Mark Powell

1928 - 2020

September 5, 1928 - July 2, 2020 Mark Powell, famed rock climber and college professor, passed away July 2, 2020, in hospice at Woodland Hill's Kaiser Hospital. He was 91.Marion "Mark" Lyle Powell, was born in Selma, California, to parents Lawrence D. Powell and Esther Heilman Powell, on September 5, 1928. His father worked for Union Oil Company as a pump station operator and the family moved frequently; from Wasco, Coalinga, Avenal, Shandon, and finally to Santa Maria. When Mark was 15 years old, his parents divorced and he moved with his mother to his grandparent's farm in Laton, California while she worked nearby in Fresno supporting the war effort. He graduated from Laton High School in 1946 and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. He served primarily in Alaska, first as a radio operator and then as a teletype operator. Fortunately he was honorably discharged just prior to the onset of the Korean War. He moved to Los Angeles, then Fresno and worked as an air traffic controller and weather technician.Long interested in the mountains, Mark hiked and scrambled extensively as a boy often riding tens of miles on his two-speed bicycle to approach his objectives. .His technical climbing began in 1954 when he joined the newly-formed Fresno chapter of the Sierra Club's Rock Climbing Section. Under the tutelage of George Sessions, Mark quickly learned the basics and began climbing seriously in the company of more experienced climbers such as Jerry Gallwas and Don Wilson.Soon he was establishing difficult new routes at Tahquitz Rock (near Idyllwild, CA) and in Yosemite and became committed to climbing as much as possible. Most American climbers at this time were weekend participants, but Mark stood apart in his dedication to staying in peak shape and establishing as many high standard routes as he could manage before returning to work. While already very common in Europe, he became one of the very first of the now-celebrated "climbing bums" in American climbing.Over two trips in 1956, Powell, Gallwas and Wilson climbed Spider Rock in Canyon de Chelly and Cleopatra's Needle. Don Wilson later wrote, "We knew almost nothing about climbing on sandstone. Long climbs on soft rock requiring extensive use of piton and direct aid had been avoided in this country." The following year the same team plus Bill Feuerer climbed the difficult and improbable Totem Pole in Monument Valley to complete their sweep of the three finest towers in the Four Corners area.In the summer of 1957, Mark, Warren Harding and Bill Feuerer met in Yosemite only to find Royal Robbins, Jerry Gallwas and Mike Sherrick already engaged in climbing their chosen route, the sheer northwest face of Half Dome. As a consolation prize, of sorts, they chose to take on the enormous south buttress of El Capitan. With Mark doing most of the leading, the team climbed 1,000 feet in eight days before descending fixed lines to the ground on July 11. Due to the traffic congestion in the valley below caused by such a sensational climb, they came to an agreement with the National Park Service to suspend their efforts during peak tourist season between the Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends.On September 20, while approaching one of his favorite long climbs, the Arrowhead Arête (near Yosemite Point), with a novice partner, a foothold broke sending Mark forty feet to the ground resulting in a compound dislocation of his left ankle. Difficulty in initiating a rescue and soil in the wounds contributed to a severe infection by the time Mark was brought to the Valley Medical Clinic the following day. Fortunately, Dr. Avery Sturm, an experienced battlefield doctor and expert in treating gas gangrene, was on call. Most physicians would have amputated once the infection advanced but he patiently gave Mark every opportunity to continue to walk and climb and finally contained the spread in the nick of time.So great was Mark's desire to climb the Nose route on El Capitan, as the route became known, that he joined Warren and Bill again in the spring of 1958 to help push the climb higher despite his recovering ankle. By September, Bill had dropped out and Mark spent ten days as part of a party of six pushing the route to 2,000 feet before quitting the effort feeling that in his diminished capacity, he was a burden and, further, "was unwilling to cater to Harding's dominance" in that lesser role. The route ultimately required 47 days of combined effort spread over 16 months and was completed by Warren Harding, Wayne Merry and George Whitmore on November 23.Despite occasional bouts of osteomyelitis and other complications from his ankle injury, Mark continued establishing difficult first ascents through the early 1970s compiling well over one hundred climbs of record in California, Arizona, Utah, and in the Needles of South Dakota. In 2009, his ankle finally had to be amputated after more than fifty years.Mark was married three times. In 1958, he married Beverly Woolsey, a climber he had met in Yosemite. They developed a lifestyle of working in the winter and saving money so they could rock climb all summer. Mark returned to school during this time, earning his BA and MA in Geography from Cal State University Northridge (CSUN).He started teaching at Pierce College in Woodland Hills in 1967 and formally retired in 1995. He was a professor of geography, with a specialty in weather. He served as Chairman of the Earth Science Department for many years. He enlivened his classes with his travel and rock climbing experiences and was a popular instructor with his students. Mark continued teaching part time until 2009.In 1974, he married Kriss Lindquist. They purchased a second home in Idyllwild for climbing purposes. He married a third time in 1999 to Mary McLaughlin who predeceased him in 2018.Mark is survived by his sister, Betty Dennison, five step-children and numerous nephews, nieces, and grand-nephews and nieces, all of whom remember him fondly.Had he not been injured, the trajectory of American climbing history would undoubtedly have been steeper and its tapestry of achievements far richer. Ropemate and visionary climber, Chuck Pratt, once wrote that Mark "showed us that climbing can be a way of life and basis for a philosophy". In a 2008 interview with Steve Grossman, Mark acknowledged savoring that great compliment and concluded, "If there is any contribution I made to climbing, that's it. I showed there was a way of life in pursuing it."A celebration of his life will be held at a later date.