Project Jukebox Survey
Help us redesign the Project Jukebox website by taking a very short survey!
Art Davidson
Art Davidson was interviewed on July 6, 2000 by Dave Krupa on the deck of Art's beautiful and secluded home outside Anchorage, Alaska. In this interview, Art talks about his climbing and mountaineering career, especially in the Alaska Range. In particular, he provides an eloquent, if not harrowing, account of his most well known climb: the first winter ascent of Denali in 1967. Art also shares his experience of losing climbing partners and dealing with issues of survival, as well as his love of the mountains and his environmental ethic.
Digital Asset Information
Archive #: Oral History 2000-17-23
Project: Denali Mountaineering
Date of Interview: Jul 6, 2000
Narrator(s): Art Davidson
Interviewer(s): David Krupa
Location of Interview:
Location of Topic:
Funding Partners:
National Park Service
Alternate Transcripts
There is no alternate transcript for this interview.
After clicking play, click on a section to navigate the audio or video clip.
Sections
1) Growing up Colorado
2) How he became interested in climbing and accidentally coming to Alaska
3) Climbing in the ranges around Anchorage and his first time on Denali
4) The Japanese climbing community and his mentor and friend, Shiro Nishimae
5) The importance of food while mountain climbing and the genesis of the Denali winter climb
6) Gathering people together to attempt a winter climb up Denali
7) Planning and preparing for the winter climb of Denali
8) The sense of unknown and discovery that pervaded climbing at the time
9) Packing for the expedition and misconceptions upon arrival about temperature and crevasses
10) The death of Jacques Batkin and the decision to keep climbing
11) Dave Johnston's love for the mountains and altitude considerations
12) The expedition climbing up from 14,000 feet
13) The winter view of Denali and individual emotions of team members
14) Dave Johnston, Ray Genet, and himself departing for the summit
15) Reaching the summit and descending in darkness
16) Deciding to sleep at 17,000 feet, and dealing with the wind
17) Being stranded at 17,000 feet by the storm
18) Ray Genet finding Dave Johnston's old, cached fuel that saved their lives
19) Considering descent once the wind stopped
20) Finding an old cache of food and descending Denali Pass
21) Shiro Nishimae explaining to him about the food
22) Descending to the 14,000 feet basin and seeing no sign of climbing partners
23) The rescue attempts
24) Being rescued by the helicopter
25) Shiro learning that his partners are alive, and the 30-year reunion of the climbers
26) Moving on after the climb and the emotions of sharing such an intense climb
27) Reflections on similarities between climbing and life
28) Going back to Denali with his son and writing a book
29) Looking back on certain elements of survival
30) His love of the mountains and living the lessons that he has learned
31) Mediums that he has been able to use to heal and share life experiences
Click play, then use Sections or Transcript to navigate the interview.
After clicking play, click a section of the transcript to navigate the audio or video clip.
Transcript
Section 1: Colorado -- plains\ Steamboat Springs, CO\ fishing\ Alaska\ mountain climbing\ summer camp\ horseback riding|
Section 2: mountain climbing -- fear\ glissading\ adventure\ high school -- teacher\ Buckingham, Bill\ Sinclair, Pete\ mountains\ mountaineering -- skills\ climbing -- spirit\ Rocky Mountains\ West Coast Mountains\ mountaineering -- Golden Age\ Anchorage, AK\ Mt. Sanford\ Mt. Shasta\ Mt. Rainier\ rivers -- glacial|
Section 3: climbing -- Alaska\ Denali\ Chugach Range\ Talkeetna Range\ pickup -- Ford\ Nishimae, Shiro\ Osaka Alpine Club\ railroad\ Kahiltna Glacier\ South Face\ routes -- unclimbed\ Southwest Rib|
Section 4: climbing community -- Japanese\ history -- changes\ Japanese -- war\ relationships -- lifelong\ route -- South Face\ avalanche\ Denali\ ice fall\ seracs\ crevasses\ routes -- dead end\ Nishimae, Shiro -- teacher\ mountaineering -- life|
Section 5: Denali climb -- illness\ mountains -- food\ cornices\ avalanches\ Nishimae, Shiro\ winter climbing\ Osaka Alpine Club\ climbers -- experienced|
Section 6: Johnston, Dave\ Blomberg, Gregg\ equipment -- mountaineering\ Colorado Mountain Industries\ Wichman, George\ Edwards, John\ New Zealand\ Nishimae, Shiro\ Japanese\ Genet, Ray\ Batkin, Jacques\ Terray, Lionel\ Mt. Huntington -- first ascent\ Switzerland\ mountaineering -- Alaska\ glaciers\ calisthenics|
Section 7: Osaka Alpine Club\ Denali -- summer climb\ winter climb -- preparation\ safety\ food\ winter climb -- February\ guide books\ winter climbing -- mystery\ climbers -- qualified|
Section 8: glaciers\ challenge\ tragedy\ mountains -- unclimbed\ Kichatna Mountains\ Cathedral Spires\ Yosemite National Park\ rescue groups\ safety nets\ gear -- cold weather\ Blomberg, Gregg\ tents\ pants -- down\ parkas -- down\ bunny boots\ wool|
Section 9: Johnston, Dave\ route\ Anchorage, AK\ expedition -- packing\ Sheldon, Don\ Kahiltna Glacier\ temperature -- inversion\ crevasses -- Kahiltna\ route