I didn't know any of the main characters in these books, but they touched me briefly, even if they didn't know it.
After Tobin soloed the North Face of the Matterhorn in winter, I had a brief letter correspondence with him, cut short by his death on Mount Alberta. At the time the North Face of the Matterhorn was on my "must do" list. But sadly, or more probably thankfully, it's on my "never got done list." For as Tobin wrote "it's pretty casual if you are solid on 5.7-5.8 iced over, rock in crampons."
Another frequent figure in the Accomazzo book - John Bachar - crossed paths with me and Mark in Yosemite. We had just climbed Reed' Pinnacle Direct, when Bachar and Kauk soloed the route behind us; after a chat they declined our rappel rope in favor of down climbing "this casual" route. No doubt, they had just started a "Half Dome Day" of soloing 20 pitches!
As for Jim Wickwire, I followed his climbing career - never met him - but was heavily influenced by his article in Mountain magazine about climbing Denali alpine style in the early 1970s. After reading the article I immediately got a half bag - which I still have - and used it camping and climbing all over the world. It was my go to equipment for teaching on three week long winter courses with Colorado Outward Bound. But, I never did have the nerve to use it on Denali.
So, many thanks to Selden and Lucy for these fine additions to Hock's Alpine Library.
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