Glen Denny: Yosemite in the Sixties

Photographer Glen Denny was there in California’s Yosemite Valley when new hardware and techniques opened up Half Dome and El Capitan to a younger, faster new breed of mountain climber. Shooting from the ground and on the big granite walls, he documented his friends, including Royal Robbins, Tom Frost, and Yvon Chouinard (future founder of Patagonia and Black Diamond). They were the guys hammering in new hard-steel pitons, using the first new synthetic ropes (the old ones could snap, or break your back, during a long fall), and spending days on long routes like the fabled “Nose” on El Cap. But in addition to stoic bravery, Denny also reveals the lighter side of Camp 4, where climbers spent their (literal) down time drinking, bragging, playing music, and chasing girls. Before they were legends, they were just regular dudes exploring a very special place. Tonight, Denny will show slides collected in last year’s Glen Denny: Yosemite in the Sixties (T. Adler Books, $60), and share stories from that era. Seattle Mountaineers, 7700 Sand Point Way N.E., 284-6310, www.mountaineers.org. $8–$10. 7 p.m. BRIAN MILLER

Fri., Nov. 14, 7 p.m., 2008