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Ron Kauk (born 23 September 1957) is an American rock climber. Kauk is associated with Camp 4 in
Yosemite Valley Yosemite Valley ( ; ''Yosemite'', Miwok for "killer") is a U-shaped valley, glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountains of Central California, United States. The valley is about long a ...
, where he lived for decades, now a resident of
El Portal, California El Portal (Spanish for "The Gateway") is a census-designated place in Mariposa County, California, United States. It is located west-southwest of Yosemite Village, at an elevation of . The population was 372 at the 2020 census, down from 474 a ...
. In 1975, he made the first free ascent of the east face of Washington Column with John Long and John Bachar. In 1978 he climbed the roof crack '' Separate Reality,'' without camming devices. The same year he put up ''
Midnight Lightning ''Midnight Lightning'' is a posthumous compilation album by American rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix. It was released in November 1975 by Reprise Records in the US and Polydor Records in the UK. It was the second to be produced by Alan Douglas and T ...
''. In 1979, along with John Roskelley, Kim Schmitz, and Bill Forrest, he made 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 ''East Face'', Uli Biaho, Pakistan. In 1990 he put up the rap-bolted ''Crossroads'' and in 1997 he climbed ''Magic Line'' on pre-placed gear, both in Yosemite.


Early life

Kauk was born and raised in
Redwood City, California Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area of Northern California, approximately south of San Francisco and northwest of San Jose, California, San Jose. The city's population was 84,292 accor ...
.


Climbing

In 1975, he made the first free ascent of the east face of Washington Column with John Long and John Bachar, renaming the route ''Astroman'' ( 5.11c). ''Astroman'' held title as the hardest long free route in Yosemite Valley for a year. Also notable was '' Separate Reality'' (5.12a), an intimidating roof crack which Kauk originally climbed in 1978 without camming devices. The same year he put up ''
Midnight Lightning ''Midnight Lightning'' is a posthumous compilation album by American rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix. It was released in November 1975 by Reprise Records in the US and Polydor Records in the UK. It was the second to be produced by Alan Douglas and T ...
'' (V8), one of America's best known
bouldering Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed on small rock formations or Climbing wall, artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or Climbing harness, harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers ...
problems because of its difficulty and convenient location in the Camp 4 campground. In the 1980s Kauk spent time in Europe visiting the
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
crags and competing in
sport climbing Sport climbing (or bolted climbing) is a type of free climbing in the sport of rock climbing where the Lead climbing, lead climber clips their climbing rope, rope — via a quickdraw — into pre-drilled in-situ bolt (climbing), bolts for their ...
competitions. He saw how European techniques such as red pointing and bolting on rappel could lead to a higher level of climbing difficulty. However, these practices were frowned upon by some Yosemite regulars. According to one account, Bachar chopped the bolts on ''Punchline'' (5.12c) which Kauk installed in 1988, causing a fight between Bachar and Mark Chapman in the Camp 4 parking lot. Kauk went on to put up the hardest routes in Yosemite, such as the rap-bolted ''Crossroads'' (5.13a) in 1990 and ''Magic Line'' (5.14c) which he climbed in 1997 on pre-placed gear. In
Tuolumne Meadows Tuolumne Meadows () is a gentle, dome-studded, sub-alpine meadow area along the Tuolumne River in the eastern section of Yosemite National Park in the United States. Its approximate location is . Its approximate elevation is . The term ''Tuolumn ...
he rap-bolted a route that Bachar had started in a ground-up style, provocatively naming the route ''Peace'' (5.13c/d). Many of Kauk's exploits have been caught on film. In 1989 he climbed a five pitch route called ''Backbone'' (5.13a) at Smith Rock for
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
Sportsworld, and he repeated his toughest first ascents for Eric Perlman's ''Masters of Stone'' videos. In 1992, Kauk trained and doubled
Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Gardenzio "Sly" Stallone (; born July 6, 1946) is an American actor and filmmaker. In a Sylvester Stallone filmography, film career spanning more than fifty years, Stallone has received List of awards and nominations received by Syl ...
along with late climber
Wolfgang Güllich Wolfgang Güllich (24 October 1960 – 31 August 1992) was a German rock climber, who is considered one of the greatest and most influential climbers in the history of the sport. Güllich dominated sport climbing after his 1984 ascent of ''Kan ...
for
Cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious situation, facing a difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction or bef ...
. He also doubled
Michael Rooker Michael Rooker (born April 6, 1955) is an American actor who mainly plays roles of antagonists. He first rose to prominence for portraying the titular role in '' Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer'' (1986), and is best known for starring as Mer ...
,
Leon Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...
, and actress
Janine Turner Janine Turner (born Janine Loraine Gauntt; December 6, 1962) is an American actress best known for her roles as Maggie O'Connell in the television series ''Northern Exposure'', as Jessie Deighan in the feature film ''Cliffhanger'', and as Katie ...
. In 1999 Kauk trained
Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962) is an American actor and film producer. Regarded as a Cinema of the United States, Hollywood icon, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Tom Cruise, various accolades, includ ...
for the climbing scenes in '' Mission: Impossible 2''. In 2000 Kauk produced ''Yosemite: Ascending Rhythms'', a climbing video highlighting the scenic splendor of his favorite crag. Kauk named some of his first ascents (e.g. ''Astroman'', ''Midnight Lightning'') after
Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...
songs. Books by
Carlos Castaneda Carlos César Salvador Arana (December 25, 1925 – April 27, 1998), better known as Carlos Castaneda, was an American anthropologist and writer. Starting in 1968, Castaneda published a series of books that describe a training in shamanism t ...
are another source of names (e.g. ''Separate Reality'', ''Tales of Power'').


Notable ascents

* 1979 ''East Face'', Uli Biaho,
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
.
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 ...
(FA) of route and mountain with John Roskelley, Kim Schmitz, and Bill Forrest. All four climbers reached the summit on July 3, 1979. * 1975 ''Astroman'', 5.11c,
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 ...
, CA. First free ascent (FFA) of route with John Bachar, John Long. * 1978 ''Midnight Lightning'', V8,
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 ...
, CA. First ascent (FA). The most famous boulder problem in the world. A distinctive lightning bolt was drawn in chalk by John Bachar while the boulder was being attempted.


See also

*
History of rock climbing In the history of rock climbing, the three main sub-disciplines – bouldering, Pitch (climbing), single-pitch climbing, and big wall climbing, big wall (and multi-pitch climbing, multi-pitch) climbing – can trace their origins to late 19th-ce ...
*
List of first ascents (sport climbing) In rock-climbing, a first free ascent (FFA) is the first redpoint (climbing), redpoint, onsight or flash (climbing), flash of a pitch (ascent/descent), single-pitch, multi-pitch climbing, multi-pitch or bouldering, bouldering climbing route that ...


References


External links

* http://www.climbandmore.com/climbing,182,0,1,climbers.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Kauk, Ron American rock climbers 1957 births Living people Boulder climbers