Climbing History
Reardon started climbing as a child on the boulders in his grandfather’s backyard. Together with his cousins, both his climbing skills and his interest in climbing were challenged and developed. Bouldering in a backyard turned to 3-day hikes in the Appalachian Mountains, and then to ridgerunning in the Rocky Mountains. Reardon eventually found himself in California where his climbing skills were fostered even further.
Reardon’s first formal climb was at Tahquitz, CA on a 1,000-foot route called Whodunit (5.9), with a “crusty old climber.” As the story goes, halfway up the route, the crusty handed Michael some gear and told him, “You’ll use these when you’re scared.”
After the successful ascent, the pair had enough time to climb a 500 foot 5.7. Reardon had now officially caught the climbing bug. Because he didn’t have any friends to climb with, or any gear of his own, Reardon was forced to start climbing without ropes. He returned to the 5.7 climb, and soon found himself at the top, without having to rely on any ropes.
Read more about this topic: Michael Reardon (climber)
Famous quotes containing the words climbing and/or history:
“One who pressed forward incessantly and never rested from his labors, who grew fast and made infinite demands on life, would always find himself in a new country or wilderness, and surrounded by the raw material of life. He would be climbing over the prostrate stems of primitive forest-trees.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Boys forget what their country means by just reading “the land of the free” in history books. Then they get to be men, they forget even more. Liberty’s too precious a thing to be buried in books.”
—Sidney Buchman (1902–1975)