Bill House

William Pendleton House (1913–1997) was an American climber.[1][2][3][4] Bill was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on May 30, 1913, and died on December 18, 1997, in Peterborough, New Hampshire.[5] In 1936, along with Fritz Wiessner, he and Wiessner became the first people to climb Mount Waddington (Mystery Mountain) in Canada, a mountain on which there had previously been sixteen unsuccessful attempts.[1] On the 1938 American K2 expedition, he was the first to climb House's Chimney when he free-climbed it in 1938. It was subsequently named after him.[1][2][3]


-Graduate of Yale Forestry School,Leader of Yale Mountaineering Club.

-Avid at "buildering", nighttime climbing on sides of buildings

-First Ascent "House" route, South Colony Lake Cirque, Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Colorado

-1934 second ascent of New Hampshire's Pinnacle Gully

-1934 new route on Jagged Mountain, San Juan Mountains, Colorado

-1937 First "regular "Ascent of Devil's Tower, Wyoming, without relying on hammered in wooden pegs.

-Developed own pitons for alpine climbing

-Key role with Quartermaster General in production, design, and testing gear for 10th Mountain Division. Namely aluminum pitons and instrumental in the first nylon climbing rope.


References

  1. Bates, Robert H. (1998). "William P. House, 1913-1997 - AAC Publications - Search The American Alpine Journal and Accidents". American Alpine Journal: 408–409.
  2. Green, Stewart (April 10, 2019). "K2: How to Climb the Abruzzi Spur Route". liveabout.com. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  3. Fedarko, Kevin (2003-11-01). "The Mountain of Mountains". Outside Online. Retrieved 2018-01-11.
  4. Kauffman, Andrew J.; Putnam, William L. (1992). K2: The 1939 Tragedy. Seattle, WA: Mountaineers. p. 25. ISBN 0-89886-323-6.
  5. "POB November 2020".


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