Old school Yosemite hardman Dave Altman has died

Berkeleyside reports: "Dave Altman, a longtime Berkeley climber who had been called the “Mayor of Indian Rock,” died early Tuesday morning after his SUV caught fire in the Berkeley Ironworks climbing gym parking lot where he lived on Potter Street."

https://www.berkeleyside.com/2020/11/11/climber-dave-altman-died-suv-fire-berkeley-ironworks 

RIP Dave, I loved shooting the shit with you about old-school Valley climbing at Ironworks.  You will be missed.

A lovely man he was. Sad to hear this. 

Never met Dave, but everything I heard about him was good.

Rest In Peace.

Oh no! I was just thinking of him the other day. 

Sweet guy. Legendary strong. Valley icon. Mathematician. 

Super nice write-up! Condolences to friends, family, and his community. "Hermit", perhaps, but obviously well loved.

i think one thing that is missing from all the remembrances is that dave was a walking climbing encyclopedia, especially when it came to valley (but also other) climbing.  i first met dave in 1988 at indian rock (like so many generations of young cal climbers) and rarely had a conversation with him that didn't include something to the effect of: ' when kauk did..., when mayfield did..., when bachar did...'

it was good to see that touchstone gave dave a 'home.' i really appreciated that, even tough i wondered about the living conditions every time i parked next to him at ironworks.  after a discussion of human physiology where we did not see eye to eye a few years ago we did not communicate much, just a nod in the gym or the parking lot, but i'll always remember dave fondly.  rest in peace. 

RIP, Dave. What a smart, interesting, nice person you were. You will be missed indeed. Phyl

Always friendly, always bright. Kind to my very shy daughter every time we chatted in a way that brought her out of her shell with him. 

I once thought I'd finally come on a route he hadn't done in the Valley. "Dave did you ever do that horribly scary looking Absolutely Free, Right?" Date, name of partner, pro used, and general impressions of the climb were all right there in his mind. Truly an encyclopedia. RIP Dave.

Increasingly, all what is left, is to write about ancient times and ways, less commercial, more natural. And what passed for the wisdom we enjoyed... when climbing was more about life itself, rather than just climbing. RIP my friend. 

It's been many years since I saw him last, but I always appreciated his advice and feats of strength in the Berkeley Ironworks gym..  he had many dimensions, all characterized by power. 

I thought of you today Dave when I saw these rebar reinforced cairns placed every 30 feet on an easy trail in Canyonlands. “Fucking rock stackers”. I can hear your voice saying it. Not forgotten. 

Thank you for posting this, phylp.  I was just thinking about Dave the other day.  Missing that impish laugh, rolling up and down on his feet, when he said something funny.

I met him once down at Generator Crack, my friends and I were doing TR laps on it and Dave strolls up. He asked if he could give it a go and we said of course!  Well he didn't need our rope, he just soloed it so casually I was blown away.  We got to talking afterwards and he was a fountain of Yosemite lore and very interesting to talk to about math and physics and such.

R.I.P. Dave