–1993) was a pioneering rock climber, blacksmith

Blacksmith

A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...

 and the inventor of the modern piton

Piton

In climbing, a piton is a metal spike that is driven into a crack or seam in the rock with a hammer, and which acts as an anchor to protect the climber against the consequences of a fall, or to assist progress in aid climbing...

.

Salathé was born in Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 and emigrated to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. He had been a blacksmith

Blacksmith

A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...

 before an illness and a mid-life spiritual conversion led him to devote his life to ascetic meditation

Meditation

Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....

, vegetarianism

Vegetarianism

Vegetarianism encompasses the practice of following plant-based diets , with or without the inclusion of dairy products or eggs, and with the exclusion of meat...

 and rock climbing. When he began climbing in 1945, he found that traditional pitons used for climbing 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....

 were too soft to be driven into narrow cracks without buckling. In his San Mateo

San Mateo, California

San Mateo is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of approximately 100,000 , it is one of the larger suburbs on the San Francisco Peninsula, located between Burlingame to the north, Foster City to the east, Belmont to the south,...

 business, Peninsula Wrought Iron Works, Salathé used high-carbon chrome-vanadium steel, similar to that used to make Ford axles, to forge extremely strong pitons which could be hammered into the hard Yosemite

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...

 granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

 without buckling, as well as removed without getting mangled, thus rendering them reusable. These thin pitons became known as Lost Arrows, and are still manufactured under that name by Black Diamond Equipment, Ltd.

Black Diamond Equipment, Ltd.

Black Diamond, Inc. is a developer, manufacturer, and distributor of climbing, mountaineering and backcountry ski equipment. The company was formed out of Chouinard Equipment Ltd., and is currently based in Holladay, Utah, near Salt Lake City.- History :...

In 1946, Salathé and Anton (Ax) Nelson climbed the southwest face of Half Dome

Half Dome

Half Dome is a granite dome in Yosemite National Park, located in northeastern Mariposa County, California, at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley — possibly Yosemite's most familiar rock formation. The granite crest rises more than above the valley floor....

. The two climbers spent the night on a small ledge, making it Yosemite's first climbing route

Climbing route

A climbing route is a path by which a climber reaches the top of a mountain, rock, or ice wall. Routes can vary dramatically in difficulty and, once committed to that ascent, can be difficult to stop or return. Choice of route can be critically important...

 to require a bivouac

Bivouac shelter

A bivouac traditionally refers to a military encampment made with tents or improvised shelters, usually without shelter or protection from enemy fire or such a site where a camp may be built. It is also commonly used to describe a variety of improvised camp sites such as those used in scouting and...

.

In September, 1947, Salathé and Nelson managed the first "ground-up" 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 Lost Arrow Spire

Lost Arrow Spire

The Lost Arrow Spire is a detached pillar in Yosemite Valley, California, located immediately adjacent to Upper Yosemite Falls. The structure includes the Lost Arrow Spire Chimney route which is recognized in the historic climbing text Fifty Classic Climbs of North America...

 in Yosemite, by the Lost Arrow Chimney route. The Lost Arrow piton was named after the spire. The ascent took five days and included four bivouacs. The first ascent of the spire summit was achieved in 1946 by Anton Nelson and friends, who threw a rope over the summit beforehand to aid in their climb.

In July, 1950, Allen Steck

Allen Steck

Allen Steck is an American mountaineer and rock climber, and a native of Oakland, California.-Mountaineering:Steck started climbing with his brother George. In 1940 when Allen was 16, the two completed the first ascent of the northwest ridge of Mount Maclure . He served in the U.S. Navy during...

 and Salathé made the 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 1,500 foot (500 m) north face of Sentinel Rock

Sentinel Rock

For the granite dome near Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park, see Sentinel Dome.Sentinel Rock is a granitic peak in Yosemite National Park, California, United States. It towers over Yosemite Valley, opposite from Yosemite Falls....

. This five-day ascent was considered the last of the great Yosemite problems of the day. Their route, the Steck-Salathé Route

Steck-Salathé Route (Sentinel Rock)

The Steck-Salathé Route is a technical climbing route up Sentinel Rock. The route was first climbed June 30 - July 4, 1950, by Allen Steck and John Salathé, up the north face of Sentinel Rock in Yosemite Valley....

 is now a classic rock climb.

In 1953, Salathé suffered a mental breakdown, abandoned his family, and returned to Switzerland. He became a devoted member of a religious group called the Spiritual Lodge Zurich. He 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...

 in August, 1958, his last significant mountaineering achievement. In 1963, he returned to the United States and spent 20 years wandering through the mountains and deserts of California, maintaining his vegetarian diet based largely on wild grasses and herbs that he sought out, and preaching his religious beliefs. He died on August 31, 1992.

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

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...

 was named to honor Salathé (although he did not climb it) around 1960 by 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...

.

Quotations

"I find that rock climbing is the finest, most healthiest sport in the whole world. It is much healthier than most; look at baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

, where 10,000 sit on their ass to watch a handful of players" - John Salathé, 1974

"Foops, no more rope!" - Salathé, according to legend, after rappelling part way down the face of a cliff in Yosemite. He proceeded to cut the ends off his rope and prusik back up to the top.