Mark Wilford in Cast

by Dave Diegelman

Title

Mark Wilford in Cast

Artist

Dave Diegelman

Medium

Photograph - Archival Photographs

Description

Mark Wilford in Cast was an image made at Horsetooth Reservoir during an ice climbing pilgrimage that Augie Klein and I made to Colorado way back in the day. This is an excerpt from a writing project of mine:

We arrived in Ft. Collins and stayed with Mark Wilford’s place which was a gardening shed outside of his parents’ place. Mark lived in perpetual alpine training as the 8’x12’ shed had no heat nor electricity. Mark had invited us to bivy there and so we too slept in our down winter bags with the outside temps dropping well below zero that night. We awoke to the crooning of Canadian Geese that were out on the property's frozen lake. We quickly made our way through the arctic morning to his parent’s house and had some coffee with his parents who were remarkably normal! I pondered this for a while then Mark asked if we could drive him to various appointments over the next few days…”yeah I had my license suspended a few weeks ago. I was driving down this real winding road in my Austin when I passed a car on sort of a blind turn. The guy then stepped on it from behind me and like I thought he was on for a race on my home turf so I’m like thinking, you’re on! We really pushed it for the next few miles. I was so engrossed in the driving that I didn’t notice the red lights on his car flashing” he mentioned as if this would have been anyone’s normal reaction to such a challenge. “When he finally pulled me over he immediately put cuffs on me and hauled me in. My parents agreed to post bail but it’s not a real good situation with them right now” he said with a slight smirk.'

After ice climbing around Boulder and RMNP the winter temps turned really warm so with ice out of our minds we headed back up to Ft. Collins to go bouldering with Mark. Turns out what he could do with a cast on, we couldn't even touch. To be fair I was nursing a tendon injury and just tried a few one handed things but soon took up my camera and we made the image of Mark cruising one of many hard problems while still in a cast. Mark was a phenomenal climber who I first met in Yosemite when he strolled up barefoot to introduce himself while I was working on my VW van in the lodge parking lot. Not used to seeing climbers stroll around barefoot I asked him what he was up to. "I just got done free-soloing the Steck-Salathe (a serious 1,200' climb on Sentinel rock) and the bummer was that I neglected to bring shoes for the descent" he mumbled as if it were a something that I could relate to. Turns out he and his buddy Skip Guerin had been climbing and living barefoot for a while and did some pretty amazing things barefoot.

Mark went on to tic off a remarkable list climbing accomplishments throughout the world but in my eyes he will always be one of the most notable rock climbers of his era.

If you're interested in acquiring a mural-sized wall covering of this piece, feel free to inquire via email. It's a part of my Limited Edition series, with only 100 prints available. Please note that the price increases as it sells. Just like all my editions, you can obtain certificates of authenticity by providing proof of purchase and your mailing address. Please send the necessary information to ddiegelman@gmail.com.

Photo & Text All Rights Reserved © Dave Diegelman

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Uploaded

January 19th, 2024

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