Chris Jones (November 24, 1939 – September 17, 2024) was a British–American rock climber, photographer, climbing historian, author, and alpinist. He is known for establishing difficult and influential

alpine style Alpine climbing () is a type of mountaineering that uses any of a broad range of advanced climbing skills, including rock climbing, ice climbing, and/or mixed climbing, to summit typically large climbing route, routes (e.g. multi-pitch climbing, ...

climbing route A climbing route () is a path by which a Climbing, climber reaches the top of a mountain, a rock face or an ice-covered obstacle. The details of a climbing route are recorded in a climbing guidebook and/or in an online climbing-route database. De ...

s from 1965–1980 in the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

and the Canadian Rockies. He was the author of ''Climbing in North America'', one of the earliest books on the history of climbing in North America from the 1800s to the 1970s. He was a co-author and contributed photos to the book, ''Climbing Fitz Roy, 1968 Reflections on the Lost Photos of the Third Ascent'' which documented a 1968 expedition to Patagonia by Jones, Chouinard, Tompkins, and Dorworth. The photos included in the book were thought to have been lost in a 1996 wildfire that destroyed Jones's California home but copies were later found by Dorworth.

Climbing career

Jones was climbing in America during the Golden Age of big wall climbing, including living at Camp 4 in Yosemite during the summer of 1967. In 1968, Jones was part of the third ascent of

Fitz Roy Monte Fitz Roy (also known as Cerro Chaltén, Cerro Fitz Roy, or simply Mount Fitz Roy) is a mountain in Patagonia, on the border between Argentina and Chile.Yvon Chouinard Yvon Chouinard (born November 9, 1938) is an American rock climber, environmentalist, and businessman. His company, Patagonia, sells outdoor products, outerwear, and food. He was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by '' ...

Doug Tompkins Douglas Rainsford Tompkins (March 20, 1943 – December 8, 2015) was an American businessman, conservation movement, conservationist, outdoorsman, philanthropist, filmmaker, and agriculturalist. He founded the The North Face, North Face Inc, co ...

, Dick Dorworth and Lito Tejada-Flores, described in ''Climbing Fitz Roy, 1968: Reflections on the Lost Photos of the Third Ascent''. This ascent was also documented in the climbing film, ''Mountain of Storms'', by Lito Tejada-Flores. His 1974 ascent of the North Face of North Twin Peak in the Canadian Rockies, with George Lowe, was the

first ascent In mountaineering and climbing, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in climbing guidebook, guide books), is the first successful documented climb to the top of a mountain or the top of a particular climbing route. Early 20th-century mountaineers a ...

of a difficult and highly technical alpine climbing route. Their climb was one of four ascents defined as "career highlights" by the Piolets d'Or when awarding Lowe a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023; where they described the route as "a sheer black wall of north-facing limestone, steeper than the

Eiger The Eiger () is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland, just north of the main watershed and border with Valais. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends ...

, one-and-a-half times the height of

El Capitan El Capitan (; ) is a vertical Rock formations in the United States, rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The El Capitan Granite, granite monolith is about from base to summit alo ...

, and the hardest in the Rockies" and the climb considered much harder than anything that had been done in the European Alps at the time. In 1977, he was one of six American mountaineers selected by an American Alpine Club committee to fulfill an invitation from the Mountaineering Federation of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

as part of the Soviet–American Mountaineering Exchange Program along with George Lowe, Mike Warburton, Henry Barber, Craig Martinson, and Alex Bertulis. During this exchange, they did a new ice route up the North Face of Mirali by Lowe, Jones, Onishenko (Soviet), and Obchenekov (Soviet) in the Fanksy Gory range of

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

, and explored mountains in the Tien-Shan having been told that they were the first Westerners to gain permission to climb in that range along the Soviet-Chinese border. In the Tien-Shan, Jones, Mokauskas (Lithuanian), Pablechenko (Soviet), and Bertulis climbed the central route up the North Face of Free Korea Peak.

Personal life and death

Jones was born in the United Kingdom on November 24, 1939. He immigrated to the United States in 1965, at the age of 25. Jones died on September 17, 2024, at the age of 84.

Notable climbs

* 1965 '' Bonatti Pillar'' – first American ascent with George Lowe. * 1967 ''Serenity Crack'',

Yosemite Yosemite National Park ( ) is a national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service ...

, USA (5.10d) – first free ascent with Tom Higgins * 1967 North Face, Mount Assiniboine, Canadian Rockies – first ascent with

Yvon Chouinard Yvon Chouinard (born November 9, 1938) is an American rock climber, environmentalist, and businessman. His company, Patagonia, sells outdoor products, outerwear, and food. He was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by '' ...

and Joe Faint *1967 North Face, East Summit, Mount Edith Cavell, Canadian Rockies – first ascent with

and Joe Faint *1968 Northeast Face of Yerupaja, Cordillera Huayhuash, Peru – first ascent July 27–31, 1968 with Paul Dix, Roger Hart, and Dean Caldwell * 1968 ''Southwest Ridge'' aka ''California Route'', Cerro Fitzroy,

Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...

– first ascent of route with

, Lito Tejada-Flores,

and Dick Dorworth, 3rd ascent of peak. *1970 North Face, Mount Columbia (Canada), Canadian Rockies – first ascent with Gray Thompson *1970 Charlotte Dome, South Face III 5.7, FA: Chris Jones,

Galen Rowell Galen Avery Rowell (August 23, 1940 – August 11, 2002) was an American wilderness photographer, adventure photojournalist and mountaineer. Born in Oakland, California, he became a full-time photographer in 1972. Early life and education Rowe ...

, and Fred Beckey. One of the Fifty Classic Climbs of North America * 1971 North Face, Mount Kitchener, Canadian Rockies – first ascent with Jeff Lowe and Graham Thompson. * 1973 Deltaform Ice Couloir, Deltaform Mountain, Canadian Rockies – ascent with George Lowe * 1973 South Face, Devils Thumb (2767m),

Coast Mountains The Coast Mountains () are a major mountain range in the Pacific Coast Ranges of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the British Columbia Coast, Coast of British Columbia sout ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

– first ascent with George Lowe and Lito Tejada-Flores. * 1974 North Face ( VI 5.10 A4), North Twin Peak (3631m) – first ascent, Canadian Rockies, regarded as a notable alpine climb of the era. * 1980 Turret Mountain, The Ramparts, Canadian Rockies with Brock Wagstaff – first ascent of new route

Books

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Chris 1939 births 2024 deaths American mountain climbers British mountain climbers Climbing and mountaineering writers Sports historians 20th-century American non-fiction writers