Handmade metal piton used by George Whitmore
date: label: date made
content: ca 1958
name: label: Associated Name
content: Whitmore, George
notes: label: Description
content: Handmade metal piton used by George Whitmore in the first successful climb of El Capitan in 1958. Piton has three edges, all very rough. Hole through center. Stamped <i>G W W </i>.
label: Description
content: In 1957-1958, Whitmore, along with friends Warren Harding and Wayne Merry, scaled the 3,000-foot tall <i>nose</i> of the largest granite monolith in the world, Yosemite Valley's El Capitan rock formation. Using siege techniques (scaling upwards, attacddhing ropes and establishing camps,) the 47-day ascent was accomplished by the young Californians over the span of 18 months. Routes were established by placing pitons or expansion bits into drilled holes. They would work for a day, return home, and resume at the next opportunity.
label: Description
content: The trio reached El Capitan's peak on November 12, 1958, an accomplishment that not only shook the climbing community but made international news.
label: Description
content: After the climb, Whitmore worked as a pharmacist before quitting to devote his life to environmental issues, especially in working with the Sierra Club, with whom he successfully advocated for the passage of the California Wilderness Act, helped create the Kaiser wilderness, and argued against a planned Disney snow resort. Whitmore said about the role mountain climbers and other outdoor recreationalists have in protecting the environment,, <i> you want people doing these things… Because otherwise, eventually, it (the natural world) will be lost to somebody who wants to use it for something else. <i>
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Sport and Leisure
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2023.0073.03
label: accession number
content: 2023.0073
label: catalog number
content: 2023.0073.03
objectType: label: Object Name
content: piton
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 7 in x 1 3/4 in x 1 1/2 in; 17.78 cm x 4.445 cm x 3.81 cm