John Bachar

Bachar was born in 1957. He grew up in Los Angeles, California, and started climbing at the bouldering hot spot of Stoney Point in the northern San Fernando Valley. After attending Westchester High School, graduating in 1974, he attended UCLA, where his father was a math professor, but dropped out to climb full-time. Obsessed with the sport, he immersed himself in books on physical training and nutrition, and soon was able to outperform his fellow climbers. Fellow students at his high school remember him scaling the exterior high school gym walls on many occasions.{{cite news |last=Callanan |first=Tom |date=October 23, 1988 |title=High on Danger: The Rock-Climbers of Yosemite Valley Have Won Worldwide Fame With Their Death-Defying Refusal To Use Safety Ropes and Anchors, and the Most Awesomely Daring of Them All is John Bachar |page=C1 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/282534358/ |work=Chicago Tribune |access-date=December 3, 2024}}

John Long, John Yablonski, Ron Kauk and Mike Graham, whom Bachar met in the early 1970s, all free soloed with him, starting with the classic Joshua Tree route Double Cross (5.7). He also put up notorious bouldering problems in Joshua Tree such as Planet X (V6) and So High (V5). The committing crux move of the latter problem is {{Convert|25|ft|m}} off the ground.Robert Miramontes, A Complete Bouldering Guide To Joshua Tree National Park, K. Daniels and Associates, 2003

Bachar was first noted for his climbs in Yosemite with his unroped ascents of New Dimensions (5.11a) and The Nabisco Wall, a three-pitch affair (Waverly Wafer (5.10c), either Wheat Thin (5.10c) or Butterballs (5.11c R), and Butterfingers (5.11a) as the final pitch).Mark Kroese, Fifty Favorite Climbs: The Ultimate North American Tick List, The Mountaineers Books, 2001 Noted for his physical fitness, his campsite at Camp 4 was filled with exercise equipment, including the hanging ladders since associated with his name. At his peak he was able to perform a two-finger pull-up with {{Convert|12.5|lbs}} of weight in his other hand, and two-arm pull-up with over {{Convert|100|lbs}} of weight strapped around his waist.Michael Reardon, Bachar: One Man, One Myth, One Legend, Jumprunner Productions, 2005 While attempting the bouldering problem Midnight Lightning with Kauk and Yablonski in 1978, Bachar drew the iconic lightning bolt in chalk.{{Cite web |url=http://www.planetmountain.com/english/News/shownews1.lasso?l=2&keyid=40853 |title=Midnight Lightning bolt, the icon of free climbing in Yosemite disappears for a day |publisher=planetmountain.com |date=7 May 2013 |accessdate=9 May 2013}}

Along with Ron Kauk and John Long, Bachar was part of the team that free-climbed the East face of Washington Column, ushering in a new age of free climbing with their first free ascent of Astroman. This route, containing numerous pitches of 5.10 and 5.11 difficulty, set a new standard for long and continuously difficult free climbs. He played a key role in making the first free ascent of the technical and difficult "boulder problem" pitch low on the route.

Bachar was a contemporary of John Long and Tobin Sorenson in a group they called the Stonemasters putting up daring new routes in the Idyllwild, California, area.{{cite book |last1=Long |first1=John |last2=Fidelman |first2=Dean |date=2009 |title=The Stonemasters: California rock climbers in the seventies |location=Santa Barbara, California |publisher=Stonemaster Press/T. Adler Books |isbn=9780984094905}}{{cite book |last=Long |first=John |date=2019 |title=The Little Book of Outdoor Wisdom: An Adventurer's Collection of Anecdotes and Advice |location=Guilford, CT |publisher=Falcon |pages=81–85 |isbn=9781493034734}}

Bachar posted a note in 1981 promising a "$10,000 reward for anyone who can follow me for one full day." No one took the challenge. That same year he put up Bachar-Yerian (5.11c R/X) in Tuolumne Meadows with Dave Yerian. A heady testpiece, the {{Convert|300|ft|m|adj=on}} vertical-to-gently-overhanging route is protected by 13 bolts (including anchor bolts), each one placed either from a stance (9) or while hanging from a hook (4). Bachar was a vocal critic of climbing tactics such as bolting on rappel, which came into vogue during the 1980s. However, at the time of the first ascent, there were critics of his decision to place certain bolts from hooks, rather than drilling and placing each bolt from a stance.

In 1986, Bachar and Peter Croft made a link up of El Capitan and Half Dome, climbing a vertical mile in under 14 hours.Alexander Huber and Heinz Zak, Yosemite: Half a Century of Dynamic Rock Climbing, Menasha Ridge Press, 2003 In the 1990s, Bachar free soloed Enterprise (5.12b) in the Owens River Gorge and The Gift (5.12c) at Red Rocks for the Masters of Stone video series. He was featured in the documentary Bachar: One Man, One Myth, One Legend (2005) by Michael Reardon.

Bachar lived in Mammoth Lakes, California, and was the director of design of rock climbing shoe manufacturer Acopa International LLC.

On December 3, 1996, Bachar's only child Tyrus was born to Valerie Vosburg.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

On August 13, 2006, Bachar suffered multiple fractured vertebrae in a serious car accident.{{cite news|first = Ed | last = Douglas| title = Obituary: John Bachar | date = 10 July 2009 | work = The Guardian | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jul/10/john-bacher-rock-climber|accessdate=10 July 2009 | location=London}}

On July 5, 2009, Bachar died in a free solo accident at Dike Wall near Mammoth Lakes, California.{{cite web|first = Mick| last = Ryan | title = John Bachar Passes |publisher =UKClimbing.com | url = http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=48225| date = 6 July 2009| accessdate = 7 July 2009}}{{cite news|title = Climbing icon John Bachar dies after apparent Mammoth Lakes fall| newspaper = LA Times | date = 6 July 2009| url = http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/outposts/2009/07/climbing-icon-john-bachar-reportedly-dead-after-mammoth-lakes-fall.html | accessdate = 7 July 2009}}{{cite news|title = John Bachar, Rock Climber, Dies at 51; Daredevil With Uncompromising Style | work = New York Times | date = 8 July 2009 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/sports/09bachar.html | accessdate = 10 July 2009 | first=Michael | last=Brick}}

• Stonemasters

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• [http://www.economist.com/obituary/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14029915 The Economist, July 16th 2009, Obituary: John Bachar]

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Category:1957 births

Category:2009 deaths

Category:American rock climbers

Category:Free soloists

Category:Sports deaths in California

Category:Mountaineering deaths

Category:People from Mammoth Lakes, California