S U P E R T O P O S

APPENDIX
About the Author
Chris McNamara is addicted to El Capitan. He is one of the bestknown
climbers on the Yosemite circuit and is the winner of the
1999 Bates Award from the American Alpine Club as the nation’s
outstanding young climber/mountaineer. He is also the founder
and president of the American Safe Climbing Association and a
student at UC Berkeley.
Chris’ first El Capitan ascent was at age 15. A year later he and
his brother Morgan became the youngest team, at 16 and 13, ever
to climb El Cap. By the year 2000, at age 21, Chris had logged
more than 54 ascents of El Cap, plus trips to Norway, Baffin Island
and Ecuador. Climbing magazine once computed that 3 percent
of Chris’ life on earth had been spent on the face of El Cap. His
climbs include the first one-day ascents of Lurking Fear (solo),
Dihedral Wall, Grape Race, Re-Animator and Muir Wall. He made
the first clean ascent of the North America Wall
and holds speed records on The Shield, Zodiac
and Wet Denim Daydream. Chris has put up
first ascents on Half Dome and in Zion, as well
as doing the first Girdle Traverse of El Cap, a
route that took five days, 75 pitches and 14,000
feet of climbing.
Chris founded the ASCA in 1997 during a
year he took off between high school and college.
The non-profit group has replaced more than
1,500 anchor bolts on routes in Yosemite,
Zion, and other climbing areas. Chris has
replaced more than 450 himself. In addition
to running the ASCA, Chris serves on the
board of directors of the Access Fund. He lives
in Berkeley, California.
Mac proves no sleep, no steep: Recharging for another push up El Cap.
Photo by Mike Ousley.
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