People

: Dick Monaco

: Dick Morgan

: Dick Pownall; RIchard Frederick Everett Pownall was born in West Branch, Iowa and graduated from Centerville High School (Iowa) circa 1946. Pownall's life-long love affair with the world's mountains began in 1944 while he was still in high school. He spent the summer working on the trail crew of Teton National Park. By 1947, Pownall became one of the original climbing guides for the Exum Guide Service (founded by Paul Petzoldt and Glenn Exum), a technical climbing school and guide service in the Teton Range of Wyoming. In 1954, Pownall earned a B.A. in Education from Iowa State University. He subsequently became an educator and administrator in the Jefferson County Public Schools of Colorado. In the early 1960s, Pownall was an avid ski mountaineer in the Gore Range and Gore Creek Valley, which included the slopes that became Vail Mountain. The 10th Mountain Division founding fathers of Vail recognized a kindred spirit in Pownall; he became one of the original ski instructors and ski patrollers on Vail Mountain. Despite the tragic death of his climbing partner, Jake Breitenbach, Dick Pownall was considered by many alpinists as the strongest member of the 1963 American Mount Everest Expedition. Ultimately, the successful Everest ascent led to White House reception with President John F. Kennedy and recognition as the first American team to summit the 29,141 ft. peak the Tibetans call Chomolungma. In the late 1960s, he started the Dick Pownall School of Mountaineering, a technical climbing school and guide service that was active in the Gore Range and Gore Creek Valley. In 1979, Dick Pownall married Mary Rheinberger. Later in life, the Pownalls coordinated volunteers for various World Cup events and the World Alpine Ski Championships. In 2002, Pownall made his last ascent of the Grand Teton was at age 75 years. Pownall passed away in Vail on 6 December 2017; he is survived by his wife, Mary, and 2 children from his first wife, Nancy. Vail Public Library has the privilege of housing the Dick Pownall Mountaineering Collection.