Iconic American Climber John Bachar Killed in Soloing Fall
Jimmy Dunn called me this morning at 6:30 and gave me the bad news that John Bachar was killed after he fell from an 80-foot route while free-soloing on California granite yesterday. The 51-year-old Bachar was found unresponsive on July 5 at the base of Dike Wall, one of his favorite climbing areas near his home in Mammoth Lakes, California. He was climbing alone and without a rope at the time. Paramedics transported him to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. John, the owner and designer of Acopa Shoes, leaves behind a son Tyrus.
John Bachar was simply the greatest and best climber of my generation. John redefined the limits of the possible with his audacious climbs, both with and without a rope, and his uncompromising ethics.
John’s climbing achievements are many. He put up the first 5.12 route in Yosemite Valley and in 1978 worked on the the iconic Midnight Lightning boulder problem in Camp 4 with Ron Kauk, who claimed the first ascent. With Peter Croft in 1986, he linked The Nose of El Capitan and the Northwest Face of Half Dome in 14 hours. In 1981 Bachar established with Dave Yerian the landmark route Bachar-Yerian (5.11c), a 500-foot free climb in Tuolumne Meadows that was bolted on the lead with a mere 13 bolts. John Bachar was an outspoken critic of rappel-bolted routes, which became popular in the 1980s, feeling that they took a lot of the adventure out of climbing.
John Bachar was well known for his many solo climbs over the years. In Yosemite he soloed New Dimensions, The Nabisco Wall, and The Moratorium, all 5.11s, in the 1980s. He also regularly soloed lots of routes at Joshua Tree, linking as many as 100 in a day.
Since John’s death yesterday many climbers and friends have posted comments and thoughts on the SuperTopo forum. John Long, a long-time friend and himself a great climber, wrote: “I remember driving all the way out to Fort Collins in the early 1970s to meet JB and go on a grand bouldering tour and try and pick off as many Gill problems as we could…. Bachar could basically climb anything back then, and his free soloing was off the charts. He was the best, and anyone who saw him on the sharp end knew they were watching something rare, a real trad master.”
Pat Ament noted: “John was my beloved friend. He was the next generation, and its star. He treated me respectfully and as a friend. We had bouldered already for years and done climbs, when in 1975 we climbed New Dimensions together. In his presence I simply climbed better. He honestly told me he had never seen anyone climb that final crux pitch so easily. But then I had a rope, and he had soloed it, which was a bit beyond my imagination.”
These days I only saw John at the Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City, where I would stop by the Acopa booth and talk to him about climbing and rock shoes and the latest news. He was always accommodating and friendly, sometimes giving a new pair of shoes to try out. I looked forward to seeing him at the next show in a couple weeks. John, you’re going to be missed.
Photographs: The great John Bachar at Joshua Tree National Park in 2006. Photographs courtesy Karl Baba
Comments
I think Ron Kauk did the FA of Midnight Lightning
I thought both Ron and John had worked on it and basically did it together, although Ron did it first. I’ll check on that. Thanks.
One of the two did the FA (I believe Bachar Bachar), but then a hold broke and the other (Kauk, if memory serves me right) did the FA of the ‘new’ “Midnight Lighhtening”, which is as it is now. Ignoring the broken hold detail, I think Bachar did the FA of the line.
Um, what an incredibly selfish man. He left behind a child? Soloing is like riding a motorcycle without a helmet. Not to be admired.
erehwon: Can you undo what was done. You call him selfish but I think you are disrespectful of my friend.
This can’t be a surprise to anyone. Anyone who makes a habit of free soloing is going to end up this way if something else doesn’t get them first. His skill was great. I respect his choice to live and climb freely. But the result is inevitable. No one is invincible. Holds break, weather, anything could have caused him to fall. I’m glad he did have a son who can carry on in his stead. That’s part of living a full life. I just wish he he hadn’t died in a situation where it was totally preventable.
@Helmet, that’s like saying you’re going to die of something, eventually. True dat.
This is a sad story. People do what they do because they have to do it. It’s no more selfish to do a solo climb than it is to get in a car and drive to work. Millions of people die in car accidents. And this man would have been a terrible father were he to have been denied the opportunity to climb this way.
RIP.
@Leslie, the margin for error is much much greater in a car. Millions of people commute every day with no problem. Presumably they wear seatbelts, have airbags, crumple zones, etc, that like a rope reduce the risk of death if something does go wrong. With free soloing you can be pretty sure that one broken hold in the midst of a move will equate to death. All I’m saying is he would’ve still been great if he’d buckled up on his “drive to work.” I hope his story will inspire others to be safe, not to take unnecessary risks. Otherwise we could see climbing areas closed because authorities don’t want to deal with the inevitable cleanup. Bouldering and lead falls lead to plenty of injuries, but going higher without any pro is just chosing risk over life. Let’s honor the man by losing fewer climbers in the future.
Well said, Leslie and Helmet. It’s a double-edged sword, isn’t it? I did some free solos when I was young and was probably lucky. It took a 20-foot plunge off a highball boulder problem, now aptly named “Stew’s Plunge,” to rattle my senses. If we don’t free solo climbs, we’re gonna live long and prosper…maybe. But if we do free solo then we have to accept the consequences of falling. JB always accepted the consequences. He lived by the sword. We can admire him for that, but we don’t have to emulate him.
You People! Shame on you for criticising a life none of us can understand. The fact that Bachar has left a son behind may, in the end, be tragic… most of us, we will not know.
The fact is, we all have a bit of the JB spirit in us, and the part of us that jumps to criticism and condescention of his life and practice is married to that part of us that wishes we could live a bit more freely.
So before you punch your tired cliches about responsibility and purpose onto your screen, look closely at yourselves and notice where you fall short of your own potential.
_jp
Good points Perry. I don’t think anyone is being critical of John. JB made his choices and was a total bad-ass. Best climber in the world for a long time. He walked the talk. He lived his life to the fullest on the thin edge between life and death. His choices, his responsibility. JB wouldn’t and couldn’t have done it any other way. We do fall short of our own potential and accept other responsibilities. That wasn’t JB’s way…but none of us have JB’s drive, determination, and sheer ability. Best in the world. That was how he lived.
Perry and Climbing, C’mon guys. When you become a parent, there is only one thing you owe your children: everything. When you’re gone, you fail to live up to the obligation. If JB wanted to live (and die) like this, he should have left children out of the equation. He has failed Tyrus. That’s the “choice” he made. Failure. I’ve backed off many climbs over the years in the interest of staying around. My daughter and I both benefit from that choice. I say be a man and be around.
I only shook his chalked hand once and saw him solo a couple of times–while I tasted a climber’s valley life of the mid-eighties.
It appears we can (finally) wag statistics John’s way.
Then again, how many lives did he really live during his tenure? It had to of been more than nine.
Let’s do the math: Statistically speaking, how many mangy middle-aged men wouldn’t trade a couple years of fluff to live but one week on John’s Bacher’s terms?
Then again, It’s improbable than even 99.99% of us can begin to grasp 1 % of Bacher’s movement over stone.
It’s hard to think of a comparison.
Would anyone begrudge Michael Phelps his swimming if he were to pass out and drown one day because he over did it? Don’t astronauts regret burning up 3 minutes after blasting off? Did they sign a waiver? How many of us are all too aware the risks of comfortably living within our means?
Granted, the risk of free-soloing hard stuff daily for decades, even with John’s skills wanders into unchartered territory.
In John’s case, climbing, or rather– his interpretation of it was something he played for keeps.
I lived in Yosemite Valley in the 1980s and John, Ron, Peter and those guys were living a beautiful rich life. They were the best. The saying “died doing what he loved” could never be more true in John’s case. RIP.
These are thoughtful comments on both sides. I’ve thought about this a lot and twice, in 1986 and again around a decade later, had assignments to write about and interview John for Sports Illustrated (unfortunately bizarre politics prevented both from being published, even though the second was by-lined by their top writer, Rick Reilly).
I was incredibly impressed with John’s accomplishments, ethics and passion. So those of you who laud him I feel are right to do so. Maybe the measure of our lives isn’t how long we live, but how much we love what we’re doing and others along the way. Since John probably climbed more hard routes that just about anyone (many for training) and undoubtedly soloed more hard routes than anyone, then in one sense that should be the measure of his life. And by that standard, he lived more and more intensely than dozens of average lives combined.
But I also agree that at some point the odds of soloing safely are against you, and once you have a child the equation should probably change so that you can be around for them as long as possible.
In the end I don’t think it’s an either/or. I think you’re all right.
Hey John, wherever you are I’m confident you’ll be breaking new ground and probably doing stuff nobody’s ever done before. Keep it up, and keep safe.
John Bacher became a hero to me when I was a troubled teen. I never met the man but his attitude and bravery hit me like a ton of bricks. He inspired me to climb in Yosemite under the hammer of the Gods. While standing frozen on a well known dome route in the high country. Bacher climbed past on a much harder route 20 feet to my right ”SOLO”. It was like seeing super man in the flesh. I sucked it up and continued on in style. I felt like I was living in technocolor. Thank you John for changing my life from troubles kid to, inspired human. I still have that poster of you climbing ”OZ”. YOUR STILL A HERO TO SO MANY!
I will try just about anything on a climb. Fortunately, all the climbing decisions are made not by me, but by my daughter’s father. He made a promise that he would always come home after the climb. TTOW.
“The world is not round. It is vertical for those who seek to touch the face of god, and speak with the tongue of angels”. You are among the angels now John.