Doug has been called a lot of things over the years. He’s “the father of clean climbing,” “the King of the Sierra,” and even the “mountain guru of the High Sierra.” Indeed, Doug’s first all-clean ascent of the Northwest face of Half Dome in 1973, his 50+ year guiding career in the Sierra, and his month-long ski traverse of the John Muir Trail sans stove, compass, and map show that these epithets are not mere hyperbole or jest. He is the genuine article. However, when taking in the whole Doug – climber, writer, teacher and, oh yes, philosopher, too – it seems that Galen Rowell’s description is most fitting, “Doug’s ideal: the mountain goat.”
Stories by Nick Miley 