George Lowe Birthday Party 2020
In January 2020, I traveled to Denver to attend George Lowe’s 75th Birthday Party. His birthday was actually in August, but he was busy traveling, so it was postponed for a few months. George is one of America’s most accomplished climbers.
On Saturday afternoon, about 70 people attended the event, including some very well known climbers. For many of us, it was an opportunity to see people we had not seen for years. George and I used to take our kids on trips to Yosemite when they were very young and at similar ages. I had not seen his kids for many years. And they all grew up.
Some of us met for breakfast at George’s house on Sunday morning and then went to the local climbing gym where we continued to socialize while climbing.
This gallery includes images I took at the party along with some from the gym. Finally I included 10 images of George that were taken on trips I did with him in the 80’s and 90’s.
Below is a list of his notable climbs taken from Wikipedia.
Notable climbs
* 1965 Dorsal Fin - First Ascent - (5.10d), Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah, United States with Mark McQuarrie, climbed in a pair of tight hiking boots. Originally graded 5.9[9][10]
* 1965 Mount Owen (3942m) - First Winter Ascent, Grand Teton National Park with Mike Lowe[11]
* 1968 North Face of the Grand Teton (4199m) - First Winter Ascent, Grand Teton National Park with Rick Horn, Greg and Mike Lowe [11]
* 1971 North Face, Piramide de Garcilaso (5585m) - Second Ascent with Mike Lowe and North Face, Huandoy Norte (6395m) - First Ascent of new route with Perutah Expedition members. Both Cordillera Blanca, Peru .[12]
* 1972 West Face of the Grand Teton - First Winter Ascent, Grand Teton National Park with Jeff Lowe [11]
* 1972 North Face, Mount Alberta (3619m) - First Ascent, Canadian Rockies, Canada with Jock Glidden.[13]
* 1973 South Face, Devils Thumb (2767m) - First Ascent, Coast Mountains, Alaska with Chris Jones and Lito Tejada-Flores.[10]
* 1974 North Face (VI 5.10 A4), North Twin Peak (3631m) - First Ascent, Canadian Rockies, with Chris Jones widely regarded as some of the best alpinism of the era.[14][15]
* 1977 Infinite Spur, First Ascent on the south face of Mount Foraker, Alaska Range with Michael Kennedy. Ascent time 6 days.[16]
* 1978 North Ridge, Latok I, Karakorum Range, Pakistan. Attempt with Michael Kennedy, Jim Donini and Jeff Lowe (climber), highest attempt to within 100m of summit until 2018 (all USA).[17]
* 1983 Kangshung Face, Everest, First Ascent. Summited on same day as Jay Cassell, and Dan Reid following the summits of Carlos Buhler, Kim Momb and Louis Reichardt the prior day (all USA). Expedition focused on limiting risk to Sherpas. At the time, considered the most difficult route up Everest.[3][18][19]
* 1990 Northeast Ridge, Dhaulagiri I (8167m), Nepal, First American Solo Ascent, part of international expedition with Carlos Buhler, lt:Dainius Makauskas of Lithuania (deceased), and Nuru Sherpa of Nepal (injured).[20]
* 2015 West Face Couloir, Mount Huntington, Alaska summited with Joe Terravecchia and Mark Richey, Lowe was 70 years old on this trip.[21]
* 2015 Western Breach, Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania with two of his daughters.
* 2019 North Ridge, Mount Stuart, Cascade Range, Washington with Mike Carr.
* 2019 Upper Exum Ridge, Grand Teton, Wyoming one day ascent of the Grand, one week before 75th birthday with daughter.
Read MoreOn Saturday afternoon, about 70 people attended the event, including some very well known climbers. For many of us, it was an opportunity to see people we had not seen for years. George and I used to take our kids on trips to Yosemite when they were very young and at similar ages. I had not seen his kids for many years. And they all grew up.
Some of us met for breakfast at George’s house on Sunday morning and then went to the local climbing gym where we continued to socialize while climbing.
This gallery includes images I took at the party along with some from the gym. Finally I included 10 images of George that were taken on trips I did with him in the 80’s and 90’s.
Below is a list of his notable climbs taken from Wikipedia.
Notable climbs
* 1965 Dorsal Fin - First Ascent - (5.10d), Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah, United States with Mark McQuarrie, climbed in a pair of tight hiking boots. Originally graded 5.9[9][10]
* 1965 Mount Owen (3942m) - First Winter Ascent, Grand Teton National Park with Mike Lowe[11]
* 1968 North Face of the Grand Teton (4199m) - First Winter Ascent, Grand Teton National Park with Rick Horn, Greg and Mike Lowe [11]
* 1971 North Face, Piramide de Garcilaso (5585m) - Second Ascent with Mike Lowe and North Face, Huandoy Norte (6395m) - First Ascent of new route with Perutah Expedition members. Both Cordillera Blanca, Peru .[12]
* 1972 West Face of the Grand Teton - First Winter Ascent, Grand Teton National Park with Jeff Lowe [11]
* 1972 North Face, Mount Alberta (3619m) - First Ascent, Canadian Rockies, Canada with Jock Glidden.[13]
* 1973 South Face, Devils Thumb (2767m) - First Ascent, Coast Mountains, Alaska with Chris Jones and Lito Tejada-Flores.[10]
* 1974 North Face (VI 5.10 A4), North Twin Peak (3631m) - First Ascent, Canadian Rockies, with Chris Jones widely regarded as some of the best alpinism of the era.[14][15]
* 1977 Infinite Spur, First Ascent on the south face of Mount Foraker, Alaska Range with Michael Kennedy. Ascent time 6 days.[16]
* 1978 North Ridge, Latok I, Karakorum Range, Pakistan. Attempt with Michael Kennedy, Jim Donini and Jeff Lowe (climber), highest attempt to within 100m of summit until 2018 (all USA).[17]
* 1983 Kangshung Face, Everest, First Ascent. Summited on same day as Jay Cassell, and Dan Reid following the summits of Carlos Buhler, Kim Momb and Louis Reichardt the prior day (all USA). Expedition focused on limiting risk to Sherpas. At the time, considered the most difficult route up Everest.[3][18][19]
* 1990 Northeast Ridge, Dhaulagiri I (8167m), Nepal, First American Solo Ascent, part of international expedition with Carlos Buhler, lt:Dainius Makauskas of Lithuania (deceased), and Nuru Sherpa of Nepal (injured).[20]
* 2015 West Face Couloir, Mount Huntington, Alaska summited with Joe Terravecchia and Mark Richey, Lowe was 70 years old on this trip.[21]
* 2015 Western Breach, Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania with two of his daughters.
* 2019 North Ridge, Mount Stuart, Cascade Range, Washington with Mike Carr.
* 2019 Upper Exum Ridge, Grand Teton, Wyoming one day ascent of the Grand, one week before 75th birthday with daughter.