Betty Jo Merchant

Betty Jo Merchant passed away on May 21,2026 after a battle with cancer. She was 89. Betty Jo and I have been climbing together since1992.  Her first climb was when she was in college at Auburn. Betty Jo went to Jackson Hole to work for the summer and climbed the Grand Teton in 1958. She was a teacher who at the end of the school year would take her 4th grade pupils on a climbing trip for a weekend. She put up first ascents including Vogue at the canyon. Also she won several climbing competitions. Many climbers crashed at her house over the years.
I will miss her sense of adventure and companionship.
She was a unique person and a forerunner in the day for women climbers.
Farewell Betty Jo