropes of the day. Saved some painful neck burns!

Patrick Corry wrote:In the first photo...note the shaped leather shoulder/neck protector for Dulfer style rapelling that Harding is wearing on his right shoulder. I still have mine from the mid-60's, used for rapping on laid Goldline ropes of the day. Saved some painful neck burns!

That's awesome Patrick!

I remember seeing some nasty burns on a guy in Camp 4 once that thought the Dulfer was gonna be ok on a rappel that turned out to be steeper than expected.

Ivon Chouinard, 1970's.

Way, way less - Oliver Perry Smith - the very definition of badass in Dresden from 1903-14 and probably the best rock climber of the first half of the 20th century.

The man

Hardcore

Bad ass

Big on rallies

Was also the US ski jumping and cross-country skiing champion. Drove his bugatti too fast and was repeatedly arrested for it and another time escaped from jail and later deported after an epic drunken night only to return. Given to 'carousing'.

And way, way, way less...Harold Lloyd. Bummer he didn't make it to Dresden; he would have killed it.

From 'Safety Last', 1923

Every generation stands on the backs of giants...

Sometimes you need to look back to see how far you've come. But turn around and see that you still have quite a ways to go.

Second Ascent (first continuous) of the Nose, 1960.(L-R) Joe Fitschen, Royal Robbins, Chuck Pratt, Tom Frost.

El Cap Spire, first ascent Salathe Wall, 1960. Royal Robbins and Chuck Pratt.

Conrad Kain, Albert MacCarthy and William Foster -- Mt. Robson 1913
Photo by Byron Harmond

Climbing big mountains in 1913 - now that's "less is more" Alpine style at the turn of the century

Paul Preuss

issuu.com/randisi/docs/maue…

Solo'ed, up and down, 1912, 5.9

^ badass