Chuck Pratt  (March 5, 1939 – December 16, 2000), a Yosemite big-wall pioneer in the 1960s, was a climber’s climber and a man of ethics. He was one of the best American climbers in the Yosemite Golden Age, doing numerous first ascents and early repeats of big wall routes.

Early Yosemite Big Wall Ascents

In 1958 at age 19, Chuck Pratt made the first ascent of the now-classic north face of Fairview Dome at Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park with Wally Reed.

In 1959, partnered with Warren Harding and Glen Denny, Pratt completed the first ascent of the East Face of Washington Column, now a stellar free route called Astroman. He was part of the team that made the second ascent of The Nose of El Capitan in a seven-day effort in 1960.

1961: First Ascent of Salathe Wall

Chuck Pratt, along with Royal Robbins and Tom Frost, did the first ascent of the Salathe Wall on El Capitan in 1961, the hardest and baddest big wall route in the world at that time and still one of Yosemite's best big walls. Then in October, 1964, Pratt, with Royal Robbins, Yvon Chouinard, and Tom Frost, made the first ascent of the North American Wall on El Capitan. The following year Robbins later described the effort in the American Alpine Journal: "The nine-day first ascent of the North America Wall in 1964 not only was the first one-push first ascent of an El Capitan climb, but a major breakthrough in other ways. We learned that our minds and bodies never stopped adjusting to the situation.

We were able to live and work and sleep in comparative comfort in a vertical environment."

"Best climber of our generation"

Chuck, called “the best climber of our generation” by Royal Robbins, was renowned for his off-width crack climbing prowess. Pratt passed away in Thailand in 2000 at age 61.

Chuck Pratt Climbing Quote

"I don't want to write about climbing; I don't want talk about it; I don't want to photograph it; I don't want to think about it; all I want to do is do it."