Glen Dawson
Encyclopedia
Glen Dawson is a California rock climber
, mountaineer
, antiquarian bookseller, publisher and environmentalist
.
leader, who served as Sierra Club president from 1934 - 1937. Glen climbed White Mountain Peak in 1927. In 1928, Glen and his father climbed the Matterhorn
with two Swiss guides.
, Mount Mills, Mount Humphreys
, and the (later named) Clyde Minaret
.
, he first teamed up with Jules Eichorn
to make the third ascent of Red-and-White Mountain in the Sierra. They continued at a fast pace to climb Mount Abbot, Bear Creek Spire, Mount Dade, Turret Peak, Mount Darwin
, The Hermit, Mount McGee, a first ascent
of the (later named) Mount Mendel, Mount Goddard
, Devils Crags, Mount Woodworth, Middle Palisade
, Mount Sill
, North Palisade
, Polemonium Peak, Mount Winchell
and Mount Agassiz
. All of these climbs were completed in 24 days. Sierra Club Secretary Will Colby
wrote, "Some youthful enthusiasts, including Glen Dawson, Jules Eichorn and John Olmstead, swarmed over everything that looked formidable in the way of a mountain peak."
led a Sierra Club climbing school on Unicorn Peak near Yosemite National Park's
Tuolumne Meadows
. Dawson and Eichorn completed the first traverse of Unicorn Peak that day, and continued on to make the second ascent of Cockscomb Peak. They then joined up with young climber Walter (Bubs) Brem, hiked to Sawtooth Ridge
and made a first ascent of Finger Peaks, a new route on the northwest face of Matterhorn Peak
, and the first ascent of (later named) The Dragtooth. Returning to Tuolumne Meadows, Dawson and Eichorn climbed Cathedral Peak
on July 24, and made the first ascent of its prominent west pinnacle, later named Eichorn Pinnacle. Joined by Brem, the trio then made the first ascent of Echo Ridge, later renamed Matthes Crest.
The trio then moved south to the Minarets Range
, and in a 14 hour effort, climbed Michael Minaret, Clyde Minaret, and the first ascent of Third Minaret (later renamed Eichorn Minaret). These are the three highest peaks in the Minarets.
Sierra Club leader Farquhar had invited Harvard philosophy professor and Appalachian Mountain Club
member Robert L. M. Underhill
to come to the Sierra Nevada to teach the latest techniques of roped climbing. Underhill had learned these techniques in the Alps
, and had used them earlier that summer in the Tetons and the Canadian Rockies
. After the basic course was completed, the more advanced students, including Dawson, Eichorn, Norman Clyde
, Lewis Clark, and Bestor Robinson, traveled south to the Palisades
, the most rugged and alpine part of the Sierra Nevada. There, on August 13, 1931, the party completed the first ascent of the last unclimbed 14,000+ foot peak in California, which remained unnamed due to its remote location above the Palisade Glaciers
. After a challenging ascent to the summit, the climbers were caught in an intense lightning storm, and Eichorn barely escaped electrocution when "a thunderbolt whizzed right by my ear". The mountain was named Thunderbolt Peak to commemorate that close call. Underhill called Dawson and Eichorn "young natural-born rock climbers of the first water."
Three days later on August 16, Dawson, Eichorn, Clyde, and Underhill completed the first ascent of the East Face
of Mount Whitney
, the highest peak in the contiguous United States. The route was extremely exposed, especially the famous Fresh Air Traverse. Dawson was just 19 years old. Steve Roper
called this route "one of the classic routes of the Sierra, partly because of its spectacular location and partly because it was the first really big wall to be climbed in the range." Porcella & Burns wrote that "the climb heralded a new standard of technical competence in Californian rock climbing
. . ." In Dawson's opinion, this was his most famous climb. At age 19, Dawson was already among the most accomplished mountaineers in California. Many years later, Dawson modestly wrote, "I am notable only as an historical curiosity or perhaps as a living fossil. My career as a rock climber spanned the years 1927 to about 1938. During my lifetime I have been an antiquarian bookseller and publisher but that one event of August 16, 1931 is my footnote in climbing history"
That fall, Dawson began his freshman year at UCLA as a history
major.
. They had thought that this was the first ascent, but they discovered a cairn
on the summit. They later learned that mapmaker Donald McLain had made the first ascent in 1911.
Returning to the Sierra Nevada, Dawson, Eichorn and Clyde joined the Sierra Club High Trip
with 199 participants plus 25 mules with wranglers and horses. Dawson led a group to the summit of what was later named Mount Farquhar. Along with Thomas Rawles and Hans Helmut Leschke, he climbed the most difficult (#8) of the Kearsarge Pinnacles. A party of 16, including Dawson, Clyde, Farquhar and Eichorn then climbed Junction Peak. Dawson, Eichorn, Brem and Leschke then climbed a new route on Mount Russell, by way of the south face, west chute. Dawson then climbed the Red Kaweah
and the Black Kaweah
.
Over the Labor Day weekend of 1932, Dawson and Dick Jones climbed Mount McAdie. Dawson served as Mountaineering Notes Editor for the Sierra Club Bulletin for 1932.
.
In 1933, Dawson, Eichorn and Dick Jones made the first ascent of what was later named Dawson Minaret in the Minarets. On the Sierra Club's annual High Trip, Dawson, along with Neil Ruge and Alfred Weiler, made a first ascent of the highest peak in The Pinnacles, two miles (3 km) west of Hutchison Meadow. With his sister Fern Dawson, he climbed Pilot Knob. With Bahlah Ballantine and Neil Ruge, he made a first ascent of unnamed Peak 13,332 near Mount Darwin. On July 25, 1933, he again surveyed the forbidding Devils Crags. In the days that followed, Dawson and other Sierra Club members made several successful ascents of the various summits. Later, he made a possible first ascent of Rambaud Peak, bringing his younger brother, Muir Dawson, along on the climb. With Eichorn, he pioneered a new route to Middle Palisade, climbing the (later named) Norman Clyde Peak
along the way.."
Along with several other climbers, Dawson participated in the search for missing solo climber Walter A. Starr, Jr.
in the Minarets in August, 1933, but was unsuccessful. This search was the last time that Dawson climbed on the same rope with Jules Eichorn. Norman Clyde later found Starr's body. Dawson wrote the forward to the definitive book about this episode.
Dawson was among the founders of the Rock Climbing Section of the Southern California Chapter of the Sierra Club which began on November 5, 1933 with practice climbing at Eagle Rock. In December, 1933, the group completed challenging climbs on Castle Dome
20 miles north of Yuma, Arizona on the California side of the Colorado River. They also climbed Picacho Peak
in Arizona.
weekend of 1934, Dawson along with Ted Waller completed the second ascent of the East Face of Mount Whitney, which he had first climbed in 1931. On July 11, 1934, Dawson, Jack Riegelhuth and Neil Ruge completed the first ascent of the Sierra Nevada peak later named Mount Ansel Adams
. He also made the second ascent of Eichorn Pinnacle on that trip. In the Sawtooth Ridge area, he completed the first east to west traverse of The Three Teeth. With Riegelhuth and Ansel Adams
, he made the first ascent of Blacksmith Peak, and then led a traverse from South Whorl to Whorl Peak.
Heading north with Tony Charlton of the New Zealand Alpine Club
, they climbed Mount Shasta
, and in Oregon, Mount Thielsen, Three-Fingered Jack and Mount Washington. Continuing to Washington, they climbed Mount Rainier
. They proceeded to the Canadian Rockies, where they climbed Mount Hungabee
and Mount Temple in Banff National Park
.
On November 7, 1934, Dawson was part of the founding of the Ski Mountaineers of California. UCLA professor Walt Mosauer was the first president of the group, which later became the Ski Mountaineers Section of the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club..."
. This was many years before the downhill ski resort was established there.
. From Boston, he sailed on an Italian freighter to Trieste
and then climbed in the Dolomites
, including an ascent of the south wall of the Marmolata. In the Wetterstein of southern Bavaria, he climbed the Kubanek-Spiondler route on the south face of the Musterstein. He also climbed the Schusselkarspitze-Sudwand, probably the first ascent by an American. In all, he completed about 30 different climbs in the Alps
in a six week period.
He continued to North Wales
, where he climbed the Tennis Shoe route on the Idwal. He then traveled to the Soviet Union
, where bad weather prevented a planned climb of Mount Elbrus
. He crossed Siberia by train and arrived in Japan. There he completed several challenging climbs in the Mount Yari and Hodaka regions, and traversed Mount Fuji
.
Upon his return to the United States in 1936 after 14 months of overseas travel, he wrote, "After having climbed in a dozen different countries I can agree with John Muir
and Clarence King
that our own High Sierra is the finest and most friendly of all."
, then one of the first YDS
5.8 routes in the country. Tahquitz was then a new location for top Southern California rock climbers, since it is far closer to the Los Angeles
area than Yosemite Valley
.
On September 5, 1937, Dawson, along with his brother Muir Dawson, Dick Jones, Bob Brinton and Howard Koster put up a new route on Mount Whitney, to the right of his 1931 East face route. This route, called the East Buttress route is rated YDS III 5.7, and is nicknamed the "Peewee Route".
During World War II
, Dawson served as a rock climbing and skiing instructor in the Tenth Mountain Division at Camp Hale
, Colorado and in Italy.
Glen Dawson had a long career succeeding his father Ernest Dawson as proprietor of Dawson's Book Shop in Los Angeles, an antiquarian bookstore in business since 1905. His brother Muir Dawson also participated in the business. He has also published 370 collectible books, including miniatures. The business is still in operation and is now run by Michael Dawson, the third generation.
Dawson was the winner of the Sierra Club's Francis P. Farquhar Mountaineering Award
for 1973.
In 1990, Dawson was among a group of rare book experts who worked as consultants to the FBI on the case of Stephen Blumberg
, a convicted thief who compulsively stole rare books. He helped determine the ownership of the books, which Blumberg had stolen from at least 327 libraries. He testified as an expert witness for the U. S. Government at Blumberg's trial, attesting for example that 271 items taken from the Connecticut State Library were worth $225,280.
Glen Dawson has stayed active in the mountaineering community, and willingly participates as a historical resource. In 2009, at the age of 97, he gave two public lectures on the occasion of the opening of a exhibit on the life of mountaineer Norman Clyde at the Eastern California Museum in Independence, California
.
On September 18, 2009, Dawson was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Azusa Pacific University
for his accomplishments as a rare book expert, publisher and mountaineer.
He is a resident of Pasadena, California
.
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...
, mountaineer
Mountaineering
Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...
, antiquarian bookseller, publisher and environmentalist
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
.
Early life
His father, Ernest Dawson, was also a climber, antiquarian bookseller, and Sierra ClubSierra 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...
leader, who served as Sierra Club president from 1934 - 1937. Glen climbed White Mountain Peak in 1927. In 1928, Glen and his father climbed the Matterhorn
Matterhorn
The Matterhorn , Monte Cervino or Mont Cervin , is a mountain in the Pennine Alps on the border between Switzerland and Italy. Its summit is 4,478 metres high, making it one of the highest peaks in the Alps. The four steep faces, rising above the surrounding glaciers, face the four compass points...
with two Swiss guides.
Climbing in 1929
In 1929, Glen began serious mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada. With John Nixon and experienced climber Bill Horsfall, he climbed Mount AbbotMount Abbot
Mount Abbot is a mountain in California's Sierra Nevada, in John Muir Wilderness.It is located between Mount Mills and Mount Dade along the Sierra Crest and straddles the border between Fresno and Inyo counties....
, Mount Mills, Mount Humphreys
Mount Humphreys
Mount Humphreys is a mountain peak in the Sierra Nevada on the Fresno-Inyo county line in the U.S. state of California. It is the highest peak in the Bishop area. The mountain was named by the California Geological Survey of 1873 for Andrew A...
, and the (later named) Clyde Minaret
Minarets (California)
The Minarets are a series of jagged peaks located in the Ritter Range, a sub-range of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the state of California. They are easily viewed from Minaret Summit, which is accessible by auto. The peaks bear a certain resemblance to the minarets of Islamic mosques...
.
Climbing in 1930
On July 6, 1930, during the Sierra Club's annual High TripHigh Trips
The High Trips were large wilderness excursions organized and led by the Sierra Club beginning in 1901. Club secretary William Colby initiated the High Trips, which usually traveled to the High Sierra, and led them from 1901 to 1929. Colby wrote, "It was from John Muir, President of the Club,...
, he first teamed up with Jules Eichorn
Jules Eichorn
Jules Eichorn was a California mountaineer, environmentalist and music teacher.- Early years :Jules Marquard Eichorn was born in San Francisco on February 7, 1912 to Hilmar and Frieda Eichorn, who were immigrants from Germany...
to make the third ascent of Red-and-White Mountain in the Sierra. They continued at a fast pace to climb Mount Abbot, Bear Creek Spire, Mount Dade, Turret Peak, Mount Darwin
Mount Darwin (California)
Mount Darwin is a flat-topped mountain in the Sierra Nevada, on the border of between Fresno and Inyo counties in the Kings Canyon National Park and the Inyo National Forest of California. Two Australian geologists, Ernest Clayton Andrews and Willard D. Johnson, made the first recorded ascent on...
, The Hermit, Mount McGee, a 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...
of the (later named) Mount Mendel, Mount Goddard
Mount Goddard
Mount Goddard is a mountain of California's Sierra Nevada, in the north section of Kings Canyon National Park. Goddard forms the southwest boundary of the Evolution Basin....
, Devils Crags, Mount Woodworth, Middle Palisade
Middle Palisade
Middle Palisade is a peak in the Palisades group, part of the central Sierra Nevada mountain range in the US state of California. It is the twelfth highest peak in the state....
, Mount Sill
Mount Sill
Mount Sill is one of the fourteeners of the Sierra Nevada in California. It is located in the Palisades, a group of striking rock peaks with a few small glaciers on their flanks. Mount Sill is located 0.6 miles east of North Palisade, the high point of the group. The two peaks are connected by a...
, North Palisade
North Palisade
North Palisade is the third highest mountain in the Sierra Nevada range of California. It is the highest peak of the Palisades group of peaks in the central part of the range. It sports a small glacier and several highly prized rock climbing routes on its northeast side.- History :North Palisade...
, Polemonium Peak, Mount Winchell
Mount Winchell
Mount Winchell, a thirteener, is among the thirty highest peaks of California. It is in the Palisades region of the Sierra Nevada, on the Sierra Crest between Mount Agassiz and Thunderbolt Peak.- Geography :...
and Mount Agassiz
Mount Agassiz (California)
Mount Agassiz, at , is one of the twenty highest peaks of California. It is the northernmost, and easiest to climb, major summit of the Palisades.-Geography:Agassiz is at the north end of the Palisades in the eastern Sierra Nevada, near Bishop Pass...
. All of these climbs were completed in 24 days. Sierra Club Secretary Will Colby
William Edward Colby
right|225pxWilliam Edward Colby was an American lawyer, conservationist, and first Secretary of the Sierra Club.-Early life and education:...
wrote, "Some youthful enthusiasts, including Glen Dawson, Jules Eichorn and John Olmstead, swarmed over everything that looked formidable in the way of a mountain peak."
Climbing in 1931
On July 12, 1931, Francis P. FarquharFrancis P. Farquhar
Francis Peloubet Farquhar graduated from Harvard and came to San Francisco to set up in practice as a Certified Public Accountant...
led a Sierra Club climbing school on Unicorn Peak near Yosemite National Park's
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...
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:...
. Dawson and Eichorn completed the first traverse of Unicorn Peak that day, and continued on to make the second ascent of Cockscomb Peak. They then joined up with young climber Walter (Bubs) Brem, hiked to Sawtooth Ridge
Hoover Wilderness
The Hoover Wilderness is a wilderness area in the Inyo and Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forests. It lies to the east of the crest of the central Sierra Nevada in California, to the north and east of Yosemite National Park - a long strip of spectacular scenery stretching nearly to Sonora Pass on the...
and made a first ascent of Finger Peaks, a new route on the northwest face of Matterhorn Peak
Matterhorn Peak
Matterhorn Peak is located in the Sierra Nevada, in the western U.S. state of California, at the northern boundary of Yosemite National Park. At elevation, it is the tallest peak in the craggy Alps-like Sawtooth Ridge and the northernmost peak in the Sierra Nevada. The peak also supports the...
, and the first ascent of (later named) The Dragtooth. Returning to Tuolumne Meadows, Dawson and Eichorn climbed Cathedral Peak
Cathedral Peak (California)
Cathedral Peak is part of the Cathedral Range, a mountain range in the south-central portion of Yosemite National Park in eastern Mariposa and Tuolumne Counties. The range is an offshoot of the Sierra Nevada...
on July 24, and made the first ascent of its prominent west pinnacle, later named Eichorn Pinnacle. Joined by Brem, the trio then made the first ascent of Echo Ridge, later renamed Matthes Crest.
The trio then moved south to the Minarets Range
Minarets (California)
The Minarets are a series of jagged peaks located in the Ritter Range, a sub-range of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the state of California. They are easily viewed from Minaret Summit, which is accessible by auto. The peaks bear a certain resemblance to the minarets of Islamic mosques...
, and in a 14 hour effort, climbed Michael Minaret, Clyde Minaret, and the first ascent of Third Minaret (later renamed Eichorn Minaret). These are the three highest peaks in the Minarets.
Sierra Club leader Farquhar had invited Harvard philosophy professor and Appalachian Mountain Club
Appalachian Mountain Club
The Appalachian Mountain Club is one of the United States' oldest outdoor groups. Created in 1876 to explore and preserve the White Mountains in New Hampshire, it has expanded throughout the northeastern U.S., with 12 chapters stretching from Maine to Washington, D.C...
member Robert L. M. Underhill
Robert L. M. Underhill
Robert Lindley Murray Underhill was an American mountaineer best known for introducing modern Alpine style rope and belaying techniques to the U.S. climbing community in the late 1920s and early 1930s....
to come to the Sierra Nevada to teach the latest techniques of roped climbing. Underhill had learned these techniques in the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
, and had used them earlier that summer in the Tetons and the Canadian Rockies
Canadian Rockies
The Canadian Rockies comprise the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains range. They are the eastern part of the Canadian Cordillera, extending from the Interior Plains of Alberta to the Rocky Mountain Trench of British Columbia. The southern end borders Idaho and Montana of the USA...
. After the basic course was completed, the more advanced students, including Dawson, Eichorn, Norman Clyde
Norman Clyde
Norman Clyde was a mountaineer, mountain guide, freelance writer, nature photographer, and self trained naturalist. He is well-known for achieving over 130 first ascents, many in California's Sierra Nevada and Montana's Glacier National Park...
, Lewis Clark, and Bestor Robinson, traveled south to the Palisades
Palisades (California Sierra)
The Palisades are a group of peaks in the central part of the Sierra Nevada in the US state of California. They are located about southwest of the town of Big Pine, California...
, the most rugged and alpine part of the Sierra Nevada. There, on August 13, 1931, the party completed the first ascent of the last unclimbed 14,000+ foot peak in California, which remained unnamed due to its remote location above the Palisade Glaciers
Palisade Glaciers
The Palisade Glacier is a glacier located on the northeast side of the Palisades within the John Muir Wilderness in the central Sierra Nevada of California. The Palisade Glacier is the largest glacier in North America....
. After a challenging ascent to the summit, the climbers were caught in an intense lightning storm, and Eichorn barely escaped electrocution when "a thunderbolt whizzed right by my ear". The mountain was named Thunderbolt Peak to commemorate that close call. Underhill called Dawson and Eichorn "young natural-born rock climbers of the first water."
Three days later on August 16, Dawson, Eichorn, Clyde, and Underhill completed the first ascent of the East Face
East Face (Mount Whitney)
The East Face of Mount Whitney is a technical alpine rock climbing route and is featured in Fifty Classic Climbs of North America. Mount Whitney is the highest peak in the contiguous United States....
of Mount Whitney
Mount Whitney
Mount Whitney is the highest summit in the contiguous United States with an elevation of . It is on the boundary between California's Inyo and Tulare counties, west-northwest of the lowest point in North America at Badwater in Death Valley National Park...
, the highest peak in the contiguous United States. The route was extremely exposed, especially the famous Fresh Air Traverse. Dawson was just 19 years old. 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...
called this route "one of the classic routes of the Sierra, partly because of its spectacular location and partly because it was the first really big wall to be climbed in the range." Porcella & Burns wrote that "the climb heralded a new standard of technical competence in Californian rock climbing
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...
. . ." In Dawson's opinion, this was his most famous climb. At age 19, Dawson was already among the most accomplished mountaineers in California. Many years later, Dawson modestly wrote, "I am notable only as an historical curiosity or perhaps as a living fossil. My career as a rock climber spanned the years 1927 to about 1938. During my lifetime I have been an antiquarian bookseller and publisher but that one event of August 16, 1931 is my footnote in climbing history"
That fall, Dawson began his freshman year at UCLA as a history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
major.
Climbing in 1932
After four days of climbing, on June 15, 1932, Dawson, along with Clyde, Brem, Bestor Robinson and Dick Jones, reached the summit of El Picacho del Diablo, the highest peak in Baja CaliforniaBaja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
. They had thought that this was the first ascent, but they discovered a cairn
Cairn
Cairn is a term used mainly in the English-speaking world for a man-made pile of stones. It comes from the or . Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas...
on the summit. They later learned that mapmaker Donald McLain had made the first ascent in 1911.
Returning to the Sierra Nevada, Dawson, Eichorn and Clyde joined the Sierra Club High Trip
High Trips
The High Trips were large wilderness excursions organized and led by the Sierra Club beginning in 1901. Club secretary William Colby initiated the High Trips, which usually traveled to the High Sierra, and led them from 1901 to 1929. Colby wrote, "It was from John Muir, President of the Club,...
with 199 participants plus 25 mules with wranglers and horses. Dawson led a group to the summit of what was later named Mount Farquhar. Along with Thomas Rawles and Hans Helmut Leschke, he climbed the most difficult (#8) of the Kearsarge Pinnacles. A party of 16, including Dawson, Clyde, Farquhar and Eichorn then climbed Junction Peak. Dawson, Eichorn, Brem and Leschke then climbed a new route on Mount Russell, by way of the south face, west chute. Dawson then climbed the Red Kaweah
Red Kaweah
Red Kaweah is a mountain in California's Sequoia National Park part of the Kaweah Peaks Ridge. It is north of Mount Kaweah and South of Black Kaweah....
and the Black Kaweah
Black Kaweah
Black Kaweah is a mountain of the Kaweah Peaks Ridge of the California's Sierra Nevada, in Sequoia National Park. The peak has a local magnetic disturbance that has caused compasses in the vicinity to vary by up to eight degrees....
.
Over the Labor Day weekend of 1932, Dawson and Dick Jones climbed Mount McAdie. Dawson served as Mountaineering Notes Editor for the Sierra Club Bulletin for 1932.
Climbing in 1933
On February 22, 1933 Dawson made the first ski ascent of Telegraph Peak in the San Gabriel MountainsSan Gabriel Mountains
The San Gabriel Mountains Range is located in northern Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, United States. The mountain range lies between the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert, with Interstate 5 to the west and Interstate 15 to the east...
.
In 1933, Dawson, Eichorn and Dick Jones made the first ascent of what was later named Dawson Minaret in the Minarets. On the Sierra Club's annual High Trip, Dawson, along with Neil Ruge and Alfred Weiler, made a first ascent of the highest peak in The Pinnacles, two miles (3 km) west of Hutchison Meadow. With his sister Fern Dawson, he climbed Pilot Knob. With Bahlah Ballantine and Neil Ruge, he made a first ascent of unnamed Peak 13,332 near Mount Darwin. On July 25, 1933, he again surveyed the forbidding Devils Crags. In the days that followed, Dawson and other Sierra Club members made several successful ascents of the various summits. Later, he made a possible first ascent of Rambaud Peak, bringing his younger brother, Muir Dawson, along on the climb. With Eichorn, he pioneered a new route to Middle Palisade, climbing the (later named) Norman Clyde Peak
Norman Clyde Peak
Norman Clyde Peak, standing tall, is in natural company among the high peaks of the Palisades region of the Sierra Nevada in California. It lies on the Palisades' main ridge, between Middle Palisade and Palisade Crest. Norman Clyde Glacier on its north face, and Middle Palisade Glacier on its east...
along the way.."
Along with several other climbers, Dawson participated in the search for missing solo climber Walter A. Starr, Jr.
Walter A. Starr, Jr.
Walter A. "Pete" Starr, Jr. was an American lawyer and mountain climber.A graduate of Stanford University, Starr was a respected lawyer in San Francisco, but he is better known for his abilities as a mountain climber and an explorer of the Sierra Nevada.In August 1933, he failed to return from a...
in the Minarets in August, 1933, but was unsuccessful. This search was the last time that Dawson climbed on the same rope with Jules Eichorn. Norman Clyde later found Starr's body. Dawson wrote the forward to the definitive book about this episode.
Dawson was among the founders of the Rock Climbing Section of the Southern California Chapter of the Sierra Club which began on November 5, 1933 with practice climbing at Eagle Rock. In December, 1933, the group completed challenging climbs on Castle Dome
Castle Dome (butte)
Castle Dome, or Castle Dome Peak is a prominent butte of the Castle Dome Mountains northeast of Yuma, Arizona–Winterhaven, California, in the northwestern Sonoran Desert....
20 miles north of Yuma, Arizona on the California side of the Colorado River. They also climbed Picacho Peak
Picacho Peak State Park
Picacho Peak State Park is a state park of Arizona, USA, surrounding Picacho Peak. The park is located between Casa Grande and Tucson near Interstate 10 in Pinal County. Its centerpiece spire is visible from downtown Tucson, a distance of . The summit rises to above mean sea level...
in Arizona.
Climbing in 1934
On the 4th of JulyIndependence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
weekend of 1934, Dawson along with Ted Waller completed the second ascent of the East Face of Mount Whitney, which he had first climbed in 1931. On July 11, 1934, Dawson, Jack Riegelhuth and Neil Ruge completed the first ascent of the Sierra Nevada peak later named Mount Ansel Adams
Mount Ansel Adams
Mount Ansel Adams is a peak in the Sierra Nevada of California. The mountain is on the boundary between Yosemite National Park and the Ansel Adams Wilderness and is at the head of the Lyell Fork of the Merced River, northeast of Foerster Peak and west-southwest of Electra Peak...
. He also made the second ascent of Eichorn Pinnacle on that trip. In the Sawtooth Ridge area, he completed the first east to west traverse of The Three Teeth. With Riegelhuth and Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams
Ansel Easton Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist, best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West, especially in Yosemite National Park....
, he made the first ascent of Blacksmith Peak, and then led a traverse from South Whorl to Whorl Peak.
Heading north with Tony Charlton of the New Zealand Alpine Club
New Zealand Alpine Club
The New Zealand Alpine Club was founded in 1891 and is one of the oldest Alpine Clubs in the world. The NZAC is the national climbing organization in New Zealand and is a member of the Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme. It has about 3000 members who are spread across eleven...
, they climbed Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta is located at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California and at is the second highest peak in the Cascades and the fifth highest in California...
, and in Oregon, Mount Thielsen, Three-Fingered Jack and Mount Washington. Continuing to Washington, they climbed Mount Rainier
Mount Rainier
Mount Rainier is a massive stratovolcano located southeast of Seattle in the state of Washington, United States. It is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States and the Cascade Volcanic Arc, with a summit elevation of . Mt. Rainier is considered one of the most...
. They proceeded to the Canadian Rockies, where they climbed Mount Hungabee
Mount Hungabee
Mount Hungabee, officially Hungabee Mountain, is a mountain located on the boundaries of Banff National Park and Yoho National Park on the Continental Divide at the head of Paradise Valley. The peak was named in 1894 by Samuel Allen after the Stoney Indian word for "chieftain" as the mountain is...
and Mount Temple in Banff National Park
Banff National Park
Banff National Park is Canada's oldest national park, established in 1885 in the Rocky Mountains. The park, located 110–180 kilometres west of Calgary in the province of Alberta, encompasses of mountainous terrain, with numerous glaciers and ice fields, dense coniferous forest, and alpine...
.
On November 7, 1934, Dawson was part of the founding of the Ski Mountaineers of California. UCLA professor Walt Mosauer was the first president of the group, which later became the Ski Mountaineers Section of the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club..."
Climbing in 1935
In February, 1935 Dawson, Mosauer and several others attempted a number of winter ascents in the Bridgeport and Mammoth areas of the Sierra Nevada, but were turned back by storms. They finally succeeded in a ski ascent of Mammoth MountainMammoth Mountain
Mammoth Mountain is a lava dome complex west of the town of Mammoth Lakes, California in the Inyo National Forest of Madera County and Mono County. It is home to a large ski area on the Mono County side....
. This was many years before the downhill ski resort was established there.
1935 - 1936 World Climbing Tour
In June 1935, after graduating from UCLA, Dawson set off on a long journey. Heading east by Greyhound bus, he visited Carlsbad Caverns and the Great Smoky Mountains National ParkGreat Smoky Mountains National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North...
. From Boston, he sailed on an Italian freighter to Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
and then climbed in the Dolomites
Dolomites
The Dolomites are a mountain range located in north-eastern Italy. It is a part of Southern Limestone Alps and extends from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Valley in the east. The northern and southern borders are defined by the Puster Valley and the Sugana Valley...
, including an ascent of the south wall of the Marmolata. In the Wetterstein of southern Bavaria, he climbed the Kubanek-Spiondler route on the south face of the Musterstein. He also climbed the Schusselkarspitze-Sudwand, probably the first ascent by an American. In all, he completed about 30 different climbs in the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
in a six week period.
He continued to North Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, where he climbed the Tennis Shoe route on the Idwal. He then traveled to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, where bad weather prevented a planned climb of Mount Elbrus
Mount Elbrus
Mount Elbrus is an inactive volcano located in the western Caucasus mountain range, in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia, Russia, near the border of Georgia. Mt. Elbrus's peak is the highest in the Caucasus, in Russia...
. He crossed Siberia by train and arrived in Japan. There he completed several challenging climbs in the Mount Yari and Hodaka regions, and traversed Mount Fuji
Mount Fuji
is the highest mountain in Japan at . An active stratovolcano that last erupted in 1707–08, Mount Fuji lies about south-west of Tokyo, and can be seen from there on a clear day. Mount Fuji's exceptionally symmetrical cone is a well-known symbol of Japan and it is frequently depicted in art and...
.
Upon his return to the United States in 1936 after 14 months of overseas travel, he wrote, "After having climbed in a dozen different countries I can agree with John Muir
John Muir
John Muir was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, have been read by millions...
and Clarence King
Clarence King
Clarence R. King was an American geologist, mountaineer, and art critic. First director of the United States Geological Survey, from 1879 to 1881, King was noted for his exploration of the Sierra Nevada. He was born in Newport, Rhode Island.-Career:...
that our own High Sierra is the finest and most friendly of all."
Climbing in 1937
In 1937, Dawson and Dick Jones led a first ascent of The Mechanic's Route on Tahquitz RockTahquitz
Tahquitz is a granite rock formation located on the high western slope of the San Jacinto mountain range in Riverside County, Southern California, United States, above the mountain town of Idyllwild...
, then one of the first YDS
YDS
YDS may refer to:*Yale Divinity School*Yards *Yosemite Decimal System*Young Democratic Socialists, a youth organization in the United States*Trường Đại học Y Dược Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, Trường Đại học Y Dược Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh...
5.8 routes in the country. Tahquitz was then a new location for top Southern California rock climbers, since it is far closer to the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
area than 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...
.
On September 5, 1937, Dawson, along with his brother Muir Dawson, Dick Jones, Bob Brinton and Howard Koster put up a new route on Mount Whitney, to the right of his 1931 East face route. This route, called the East Buttress route is rated YDS III 5.7, and is nicknamed the "Peewee Route".
Later life
Dawson served as a Director of the Sierra Club from 1937 to 1951. His service was interrupted from 1944 to 1947 because of military service.During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Dawson served as a rock climbing and skiing instructor in the Tenth Mountain Division at Camp Hale
Camp Hale
Camp Hale, between Red Cliff and Leadville in the Eagle River valley in Colorado, was a U.S. Army training facility constructed in 1942 for what became the 10th Mountain Division. It was named for General Irving Hale....
, Colorado and in Italy.
Glen Dawson had a long career succeeding his father Ernest Dawson as proprietor of Dawson's Book Shop in Los Angeles, an antiquarian bookstore in business since 1905. His brother Muir Dawson also participated in the business. He has also published 370 collectible books, including miniatures. The business is still in operation and is now run by Michael Dawson, the third generation.
Dawson was the winner of the Sierra Club's Francis P. Farquhar Mountaineering Award
Francis P. Farquhar Mountaineering Award
The Francis P. Farquhar Mountaineering Award is given by the Sierra Club, and is named after club leader, historian and mountaineer Francis P. Farquhar. According to the Sierra Club, this award "honors an individual's contribution to mountaineering and enhancement of the Club's prestige in this...
for 1973.
In 1990, Dawson was among a group of rare book experts who worked as consultants to the FBI on the case of Stephen Blumberg
Stephen Blumberg
Stephen Carrie Blumberg is best known as a bibliomane who lived in Ottumwa, Iowa. He became known as the Book Bandit and was the most successful book thief of the 20th century in the United States.-Personal:At 2:00 a.m...
, a convicted thief who compulsively stole rare books. He helped determine the ownership of the books, which Blumberg had stolen from at least 327 libraries. He testified as an expert witness for the U. S. Government at Blumberg's trial, attesting for example that 271 items taken from the Connecticut State Library were worth $225,280.
Glen Dawson has stayed active in the mountaineering community, and willingly participates as a historical resource. In 2009, at the age of 97, he gave two public lectures on the occasion of the opening of a exhibit on the life of mountaineer Norman Clyde at the Eastern California Museum in Independence, California
Independence, California
Independence is the county seat of Inyo County, California. Independence is located south-southeast of Bishop, at an elevation of 3930 feet . The population of this census-designated place was 669 at the 2010 census, up from 574 at the 2000 census....
.
On September 18, 2009, Dawson was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Azusa Pacific University
Azusa Pacific University
Azusa Pacific University is a private, inter-denominational, evangelical Christian university located near Los Angeles in suburban Azusa, California. It was founded in 1899, with classes opening on March 3, 1900 in Whittier, California. It began offering degrees in 1939...
for his accomplishments as a rare book expert, publisher and mountaineer.
He is a resident of Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
.