Bill Forrest Dies
Longtime climbing pioneer and inventor Bill Forrest died on December 21 while snowshoeing near Monarch Pass in Colorado. He was 73.
Become a member to unlock this story and receive other great perks.
Already have an Outside Account? Sign in
All-Access
Intro Offer
$3.99 / month*
- A $500 value with 25+ benefits including:
- Access to all member-only content on all 17 publications in the Outside network like Rock and Ice, Climbing, Outside, Backpacker, Trail Runner and more
- Annual subscription to Climbing magazine.
- Annual gear guides for climbing, camping, skiing, cycling, and more
- Gaia GPS Premium with hundreds of maps and global trail recommendations, a $39.99 value
- Outside Learn, our new online education hub loaded with more than 2,000 videos across 450 lessons including 6 Weeks to Stronger Fingers and Strength Training for Injury Prevention
- Premium access to Outside TV and 1,000+ hours of exclusive shows
- Annual subscription to Outside magazine
*Outside memberships are billed annually. Print subscriptions available to U.S. residents only. You may cancel your membership at anytime, but no refunds will be issued for payments already made. Upon cancellation, you will have access to your membership through the end of your paid year. More Details
Longtime climbing pioneer and inventor Bill Forrest died on December 21 while snowshoeing near Monarch Pass in Colorado. He was 73. Forrest is perhaps best known for his company Forrest Mountaineering, and for his innovations including a cammable nut, the Titon, the first modular ice tool, the Mjolnir, which is displayed at the Smithsonian, as well as one of the first commercial harnesses with leg loops and technical ice tools with aluminum shafts and steeply drooped picks.
One the rock, Forrest was a longtime fixture in the West, with numerous first ascents including the Forrest/Walker in 1972 in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, a 2,500-foot line on the then unclimbed Painted wall.”The 24th pitch was the hardest I’d ever done,” Forrest said in an interview with the Denver Post earlier this year. “I came close to dying. I’ll never forget that pitch. I still think about it now and then.”
In 1970 Forrest made the first solo ascent of the Diamond on Longs Peak, and was in the same era active in the Mystery Towers of Utah, where he bagged the first ascents of numerous proud towers including Doric Column and the Gothic Nightmare, climbs that remained unrepeated for several decades.
Forrest began climbing while in the Army in the 1950s and stopped climbing in 1993 when he came down with a case of dysentery while attempting Mount Everest. Near death, Forrest lost 30 pounds in a single week. He never fully recovered and gave up climbing.
