Thought some of you might be interested in this. As a long time valley bum
and wall rat, this caught my attention.
-mattthew

http://sacbee.com/content/lifestyle/history/story/1776289p-1855584c.html

Yosemite climbing icon dies

In 1958, Warren Harding captured one of the greatest
mountaineering prizes: El Capitan.
By Ted Bell -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 5:30 a.m. PST Wednesday, March 6, 2002

Warren J. Harding, one of international rock
climbing's
pioneers and icons best known for his climbs in
Yosemite,
died Feb. 27 of liver failure.

Mr. Harding was 77 when he died in his home near
Anderson in
Shasta County.

Mr. Harding was one of a few young men, seen by some
during
the 1950s as rebellious and thrill-seeking and by
others as
stark-raving mad, who began challenging peaks and
rocks,
especially in Yosemite Valley, that were considered
unclimbable.

Mr. Harding was best known for the first ascent of El
Capitan, an expedition he led up the "Nose" of the
peak that
reached the top on Nov. 12, 1958.

Among other "firsts" in Yosemite and the Sierra
attributed
to Mr. Harding were the conquests of the east face of
Washington Column, the south face of Mount Watkins,
the
south face of Half Dome, the Porcelain Wall, Keeler
Needle,
the west face of Mount Conness and the Wall of the
Early
Morning Light, a blank section of El Capitan.

The latter climb in 1970 was a high mark of his rock
climbing career. Mr. Harding, then a resident of West
Sacramento, and partner Dean Caldwell spent 27 days in
the
climb. It took that long due to bad weather, and
national
media gave daily reports on their progress.

The climb also spurred a nasty battle between Mr.
Harding's
fans and critics who were put off with his use of
expansion
bolts (some 300 rivets and bolts were left in the rock
face)
and some scathing remarks he directed at those
critics.

An army of reporters mobbed the two when they made it
to the
top. To this, Mr. Harding quipped: "Instead of an
unemployed
construction worker, I'm (now) an unemployed
television
star."

Born in Oakland, Mr. Harding was reared in
Downieville,
where he attended a one-room schoolhouse. His father
worked
for the then-state Department of Highways, and the
family
moved to Marysville, where he graduated from
Marysville
Union High School in 1941.

Mr. Harding worked as a propeller mechanic at
Sacramento's
McClellan Field during World War II. After the war, he
began
a career as a surveyor, first for the state and then
for the
private construction industry.

After retiring in 1988, Mr. Harding moved to Utah. He
moved
back to California in the Happy Valley area outside
Anderson
in 1993.

"He was the ultimate individualist," said Yolo County
Supervisor Mike McGowan, whose wife was a niece of Mr.
Harding. "To him rock climbing was an individualist's
sport
and authority be damned."

"He had his own way of doing things," said his
longtime
companion, Alice Flomp. "He didn't take himself
seriously,
and he urged others to think the same way about
themselves.
He felt people should be left to make their own
decisions."

Asked once by a Bee reporter about people who have a
passion
for climbing things best left to birds, Mr. Harding
replied:
"Actually, we're just glorified flagpole sitters."

And why did he climb mountains?

"I don't know, and I don't think I want to know. I
would
probably find it's insane," he said.

News of his death prompted many expressions of
admiration
and regret on rock climber Web sites both in the
United
States and Europe.

Mr. Harding is survived by Ms. Flomp of Happy Valley;
his
sister, Ardeth Barber; and nieces Sue McGowan and
Debbie
Barber, all of West Sacramento.

A memorial service is scheduled for noon Sunday in the
VFW
Hall, 905 Drever St., West Sacramento.

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