36 Facts About Norman Clyde

Norman Clyde was a mountaineer, mountain guide, freelance writer, nature photographer, and self-trained naturalist.

Norman Clyde is well known for achieving over 130 first ascents, many in California's Sierra Nevada and Montana's Glacier National Park.

Norman Clyde set a speed climbing record on California's Mount Shasta in 1923.

Norman Clyde was born in Philadelphia, the son of a Reformed Presbyterian minister.

Norman Clyde attended Geneva College graduating in the Classics in June 1909.

On June 15,1915, Norman Clyde married Winifred May Bolster in Pasadena, California.

Norman Clyde was a nurse at a tuberculosis hospital and contracted the disease herself at approximately the time of their marriage.

Norman Clyde became principal of the high school in Independence, California in 1924, but resigned in 1928.

Norman Clyde admitted firing a pistol during a confrontation with some students who allegedly came to vandalize the school on Halloween night.

Norman Clyde said that considerable damage had been done to the school grounds the previous Halloween.

Norman Clyde had been issued a license to carry a concealed firearm on February 2,1928.

Norman Clyde earned some sporadic income as a mountain guide and freelance writer.

Norman Clyde began climbing in the Sierra Nevada in 1910, when he visited Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks, writing to his mother that "I climbed the highest mountains in the region".

Norman Clyde began a regimented program of mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada in 1914, including the first of his first ascents.

Norman Clyde first climbed Mount Shasta in 1916, and climbed that peak a total of twelve times.

In 1920, Norman Clyde journeyed with a Sierra Club group from Yosemite Valley to the Evolution Basin, completing many climbs along the way.

Norman Clyde set a speed climbing record on Mount Shasta in 1923, ascending from Horse Camp at approximately 8,000 feet to the summit at 14,162 feet in 3 hours and 17 minutes.

Norman Clyde returned to climb in Glacier National Park in 1924 and 1937.

Norman Clyde made several additional first ascents in California that year.

Norman Clyde spent six weeks traversing the San Gabriels of Southern California, probably in 1929.

Norman Clyde's first published works appeared as a series of articles entitled "Close Ups of the High Sierra" in 1928, in the Automobile Club of Southern California's magazine, Touring Topics, and were later republished as a perfect-bound edition in 1962 by La Siesta Press, edited by Walt Wheelock.

Norman Clyde met David Brower in the Sierra Nevada in 1933, and in 1934 spent time with Brower and Hervey Voge as the younger men bagged 32 first ascents in ten weeks traveling through the High Sierra.

Norman Clyde served as climbing leader on many High Trips sponsored by the Sierra Club and became known as "the pack that walks like a man" because of the huge backpacks he carried.

Norman Clyde led or participated in many mountain rescues and is credited with saving a number of lives.

Norman Clyde helped in many recoveries of dead climbers, such as 18-year-old Howard Lamel, killed in a fall on Mount Whitney in 1930.

Norman Clyde is remembered for discovering Pete Starr's body in the Minarets, in 1933, after all other searchers gave up.

Norman Clyde later returned to the site with Jules Eichorn, and they buried Starr's body where Norman Clyde had found it on Michael Minaret.

Norman Clyde still guided parties into the Sierra into the 1960s, when he was in his seventies.

Norman Clyde, who had been trained in the classics, loved to read books in Latin and Greek.

At the Baker ranch-house, Norman Clyde had thousands of rare classical books.

Norman Clyde died in Bishop on December 23,1972, at age 87, surrounded by the high peaks of the Sierra Nevada that he loved so much.

Norman Clyde received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from his alma mater, Geneva College, in 1939.

Norman Clyde received the college's Distinguished Service Award in 1962.

Clyde Minaret, Clyde Spires, Clyde's Ledge, Clyde's Meadow along the Mountaineer's Route on Mount Whitney, and Norman Clyde Peak bear his name.

Norman Clyde's ashes were scattered from Norman Clyde Peak by Smoke Blanchard, his son Bob Blanchard, and a party that included Jules Eichorn.

The foreword to the 1998 edition of Close Ups of the High Sierra included a brief biography of Norman Clyde, written by Benti, which contained the first in-depth information published about Norman Clyde's wife, Winifred Bolster.