Smoke Blanchard
Encyclopedia
William Earl "Smoke" Blanchard (March 3, 1915 – June 23, 1989) was an American
mountaineer
, climber
, trekking leader, guide, world traveler, writer, Buddhist, and a truck driver
. He was born in Montana
and moved to Portland, Oregon
in his early childhood and discovered a love for mountains in the shadow of Mount Hood
. He spent his formative mountaineering years on Mount Hood during the mid to late 1930s. He was present during the "Golden Age" of climbing on Mount Hood, and under the tutelage of Gary Leech became a proponent of climbing solo and establishing new routes on the mountain.
in 1937 and later that summer stumbled into the Eastern Sierra town of Bishop
. He relocated there from Portland before 1942 and by 1943 had "discovered" the Buttermilks
: an area of rocks that became his playground, and the training ground for young climbers like Doug Robinson, Galen Rowell, and Don Jenson.
In 1967, he married Su Ahlstrom after proposing to her on the top of Mount Hood. She had two children from a previous marriage, Glen and Lorelle, and Smoke had one son, Robert, from a previous marriage. Su died in 1976.
by porters, cooks, trekking Sidars, and fellow guides. He was so accepted into this small fraternal group that he became acquainted with both Edmund Hillary
(who reviewed Smoke's 1984 book) and Tenzing Norgay
. His relationship with Tenzing was both personal and professional, with the two leading treks in Bhutan
together and sharing meals and time in Tenzing's home in Darjeeling.
Smoke's first association with nationally and internationally renowned climbers had started years earlier while still climbing the slopes of Mount Hood and continued after his move to Bishop. His friendship with uber-climber and California mountaineering legend Norman Clyde
is well documented. Smoke was one of Clyde's last great friends in life and saw to the man's needs during the illness and decline that led to his death. In 1972, Smoke led a group that included his son Robert and Jules Eichorn
to the top of Clyde Peak to scatter Clyde's ashes from that summit.
and his small apartment above a house he still owned in Bishop. He was in a relationship with a young Japanese woman named Keiko Ishikawa. Early that summer, they traveled from Japan to Italy
to lead a walk in the Dolomites. He and Keiko then flew back to the U.S. to spend some time in Bishop. During the drive home from Los Angeles International Airport
, Smoke relinquished the wheel to Keiko and crawled in the back of his small truck to sleep under the camper shell. Somewhere near the town of Mojave
, Keiko lost control of the vehicle; it slipped from the road and rolled. She was relatively unhurt but Smoke suffered massive head trauma and after spending more than a week in intensive care, he died of his injuries on June 23, 1989.
His friends held a memorial service for him in the Buttermilk Rocks near Bishop as the summer climbing season wound down and before the Asian trekking season started, allowing all of his friends, fellow guides, and loved ones to be there. There was a light dusting of snow on the ground that day and the air was crisp during the service attended by more than two hundred people celebrating the man's life and retelling stories of times shared with Smoke through tears and laughter. Smoke Blanchard was cremated and his remains were scattered up in Big Pine Canyon, California between the fourth and fifth lakes in the Eastern Sierra that he so loved.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
, climber
Climbing
Climbing is the activity of using one's hands and feet to ascend a steep object. It is done both for recreation and professionally, as part of activities such as maintenance of a structure, or military operations.Climbing activities include:* Bouldering: Ascending boulders or small...
, trekking leader, guide, world traveler, writer, Buddhist, and a truck driver
Truck driver
A truck driver , is a person who earns a living as the driver of a truck, usually a semi truck, box truck, or dump truck.Truck drivers provide an essential service to...
. He was born in Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
and moved to Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
in his early childhood and discovered a love for mountains in the shadow of Mount Hood
Mount Hood
Mount Hood, called Wy'east by the Multnomah tribe, is a stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc of northern Oregon. It was formed by a subduction zone and rests in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States...
. He spent his formative mountaineering years on Mount Hood during the mid to late 1930s. He was present during the "Golden Age" of climbing on Mount Hood, and under the tutelage of Gary Leech became a proponent of climbing solo and establishing new routes on the mountain.
Personal life
Smoke made his first trip to the Yosemite ValleyYosemite 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...
in 1937 and later that summer stumbled into the Eastern Sierra town of Bishop
Bishop, California
Bishop is a city in Inyo County, California, United States. Though Bishop is the only city and the largest populated place in Inyo County, the county seat is Independence. Bishop is located near the northern end of the Owens Valley, at an elevation of 4147 feet . The population was 3,879 at the...
. He relocated there from Portland before 1942 and by 1943 had "discovered" the Buttermilks
The Buttermilks
The Buttermilks, or Buttermilk Country, is a well known bouldering destination. It comprises the western edge of the Owens Valley near Bishop, California, in the eastern foothills of the Sierra Nevada.The Buttermilks are located in Inyo County at...
: an area of rocks that became his playground, and the training ground for young climbers like Doug Robinson, Galen Rowell, and Don Jenson.
In 1967, he married Su Ahlstrom after proposing to her on the top of Mount Hood. She had two children from a previous marriage, Glen and Lorelle, and Smoke had one son, Robert, from a previous marriage. Su died in 1976.
Trekking in the Himalayas and Japan
He was widely known in the HimalayasHimalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
by porters, cooks, trekking Sidars, and fellow guides. He was so accepted into this small fraternal group that he became acquainted with both Edmund Hillary
Edmund Hillary
Sir Edmund Percival Hillary, KG, ONZ, KBE , was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953 at the age of 33, he and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers known to have reached the summit of Mount Everest – see Timeline of climbing Mount Everest...
(who reviewed Smoke's 1984 book) and Tenzing Norgay
Tenzing Norgay
Padma Bhushan, Supradipta-Manyabara-Nepal-Tara Tenzing Norgay, GM born Namgyal Wangdi and often referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer...
. His relationship with Tenzing was both personal and professional, with the two leading treks in Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
together and sharing meals and time in Tenzing's home in Darjeeling.
Smoke's first association with nationally and internationally renowned climbers had started years earlier while still climbing the slopes of Mount Hood and continued after his move to Bishop. His friendship with uber-climber and California mountaineering legend 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...
is well documented. Smoke was one of Clyde's last great friends in life and saw to the man's needs during the illness and decline that led to his death. In 1972, Smoke led a group that included his son Robert and 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 the top of Clyde Peak to scatter Clyde's ashes from that summit.
Death
By 1989, Smoke was splitting his time between a home in JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and his small apartment above a house he still owned in Bishop. He was in a relationship with a young Japanese woman named Keiko Ishikawa. Early that summer, they traveled from Japan to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
to lead a walk in the Dolomites. He and Keiko then flew back to the U.S. to spend some time in Bishop. During the drive home from Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving the Greater Los Angeles Area, the second-most populated metropolitan area in the United States. It is most often referred to by its IATA airport code LAX, with the letters pronounced individually...
, Smoke relinquished the wheel to Keiko and crawled in the back of his small truck to sleep under the camper shell. Somewhere near the town of Mojave
Mojave, California
Mojave is a census-designated place in Kern County, California, United States. Mojave is located east of Bakersfield, at an elevation of 2762 feet...
, Keiko lost control of the vehicle; it slipped from the road and rolled. She was relatively unhurt but Smoke suffered massive head trauma and after spending more than a week in intensive care, he died of his injuries on June 23, 1989.
His friends held a memorial service for him in the Buttermilk Rocks near Bishop as the summer climbing season wound down and before the Asian trekking season started, allowing all of his friends, fellow guides, and loved ones to be there. There was a light dusting of snow on the ground that day and the air was crisp during the service attended by more than two hundred people celebrating the man's life and retelling stories of times shared with Smoke through tears and laughter. Smoke Blanchard was cremated and his remains were scattered up in Big Pine Canyon, California between the fourth and fifth lakes in the Eastern Sierra that he so loved.
Miscellaneous details
- Suffered severe frostbiteFrostbiteFrostbite is the medical condition where localized damage is caused to skin and other tissues due to extreme cold. Frostbite is most likely to happen in body parts farthest from the heart and those with large exposed areas...
in his feet in 1955 while climbing. - In the summer of 1967 he walked across the state of California, from White Mountain Peak to the Pacific Ocean. The hike was to commemorate his thirty years in California and he called it "the best trip I ever made."
- In 1968, he led a group of friends and trekkers on an Anderson Pass walk, which took them through the shadows of Mount Huntington and Mount McKinleyMount McKinleyMount McKinley or Denali in Alaska, United States is the highest mountain peak in North America and the United States, with a summit elevation of above sea level. It is the centerpiece of Denali National Park and Preserve.- Geology and features :Mount McKinley is a granitic pluton...
in Alaska. Less than a year later he completed his almost solo walk of the Oregon and Washington coasts (most of Oregon in 1962, part of Washington in 1963, and the 1968 link up that involved the rest of Oregon and Washington). - Was a professed Buddhist and had trekked GayaGaya, IndiaGaya is the second largest city of Bihar, India, and it is also the headquarters of Gaya District.Gaya is 100 kilometers south of Patna, the capital city of Bihar. Situated on the banks of Falgu River , it is a place sanctified by both the Hindu and the Buddhist religions...
to SarnathSarnathSarnath or Sārnātha is the deer park where Gautama Buddha first taught the Dharma, and where the Buddhist Sangha came into existence through the enlightenment of Kondanna. Sarnath is located 13 kilometres north-east of Varanasi, in Uttar Pradesh, India...
to visit two of India's Buddhist holy sites in the mid-1960s. he and Laurie Engel made a pilgrimage trip to all five of the most prominent Buddhist holy sites in early 1968. The pair rented two blue bicycles for the trip. - Was asked to be a member of the 1963 American Everest Expedition. In those days there was no such thing as a Northface sponsorship deal and Smoke made his living driving a truck. He had to turn down the Everest offer because it would have been impossible on a trucker’s salary.
- Caught malariaMalariaMalaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
in Kenya in 1973. - Wrote an autobiography of his unconventional life. After some prodding he authored Walking Up and Down in the World: Memories of a Mountain Rambler. The book was published in 1984 by Sierra Club BooksSierra Club BooksSierra Club Books is the publishing division of the Sierra Club, founded in 1960 by then Sierra Club President David Brower. Volumes intended for club members had been published prior to 1960. In addition, books under their name had been published before 1960, but done through already established...
and is a collection of Mr. Blanchard’s tales of old-school climbing, trekking and mountaineering. The book goes into detail concerning his walks, climbs, and bicycle rides in the Sierra’s, The Western US, Alaska, India, Japan, and Nepal. - A climbing route on the Middle PalisadeMiddle PalisadeMiddle 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....
, named in honor of Smoke, The Smoke Buttress (IV, 5.9) put up by Steve Porcella and Cameron Burns in 1990. - Galen RowellGalen RowellGalen Avery Rowell was a noted wilderness photographer and climber. Born in Oakland, California, he became a full-time photographer in 1972.-Early life and education:...
and Doug Robinson developed a hard climbing route on the face of Wheeler Peak in 1972 that they named Smokestack (IV, 5.10a) for Mr. Blanchard. - Member (Grandfathered) of the American Mountain Guides AssociationAmerican Mountain Guides AssociationThe ‘’’American Mountain Guides Association’’’ is “our nation’s sole representative to the 21-member International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations , the international governing body responsible for guiding standards and education around the world.” AMGA is a non-profit organization that...
– AMGA - A direct influence on every major guide currently working in the Sierra or is linked to them by a single degree of separation.
Further reading
- Walking Up and Down in the World: Memories of a Mountain Rambler, by Smoke Blanchard, 1984, ISBN 0-87156-827-6
- American Alpine Journal: 1959, 1960, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1972, & 1990
- Norman Clyde of the Sierra Nevada Rambles Through the Range of Light by Norman ClydeNorman ClydeNorman 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...
, ISBN 0-912020-20-2 - Close Ups of the High Sierra by Norman Clyde, ISBN 0-9647530-3-0
- A Night on the Ground, a Day in the Open, by Doug Robinson, 2004, ISBN 1-879415-15-1
- Climb to Glory: The Adventures of Bill Hackett, by June W. Hackett & Ric Conrad, 2000, ISBN 0-9710724-2-6
- A Search for Smoke. Website Essay.
- The Himalayan Database: The Expedition Archives of Elizabeth Hawley, by Elizabeth Hawley & Richard Salisbury, 2004
- Chouinard Equipment Catalog, 1972