Chuck Pratt
Encyclopedia
Charles Marshall Pratt (March 5, 1939 – December 16, 2000) was an American rock climber
Rock climbing
Rock climbing also lightly called 'The Gravity Game', is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling...
from California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, best known for big wall
Big wall climbing
Big wall climbing is a type of rock climbing in which a long multi-pitch route, so sustained that an ascent normally requires more than a single day, is climbed. Big wall routes require the climbing team to live on the route often using portaledges and hauling equipment...
climbing first ascent
First ascent
In climbing, a first ascent is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain, or the first to follow a particular climbing route...
s in Yosemite Valley
Yosemite Valley
Yosemite Valley is a glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada mountains of California, carved out by the Merced River. The valley is about long and up to a mile deep, surrounded by high granite summits such as Half Dome and El Capitan, and densely forested with pines...
. He was also a long-time climbing instructor and mountain guide with Exum Mountain Guides
Exum Mountain Guides
The Exum Mountain Guides is a mountain guide service based in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The guide service was founded in the 1926 by Paul Petzoldt and Glenn Exum, for whom the Exum Ridge climbing route on the Grand Teton in Grand Teton National Park is named...
in the Grand Tetons.
In August, 1958, he completed the first ascent of the North Face of Fairview Dome
North Face (Fairview Dome)
The North Face of Fairview Dome is a technical rock climbing route on Fairview Dome in the Tuolumne Meadows of Yosemite National Park. The route is featured in Fifty Classic Climbs of North America.- External links :***...
in Tuolumne Meadows
Tuolumne Meadows
Tuolumne Meadows is a gentle, dome-studded sub-alpine meadowy section of the Tuolumne River, in the eastern section of Yosemite National Park. Its approximate location is . Its approximate elevation is 8619 feet .-Natural History:...
in Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California, United States. The park covers an area of and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain...
with Wally Reed, This climb, completed when Pratt was 19, is described as "marvelously direct" and a "memorable climb" in Fifty Classic Climbs of North America
Fifty Classic Climbs of North America
Fifty Classic Climbs Of North America is a climbing guidebook and history written by Steve Roper and Allen Steck. It is considered a definitive piece of climbing literature, known to many climbers as simply "The Book", and has served as an inspiration for more recent climbing books, such as Mark...
.
In 1959, he completed the first ascent of the East Face of Washington Column (later called 'Astroman') in Yosemite Valley with Warren Harding and Glen Denny.
In 1960, he made the second ascent of The Nose
The Nose (El Capitan)
The Nose is one of the original technical climbing routes up El Capitan. Once considered impossible to climb, El Capitan is now the standard for big-wall climbing...
on El Capitan
El Capitan
El Capitan is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, located on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith extends about from base to summit along its tallest face, and is one of the world's favorite challenges for rock climbers.The formation was...
in Yosemite Valley, a route pioneered by Warren Harding in 1958. He climbed with Royal Robbins
Royal Robbins
Royal Robbins is one of the pioneers of American rock climbing. After learning to climb at Tahquitz he went on to make first ascents of many big wall routes in Yosemite...
, Tom Frost
Tom Frost
Tom Frost is a rock climber from California, best known for big wall climbing first ascents in Yosemite Valley. He is also a photographer and climbing equipment manufacturer.-Rock climbing and mountaineering:...
and Joe Fitschen, and they made the climb in one continuous push lasting seven days. Robbins said it was "the most magnificent and complete adventure of our lives." The first ascent had taken Harding's team 45 days of climbing spread over an 18-month period.
On September 12, 1961, Tom Frost and Royal Robbins began the first ascent of the Salathé Wall
Salathé Wall (El Capitan)
The Salathé Wall is one of the original technical climbing routes up El Capitan, a high granite monolith in Yosemite National Park. The Salathé Wall was named by Yvon Chouinard in honor of John Salathé, a pioneer of rock climbing in Yosemite...
on El Capitan, named for pioneer Yosemite climber John Salathé
John Salathe
John Salathé was a pioneering rock climber, blacksmith and the inventor of the modern piton....
. Pratt was purchasing additional climbing equipment for the ascent during those first few days. Frost and Robbins spent two days establishing the first 600 feet (183 m) of the route, and then retreated to the valley floor, where they met up with Pratt, with whom they spent several more days pushing the route to 1000 feet (305 m) above the valley floor. Once again, the climbers descended and resupplied. On September 19, they resumed the climb, and after days of intense vertical aid climbing they reached and surpassed "The Roof", a 15 feet (4.6 m) overhang. On September 24, the trio reached the summit. It had taken them a total of 11 days and 36 pitches of vertical climbing to finish the route, which is rated YDS VI, 5.10, A3.
In October, 1963, he made the first free ascent of the Kor-Ingalls Route
Kor-Ingalls Route (Castleton Tower)
The Kor-Ingalls Route is a traditional rock climbing route located on Castleton Tower. Castleton Tower sits in Castle Valley North-East of Moab, Utah. The Route is recognized in the historic climbing text Fifty Classic Climbs of North America and considered a classic around the world.- External...
on Castleton Tower
Castleton Tower
Castleton Tower is a Wingate Sandstone tower standing on a 1,000 foot talus cone above the northeastern border of Castle Valley, Utah. The Tower is world renowned as a subject for photography and for its classic rock climbing routes, the most famous of which is the Kor-Ingalls Route featured in...
near Moab
Moab, Utah
Moab is a city in Grand County, in eastern Utah, in the western United States. The population was 4,779 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat and largest city in Grand County. Moab hosts a large number of tourists every year, mostly visitors to the nearby Arches and Canyonlands National Parks...
, Utah, with Steve Roper
Steve Roper
Steve Roper is a noted climber and historian of the Sierra Nevada in the United States. He along with Allen Steck are the founding editors of the Sierra Club journal Ascent.Roper is the winner of the Sierra Club's Francis P...
.
In the summer of 1964, Pratt, Harding and Yvon Chouinard
Yvon Chouinard
Yvon Chouinard is a rock climber, environmentalist and outdoor industry businessman, noted for his contributions to climbing, climbing equipment and the outdoor gear business. His second company, Patagonia is known for its environmental focus...
spent five days in an alpine-style ascent of the South Face of Mount Watkins, located up Tenaya Canyon
Tenaya Canyon
Tenaya Canyon is a dramatic and dangerous canyon in Yosemite National Park, California, USA, that runs from the outlet of Tenaya Lake 10 miles down to Yosemite Valley, carrying water in Tenaya Creek through a series of spectacular cascades and pools and thence into a deep canyon below Cloud's Rest,...
, a side canyon of Yosemite Valley. The climb was completed in exteme heat with limited water supplies, leading to dehydration
Dehydration
In physiology and medicine, dehydration is defined as the excessive loss of body fluid. It is literally the removal of water from an object; however, in physiological terms, it entails a deficiency of fluid within an organism...
of the three climbers. Pratt wrote in the 1965 American Alpine Journal: "By the fourth day, Yvon had lost so much weight from dehydration that he could lower his climbing knickers without undoing a single button. For the first time in seven years, I was able to remove a ring from my finger, and Harding, whose resemblance to the classical conception of Satan is legendary, took on an even more gaunt and sinister appearance."
From October 22–31, 1964, with Robbins, Frost and Chouinard, Pratt made the first ascent of the North America Wall on El Capitan, YDS VI, 5.8, A5. Robbins described this climb in the 1965 American Alpine Journal: "The nine-day first ascent of the North America Wall in 1964 not only was the first one-push first ascent of an El Capitan climb, but a major breakthrough in other ways. We learned that our minds and bodies never stopped adjusting to the situation. We were able to live and work and sleep in comparative comfort in a vertical environment."
Of this climb, Chris Jones wrote, "For the first time in the history of the sport, Americans lead the world."
In 1965 he made the first ascent of Entrance Exam (II 5.9) on Arch Rock in Yosemite Valley with Jim Bridwell
Jim Bridwell
Jim Bridwell is a noted American rock climber and mountaineer, active since 1965 especially in Yosemite Valley, but also in Patagonia and Alaska. He is noted for pushing the standards of both free-climbing and big-wall climbing, and later alpine climbing...
, Chris Fredericks and Larry Marshik.
According to his friend John Martin Meek, Pratt had an "almost obsessive avoidance of photos and publicity." Fellow Exum guide Dick Dorworth described him as "inherently shy".
Meek quoted Royal Robbins as saying that "He enjoys severe climbs and easy ones, and will repeat a route many times if he likes it." One of Pratt's favorites was the Durrance Route
Durrance Route (Devils Tower)
The Durrance Route is a climbing route on Devils Tower in the U.S. state of Wyoming. First pioneered by Jack Durrance and Harrison Butterworth in September of 1938, it was the second free ascent of Devils Tower, following the first ascent led by Fritz Wiessner in 1937. The Weissner Route lies a...
on Devils Tower
Devils Tower National Monument
Devils Tower is an igneous intrusion or laccolith located in the Black Hills near Hulett and Sundance in Crook County, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River...
, which he climbed annually with Meek for a number of years.
In his obituary of Pratt, Royal Robbins called him "The best climber of our generation, and the best climbing writer as well". Pratt's reputation as a writer was based on two published essays, The South Face of Mt. Watkins in 1965 and The View From Dead Horse Point, published in the Sierra Club
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
mountaineering journal Ascent in 1970. Pratt stopped writing for publication at that point. Robbins summarized Pratt's attitude toward climbing: "Pratt, more than perhaps anyone I have known, has always climbed, first and foremost, and last and finally, for the climbing experience itself, for the rewards that come directly from the dance of man and rock."
Pratt died of a heart attack in his sleep in Sang Khom
Amphoe Sang Khom
Sang Khom is a district in the northern part of Udon Thani Province, northeastern Thailand.-Geography:Neighboring districts are Ban Dung, Phen and Phon Phisai of Nong Khai Province.-History:...
, Thailand, where he had spent several winters in the last years of his life. His ashes were scattered in the Mekong River.
Notable climbs
- 1959 North Face of Middle Cathedral Rock, Yosemite ValleyYosemite ValleyYosemite Valley is a glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada mountains of California, carved out by the Merced River. The valley is about long and up to a mile deep, surrounded by high granite summits such as Half Dome and El Capitan, and densely forested with pines...
, CA (VI 5.9 A4), with Bob KampsBob KampsBob Kamps was an American rock climber whose climbing career spanned five decades. Born in Wisconsin, he began climbing in California in 1955, and was a member of that cadre of Yosemite pioneers who first ascended many of its great walls in the 1950s and 1960s...
and Steve RoperSteve RoperSteve Roper is a noted climber and historian of the Sierra Nevada in the United States. He along with Allen Steck are the founding editors of the Sierra Club journal Ascent.Roper is the winner of the Sierra Club's Francis P...
. - 1964 North American Wall, El CapitanEl CapitanEl Capitan is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, located on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith extends about from base to summit along its tallest face, and is one of the world's favorite challenges for rock climbers.The formation was...
, Yosemite ValleyYosemite ValleyYosemite Valley is a glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada mountains of California, carved out by the Merced River. The valley is about long and up to a mile deep, surrounded by high granite summits such as Half Dome and El Capitan, and densely forested with pines...
- (VI 5.8 A5 3000') - First Ascent with Royal RobbinsRoyal RobbinsRoyal Robbins is one of the pioneers of American rock climbing. After learning to climb at Tahquitz he went on to make first ascents of many big wall routes in Yosemite...
, Tom FrostTom FrostTom Frost is a rock climber from California, best known for big wall climbing first ascents in Yosemite Valley. He is also a photographer and climbing equipment manufacturer.-Rock climbing and mountaineering:...
and Yvon ChouinardYvon ChouinardYvon Chouinard is a rock climber, environmentalist and outdoor industry businessman, noted for his contributions to climbing, climbing equipment and the outdoor gear business. His second company, Patagonia is known for its environmental focus...
.