{{short description|American mountaineer and scientist (1950–2014)}} {{About|the mountaineer|the fashion journalist|Charlie Porter (journalist)|the trumpeter|Charlie Porter (trumpeter)}}
'''Charlie Porter''' (June 12, 1950 in Massachusetts – February 23, 2014 in Punta Arenas) was an American mountaineer and climate change scientist.<ref>{{cite web|last=Holyoke |first=John |url=https://bangordailynews.com/2014/03/05/outdoors/climate-change-scientist-legendary-climber-charlie-porter-dies-at-63/ |title=Climate change scientist, legendary climber Charlie Porter dies at 63 |date=5 March 2014 |publisher=Bangordailynews.com |access-date=2014-03-07}}</ref> He is best known for his bold first ascents in Yosemite (particularly on El Capitan), Canada and Alaska;<ref name=chapman>{{Cite journal |url=http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/1042245/CHARLIE-PORTER-INTERVIEW |title=Charlie Porter |first1=Mark |last1=Chapman |first2=George |last2=Bracksieck |journal=Rock & Ice |year=1993 }}</ref> and his significant influence on other notable climbers and the climbing community,<ref>[http://www.climbing.com/exclusive/features/cerrotorre224/index2.html Cerro Torres: Epic Hall of Fame No 224 ''Climbing Magazine''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100601035328/http://www.climbing.com/exclusive/features/cerrotorre224/index2.html |date=June 1, 2010 }}</ref> in part due to his creation and development of innovative climbing equipment.<ref>[http://www.bigwalls.net/climb/mechadv/index.html Middendorf, John "Mechanical Advantage", ''Ascent'' 1999]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.needlesports.com/NeedleSports/nutsmuseum/morenutsstories.htm |title=The Nuts Museum |access-date=2011-07-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001002956/http://www.needlesports.com/NeedleSports/nutsmuseum/morenutsstories.htm |archive-date=2011-10-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He has also garnered a reputation as an adventurer (he was one of the first people to round Cape Horn in a kayak<ref name=kayak>[https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/06/sports/the-boating-report-a-steel-yacht-serves-as-a-field-laboratory.html ''New York Times'' 6 May 2001]</ref>) and geoscientist in South America.<ref>[http://www.earth.ox.ac.uk/~chrisd/mdds08/personnel.html Madre de Dios Speleo 2008 Oxford University Expedition]</ref>
==Notable ascents==
===El Capitan, Yosemite, USA=== Porter's notable first ascents on El Capitan include<ref>[http://www.supertopo.com/bigwalls/yosemite/bigwalls.html?s=formation&o=ASC#yobigs Chris McNamara, ''Yosemite Big Walls - 3rd Edition'' May 2011]</ref><ref>[http://www.climbing.com/exclusive/features/40_years_of_american_rock/index1.html "40 Years of American Rock", ''Climbing Magazine''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111023054550/http://www.climbing.com/exclusive/features/40_years_of_american_rock/index1.html |date=October 23, 2011 }}</ref> * ''Zodiac'' 1972 * ''The Shield'' 1972 * ''Mescalito'' 1973 * ''Tangerine Trip'' 1973 * ''Excalibur'' 1975<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.summitpost.org/el-capitan/150993 |title=El Capitan : Climbing, Hiking & Mountaineering |publisher=SummitPost |access-date=2014-03-07}}</ref> Prior to the above routes, Porter's 1972 solo ascent of ''New Dawn'' (a variation of Warren Harding and Dean Caldwell's ''Wall of the Early Morning Light'') in which he dropped his haul bag early in the route but continued to complete the climb 9 days later, sleeping in slings and an improvised sleeping bag made from ensolite foam, gained him significant notoriety in the climbing community.<ref name=chapman/>
===Alaska=== *First solo of the Cassin Ridge, Denali 1976. Described as "ahead of its time".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cascadeimages.com/images/main/cassin.pdf |title='SuperTopo.com |access-date=2011-08-01 |archive-date=2011-06-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110626230130/http://www.cascadeimages.com/images/main/cassin.pdf |url-status=usurped }}</ref> * West Face of Middle Triple Peak in the Kichatna Mountains with Russell McLean 1976.<ref>McLean, Russell (1977). "Middle Triple Peak". American Alpine Journal (New York, NY, USA: American Alpine Club) 21 (51): 102–105. {{ISBN|978-0-930410-31-5}}</ref>
===Canada=== * First-ever grade VII route, done solo on Baffin Island’s Mount Asgard 1975, described by Doug Scott as "a remarkable achievement".<ref>Doug Scott, "Mount Asgard", in World Mountaineering (Audrey Salkeld, editor), Bulfinch Press, 1998, {{ISBN|0-8212-2502-2}}</ref> * ''Polar Circus'', V, WI 5, Cirrus Mountain, Banff National Park.<ref>''Pushing the limits: the story of Canadian mountaineering'' Chic Scott, Rocky Mountain Books Ltd, 2000 {{ISBN|978-0-921102-59-5}}</ref>
===Tierra del Fuego=== *Monte Sarmiento, West Peak. In 1995 he joined with Stephen Venables, John Roskelley, Jim Wickwire and Tim Macartney-Snape; however, during high winds Porter was blown off an icy ridge, managing to stop his slide off the mountain by jamming his arm in a crevasse, breaking a bone and dislocating his shoulder in the process, but saving his life.<ref>Jim Wickwire, Dorothy Bullitt ''Addicted to Danger'' Simon and Schuster, 1999 {{ISBN|978-0-671-01991-4}}</ref>
==Adventurer and scientist== In 1979, Porter was the first person to kayak around Cape Horn.<ref name=kayak/> From the 1980s onward, he lived in South America where he continued his spirit of adventure, sailing to remote locations, regularly chartering his yacht and guiding services to marine and climate scientists whose research is based in southern South America.<ref>''Abrupt Climate Change - Ice cores from Patagonia'', Climate Change Institute 2005 [http://climatechange.umaine.edu/Research/Expeditions/2005/patagonia.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323105717/http://climatechange.umaine.edu/Research/Expeditions/2005/patagonia.html |date=2012-03-23 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.earth.ox.ac.uk/~chrisd/mdds08/files/Prospectus.pdf Madre de Dios Speleo 2008 Oxford University Expedition]</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web14x/wfeature-charlie-porter-bocarde-waiting-dawn Gary Bocarde "Waiting for Dawn", July 21, 2014 ''Alpinist''] *[http://www.freepressonline.com/Content/-bull-Obituaries/Obituaries/Article/Charles-Talbot-Porter/44/66/31104 "Charles Talbot Porter", "The Free Press"] *[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10856692/Charlie-Porter-obituary.html "Charlie Porter – obituary", "The Telegraph," 26 May 2014] *[https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/sports/charlie-porter-63-an-adventurer-who-reshaped-climbing-is-dead.html "Charlie Porter, an Adventurer Scaling Rock and Sailing Seas, Is Dead at 63", "New York Times," 15 March 2014]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Charlie}} Category:American rock climbers Category:1951 births Category:2014 deaths Category:American climatologists