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| Photo by Dwight Deal, Wikimedia |
Last week, legend and pioneer Jan Conn passed away at the age of 99. Along with her husband Herb Conn, they put up a bunch of first ascents in some of the classic climbing crags in the Maryland/Virginia area. In the early 1940s, they developed what has become my home crag – Carderock, Maryland.
Their style was amazing – they used neither harnesses nor belay devices, and would hip belay the climber on a hemp rope from atop the cliff, or lead routes using two or three pitons for protection.
This place is special to me, and generations of climbers. I’ve thought about her and the departed Herb while climbing here –enjoying the quartz knob holds on Jan’s Face, delicately dancing on Herbie’s Horror, or cruising up Ronnie’s Leap (named after their dog who took a leap off the top – he was OK).
They also put up Conn’s East in Seneca Rock, in addition to gnarly first ascents in desert spires out West. The pair explored and mapped South Dakota’s Jewel Cave for more than 22 years and over 700 trips, and they received numerous awards for their outdoor endeavors. I recently read a post calling Jan “the oldest living dirtbag” – a term of endearment applied to scrappy, obsessive climbers who charge hard and tend to live on the fringes of society. She earned all her titles and praise, and I wish I could have met her.
In her post-climbing years, she still loved the outdoors, and once said: “Fortunately, the slower we move, the more we see.” A fitting reminder to slow down and take in the beauty of nature around us, wherever we find it.
They also put up Conn’s East in Seneca Rock, in addition to gnarly first ascents in desert spires out West. The pair explored and mapped South Dakota’s Jewel Cave for more than 22 years and over 700 trips, and they received numerous awards for their outdoor endeavors. I recently read a post calling Jan “the oldest living dirtbag” – a term of endearment applied to scrappy, obsessive climbers who charge hard and tend to live on the fringes of society. She earned all her titles and praise, and I wish I could have met her.
In her post-climbing years, she still loved the outdoors, and once said: “Fortunately, the slower we move, the more we see.” A fitting reminder to slow down and take in the beauty of nature around us, wherever we find it.
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| Carderock today, from atop Trudy's Terror |
RIP, Jan, ya legend.
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