![George Whitmore in the Canadian Rockies, 1962. [Photo] Ed Cooper](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/george-whitmore-1.jpeg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
George Whitmore, one of the first ascensionists of the Nose of El Capitan (Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La) in 1958, passed away on New Year’s Day in Fresno, California, from complications of COVID-19 at age 89. Steve Grossman recounts his influential life.
![Wayne Merry while engaged in Alaskan glacier mapping for the International Geophysical Year (IGY) in 1958. [Photo] Dick Long (Wayne Merry collection)](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/wayne-merry-1.jpg?resize=800%2C620&ssl=1)
Steve Grossman chronicles the adventurous life of Wayne Merry, who passed away at home in Atlin, British Columbia, early on October 30, 2019, after suffering from prostate cancer. He was 88. Merry completed the first ascent of the Nose on El Capitan with Warren Harding and George Whitmore in 1958. He went on to oversee the foundation of Yosemite Search and Rescue and the Yosemite Mountain Shop, and eventually settled in Canada where he continued his work as an educator and steward for wild places.
