Jan and Herb Conn

File:Conn - We work in out spare time - Summit Nov 1957 - 2.jpg in 1950s]]

Both Herb and Jan were born and raised on the East Coast. Jan grew up in Maryland, just outside Washington, DC in a household with two older sisters. Jan loved music and played flute, classical guitar and several other instruments. Herb grew up in upstate New York, and graduated from the University of Colorado. Herb and Jan married in 1944.{{cite news|last=Higbee|first=Paul|title=Explorers of an Unseen World|url=http://southdakotamagazine.com/explorers-of-an-unseen-world|access-date=18 January 2014|newspaper=South Dakota Magazine}}{{cite web |title=Jan Conn - SD Hall of Fame Programs |url=https://sdexcellence.org/Jan_Conn_2011 |website=sdexcellence.org |access-date=19 August 2020}}{{cite web |last1=Sinclair |first1=Kelsey |title=The Caving, Climbing Couple |url=https://blackhillsvisitor.com/see-and-do/the-caving-climbing-couple/ |website=Black Hills Visitor |access-date=19 August 2020 |date=25 August 2017}}

During World War II, Herb served as an electrical engineer for the Navy Department in Washington, DC. Jan and Herb spent their spare time exploring the rocks surrounding Washington DC, most notably Carderock where they began climbing in 1942. They climbed and named many of the routes at Carderock, including Herbie’s Horror, Jan's Face, Spider Walk and Ronnie's Leap, which was named after their dog. Herbie’s Horror, first climbed by Herb, was one of the first 5.9 routes in the eastern United States.{{cite web|last=Green|first=Stewart|title=Carderock Rock Climbing: Climbing Near Washington DC|url=http://climbing.about.com/od/wheretoclimb/fr/Carderock-Rock-Climbing-Climbing-Near-Washington-Dc.htm|publisher=About.com|access-date=16 January 2014|archive-date=16 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116183506/http://climbing.about.com/od/wheretoclimb/fr/Carderock-Rock-Climbing-Climbing-Near-Washington-Dc.htm|url-status=dead}} They also made the first documented ascents of the routes Conn's East and Conn's West at Seneca Rocks,{{cite web|title=Herb and Jan Conn Inducted Into South Dakota Hall of Fame|url=http://www.senecarocksmuseum.org/2011/11/22/herb-and-jan-conn-inducted-into-south-dakota-hall-of-fame/|access-date=17 January 2014}} following the pitons left by the mountain troops who trained there. In a letter to the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club Mountaineering Section the Conns describe a visit to Seneca with Don Hubbard: "Don and the two of us climbed the south peak on a gorgeous moonlit evening, carrying sleeping bags, and spent the night on the narrow summit ridge. Don woke up in the night to see the lower half of Jan’s bag flapping over the edge. But Jan was safely curled up in the top half, still anchored to a piton in the rock." In 1944 they started publishing "Up Rope" magazine, which became the official newsletter of the Mountaineering Section of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC).{{cite web|title=List of Officers|url=http://www.potomacmountainclub.org/club_officers|publisher=Potomac Appalachian Trail Club|access-date=27 January 2014}} (despite the page title Conns never belonged to PATC.){{cite web|last=Deal|first=Dwight|title=Jan Conn to talk in DC, October 10, 2012|url=http://www.forums.caves.org/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=14530|work=6 October 2012|access-date=27 January 2014}}{{cite journal |journal=Up Rope! |date=16 May 1945 |volume=1 |issue=14 |page=1 |url=http://files.patcms.org/upropes/1945/1945-10.pdf |access-date=4 May 2021 | title=Up Rope!|author=Jan and Herb Conn}}

File:Conn - We work in out spare time - Summit Nov 1957 - 1.jpg

In 1946, Herb was discharged from the US Army and the Conns began a five-year period of traveling and climbing around the US with short forays into Canada and Mexico. They became pioneers of what is now praisingly referred to as dirtbag climbing, which they described in the We work in our spare time article: "it is a simple matter of mathematics - two people working six months a year are just as good as one person working twelve months to support two people". They lived in a self-equipped camper converted from a ten-year-old "panel delivery truck".Conn, Jan and Herb (November 1957). We work in our spare time - Summit (PDF){{harvnb|Stephens|2008|p=5}} For several years they worked odd jobs and climbed at many locations from Yosemite in California to Mount Katahdin in Maine, making scattered first ascents along the way in places like Cannon Cliff in New Hampshire, Santa Catalina Mountains and Monument Valley in Arizona, Zion National Park in Utah, and Big Bend National Park in Texas.

Herb and Jan usually sought the easiest and most direct routes to the top of the most striking rock formations. Before the development of specialized climbing shoes, harnesses, and protection, like nuts and cams, they climbed in smooth-soled tennis shoes with 80-foot laid nylon rope tied around their waists and used pitons for protection. In the early days, many pitons were US Army issue scavenged at Seneca Rocks after World War II.{{cite news|last=Blackwell|first=David|title=Herb Conn Dies at 91|url=http://www.climbing.com/climber/herb-conn-dies-at-91/|access-date=17 January 2014|newspaper=Climbing|date=9 February 2012}} They used body belays and down-climbed their routes instead of rappelling, if it was not possible to walk-off. In spite of this, they established many routes that would be challenging and often terrifying to today's climbers.{{harvnb|Stephens|2008|p=9}}

In 1947 on a trip to climb Devils Tower,Andy Busse and Andy Burr, [http://www.fixedpin.com/The_Needles_of_Rushmore.html The Needles of Rushmore] - A climbing guide to Mt. Rushmore National Monument, with a special tribute to Herb and Jan Conn in the section [http://www.fixedpin.com/The_Needles_of_Rushmore_files/South%20Dakota%20FP%20lowrez.pdf The Birth of Climbing in the Black Hills] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202094252/http://www.fixedpin.com/The_Needles_of_Rushmore_files/South%20Dakota%20FP%20lowrez.pdf |date=2014-02-02 }}, Pages 104 and 105 the Conns passed through the Black Hills of South Dakota. It was then that they discovered the Needles, with a seemingly unlimited quantity of excellent climbing. They settled in the Black Hills where they made around 220 first ascents in the Needles and published a climbing guidebook to the area. With no other climbers in the area they felt, as Herb put it, "like a couple of cats in an untended fish market."{{cite web|last=Green|first=Stewart|title=The Needles Rock Climbing: Climbing in South Dakota|url=http://climbing.about.com/od/wheretoclimb/fr/The-Needles-Rock-Climbing-Climbing-In-South-Dakota.htm|publisher=About.com|access-date=26 January 2014|archive-date=12 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140412171820/http://climbing.about.com/od/wheretoclimb/fr/The-Needles-Rock-Climbing-Climbing-In-South-Dakota.htm|url-status=dead}}Conn, Herb (June 1953). [http://www.supertopo.com/inc/photo_zoom.php?dpid=Oj08OTgjJiYrJw The Needles in Review]. Appalachia XXIX: 356-365. (PDF){{cite journal|last=Dewell|first=Dan|title=Conn Diagonal (5.7), Black Hills, South Dakota|journal=Climbing|date=30 May 2012|url=http://www.climbing.com/route/conn-diagonal-57-black-hills-south-dakota/|access-date=19 January 2014}}

File:Herb Conn doing maintenance work on Mt. Rushmore.jpg

File:Conn - We work in out spare time - Summit Nov 1957 - 3.jpg

In 1949 they bought 20 acres in the Custer area and adjacent to the Needles. A couple years after that they built a small, rustic stone home they called Conncave where they lived off the grid, without running water or electricity, for the next 60 years.{{cite web|last=Pelczarski|first=Christopher|title=Jan Conn|url=http://www.blackhillsfaces.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=217:jan-conn&catid=35:fall-2012&Itemid=66|work=Fall 2012|publisher=Faces|access-date=18 January 2014}} To help finance their climbing and later caving adventures they created customized leather{{cite journal|last=Conn|first=Jan and Herb|title=Climbing highlights of the Black Hills|journal=Appalachia|date=June 1955|url=http://www.mountainproject.com/v/107038655|access-date=17 January 2014}}1 and wood products. In addition, each fall for 13 years Herb spent a week doing maintenance work filling in cracks on the four faces of Mount Rushmore,{{cite journal|last=Pearson|first=Jaci Conrad|title=Hills couple makes hall of fame|journal=Black Hills Pioneer|date=10 September 2011|url=http://www.bhpioneer.com/local_news/article_2bf0f572-db36-11e0-ad07-001cc4c03286.html|access-date=19 January 2014}} and Jan taught guitar and flute.

File:Jan and Herb Conn, Dave Schnute, Dwight Deal in Jawel Cave - 1959.jpg, 1959.]]

File:Jan Conn in Jannies Cranny, Jewel Cave - 1959.jpg, 1959.]]

File:Dwight Deal, Jan and Herb Conn - Visitor's Center, Jewel Cave National Monument - 1989.jpg

In 1959, geologist, mountaineer and caver Dwight Deal had done some exploration in a small cave called Jewel Cave, a little known monument in the National Park System. He needed some companions who might help him continue his exploration trips there and turned to his friends, Herb and Jan. He asked if they would be interested in grubbing around underground and, after thinking it over, they replied they would try it "once". That one trip turned into a passion of exploring Jewel Cave that lasted for over 22 years, and took over 6,000 volunteer hours on 700 trips.{{cite news|last=Garrigan|first=Mary|title=Jewel Cave pioneer Herb Conn dies|url=http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/jewel-cave-pioneer-herb-conn-dies/article_400b3f62-4ee6-11e1-bb4d-0019bb2963f4.html|access-date=17 January 2014|newspaper=Rapid City Journal.|date=4 February 2012}} From 1959 to 1979, Herb and Jan mapped 62.36 miles of the interior of Jewel Cave.{{cite web|title=Cave Explorers: Herb & Jan Conn|url=https://home.nps.gov/jeca/learn/nature/caveexplorers.htm|access-date=17 January 2014}} The Conns discovered what is now the Scenic Cave Tour route in 1961. The National Park Service was intrigued by their reports of high, narrow passageways, huge rooms and unusual speleothems (cave decorations) and opened a new tour route. In addition to assisting with the construction of this trail, Herb also designed the lighting system and dramatic placement of lights still in use today. The cave winds that enticed the explorers further into the cave fascinated Herb, and in 1966 he produced an important scientific paper explaining reasons for these barometric winds. The Conn's book, "The Jewel Cave Adventure," serves not only as a record of their years of cave exploration here, but as an exciting tale of adventure even for non-cavers.

In years 1963-1965, when exploration trips into Jewel Cave were restricted, the Conns joined David Schnute exploring Wind Cave. In 1963 the trio found new passages breaking away from the known portion of the cave and allowing them to discover, name, and survey 15,740 feet of virgin passage.{{cite web|last=Conn|first=Jan and Herb|title=Diaries of Wing Cave Trips|url=http://www.nps.gov/wica/historyculture/upload/WICA_15961-Conn-Diary-of-WICA-Trips.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201164905/http://www.nps.gov/wica/historyculture/upload/WICA_15961-Conn-Diary-of-WICA-Trips.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 1, 2014|access-date=17 January 2014|year=1987}}{{cite web|title=Cave Exploration - Herb and Jan Conn and Dave Schnute|url=http://www.nps.gov/wica/historyculture/cave-exploration-herb-and-jan-conn-and-dave-schnute.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080210211808/http://www.nps.gov/wica/historyculture/cave-exploration-herb-and-jan-conn-and-dave-schnute.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 10, 2008|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=17 January 2014}} They largely retired from caving by the early 1980s.

Jan's musical play, Run to Catch a Pine Cone, has been performed throughout the country. She composed many songs and melodies,Conn, Jan (2003?). "Farewell to the Village". CD by Hypothermia Productions (Dave Schnute)Conn, Jan (2003). "It's a Long, Long, Crawlway; Cave (& Climbing) Music by Jan Conn". CD by Hypothermia Productions (Dave Schnute)Conn, Jan (2004). "Spinning Blue Ball". CD by Hypothermia Productions (Dave Schnute) was a founding member of the musical group "French Creek Folk" (Custer, SD), taught music in the Black Hills area, played flute and guitar (and sometimes stand-up bass), and sang and yodeled — even underwater on occasion.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRTfw8VpVRk/ Jan Conn playing guitar and yodeling] Potomac Appalachian Trail Club Mountaineering Section’s 75th anniversary, Oct 13, 2012 Jan also was an accomplished rubber stamp artist.{{cite web|last=Marriott|first=Hollis J.|title=Plants & Rocks: ferns and granite ... and climbers|url=http://plantsandrocks.blogspot.com/2012/02/plants-rocks-ferns-and-granite-and.html|work=6 February 2012|date=6 February 2012|access-date=18 January 2014}}{{cite web |last1=Conn |first1=Jan |title=Conifer (rubber stamp artwork) |url=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SwVweK1FzIU/T0VSamljzVI/AAAAAAAABJo/xbj1cNkrQvo/s1600/connifer.jpg |access-date=21 May 2023}}

File:Cartoon - search for the mystery fern..jpg Xalternifolium in Black HillsMarriott, Hollis J., Jan and Herb Conn. (2000). "Asplenium X alternifolium in the Black Hills of South Dakota". American Fern Journal 90: 109.]]

In a 2008 interview for Climbing Magazine the Conns explained: "I know sometimes people think we had this high dream of living like this, in a place like this … it wasn’t that way. We just kept backing away from the things we didn’t like. This is where we landed." In a 2008 talk, Jan said that they no longer climb rocks, but still enjoy the outdoors. She said, "Fortunately, the slower we move the more we see.{{cite web|title=Elders' Wisdom, Children's Song: South Dakota, Jan Conn|url=http://ewcssouthdakota.weebly.com/jan-conn.html|access-date=17 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140117160827/http://ewcssouthdakota.weebly.com/jan-conn.html|archive-date=17 January 2014|url-status=dead}}

In summer of 1985, Herb and Jan Conn were awarded the Conservation Service Award by the Secretary of the Interior, Don Hodel.{{cite journal|title=U.S. Government honors Section members|journal=Up Rope|date=November 1985|volume=39|issue=11|page=2|url=http://files.patcms.org/upropes/1985/1985-08.pdf|access-date=29 August 2016}}

On September 17, 2011, Herb and Jan were inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame in recognition of their pioneering exploration.{{cite news|last=Holland|first=Deb|title=Fourteen South Dakotans added to state hall of fame|url=http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/fourteen-south-dakotans-added-to-state-hall-of-fame/article_3b007f5a-dc22-11e0-9409-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1ekLw7dwt|access-date=17 January 2014|newspaper=Rapid City Journal|date=11 September 2011}} Soon afterward Herb's health failed and on February 1, 2012, he died in his sleep in his home near Custer, at the age of 91.

Most of the climbs below were done using free climbing technique without aid climbing.

• Carderock in the 1940s:
• Herbie's Horror ({{YDS|5.9|}}) - When Herb Conn first climb it in 1942 using top-rope, it was one of the first {{YDS|5.9}} routes in the eastern United States.{{cite book|last=Gregory|first=John Forrest|title=Climber's Guide to Carderock|year=1980|publisher=S and S Printing Inc.|location=Chester VT}}{{cite news|last1=Block|first1=Melissa|title=Rock Climber Chris Sharma Chases Next 'King Line'|url=https://www.npr.org/2007/11/01/15825820/rock-climber-chris-sharma-chases-next-king-line|access-date=4 February 2016|agency=National Public Radio|date=August 5, 2015}}{{cite web|author-link1=John Gill (climber)|last1=Gill|first1=John|title=Origins of Bouldering|url=http://www128.pair.com/r3d4k7/Bouldering_History3.0.html|website=johngill.net|access-date=4 February 2016}}{{Cite Mountain Project|title=Herbie's Horror|id=106691071|accessdate=31 January 2016}}
• Leonards Lunacy ({{YDS|5.10|}}) - First ascent in 1945.{{Cite Mountain Project|title=Leonards Lunacy|id=110689491|accessdate=31 January 2016}}
• Cornice ({{YDS|5.7+|}}) - Great Falls, 1945. First ascent by Herb Conn and Sterling Hendricks.{{Cite Mountain Project|title=Cornice|id=106763978|accessdate=31 January 2016}}
• Conns East ({{YDS|5.6|}}){{Cite Mountain Project|title=Conn's East|id=106449616|accessdate=31 January 2016}} and Conns West ({{YDS|5.4}}){{Cite Mountain Project|title=Conn's West|id=105977724|accessdate=31 January 2016}} at Seneca Rocks, c. 1942, first ascents.
• "Conn Course" or "Conncourse" ({{YDS|5.8|}}, 7 pitch) - Cannon Mountain, NH on August 3, 1945, first ascent.{{cite book|last1=Waterman|first1=Laura|last2=Waterman|first2=Guy|title=Yankee Rock & Ice: A History of Climbing in the Northeastern United States|date=2001|publisher=Stackpole Books|isbn=9780811731034|url=https://archive.org/details/yankeerockicehis00wate|url-access=registration|access-date=16 June 2014|ref=Waterman|page=[https://archive.org/details/yankeerockicehis00wate/page/206 206]}} This climb no longer exist due to exfoliation of this granite dome, but it shares some pitches with very popular Moby Grape ({{YDS|5.8}}){{Cite Mountain Project|title=Moby Grape|id=105884815|accessdate=31 January 2016}} route.
• "Mule Ear Peaks" - Big Bend National Park, 1940s, first ascent.
• "Dutch Girl" ({{YDS|5.8+|}}) - Lost Mine Pinnacle, Big Bend National Park, 1948, first ascent.{{cite book|last1=Horne|first1=David|title=Climbers Guide to Big Bend National Park|date=July 1999}} (cited [http://www.neclimbs.com/SMF_2/index.php?topic=9328.0 here])
• "Finger Rock" ({{YDS|5.8|}}) - Santa Catalina Mountains, AZ. late 1940s, first ascent.{{Cite Mountain Project|title=Finger Rock (Standard Route)|id=105738413|accessdate=31 January 2016}}
• "Great White Throne" - Zion National Park, 1949, third ascent{{Cite book

|title=Desert Rock I: Rock Climbs in the National Parks

|author=Bjornstad, E.

|isbn=9780934641920

|lccn=96165053

|series=Desert Rock Series

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CtiKwHPLrC0C

|year=1996

|publisher=Globe Pequot Press

}}

• "West Face" ({{YDS|5.8|}}) - Agathla Peak, Monument Valley, Arizona. First ascent of the peak was done on May 29, 1949, by Ray Garner, Herb Conn, and Lee Pedrick.{{Cite book

  |title=Rock Climbing Arizona

  |author=Green, S.M.

  |isbn=9781560448136

  |lccn=99030358

  |series=Classic Rock Climbs Series

  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jg0umI3r-j0C

  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140723134017/https://books.google.com/books?id=jg0umI3r-j0C

  |archive-date=23 July 2014

  |year=1999

  |publisher=Globe Pequot Press

  }}{{cite journal|last1=Garner|first1=Virginia|title=The First Ascent of Agathlan|journal=Arizona Highways|date=August 1950|volume=26|issue=8|pages=4–9}}(PDF){{cite journal|last1=Roper|first1=Steve|title=Four Corners|journal=Ascent|date=1970|page=27|url=http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=708058&tn=20}}{{cite aaj|last1=Garner|first1=Ray|title=Agathlan|date=1950|pages=406–414|article_id=12195040600|access-date=2025-01-13}}

  • "Soler" ({{YDS|5.9-}}) - Devils Tower in 1951. First ascent by Tony Soler, Art Lembeck, Herb Conn, Ray Moore, Chris Scordus{{cite web|title=Soler|url=https://www.mountainproject.com/v/soler/105714830|website=Mountain Project|access-date=31 January 2016}}
  • Durrance Route ({{YDS|5.7|}}) - Devils Tower (June 1952): first female ascent by Jan Conn and Jane Showacre

  {{cite journal |last=Conn |first=Jan | date=December 15, 1952|title=Manless Ascent of Devils Tower |url=https://www.nps.gov/deto/learn/historyculture/womenclimb.htm |journal=Appalachia |volume=XXIX |pages=225–227 |access-date=30 January 2016}}

  • About 220 first ascents in the Black Hills Needles,{{harvnb|Stephens|2008}} including:

  :* "Conn Diagonal" ({{YDS|5.7|}}, 3 pitches), Outer Outlet. First ascent on August 26, 1953.{{Cite Mountain Project|title=Conn Diagonal|id=105714734|accessdate=31 January 2016}}{{harvnb|Stephens|2008|p=23}}

  Jan and Herb Conn - Climbing highlights of the Black Hills - 4.jpg

  Jan and Herb Conn - Climbing highlights of the Black Hills - 5.jpg

  Jan and Herb Conn - Climbing highlights of the Black Hills - 6.jpg

  Jan and Herb Conn - Climbing highlights of the Black Hills - 7.jpg|Exit chimney on Diagonal Traverse

  :* "South Tower Conn Route" ({{YDS|5.9|}}, 2 pitches),Spire 4, Cathedral Spires. First ascent on June 8, 1953.{{Cite Mountain Project|title=South Tower Conn Route|id=105715661|accessdate=31 January 2016}}{{harvnb|Stephens|2008|p=56}}

  Jan and Herb Conn - Climbing highlights of the Black Hills - 1.jpg

  Jan and Herb Conn - Climbing highlights of the Black Hills - 2.jpg

  Jan and Herb Conn - Climbing highlights of the Black Hills - 3.jpg|Surmounting the pillar

  :* "East Gruesome" ({{YDS|5.10- R|}}, 2 pitches),Spire 4, Cathedral Spires. First ascent on September 7, 1959.{{Cite Mountain Project|title=East Gruesome|id=110964287|accessdate=31 January 2016}}{{harvnb|Stephens|2008|p=58}}

File:Herb and Jan Conn return from climbing.jpg

• {{cite journal|last=Conn |first=Herb |title=New Frontier for the Rock Climber |journal=Appalachia |volume=XXVII |pages=158-163 |ref=none}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Conn |first1=Herb |last2= |first2= |date=June 1953 |title=The Needles in Review |url=http://www.supertopo.com/inc/photo_zoom.php?dpid=Oj08OTgjJiYrJw |journal=Appalachia |volume=XXIX |issue= |pages=356–365 |doi= |access-date=}} (PDF)
• {{cite journal |last=Conn |first=Jan | date=December 15, 1952|title=Manless Ascent of Devils Tower |url=https://www.nps.gov/deto/learn/historyculture/womenclimb.htm |journal=Appalachia |volume=XXIX |pages=225–227 |access-date=30 January 2016}}
• {{cite journal|last=Conn |first=Herb |last2=Conn |first2=Jan |title=Climbing highlights of the Black Hills|journal=Appalachia|date=June 1955|url=http://www.mountainproject.com/v/107038655|access-date=17 January 2014}} (PDF)

• Conn, Herb and Jan, A World Awaits Below. Unpublished draft: 93 p.
• {{cite journal|last=Conn |first=Herb |last2=Conn |first2=Jan |title=Climbing Fun in the Needles |title-link=:commons:File:Conn - Climbing Fun In the Needles - Summit Oct 1956.pdf |date=October 1956 |journal=Summit |type=PDF |ref=none}}
• {{cite journal|last=Conn |first=Herb |last2=Conn |first2=Jan |title=Devils Tower |date=September 1956 |journal=Summit |ref=none}}
• {{cite journal|last=Conn |first=Herb |last2=Conn |first2=Jan |title=The Ethics and Mountain Climbing |title-link=:commons:File:Conn - Climbing Ethics - Summit July 1957.pdf |date=July 1957 |journal=Summit |type=PDF |ref=none}}
• {{cite journal|last=Conn |first=Herb |last2=Conn |first2=Jan |title=The versatile runner |title-link=:commons:File:Conn - The versatile runner - Summit Nov 1957.pdf |date=November 1957 |journal=Summit |type=PDF |ref=none}}
• {{cite journal|last=Conn |first2=Herb |last2=Conn |first=Jan |title=We work in our spare time |title-link=:commons:File:Conn - We work in out spare time - Summit Nov 1957.pdf |date=November 1957 |journal=Summit |type=PDF |ref=none}}
• Conn, Herb (ca. 1957). Rock Climbs in the Needles: Black Hills of South Dakota, SAC. First guidebook to Needles.
• Conn, Herb (1958). Jam Crack Joe - Summit (PDF)
• Conn, Herb and Jan (February 1959). The right piton when you need it - Summit (PDF)
• {{cite journal |last1=Conn |first1=Jan |last2= |first2= |date=September 1960 |title=Balay Points to Ponder |url=http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p231/scgrossman/ConnBelayPointstSummitSept60.jpg |journal=Summit |volume= |issue= |pages= |doi= |access-date=May 21, 2023}}
• Conn, Herb and Jan (1964). Jewel Cave. National Speleological Society News: 72-73.
• {{cite journal |last1=Conn |first1=Herb |date=1966 |title=Barometric Wind in Wind and Jewel Caves, South Dakota |url=http://www.nps.gov/wica/naturescience/abstract-barometric-winds-in-jewel-and-wind-caves.htm |journal=National Speleological Society Bulletin |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=55–69 |doi= |access-date=May 21, 2023 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080223222701/http://www.nps.gov/wica/naturescience/abstract-barometric-winds-in-jewel-and-wind-caves.htm |archive-date=February 23, 2008}}
• Conn, Herb and Jan (1972). Report from Jewel Cave. National Speleological Society News: 85-92.
• {{cite book|last=Conn|first=Herb|title=Jewel Cave : Jewel Cave National Monument, Custer County, South Dakota|type=Map|year=1975|oclc=21800519}}
• {{cite book|last=Conn|first=Herb and Jan|title=The Jewel Cave adventure : fifty miles of discovery under South Dakota|year=1977|publisher=Zephyrus Press, Inc.|location=Teaneck, NJ.|isbn=9780939748013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ciJZAAAAYAAJ|author2=Conn, Jan|lccn=76041281|oclc=2425430}}
• Conn, Herb and Jan (Jan. 1977). Chasing the Winds Through Jewel Cave. In Sloane, Bruce (ed.) Caver, Caves and Caving. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ. 409 p.
• Conn, Herb and Jan (1982). The Very Important Shortcut. National Speleological Society News: 300-302.
• {{cite book|last=Conn|first=Jan|title=Run to catch a pine cone : a musical fantasy|type=musical score|year=1986|oclc=17768529|lccn=88750012}}
• {{cite web|last=Conn|first=Jan and Herb|title=Diaries of Wind Cave Trips|url=http://www.nps.gov/wica/historyculture/upload/WICA_15961-Conn-Diary-of-WICA-Trips.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201164905/http://www.nps.gov/wica/historyculture/upload/WICA_15961-Conn-Diary-of-WICA-Trips.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 1, 2014|access-date=17 January 2014|year=1987}}
• {{cite book|last1=Conn|first1=Herb|last2=Wiles|first2=Mike|title=Jewel Cave : Jewel Cave National Monument, Custer County, South Dakota|type=Map|year=1993|oclc=33482475|url=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BL1GxMxh7Gg/TQXZe3R_g7I/AAAAAAAAAnI/nTSdH5Wx6F0/s1600/Jewel%2BCave%2BMap.jpg}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Marriott |first1=H.J. |last2=Conn |first2=Jan and Herb |title=Asplenium X alternifolium in the Black Hills of South Dakota |journal=American Fern Journal |date=2000 |volume=90 |page=109 }}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book|last=Stephens|first=Lindsay|title=The Adventure Climbs of Herb and Jan Conn|year=2008|publisher=Sharp End Pub., LLC.|location=Boulder, CO|isbn=9781892540560|url={{GBurl|id=xQsJSQAACAAJ}}}}

• Deal, D. E., 1977, "Climbers Turned Cavers," Summit, April–May, pp. 18–19 and 36.
• Audubon, January 1989, p. 90-96 Following the Wind
• {{cite book|last1=Busse|first1=Andrew|last2=Burr|first2=Andrew|title=The Needles of Rushmore|year=2012|publisher=Fixed Pin Publishing|location=Boulder, CO|isbn=978-0-9819016-4-0}}

{{commons category}}

• [http://www.sdpb.sd.gov/newsite/shows.aspx?MediaID=36017&Parmtype=RADIO&ParmAccessLevel=sdpb-all Interview with Jan and Herb Conn by Charles Michael Ray], 14 December 2007, South Dakota Public Radio
• {{YouTube|75mmZX_NxL4|Video of Jan Conn Talking and singing}}, 10 October 2012, at the National Cathedral School For Girls
• [http://vimeo.com/groups/documentaryfilm/videos/30503336 Video on climbing in Needles] including interview with Jan Conn.
• [http://oeis.org/wiki/User:Herb_Conn Herb Conn]: Herb Conn, On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences
• [https://watch.sdpb.org/video/the-ups-and-downs-of-herb-and-jan-conn-iatiny/ The Ups and Downs of Herb and Jan Conn] Documentary about Herb and Jan Conn by South Dakota Public Broadcasting. Aired: 05/03/23
• [https://fringesfolly.wordpress.com/2017/11/07/the-oldest-living-dirtbag-jan-conn/ Jan Conn: Always Improving (or, The Oldest Living Dirtbag)] by Elliott Becker. 11/7/2017. Includes links to audio.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conn, Jan and Herb}}

Category:American rock climbers

Category:American mountain climbers

Category:American cavers

Category:People from Custer, South Dakota