RIP Mayor Ted Wilson

Just heard the sad news that long time climber and climbing advocate Ted Wilson has passed away.

Huge climbing history for especially the local Wasatch.

Condolences to friends and family.

-Brian

As I have had the pleasure of sharing a rope with Ted on more than one occasion over the past 35 plus years a few words. I got to know Ted and Rick Reese in the late 1980s as they presented Utah's Land Owner Liability statute to the LDS Church after the Gate Buttress was closed due to liability fears. In that meeting Henry Eyring, then the Presiding Bishop said that if needed they could build fence around the property. To which Ted replied, "I don't know a climber that can't climb over a fence." Thanks to that meeting the property was re-openned and still remains open due to that meeting and many others that Ted had his hand in. Ted was a long time advocate for the environment, though he did lose some points when he advocated for SkiLink. The error of his ways was soon forgiven.

Over the ensuing years I climbed and skied with Ted listening to his many story stories. One that is worth telling is while in Switzerland working for John Harlin he went climbing with the late Dougal Haston. After skiing up to and climbing the route it was time to descend. Ted growing up in the the Wasatch was an accomplished skier so skiing down was just fun. Dougal being a Brit much less so. Ted said Dougal would ski down attempt to turn and crash. Each crash would be followed by him cursing. So it went the whole way down turn, crash, curse,  turn, crash, curse.

Ted was a Jenny Lake climbing ranger in the 1960s and did several first ascents in the Tetons as well as participated in the infamous 1967 North Face rescue. Closer to home in the Wasatch Ted and Bob Stout did the first ascent and first climb on the LCC granite, Chickenhead Holiday. Other early routes include the Wilson-Love route on the sail and the Open Book in Lone Peak Cirque. And of course the Great White Icicle done with the Rick Reese in 1962 should not be forgotten. I was fortunate to climb the GWI with Ted and Rick on the 30 anniversary of the FA. That was a day to remember. 

In recent times, I would walk over to Ted's house with beers in hand and stop in to visit. I would advise him of my latest adventures while he would recall with great detail his time there many years before. Sometimes the stories were true. And so tonight I will raise a pint to one of the Alpenbock boys, Prost Ted.

So sorry to hear. He checked me out on my first trip up the Grand. Didn't bat an eye talking to a couple of 16 year old's. What a legacy.

RIP

A huge loss to our community.
We will miss you, Ted!

I remember Ted from his rangering days in the Tetons.  RIP.

We lost a giant. It's a sad day for this community.

My first memory of Ted was this climber who pioneered many old prominant climbs in the Wasatch. The first time I saw him was in 1983. I was in church and our meeting was canceled because Main Street was flooding. We all went down to help sandbag....Ted was out there organizing things and working with many different people. As a politician, (mayor of SLC) he was always tactfully working with everyone, including republicans. He had many close friendships with people on both sides of the aisle. Before getting into politics, he served in the Utah National Guard and then after getting a masters degree he taught Economics at Skyline High School. The first time I climbed with him was when he, Kitty Calhoon and I attempted the Fin Arete. It had rained the day before so the climb was wet. I tried to lead the first pitch but had to move left into a chimney to avoid wet rock. I was able to belay Ted to where he could start leading the pitch part way up. Off the couch, Ted nearly got past the crux (5.10) before taking a good fall. He tried it again, falling at the same spot, this time cutting his hand. We decided to bail. When we got down, Ted insisted on taking us to lunch and treating us...We had a great talk. On the way back, Ted had some papers in the back of his car addressed to the White House....Woah. He said "You can read those if you want".

In addition to some of the routes mentioned, Ted pioneered the Wilson Ream route in Bells Canyon, 5.8 or 5.9 R, a very bold route at the time. Even with modern gear it's still scary. It was the first route on Middle Bell Tower.  On a different first ascent he, Steve Ellsworth and Mark McQuarrie pioneered the S crack on the Thumb. Ted led the last pitch, a long difficult continuous offwidth crack that was sparcely protected. It was a hot day and Ted told me they were out of water, but he had a smashed prune in his pack so he tried to suck out what juice was left!  He also did the first ascent of the Robbins route, a steep difficult climb on the east side of The Thumb (5.9 A2 or 5.10). He teamed up with the famous Yosemite climber Royal Robbins. On one difficult pitch that Ted led, Royal came up and congratulated him on doing a difficult 5.9 lead.  Back in those days that was the hardest grade. When Ted was in Europe, Jon Harlin asked him, Layton Kor and Dougal Haston to join their team for their proposed direct route on the North Face of the Eiger. Ted declined their invitation because we was committed to his family. In the Tetons, he climbed the Grand by many different routes. 

Ted was always positive and wanted to make the world a better place through service. He even once told me that climbing was a very self serving activity. Although in his later life when he drifted away from it, he always loved to talk about climbing. It was mind boggling how many friends he had. He will be remembered for a long time. I miss him already.

Great eulogy for a great man. Thanks, Brian

There's a memorial display for Ted along with a guestbook at the SLC City County building on the third floor. If you would like to pay respect for his contribution to the community, it would be a great place to do it. 

The SLCA is collecting stories about Ted.  If you have stories of him that you would like to share or photos, please send them to Communications@SaltLakeClimbers.org. We will send them to Ted's family and share them with the climbing community on our website.

We will be sharing these stories here on the SLCA's website.  Jenny Willson recently released a link to THE GRAND RESCUE at no cost as a tribute to her dad. You can also find that on the page linked above.  

RIP Ted!

RIP to a legend! I knew about his time as mayor and his pioneering climbing. But I was still surprised to see him mentioned frequently in a book I read about the Tetons, called "We Aspired: The Last Innocent Americans." 

I wrote a more formal Remembering Ted Wilson blog post on behalf of the Marriott Library. Personally, I was inspired by Ted's optimism, gratitude, and genuine interest in others. His oral history interview is available on the Ascent Archive podcast in 2 episodes (January 30 and February 6, 2024).