Gary Hemming

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Gary Hemming (December 13, 1934 – August 6, 1969) was an American mountaineer known for bold climbs in the Alps and North America. In 1962, he and Royal Robbins made the first ascent of the American Direct route on the Aiguille du Dru in Chamonix. In 1966, he became famous in France for helping rescue climbers on the Dru, earning the nickname "le beatnik des cimes" (the beatnik of the summits). He also helped push mountaineering further by taking part in the first ascent of the south face of the Aiguille du Fou, with John Harlin, Tom Frost, and Stewart Fulton, a spire long thought to be unclimbable. Hemming was born in Pasadena, California. He died by suicide outside the Jenny Lake campground in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, in 1969 at age 34. Some people think he was the model for the Rand character in James Salter's Solo Faces.