Young Bill Price Photograph by Dave Diegelman

Young Bill Price

by Dave Diegelman

Canvas Print

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Framed Print

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Art Print

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Poster

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Metal Print

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Acrylic Print

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Wood Print

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Tapestry

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Throw Pillow

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Fleece Blanket

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Duvet Cover

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Shower Curtain

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Bath Towel

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Ornament

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Jigsaw Puzzle

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Tote Bag

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Weekender Tote Bag

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Zip Pouch

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Portable Battery Charger

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Yoga Mat

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Greeting Card

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Spiral Notebook

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Sticker

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iPhone Case

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Beach Towel

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Round Beach Towel

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Weekender Tote Bag

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Coffee Mug

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Men's Clothing

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Women's Clothing

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Youth Clothing

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Toddler Clothing

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Baby Clothing

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Title

Young Bill Price

Artist

Dave Diegelman

Medium

Photograph - Archival Photographs

Description

A Young Bill Price was captured In 1976, when he was a 14-year-old freshman, and I, a 17-year-old junior in the unique Ravenswood high school on the San Francisco Peninsula. Ravenswood, conceived to encourage voluntary integration in East Palo Alto, California, boasted an unconventional mountaineering/climbing program led by teachers Phil Arnot and Wendy Watkins, and particularly guided by the knowledgeable collegiate teacher-aide, David Lunn.

Lunn took us on weekly climbing adventures to local spots like Castle Rock State Park and weekend excursions to Pinnacles, Yosemite, Mt. Shasta, North Palisades, and various exotic climbing areas. He played a pivotal role in convincing the district to grant PE credits for the program, allowing us to train formally at school on essentials like an aid bolt ladder and hanging belay, as well as the underside of our school bleachers—a challenging 2 ¾” hand crack under a 45-degree roof. This program nurtured a group of world-class climbers, including Bill Price, Augie Klein, Kurt Rieder, Dave Yerian, Margi Rushmore, and Anne Whitehouse.

With Presidents' Day approaching in early February, I hatched the idea of a winter ascent of The Prow on Yosemite's Washington Column during the upcoming three-day weekend and Bill was game. Although we had experience in big wall aid climbing, each having climbed the South Face of Washington’s Column, tackling The Prow presented significantly more technical challenges and was considered a serious aid route back then. Further challenges included; we had very little gear, no pitons, no harnesses, no haul-bag, no hammocks, and the fact of it being winter added significant variables to the game. Undeterred by our apparent shortcomings, we resorted to resourcefulness—begging, borrowing, and crafting the necessary gear; making our haulbag and my hammock on my moms Singer sewing machine.

The critical challenge involved the massive quantity of pitons we would need but couldn't afford. We cautiously approached our instructor David, vaguely describing our Yosemite plans as "aid climbing," without revealing our specific target but due to the copious amounts of carabiners we also asked for he knew that something larger was brewing but remained stoic in stature as we pleaded our request. Shortly after consenting to lend us the gear, the glint in his eyes betrayed the realization that he was onto our intentions.

On a Friday afternoon, armed with hand-tied harnesses, aiders, wool knickers, and a slew of homemade gear, we set off in my mom's borrowed Fiat 128, arriving late at night to bivouac in the car in the Ahwahnee parking lot. The cramped sleeping arrangements, heightened excitement, and anticipation allowed little sleep, which wasn't a top priority during our high school days anyway.

The next morning, after a visit to the Ahwahnee's plush bathrooms and a breakfast of granola with powdered milk, we packed up and, guided by Steve Roper's green Yosemite climbers guidebook, headed toward the base. Looking back I'm amazed at how Roper's paragraph descriptions of the approaches, descents and routes got us to the base of anything, but they did!

As we prepared for the first lead, I seized a chance to discreetly capture a photo of Bill, who was camera-shy and never donned a smile when photos were being had in spite of his normally jovial continence. We successfully completed the climb despite facing somewhat epic conditions for our clothing—85 degrees with no cooling wind. Our limited water supply, two quarts per person per day, fell perilously short of our needs. To discourage excessive drinking, we added brewer's yeast to foul the taste on the second day.

The route lived up to our expectations with long reaches, tied-off pitons, hooking moves, and various aid climbing techniques of the time. Our night in hammocks, though passable, was uncomfortable, exacerbated by a full moon constantly shining in our faces likened to car headlights shining in your face while trying to sleep. We summited just as darkness enveloped us on the second day, without the luxury of headlamps.

Aware that the moon would illuminate our descent in a few hours, we bivouacked briefly before navigating the dicey gully descent, fortunately free of snow. Returning back to the Awhanee parking lot around 2am we opted to drive home rather than risk getting hassled by the rangers with our non-conforming camping arrangement in the Fiat. Bill was too young to take driving shifts so when we arrived back home in Menlo Park I was grateful for the half-day's rest prior to heading back to school. Needless to say we were both tripping hard back at school after such a preposterous adventure.

Bill went on to be one of the best rock climbers in the world as both a free-climber and as a big-wall aid climber. His long list of big-wall accomplishments include, but not limited to, the youngest ascent of the Nose with Kurt Rieder (15 & 16 years old), first free ascent of the West Face of El Capitan with Ray Jardine, third ascent of the P.O. Wall at age16 with myself, Augie Klein and Guy Thompson, second Ascent of Sea of Dreams which he did with his new girlfriend Angie (now wife) and led every pitch, first ascent of Sunkist with Dale Bard, the first ascent of South Seas with Charlie Row and Guy Thompson, and the first ascent of Born Under a Bad Sign with Tim Washick (Bill led all of the crux pitches). His free climbing accomplishments, to name just a few; Cosmic Debris 5.31b, Cat's Squirrel 5.12a with Augie Klein, Energy Crisis 5.11d with Randy Grandstaff (RIP), Cookie Cutter 5.13b, Robin 5.12a with Tony Yaniro and a host of other notable first and second free ascents.

At the time of this writing he's 63 and still charging and putting up first ascents and doing outlandish things for a “senior,” like climbing the Nose in a day. However, if you were to encounter him around a campfire, you would never glean any of these achievements from him. He remains a modest man of few words, deeply devoted to his faith in Jesus and his cherished family.

Photo & Text All Rights Reserved © Dave Diegelman
@davediegelman