Nicholas Clinch

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For the Confederate States Army officer, see Nicholas Bayard Clinch.

Nicholas Bayard Clinch III (9 November 1930, Evanston, Illinois - 15 June 2016, California) was an American mountain climber, lawyer, author and environmentalist. Clinch Peak, in Antarctica, was named for him in 2006.

Education and personal life[edit]

The son of Virginia Lee Clinch and Nicholas Bayard Clinch Jr., a colonel in the U.S. Air Force,[1] Nicholas "Nick" Clinch grew up in Dallas, Texas, and later attended the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell. He graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in political science in 1951, then obtained a degree from Stanford Law School.[2] He followed his father into the Air Force, but due to his asthma and poor eyesight, was unable to qualify as a pilot. Instead, he worked as legal consul at the American bases in Iceland and Long Beach. He has one younger sister, also named Virginia Lee. He married Elizabeth ("Betsy") Wallace Campbell in 1964.[1] They had two daughters.[1]

Mountain climbing[edit]

While attending Stanford University, Clinch became a member of the Stanford Alpine Club and climbed extensively throughout the Sierra Nevada and Yosemite National Park.

He is the only American ever to have led a first ascent of a peak in excess of 8,000 metres (26,000 ft), which was achieved when his team conquered the world's 11th highest mountain, Hidden Peak (Gasherbrum I) in north-east Pakistan, in 1958.[1][3] He was a member of the American-Pakistani team which made the first ascent of Masherbrum, the world's 22nd tallest peak, in 1960.[4] He led the 10-man 1966–67 American Antarctic Mountaineering Expedition that made the first ascent of Mount Vinson, the summit of Antarctica, and other high mountains in the Sentinel Range.[1]

He was president of the American Alpine Club from 1968 to 1970.[5] He also made the first ascent of Tibet's Ulugh Muztagh, in 1985.[6] In addition to Antarctica, Pakistan and Tibet, he made numerous ascents and expeditions in the United States, British Columbia, Peru and China.[7]

Legal career[edit]

Clinch was trustee and then executive director of the Sierra Club Foundation from 1970 to 1981[8] and was an early member of the board of nature-focused consumers' co-operative Recreational Equipment, Inc.[3] In the 1970s, he represented the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association of Irvine, California.[1] He was a director of the Environmental Law Institute from 1980 to 1986.[8]

Awards and recognition[edit]

In 1967, National Geographic awarded Clinch their La Gorce Medal for his Antarctic ascent.[8] Clinch was made a Fellow of the Explorers Club in 1969 and was elected to Honorary Membership in The Alpine Club, London.[3] For his contributions to mountaineering, the Sierra Club awarded Clinch its Francis P. Farquhar Mountaineering Award.[8] In 2013, he was inducted into the Hall of Mountaineering Excellence by the American Mountaineering Museum.[3] In February 2016, Clinch received the American Alpine Club's Gold Medal, only the fifth to be awarded in 114 years.[9]

Clinch Peak, located at 1.6 miles (2.6 km) southeast of Antarctica's tallest peak, Mount Vinson, was named for Clinch in 2006.[5]

Bibliography[edit]

  • Clinch, Nicholas (1982). A Walk in the Sky: Climbing Hidden Peak. Mountaineers. ISBN 9780898860429.
  • Clinch, Nicholas; Clinch, Elizabeth (2011). Through a Land of Extremes: The Littledales of Central Asia. The Mountaineers Books. ISBN 9781594855153.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Weber, Bruce (22 June 2016). "Nicholas Clinch, Who Took On Unclimbed Mountains, Dies at 85". New York Times. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  2. ^ "In Memorandum Nicholas Clinch 1930-2016" (PDF). The Alpine Journal. 2017. pp. 388–90. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d "American Alpine Club Past President Nick Clinch Passes Away". American Alpine Club. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  4. ^ In Memoriam section Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine of the American Alpine Journal, 2001
  5. ^ a b "Clinch Peak". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  6. ^ "Services set for renowned climber Clinch, 85". Jackson Hole News & Guide. 14 June 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  7. ^ "Author and International Mountaineer Nick Clinch Passes Away". The Mountaineers. 27 June 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  8. ^ a b c d Futrell, William J (14 July 2016). "Nicholas Clinch: An Environmental and Mountaineering Pioneer".
  9. ^ "RIP: Nicholas Clinch, 85, Led Only American First Ascent of an 8000er". Rock and Ice. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
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