Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Fresno's George Whitmore, Legendary Climber of El Capitan and Conservationist, Dies at 89
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
January 5, 2021

Share

Fresno’s George Whitmore, a member of the first team of climbers to scale El Capitan in Yosemite National Park and a conservationist who devoted his life to protecting the Sierra Nevada, has died. He was 89.

Whitmore died on New Year’s Day from complications caused by COVID-19, said his wife, Nancy. She said Whitmore, a cancer survivor, was extremely careful about wearing a mask and his family doesn’t know where he contracted the virus. He tested positive for COVID-19 on Dec. 13, after developing a rattling but occasional cough and subsequent fever. He died in a Fresno rehabilitation facility from damage to his lungs about a week after being released from a hospital, his wife of 41 years said.

Friends, family, colleagues, and fellow climbers mourned the passing of a legend in the world of rock climbing and the last surviving member of the trio that was the first to reach the top of El Capitan on Nov. 12, 1958. Ascending the 3,000-foot sheer granite rock wall that now attracts climbers from around the world was, at the time, a feat considered out of human reach.

In 2008, Whitmore gathered with climbers from around the world at Yosemite to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his ascent with Wayne Merry and Warren Harding, who died in 2002. Merry died in 2019.

It Took 47 Days Over 16 Months to Conquer El Capitan

Whitmore, then 77, told AP they didn’t realize at the time “how special” their climb of the sheer rock formation would be. It took them 47 days over 16 months to complete the climb. They set fixed lines and rappelled down, then used the ropes to return to the same point later.

“They were pioneering techniques that didn’t exist at the time. They were kind of inventing the sport of big wall rock climbing,“ said Daniel Duane, author of “El Capitan: Historic Feats and Radical Routes.”

El Capitan now has dozens of routes, scaled by some in fewer than three hours. But at the time, it seemed “utterly outside the bounds of the possible,” Duane said. Whitmore and his team plotted a path that came to be known as “The Nose.”

“They created this kind of pilgrimage path in the sky that, to this day, every climber on Earth wants to someday walk,” Duane said.

Humble About His Climbing, Passionate About Conservation

In interviews over the years, Whitmore spoke of his ascent with humility. Mountain climbing was a lifelong passion, but he often said he considered his work in conservation to be his greatest accomplishment.

A pharmacist by trade, Whitmore retired in the 1970s to focus on conservation, his wife said. He was involved with the Sierra Club in local, state, and national capacities, including serving as a chairman of the Tehipite Chapter based in Fresno.

It was during a Sierra Club outing in the 1970s that he met his wife, Nancy, who was impressed with his knowledge and intellect.

“I was like, wow, this guy is impressive,” said Nancy, 76. They married in 1979.

“He was passionate about saving California wilderness,” she said. “He was a constant salesman, not for himself, but for the forest and the wilderness.”

Whitmore Helped Establish Kaiser Wilderness

Whitmore helped establish the Kaiser Wilderness in 1976 and the California Wilderness Act of 1984, which added 1.8 million acres into the National Wilderness Preservation System. He helped protect lakes and block dam projects and proposed highways and also helped prevent The Walt Disney Company from developing a proposed ski resort at Mineral King in the 1960s and ’70s. It was stopped after sustained opposition by the Sierra Club and other preservationists and the valley subsequently became part of Sequoia National Park.

“A lot of times what it takes is someone like George who sticks to his guns and doesn’t back down from a fight that he knows is the right thing to do,” said Gary Lasky, current chairman of the Sierra Club’s Tehipite Chapter.

Lasky recalled Whitmore as a dignified man who was modest about his achievements but also tenacious and deliberate; he was able to see both the big picture and focus on crucial details, skills that served him as an environmentalist and a climber.

“He never bragged. He is a man of a few words. He would think and then speak,” said Lasky. “He was very gracious to everyone. He was beloved.”

Whitmore actively attended Sierra Club meetings until the pandemic started and the meetings went online, his wife said.

DON'T MISS

Elaborate Holiday Light Displays Are Making Spirits Bright in a Big Way

DON'T MISS

Bethlehem Marks a Second Subdued Christmas During the War in Gaza

DON'T MISS

The Fastest Spacecraft Ever Heads for Its Close-Up With the Sun

DON'T MISS

Survey: Small Businesses Are Feeling More Optimistic About the Economy After the Election

DON'T MISS

Heavy Travel Day off to a Rough Start After American Airlines Briefly Grounds All Flights

DON'T MISS

Global Monitor Says Famine Is Weeks Away in North Gaza. A US Diplomat Calls Warning ‘Irresponsible’

DON'T MISS

California Residents on Edge as High Surf and Flooding Threats Persist on Christmas Eve

DON'T MISS

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Holds Near Breakeven Ahead of Christmas

DON'T MISS

Fresno Authorities Seeks Public’s Help to Locate Family of Deceased Man

DON'T MISS

Opinion: Does Jesus Want Christians to Be Environmentalists?

UP NEXT

Illegal Immigrant Faces Murder Charges in Death of Woman Lit on Fire in NYC Subway

UP NEXT

$1M Investment in Fresno Lender to Help Small Businesses Get Funding

UP NEXT

Fresno State Tossed by Northern Illinois in Famous Idaho Potato Bowl

UP NEXT

Bill Clinton Is Hospitalized With a Fever but in Good Spirits, Spokesperson Says

UP NEXT

Amar Augillard Departs the Fresno State Basketball Team

UP NEXT

Former Bulldog QB Mikey Keene Commits to Michigan

UP NEXT

Thunderstorms on Christmas Eve? They’re in the Fresno Forecast

UP NEXT

SE Fresno Voters Have Their Pick of Familiar Candidates to Succeed Chavez

UP NEXT

Fresno Residents Will Get an Extra Day to Put Out the Trash

UP NEXT

Tulare Man Shot in Face, Police Investigating Early Morning Incident

Survey: Small Businesses Are Feeling More Optimistic About the Economy After the Election

14 minutes ago

Heavy Travel Day off to a Rough Start After American Airlines Briefly Grounds All Flights

25 minutes ago

Global Monitor Says Famine Is Weeks Away in North Gaza. A US Diplomat Calls Warning ‘Irresponsible’

26 minutes ago

California Residents on Edge as High Surf and Flooding Threats Persist on Christmas Eve

29 minutes ago

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Holds Near Breakeven Ahead of Christmas

33 minutes ago

Fresno Authorities Seeks Public’s Help to Locate Family of Deceased Man

44 minutes ago

Opinion: Does Jesus Want Christians to Be Environmentalists?

5 hours ago

Illegal Immigrant Faces Murder Charges in Death of Woman Lit on Fire in NYC Subway

16 hours ago

$1M Investment in Fresno Lender to Help Small Businesses Get Funding

16 hours ago

Who Is Making a Difference in Fresno? Explore This List of 2024’s Shining Stars

17 hours ago

Elaborate Holiday Light Displays Are Making Spirits Bright in a Big Way

CONCORD, N.H. — Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow might be enough to brighten some homes this holiday season. But others are adorned with ...

1 minute ago

1 minute ago

Elaborate Holiday Light Displays Are Making Spirits Bright in a Big Way

7 minutes ago

Bethlehem Marks a Second Subdued Christmas During the War in Gaza

An undated photo provided by NASA/Naval Research Laboratory/Parker Solar Probe shows an unprocessed image from the WISPR instrument of the comet NEOWISE on July 5, 2020, shortly after its closest approach to the sun. (NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Naval Research Lab/Parker Solar Probe/Brendan Gallagher via The New York Times)
11 minutes ago

The Fastest Spacecraft Ever Heads for Its Close-Up With the Sun

14 minutes ago

Survey: Small Businesses Are Feeling More Optimistic About the Economy After the Election

An American Airlines employee wearing a Santa Claus hat looks toward quiet check-in counters in the American terminal at Miami International Airport, on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
25 minutes ago

Heavy Travel Day off to a Rough Start After American Airlines Briefly Grounds All Flights

27 minutes ago

Global Monitor Says Famine Is Weeks Away in North Gaza. A US Diplomat Calls Warning ‘Irresponsible’

A security guard watches the entrance to the closed Santa Cruz Wharf in Santa Cruz, Calif., Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP/Nic Coury)
29 minutes ago

California Residents on Edge as High Surf and Flooding Threats Persist on Christmas Eve

33 minutes ago

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Holds Near Breakeven Ahead of Christmas

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend