Jim Bridwell

Jim Bridwell born 1944 is an American rock climber and mountaineer active since 1965 especially in Yosemite Valley but also in Patagonia and Alaska He is noted for pushing the standards of both free climbing and bigwall climbing and later alpine climbing He has written numerous articles on climbing for leading sport publications Bridwell is credited with over 100 First Ascents in Yosemite Valley in addition to conducting the first oneday ascent of The Nose of El Capitan on May 26 1975 with John Long and Billy Westbay1 He founded Yosemite National Parks Search and Rescue Team YOSAR and spearheaded many rescues that became textbook for Search and Rescue operations He was a leading force in the changing techniques of climbing and an innovatorinventor of widely used and copied climbing gear including copperheads and bird beaks