Gakona North and West Peaks, First Ascents, February 1975

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• published: 06 Aug 2013
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Gakona North and West Peaks First Ascents February 1975 Climbers: Doug Buchanan, Earl Redman, Dan Solie This video contains original footage of Super 8 mm film recorded by Doug Buchanan while climbing in remote mountain areas of Alaska. The original footage has been digitally reformatted for this video and and is available at the Alaskan Film Archives at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Doug watched the film decades after the original footage, and his narration was added to the original footage to produce the video you see here. Doug Buchanan (19 May 1947 - 7 February 2012) was a well-known Alpinist and champion of free access for climbers to public lands. He saw climbing as an individual expression of freedom, challenging one's physical and mental abilities in a dangerous environment. Climbing is an activity that does not damage other humans or the environment, Doug maintained, and there is not logical reason for tax-based government intervention. Rather, Doug advocated individual responsibility, mutual assistance, and the individual rights of climbers. He founded the Alaskan Alpine Club in 1979, and in the 1980s, he pioneered the first private climbing insurance in the United States in the form of the Mountain Rescue Expense Fund. Specializing in first winter ascents, Doug pioneered climbs in the Alaska Range an the Wrangells, including the ascents documented in this video. He purposely shunned recognition for his first ascents, allowing other the opportunity to experience the feeling of having been 'first'. A brilliant philosopher and gifted epistemologist, Doug's writings included significant works on the ethics of government's use of force, on the evils of murder disguised as warfare, and on the inherent contradictions of armed robbery by taxation. He is famous for rabble-rousing, and for elevating freedom above safety, security, and control, and he leaves a legacy that includes contributions to climbing, the culture of climbing, and to the causes of individual liberty. Please visit Means of Inquiry online at http://www.MeansofInquiry.com for more of Doug's work.