Desert Pioneer, Tower Master, Cave Explorer, Geophysicist, Mathematician; Boulder, Colorado

Stop to chat with the desert pioneer Huntley Ingalls and you quickly sense the lifelong hunger for exploration that fueled his 50-odd first ascents. In 1956, working for the National Geological Survey, Ingalls discovered the untapped potential of eastern Utah’s vast desert. He met Layton Kor in 1959, and the pair went on to first-ascend such formations as: Castleton Tower’s Kor-Ingalls (III 5.9; September 1961); the Titan’s Finger of Fate, (IV 5.8 A3; Ingalls, Kor, George Hurley; May 1962); and Monument Basin’s Standing Rock (IV 5.7 A3; Ingalls, Kor, Steve Komito; October 1962). A transplant from Potomac, Maryland, he learned to climb in the nearby Potomac Gorge (and at Seneca Rock) in 1953, moving in 1959 to Boulder, Colorado, where he worked six years as a mathematician at the Bureau of Standards (now National Institute of Standards and Technology). Today retired yet still active in the mountains (just hiking, no climbing), Ingalls has become a fixture at the North Boulder Café, where he can be found at lunchtime, always with his ham omelette. 

Huntley Ingalls 7/02/08 Interview Transcription 

Climbing: So I’ve got oodles and oodles of questions so you’ll have to let me know when you’re done for the day.

Ingalls: That’s fine. That’s how you get accuracy. You know, when I read something, I like to believe what I’m reading. So I’m glad you’ve got so many questions instead of a bunch of vague, made-up things.

Climbing: So I was reading that you were surveying the land at the time you first saw Castle Valley. What was your job title for the US Geological Survey?

Ingalls: Nothing much impressive. I was a field assistant.

Climbing: Okay, so what job were you doing at that time, then?

Ingalls: It was a gravity survey. Shall I explain that? Basically I used an instrument called a barometer that measured to a very fine degree. It was so sensitive that if you took a reading on the floor and then another one on the next story, or even on the table here, you would get a different reading because you’re that much farther from the earth’s center. It’s a remarkable thing. So then, the idea was to make a map of all these readings so you can get a good idea of the rocks around, in particular, they were looking for uranium. They were mapping out the whole Colorado Plateau. It was a wonderful, fun job.

[Ordering food]

Climbing: Okay, so when you first saw Castle Valley, specifically Castleton Tower, what was your first impression of it?

Ingalls: Well, I guess my first impression of it, was…well I guess it was that I was startled that there could be such a thing. And that it was a beautiful tower. I immediately thought of what it would be like to climb it. So it struck me as a classic.

Climbing: Had you climbed a lot previous to this?

Ingalls: I had done some climbing, I had climbed Ship Rock a bit, so that was fun. That was extraordinary as well.

Climbing: Were you more drawn to tower climbing, more so than big wall or other types of climbing?

Ingalls: No, I tend to like summits. I wasn’t too into wall climbing. I tended toward the larger summits. Especially summits that no one else had climbed. And these things were just there for the taking.

Climbing: When you guys had gotten to the top, did you find evidence that anyone else had been up there before you?

Ingalls: No, no, we were definitely the first. There were no pitons or hangars, or any evidence whatsoever that anyone else had been up there.

Climbing: What’s that feeling like of doing a first ascent? What is going through your head?

Ingalls: First of all, that you are pioneering something that hasn’t been done before. The feeling of being a pioneer and the tremendous privilege of being the first. So it’s somewhat like the feeling of an explorer comes to a new land or a river or a valley. It’s a feeling of exploration and privilege, first, for me anyway.

Climbing: Do you know how many first ascents you’ve done over your whole climbing career?

Ingalls: Oh I don’t know that. It depends on what you consider significant. Would these little cliffs be counted in there?

Climbing: Well, my personal perspective on it would be yes, I think in all climbing, any first ascent would count.

Ingalls: Well then. Maybe about 50 or so.

Climbing: Do you know how many of those might be specifically for towers?

Ingalls: The most significant ones were, Castleton Tower, of course, and then the Titan, that was a big deal. And then, North Six-Shooter Peak and the Standing Rock. Those were the important summits. There were a couple in the Black Canyon, but they weren’t that difficult though.

Climbing: That leads into another question for me then. Between Castleton Tower, North Six-Shooter, the Titan and Standing Rock, which one was your favorite?

Ingalls: Well, for pleasure it was Castleton Tower, but for challenge, it was the Titan of course. And for simply being plain wild it was Standing Rock.

Climbing: What do you mean by wild?

Ingalls: Well it was something like so out of the ordinary that most people would actually try to avoid it. Have you seen pictures of it?

Climbing: Yes

Ingalls: Well it’s 40 feet wide and 200 feet high and very rotten. So it was wild in the sense of danger.

Climbing: So going back to Castleton, how did you convince Layton Kor to climb it with you? What were his reservations to not doing it?

Ingalls: First of all, no one knew anything about that area. And so I talked a lot about it, and it was a long ways away and there was loads of climbing around here to be done. And his reservations simply were that it was out of sight, out of mind for him. One day we were climbing up on the Ten Sisters there, and on the way down to the car, he said “say, let’s go down and try that tower you’ve been talking about.” It took me two years to persuade him to go down there. And now he’s climbed all over the place. But it took two years to get anyone to even take a look at it, for a first ascent.

Climbing: That’s amazing. And you know, in my mind, I would think such a first ascent, everyone would be jumping at the opportunity.

Ingalls: You would think so, but you know what they were all interested in? Eldorado! And that’s just one little canyon! They all wanted to just do first ascents in Eldorado Canyon. In fact, I remember someone telling me that Castleton Tower and desert towers were wonderful things, but that the reason no one was interested in them was that there were climbs to be done in Eldorado. And I just don’t think that was anything significant when compared to such a beautiful climb like Castleton. Have you ever seen it?

Climbing: I have actually, from a distance though. Other than that, I’ve only seen the pictures of it. It’s a very affecting tower though. It makes you stop.

Ingalls: Yes, it’s arresting. That’s the word.

Climbing: Exactly, that’s it. Mmmk, well I remember reading an old issue of Climbing magazine, from 1989, you had written this short piece for the mag about Castleton Tower, and in it, you ask yourself ‘How would it feel to reach the summit?’ so when you actually did summit the tower, did you think about the next climb, that moment, the approaching storm?

Ingalls: Well we were certainly concerned with the storm approaching because you see, this approach took two days. The first day we got half way up and a storm came along and we had to get off of there. It’s a dangerous place for lightning, very dangerous. And then when we got to the top, another one was coming. And we had to race the storm on the way down. But of course the main thought was of the satisfaction of having done it, it was just the wonderful feeling of satisfaction and then worry about the approaching storm. In fact, we mentioned that in the summit register. And do you know that some people have stolen the summit registers, they’ve taken them for themselves. I think it’s disgusting. The original summit register should be in a museum if anywhere.

Climbing: Yeah, you know, I was reading about the tower and that the most recent account of how many ascents it has had is over 1000, just for the Kor-Ingalls route alone.

Ingalls: You talking about Castleton now? Oh yes, it’s had over 1000 ascent a long time ago. They stopped counting after it got over 2000. It’s probably around 3000 or 4000 by now. It’s amazing.

Climbing: I’ve heard that it is the most climbed desert tower out there.

Ingalls: Yeah, it is. That’s true. Because it has good rock, that’s unusual for the desert. And it has an incredible view from the top.

Climbing: So, what was the hardest part of the climb for you?

Ingalls: The hardest part was, uh, was getting into that offwidth chimney, and the stretches were about, 30 feet or so. That was hard for me at the time.

Climbing: Had you done much offwidth before?

Ingalls: I had done offwidths. Didn’t have much trouble with it. It wasn’t much of a worry. You see, you had to get one shoulder and one arm inside and then the other hand and foot out there. There wasn’t much up in front. You just kind of had to wiggle up like a worm, you had to scrape up the rock, you see. There wasn’t any worry, definitely just a thrash. Made worse by the hail, when you have to wiggle up there.

Climbing: Yeah, I read in your little piece for Climbing, that you got ground shocks during that storm too.

Ingalls: We were racing the storm down and it caught us on the last rappel, and Layton had gone on down and I picked up the rope and a ground current caught me through the rope. So I’m glad that I didn’t have both hands on the rope…so I just stopped and I got soaked, I mean really soaked.

Climbing: How did that affect your view of Castleton, of the whole route?

Ingalls: That was just part of it, that didn’t affect me at all. It is all just part of it, of the adventure. It really didn’t have any effect at all, other than to be careful.

Climbing: So how long did you climb with Layton Kor overall.

Ingalls: Overall, let’s see…about four years.

Climbing: What made him such a good partner?

Ingalls: Well, ah, his tremendous energy and ability. And also he had a…in general, his spirit and enthusiasm. He had a tremendous ability, tremendous life force, I mean, he was just uh, full speed ahead, you know.

Climbing: I think I read that you met him at a party.

Ingalls: Sort of, it was an outdoor party up on Flagstaff Mountain. One of those stoner parties. I was immediately just struck by his force and we immediately got along very well. …Where’d you pick up all this stuff?

Climbing: Research. I’ve been going through all of our back issues, everything online, anything you could possibly imagine.

Ingalls: Well, you’ve done a good job, I can see why you’ve got the job. You’ve really done a good job here.

Climbing: Thank you, I really appreciate that. Yes I have to admit that I was quite nervous to come and talk to you.

Ingalls: Oh come on, I’m harmless.

Climbing: No, I mean to me, there are so many amazing climbers out there. And to have them up there on a pedestal for me, it’s a good thing because it gives me something to look up to, you know.

Ingalls: I’m very approachable. I’m as easy to get along with as a friendly kitty-cat.

Climbing: That’s true. See, for me, it’s about once I bring them down to a human level by talking to them, it changes my perspective of them, not in a more negative or positive light mind you, just different than before.

Ingalls: I’ll tell you, I don’t have anything to prove, I’m not interested in a big ego and all those things. I just enjoy things, and uh, I’m not out there to prove anything or to posture or anything like that, I don’t need it.

Climbing: Yes, I’ve noticed that about the first generation of climbers versus the climbers of today. It seems that the first generation was a lot more humble and they were doing it really for the enjoyment.

Ingalls: Right, well I’ll tell you that the big difference, one, is that each one was an individual. They weren’t trying to go forward with a certain style, or use the right kind of jargon, and wear the right kind of clothes. Each one was self-contained and unique, and they really enjoyed climbing. I mean there was some competition, up to a point. This business that if you can’t climb a 5.14 then you’re an inferior form of life, it’s not so good, I tell ya.

Climbing: It’s amazed me, how climbing is becoming more of a sport.

Ingalls: Yes, I think it has definitely spoiled the spirit of it now. Of course, there are two reasons for that. First of all, there are so many climbers now that you have to do something really extreme to stand out at all. And the other thing of it is, the frontier is pretty much used up. There’s hardly anything left that can be a significant first ascent. And so there is no frontier so they turn to competition because that’s all they have. And it’s a pity because they are extraordinarily good.

Climbing: You’re right, there is amazing talent out there.

Ingalls: The talent is incredible, but I would still rather do something pioneering. There is a good reason to climb now, and that’s simply to enjoy it.

[eating…]