I can’t believe it has been ten years, there are few things in my life that make me look back and question what I have done, where I have been and whom I have met. 10 years ago I was fresh face graduate from university, who had a big trip planned to Yosemite National Park, during that trip I climbed Lost Arrow Spire with Leo Houlding, Patch Hammond and Ben Bransby, all of which wanted to free climb the spire.
We were all young and Leo, Patch and Ben all still unknown stateside, so when an experienced valley rat rocked up in front of us, he naturally thinks well I’ll nip in front of these green horns. After Leo and Patch free the top free pitches, whilst Ben and I froze on the ledge below, he apologised for thinking we were young British punters
To make up for delaying us, as he had been guiding an American punter up the route, the late and great Dan Osmond left his ropes in situ for the tyrolean back across to the rim of the valley. Where he apologised further by forcing us to take a hit on his bong before we tried to keep up with him on the descent.
Dan was very much the man in the valley, a legend I had only seen in the Master’s of Stone videos, in the flesh he was only kind and generous to me. I am reminded of him because a friend join a Dan Osmond group on facebook, it was on the 23rd November 1998 that the climbing community lost one of its truly wild characters. If you like to join the group to remember a man who seemed to truly believe in the maxim that its better to burn out than fade away.
If you’d like to remember Dan in the modern way then here is a link to the face book page. For most of us now he will be that guy in speed climbing video to thrash metal that so many people have copied on Youtube