Mt. Conness
Date: August 12, 2015 (Wed)Trip Report #: 206Partner: Brian Luther
Route: SW Face (Harding Route) (5.10c, 1200')
This climb has a reputation for being burly and it doesn't disappoint. This is one of my favorite Sierra routes to date.
1959 Accident Report
There is a memorial plaque for Don Goodrich about 50-80' to the right of the route. Goodrich was killed by a loose block when trying to establish* this route. In 2015, I took a photo of this plaque. In 2024, nine years after I had posted this trip report, I was contacted by Don's nephew Paul Loughman. His father and Don used to climb together, but his father was not part of the climbing party his uncle died on. Paul shared with me a copy of the original type-written accident report and gave me permission to post it on my website (click link to right to read it). In Paul's words, "Climbing routes have histories, and I think knowing some of the history adds something to the climbs." I wholeheartedly agree.
*The SW Face of Conness is generally attributed to Warren Harding, but it is possible Goodrich and his team were attempting an ascent of this route before Harding made the first full ascent. Paul did some research:
On your [Mt. Conness trip report], the PITCH-BY-PITCH photo descriptions, 6. states that my uncle was killed “trying to establish this route.”
The information I have concerning his death on that climb is extremely limited. The attribution in your photo description gave me pause, so I used my Google foo and searched on: 'who was the very first person to climb the SW Face of Mt. Conness’. The Google AI answer:
“According to available information, Warren Harding is credited as the first person to climb the Southwest Face of Mount Conness, considered a pioneer of big wall ascents in the Sierra Nevada mountains."
I don’t have any information as to when the route was given its name, and the accident report only indicates they were climbing the South face; there was no route name given. As the route is credited to Warren Harding, having climbed it in 1959, and my uncle’s party was climbing the route (unnamed in the accident report) on June 12, 1959, I refined by search with: 'what date in 1959 did warren harding make his first ascent of the SW Face of Mt. Conness?’ The Google AI answer:
"Warren Harding made his first ascent of the SW Face of Mt. Conness on August 1, 1959. Explanation: While specific details about the exact date might vary depending on the source, most records point to August 1, 1959, as the date of Harding's first ascent of the SW Face of Mt. Conness."
So it seems my uncles party was, in fact, making the first ascent attempt of the route that Harding ultimately did later and was named after. If this all is in fact ‘factual’, then it pleases me greatly.
“Each of us walk a unique path on this journey we call ‘life’, and breadcrumbs trail behind us, that others, who have eyes to see, may follow."
Paul Loughman
