So the weather got a little colder in the High Sierra, and I dreaming a little less and reminiscing a little more about the amazing climbs I've gotten on this summer. The best of the best- Blues Riff, Positive Vibrations, Red Dihedral, OZ-Gram, Scorpion... What do all of these routes have in common (besides their obvious supermega classic status)? They were, at least in their free ascent form, all the work of Dale Bard. What a hardman! Anybody know if he still climbs? Any good Bard stories out there? Out of all the hard free climbers of his generation, he seems to fly under the radar. I haven't heard much about him, but his name keeps popping up next to these incredible cracks.

I was actually reading some old issues of climbing recently and came across an article on him. It was titled something like king of the dirtbag world. He was such a badass back in the day! I love the quote from another climber when Dale took his shirt off. He said his stomach looked like a plate of unsauced noodles. He was totally honed. I guess he mostly boulders these days according to the article.

(OT)Sorta 1980ish Lodge parking lot
Dale, Yabo and Cliff Howard decided to have a hot sauce drinking while I was cooking Mexican food.
As far as I could tell even the winner had to be hurting the next day.
Dale was far from under the radar back then, maybe above the radar as he was up setting some of the bench marks.

Dale lives in SLC now and helps run the green building center.

http://www.greenbuildingcenter.net/aboutus.html

We are restoring an old house and I am always stoked when I run into him there.

I worked with Dale on several live ABC Wide World Of Sports projects back in the 80's. I also know him from the Valley. He was always "way cool" to me! It's great to hear that he is doing well these days. I send him my best wishes. There is a photo that I took of Dale in Zion. It's posted in my photo album here on M.P. I think that it is a fairly good image of him.

[Dale's humble reply]:

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Mike,

I am still alive and climbing

Thank you for the link

I had not ever thought that folks would be talking about me thirty years later.

Best,

Dale

That's too cool!

sick pic