94 ESCAPE ROUTE - Alpinist

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John Bachar and Peter Croft in 1986 watching the sunset after the first one-day linkup of the Nose on El Capitan and the Regular Route on Half Dome. Photographer Phil Bard recalls: “They had been eating bananas all day and were knocking back a bunch that I had carried to the summit for them. The lightning storm that had showed up during their Half Dome climb was receding.” [Photo] Phil Bard

Peter Croft recalls a new route in California’s Sequoia National Park that started with dreams of 2,000 feet of granite and beer-wielding Valkyries. And ended in a reunion with ghosts.