George Whitmore, legendary climber of El Capitan, dies at 89
George Whitmore, one of the three men on the first team to climb El Capitan in Yosemite Valley, is seen on a hike to Taft Point with El Capitan in the background across Yosemite Valley on May 26, 2016. Whitmore, a member of the first team of climbers to scale El Capitan in Yosemite National Park and a conservationist who devoted his life to protecting the Sierra Nevada, has died. He was 89. Whitmore died on New Year’s Day from complications caused by COVID-19, said his wife, Nancy. She said Whitmore, a cancer survivor, was extremely careful about wearing a mask and family don’t know where he contracted the virus. (Eric Paul Zamora/Fresno Bee via AP)
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — George Whitmore, a member of the first team of climbers to scale El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, has died at age 89.
Whitmore’s wife Nancy says he died on New Year’s Day from complications caused by COVID-19.
Friends, family, colleagues and fellow climbers mourned the passing of a rock climbing legend. He was the last surviving member of the trio that was the first to reach the top of El Capitan on Nov. 12, 1958. Scaling the 3,000-foot sheer granite rock wall was then considered a feat out of human reach. It now attracts climbers from around the world.
From left, Warren Harding, Wayne Merry and George Whitmore wave their handkerchiefs in elation at scaling the unclimbed face of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in 1958. The picture was taken by Fresno Bee staff photographer Loyal Savaria within a few minutes after they walked up to the summit. Whitmore, a member of the first team of climbers to scale El Capitan in Yosemite National Park and a conservationist who devoted his life to protecting the Sierra Nevada, has died. He was 89. Whitmore died on New Year’s Day from complications caused by COVID-19, said his wife, Nancy. (Loyal Savaria/Fresno Bee Archive via AP) 
This 1958 photo provided by climbing partner Wayne Merry, provided by the Whitmore Family Trust shows George Whitmore dangling off an outcropping during the historic first ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in 1958. Merry, Whitmore, and Warren Harding together made the first ascent of the dome. Whitmore, a member of the first team of climbers to scale El Capitan in Yosemite National Park and a conservationist who devoted his life to protecting the Sierra Nevada, has died. He was 89. Whitmore died on New Year’s Day from complications caused by COVID-19, said his wife, Nancy. (Wayne Merry/Whitmore Family Trust via AP) 
George Whitmore is seen during a hike at Mariposa Grove in Yosemite National Park on July 18, 2018. Whitmore, a member of the first team of climbers to scale El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in 1958 and a conservationist who devoted his life to protecting the Sierra Nevada, has died. He was 89. Whitmore died on New Year’s Day from complications caused by COVID-19, said his wife, Nancy. She said Whitmore, a cancer survivor, was extremely careful about wearing a mask and family don’t know where he contracted the virus. (Laura L. Clark via AP)
Whitmore was also a noted conservationist.
