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Layton Kor on the First Ascent of The Priest

stewart — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:40:54 +0000

Here is a classic photograph of Layton Kor leading up the gaping Honeymoon Chimney on the first ascent of The Priest, a 330-foot-high Wingate sandstone tower perched on a narrow ridge east of Castle Valley. Layton did the first ascent of Honeymoon Chimney with Harvey T. Carter, Annie Carter, and Fred Beckey on September 16 and 17, 1961.

This ascent was a few days after Layton and Huntley Ingalls made the first ascent of neighboring Castleton Tower, called Castle Rock on USGS maps and by local Moabites. On the morning of September 16, Layton and Fred were supposed to meet up with Harvey and his new bride Annie at the base of The Priest. As the pair scrambled up talus slopes, they heard a distant tapping of a piton hammer coming from somewhere inside the bowels of the tower. It turned out that Harvey couldn’t wait so Annie and he started climbing and were already on the second pitch.

The next day, the climbers, minus Annie, set up the climb. Layton led above the deep chimney, stepped across an airy gap and slammed a ladder of six ¼-inch bolts up the airy face to a sloping stance. As the trio began the last pitch, a howling thunderstorm whipped across Castle Valley, stirring dust and spitting rain. Layton and Harvey sped for the summit, leaving Beckey behind. Eric Bjørnstad writes in his original Desert Rock book, “Carter reports being hit by lightning and passing out for a few moments, seemingly without lasting injury.”

Since only Kor and Carter stood on the summit on September 17, the next day Layton and Fred repeated the ascent. They nailed a variation aid pitch at the start left of the regular route flake.

During that September week in 1961, Layton Kor established the first ascents of a couple of the Utah canyon country’s proudest towers. It’s hard to think about climbing those big towers back in those days, armed with a rack of soft-iron pitons, a handful of skinny ¼-inch bolts and homemade bolt hangers, goldline ropes, and Austrian kletterschue. But those tough guys did. My hat’s off to them!

Layton Kor Trivia Question 1

cameron — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 15:12:43 +0000

Your answers to these questions need to be sent to camburns (at) rof.net. Please put “Layton Kor Trivia” in the subject line of you email, otherwise your answer will be disregarded. All decisions by the judges are final.

1. Name the 12 first ascents Layton Kor did in Yosemite Valley (by route name, year, and partner(s)).

The first person to get the right answer to this trivia question wins a certificate for a pair of Tech Shorts from Arborwear.

Layton Kor Trivia

cameron — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 03:37:31 +0000

I am currently working on a biography of Layton. These trivia questions are pulled from some of my research. You can win great gear, clothes, and other stuff by answering correctly.

Your answers to these questions need to be sent to camburns (at) rof.net. The first to correctly send the answers to me will win a prize donated by one of our fine corporate sponsors for this fundraiser. Please support them and thank them on Layton’s behalf.

I’ll try to do roughly one trivia question per week to ten days, with one trivia prize for each period.The first prize for the correct answer to the first question will be a coupon for a pair of Tech Shorts from Arborwear. Thanks, Arborwear. Cam Burns

Check Out New Layton Kor Post on About.com

stewart — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 02:59:16 +0000

I just wrote a blog entry New Website to Help Iconic American Climber Layton Kor on my Climbing site at About.com about Steph and my efforts to raise more funds to help Layton with his medical expenses. It also has a link to a great article that Alison Osius wrote in the new Rock and Ice magazine (#181). Check it out.

I talked to Layton last Friday. He was complaining about the heat in Arizona this summer. He said dialysis continued to be a pain, especially since he was suffering from some debilitating headaches afterwards. We made plans, however, to go climbing in late September after I do a week of guiding at Red Rocks. He said, “I got a good easy climb we can do the first ascent of.”

I love it. The man, even after everything he’s been going through, still wants to get out there and crank first ascents. Layton still has the fire. That we can all be so lucky when we’re 70 years old!

Photograph top: Layton Kor seconding the second pitch of our unclimbed Tower of Pain out in the middle of nowhere Arizona last April. Photograph © Stewart M. Green

Thank You Climbers!

admin — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:37:37 +0000

Stewart Green decided to start helping out with Layton’s mounting medical costs several months ago. He made small photo prints of some of Layton’s historic slides, asked Layton to sign them, and created a donation fundraiser with them. Many climbers from around the world were eager to buy the prints and support Layton, a climber who has inspired so many. The historic photos are still available on this site.

The photo project inspired another plan, to create a fundraiser that could go on for several months, with the goal of easing the financial burden that is mounting for Layton as the months of dialysis go on while he waits for a kidney transplant.

From the first day of this project, the response from the climbing community and the outdoor industry has been overwhelming. Layton himself is amazed, moved and thankful that so many climbers want to help him. As full of energy as he has ever been despite his current struggle, he is already looking to the future and hoping to do many new climbs. Already, this project has been a success for those reasons, in its first days.

Thank you to all of the climbers and outdoors people who have responded so generously and so immediately to help Layton and get this project off the ground. We have high hopes for the months to come, as the fundraiser begins.