Celebrating Camp 4
National Register of Historic Places Designation 21st Anniversary
February 21, marks the 21st anniversary of the addition of Camp 4 in Yosemite National Park to the National Register of Historic Places for the internationally significant role it played in the development of big wall climbing. As the Yosemite Climbing Association (YCA) sought to recognize this momentous event, they reached out to those who were at the center of the efforts that ultimately led to Camp 4’s recognition, to gain their perspective on how the Federal Government and the climbing community were able to bridge an ideological divide and reach agreement.
First ascensionist (NW Face of Half Dome, 1957) and current YCA Board Chair, Jerry Gallwas, shared his recollections of this seminal moment in history, and sought out those of John Reynolds, NPS Regional Director, Pacific West Region, and Dick Duane, Tom Frost’s attorney, the principals in the Camp 4 litigation. The following excerpts from their conversation shed light on how the power of shared vision and voluntary consensus in the climbing community altered a national policy decision and fixed Camp 4’s position as a national icon in perpetuity.
The Golden Years of Yosemite climbing, when so many groundbreaking techniques and technologies were developed in Yosemite, found the climbing community and NPS at odds over many issues. Climbers in Camp 4 were rowdy, stole wood from the Government supply, snuck into the concessionaires’ showers, and were generally disruptive in the Lodge bar. The conflict came to a head in 1997. Flooding in the Park had disrupted employee housing and Park management proposed building a three-story dormitory complex near Camp 4. Tom Frost, in collaboration with the American Alpine Club and others, filed a lawsuit to stop construction. The suit was ultimately settled in their favor and according to Dick Duane, attorney for Tom Frost, the overriding factor in coming to a settlement was the integrity and civility of NPS Regional Director, John Reynolds.
Reflecting on the 2003, addition of Camp 4 to the National Register of Historical Places, Reynolds recalls, “The saga began three or four years earlier. Some of the notable pioneers of big wall climbing such as Yvon Chouinard and Tom Frost banded together, prepared a nomination for Camp 4 to be added to the National Register and submitted it. It was rejected and the NPS was unified in believing that there was no credible basis for Camp 4 being found of national significance. I was the NPS regional director over Yosemite, and fully agreed.”
In response, “the American Alpine Club posted a call for letters and e-mails to me, as the NPS official responsible, asking its affiliates around the world to write and inform me about why both I and the NPS should change their minds. The core message to be delivered was that Camp 4 was nationally significant because climbers camped there had pioneered both the techniques and ethics of big wall climbing.”
“Scores of emails with virtually the same message came pouring into my computer at work. I read them all. Within a couple of days, there were hundreds (or at least felt like it). Since they were basically just regurgitations of the message started by AAC, and while I appreciated the passion and caring, there was nothing of added historical significance that led me to think about changing my mind or believing that a court case would find in favor of the climbing community.”
“On about the third day, the substance of the emails began to evolve. And within another three or four days there was worldwide agreement on a different, and more holistic argument.”
“The question of significance expanded from just Camp 4 and big wall climbing to a broader agreement that changed the perspective. The consensus from around the world was that there are three places, three base camps, where climbing technique and ethics evolved, one for each major category of climbing: the camp at Everest for high altitude climbing, the camp at Chamonix for Alpine climbing and Camp 4 for big wall climbing.”
“I was stunned. My immediate reaction after reading, goodness knows, how many emails was that “they,” the authors, had created an international consensus of experts that had never been wrong.”
“After talking with our attorney, historians on the National Register staff, the park superintendent and the NPS directorate, I called Dick Duane, the climbers’ attorney, and wonderful person, and told him I had concluded we were wrong and NPS agreed with me. I asked if we could find a way out of the lawsuit and officially recognize Camp 4. I think Dick was the stunned one then, followed by the principals in the lawsuit. And we agreed to start over.”
“The rest is history. The results were better than expected. It not only was that Camp 4’s significance was established and recognized, but an era of NPS and Yosemite climbing community respect and partnership that is now over 20 years grew out of it all.
“The basis for this change should hold well into the future. The climbers and NPS have had major disagreements since then, . . . But the mutual respect by virtually all participants remains intact.”
Reynolds concluded, “As new issues come to bear, I hope that all will approach them with candor, respect and within the underlying understanding that Camp 4 and climbing the big walls of Yosemite are of international significance. Because of the efforts of people who cared, Camp 4 will forever be recognized and revered as one of “three major places in the world [where] the technique and ethics of climbing have evolved.”
In 2013, a panel consisting of Tom Frost, John Reynolds, Dick Duane and Charles Palmer, Former Yosemite Park Historian, was convened at the Oakdale Climbers Festival to tell the story of how Camp 4 came to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. We share the following video footage excerpts from Standing Our Ground: The Preservation of Camp 4, courtesy of Stephen Grossman and the North American Climbing History Archives (NACHA).
Excerpt 1: It Began With a Flood
