Underhill Robert Lindley Murray

(Bearbeiten)

Biografie:
geboren in Sing-Sing (USA - jetzt Ossinning, New York)
gestorben in Randolph, New Hampshire (USA)

Robert Underhill war einer der führenden Persönlichkeiten und Kletterpionier im Bergsteigen in den USA. Er konnte viele Erstbegehungen in den New England-Massiven verbuchen. Auch als Chefredakteur der Bergsteigerzeitschrift „Appalachia“ wurde er bekannt. Er trug viel zur Entwicklung des sportlich orientiertem Kletterns in Nordamerika bei. Er war Kletterparner von
Glen Dawson, Jules Eichhorn,Normen Clyde,Fritiof Fryxell,Lincoln O’Brien

1928 1.Beg.Cannon Mountain „Old Cannon“,300 HM, (New Hampshhire,USA)
1928 Beg.Peutereygrat, (Montblancgebiet)
1928 Beg.Montblanc-Brenvaflanke „Brenvasporn“,IV-,Eis 50°,900 HM,4807m,
(Montblancgebiet)
1928 Beg.im Abstieg Montblanc Innominatagrat, (Montblancgebiet)
1928 1.Gesamtüberschreit.Montblanc du Tacul-Südostgrat (Teufelsgrat)
u.Aiguille du Diable,V-,800 HM,4248m, (Montblancgebiet)
1931 1.Beg.Grand Teton-Nordkante,4199m, (Wyoming,USA)
1931 1.Beg.Mount Whitney-Ostwand,600 HM, (Sierra Nevada,USA)


ROBERT LINDLEY MURRAY UNDERHILL
1889-1983
With Robert Underhill’s death on May 11, 1983, after a short illness, America lost one of its pioneers in the advancement of technical climbing. A quiet and unassuming person, he never advertised his exploits but rather let them speak for themselves. He was always ready to provide information or a helping hand to aspiring climbers. The information he brought to western climbers in his 1931 trip with the Sierra Club was used by them to good effect as is attested to by the present development of rock climbing in Yosemite.
Robert L. M. Underhill was born March 3, 1889 in Sing Sing, New York, a town the citizens of which later changed its name to Ossining to remove any imputation of any connection with the nearby state prison. Following his graduation with an A.B. degree from Haverford in 1909, he started climbing in the Alps and while acquiring an A.M. in 1911 and a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1916, continued to make more climbs in various parts of the Alps. A part of this period was spent studying in Germany, which made the Alps even more accessible, and also made him thoroughly acquainted with the German language. He served for a short while in 1918 as instructor in mathematics at Harvard and later as tutor in the Philosophy Department from 1925 to 1931 and as instructor in that department from 1928 to 1931. He left Harvard in June 1931 and six months later, on January 28, 1932, married Miriam O’Brien, with whom most of his later climbs both in this country and the Alps were made.
He made many outstanding climbs in the Alps, often led or guideless, among them the Brenva and Peuterey ridges and the first descent of the Innominata ridge of Mont Blanc, all these when climbs in the south face were few and far between. Among his climbs in the Pennine Alps were the east face of the Dom, Matterhorn guideless, and the Viereselgrat on the Dent Blanche. He made the second ascent of the west face of the Piz Bernina and in the Dolomites a guideless ascent of the Schmit Kamin of the Fünffingerspitze. The single-day traverse of the Aiguilles du Diable in the Mont Blanc region with Miriam is legendary.
My first association with Bob was through the Harvard Mountaineering Club and the rock climbers of the Appalachian Mountain Club during his teaching years at Harvard. My description of the fine snow-and-ice face of Gannett Peak and the excellent climbing in the Wind River and Teton Ranges led to our planning a trip there with Henry Hall in 1929 which culminated in climbs of all but one of the peaks in the Dinwoody cirque in the Wind Rivers as first ascents, new routes or first traverses. We then went to the Tetons where we first climbed the Grand Teton by the “Owen” route to check out its difficulties largely perhaps because of the Owen-Langford controversy of which we had been apprised by Francis Farquhar, who had compiled a rather complete book of the material on it. We then climbed the east ridge of the mountain, the first new route to be done. Upon hearing of this, F.M. Fryxell, the ranger-naturalist of the newly established Grand Teton National Park, asked us to come back the following year to climb Mount Owen, which had been tried many times without success. We did return the next year after a two-week sojourn in the west side of the Wind River Range during which we made many first ascents, and with Fryxell and Phil Smith, another ranger, made the first ascent of Mount Owen, discovering two routes on the final summit knob. Later Underhill and I made the first ascent of Teepe’s Pillar and attempted the southeast ridge of the Grand but were thwarted by thunderstorms of long duration. The next year Underhill returned alone and completed the ascent of that ridge and with Fryxell made the first ascent of the north ridge. That same year Underhill accepted the invitation of Francis Farquhar to join the Sierra Club on its annual High Sierra trip, during which he imparted much of the lore of European climbers to the active leaders of the Sierra Club. With Norman Clyde, and two young eager climbers, Jules Eichhorn and Glen Dawson, he made the first ascent of the east face of Mount Whitney, thus breaking the myth that the face was a sheer unclimbable wall.
Following his marriage, he spent an increasing amount of time on the preparation of his long contemplated book on Logic, but found time to make a number of trips with his wife, Miriam, to the various ranges of the northern Rocky Mountains of Montana and to write articles on them to help others find the best possibilities of the region. Together Bob and Miriam made many first ascents on these ranges. After their removal to Randolph, N.H. they started a project of climbing all the 4000-foot peaks in the White Mountains in winter, a feat which they completed in 1960.
In 1928 Underhill acceded to the request of Dean Peabody, then President of the Appalachian Mountain Club, to assume the editorship of Appalachia, the journal of that organization, which had not been published for several years. He set new high standards for contents and regularity of publication over the next six years, only retiring from the post at the end of 1934 when it was a flourishing journal. His experience in that position made him an invaluable advisor to subsequent editors, one of whom was his wife, Miriam. During all those years when he was actively rock-or ice-climbing in the White Mountains or Katahdin, or mountaineering in the western cordillera, or climbing in the Alps, he still spent an enormous amount of time in research for his long contemplated book on Logic, and after accumulating prodigious files of notes completed the writing some three years ago. Ever the perfectionist, he continued to edit and revise the manuscript with a view to its eventual posthumous publication. Considering the time, care, and attention which he devoted to its production, its publication should assure him as outstanding place in the field of Philosphy as he has already achieved in mountaineering.
Kenneth A. Henderson
Quelle: American Alpine Journal 1984, Volume 26, Seite 344

RobertL. M. Underhill1889-1983
Today there are more mountain climbers in the United States in areas near the Pacific Coast than anywhere else in the country, and the technical achievements ofmany of them have become internationally recognised. Fifty years ago this was not so. Climbers in these regions were then regarded as particularly lacking in climbing skills. The man who more than any other brought about this Change died on 11 May, 1983 at the age of94. He was Robert L. M. Underhill, from the Atlantic Coast, 3000 miles away, who spent his last years in the White Mountains in Randolph, New Hampshire.
Bob Underhill was born in Singsing, New York (now known as Ossinning) on 3 March, 1889. He attended Haverford College and after his graduation in 1909 went to Europe for a tour. Here he discovered the Swiss Alps and began a love of climbing that lasted a lifetime. He was there in 1914 (studying at Heidelberg at he time World War I began) and through the climbing seasons of 1925 through 1928, as well as 1932 and 1938, not counting later visits with his sons. In the intervening years he had studied mathematics and philosophy at Harvard, won his A.M. and Ph.D. degrees, and been for n:any years a member of the Philosophy Department at that university. In his later years he devoted much time to a book on logic.
His climbs began with Swiss guides, from whom he learned the best techniques of the day. They included the East Face of the Dam, the E Ridge of the Jungfrau, the second ascent of the W Face of the Piz Bernina, a traverse of the Meije, and the Brenva and Peuterey Ridges ofMont Blanc. He also made the first descent of the Innominata Ridge. Guideless climbs included ascents of Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn, the Requin and the Chimney of the Fünffingerspitze. The climbs he remembered best, however, were those made in 1928 with the charming and equally experienced alpinist Miriam O'Brien, who was later to become his wife and lifelong companion. 'Sous-Ia-Colline,' as he was named by the Swiss guides, and Miriam, with Armand Charlet and George Cachat were the first to make the complete traverse of the five Aiguilles du Diable in Chamonix. Four of the five had been done belore but parts ofthe traverse, such as the descent of the NW Face of the Mediane, were new, and nobody had tried to
do the whole traverse. It took them nine hours and is still a highly regarded climb. In 1930 the Guide Vallot declared ... 'it does not seem exaggerated to say that this itinerary constitutes probably the most difficult big ridge climb ofthe Alps.' They made other climbs that year, such as a guideless ascent of the Viereselgrat, but the traverse was their finest ascent. In 1929 and 1930 Bob and Kenneth Henderson began their great climbs in the small Grand Teton Range in Wyoming, where they left their mark. They climbed the tricky E Ridge of the Grand Teton in 1929 and made the first ascent of Mount Owen the next year. Later, with Fryxell he climbed the difficult N Ridge by ist Chockstone Chimney, then perhaps the hardest big climb done in the USA. He also on his third attempt climbed the SW Ridge, now known as the Underhill Ridge. These are all well-known climbs today. In addition, in the neighbouring Wind Rjver Range with Henderson and Henry S. Hall,Jr., he made a new route on Mt. Gannett, the highest peak, together with a first ascent of the Sphinx, the first traverse ofTurret and also of Warren, Doublet and Dinwoodie, together with other ascen ts in this a ttractive range. I t was in 1932 that he went to California to give his famous talk on the "Use and
Management of the Rope." Other Easterners who had climbed in Europe had been using advanced techniques for many years but their methods were in general unknown to climbers in the 'Vest, who lacked equipment and knowledge. Even in the late 1930's one now famous American climber arrived at the base of Mt. Rainier with a self-made ice-axe developed from a gardening tool. Underhill's talk, later published in the Sierra Club Bulletin, and his ascent of the unclimbed face of Mt. Whitney with three well-known California climbers, caused an extraordinary surge of interest in climbing techniques, with a ripple effect along the mountain chains of the West Coast.
Other parts of the continent were visited too. Underhill was in the Canadian Rockies in 1929 and. 1930, and with his brother-in-law made a determined attempt on Mr. Robson's Emperor Falls Ridge, climbing on frost feathers to within 300 feet of the summit. It was there that Robert O'Brien made the comment, 'Robert, ifour objective in life is making first ascents, I believe we will make more of them ifwe avoid making this one.' They descended. He was more successful with pioneer climbs in other western mounta.ins such as the Sawtooth, Granite and Bighorn Ranges, while his many winter ascents and new routes in the White Mountains and on Mt. Katahdin in Maine are legend. In his later years he and Miriam began climbing all the 4000 ft peaks in New England in winter. Only those who know the severity of that region's winter snows and winds in mountains sometimes remote from roads can appreciate the challenge. Since 1960, when they completed the game, it has provided sport for
many others.
Bob influenced many young climbers through his articles in Appalachia, which he edited, and he and Miriam personally encouraged hundreds - maybe thousands - of climbers of all degrees of ability wherever they went, and they were in mountains somewhere much of the time. Bob has left an indelible mark on American climbing as attested by his honorary memberships and the high esteem with which he has long been regarded. "Ve shall all miss him.
Robert H. Bates
Quelle: Alpine Journal Volume 89, 1984, Seite 266-268

Geboren am:
03.03.1889
Gestorben am:
11.05.1983