California Surfing and Climbing in the Fifties - (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The story told by the photographs in California Surfing and Climbing in the Fifties takes place against the larger backdrop of postwar America: Truman and Eisenhower, the Korean War, the Cold War and the Red Scare. Young people were embracing new symbols of non-conformity: Elvis Presley, Jack Kerouac, Marlon Brando and James Dean. All along the California coast, surfing became popular as heavy balsawood boards were replaced with lightweight ones crafted from polyurethane foam, fiberglass and resin. Meanwhile, climbers descended on Tahquitz Rock in the south and Yosemite Valley to the north to test handcrafted equipment that would set new standards for safety, technique and performance. The photographs in this volume include images of legendary surfers such as Joe Quigg, Tom Zahn, Dale Velzy and Renny Yater, in locations such as Rincon, Malibu, South Bay, Laguna and San Onofre; and famous climbers such as Warren Harding, Royal Robbins and Wayne Merry among others, photographed mostly in the Yosemite Valley by the likes of Bob Swift, Alan Steck, Jerry Gallwas and Frank Hoover. Soaked in surf, sun and adrenaline, the photographs in California Surfing and Climbing in the Fifties depict the birth of an era and an exhilarating moment in Californian history.

Review Quotes

Both Tribes are captured in the black-and-white and color images in the book California Surfing and Climbing in the Fifties, out this month. The candid, casual snapshots depict early pioneers like Bob Simmons (who shaped some of the first Styrofoam surfboards) and Royal Robins, the first person to climb the vertical face of Half Dome, in 1957. Looking through these images, you'll find it hard not to fall under their spell - or daydream about buying a one-way ticket to the Golden State.-- "Conde Nast Traveler"

While Jack Kerouac and co. were on the road, a new generation of casually stylish, deeply tanned daredevils were test-piloting the first modern surfboards and scaling Yosemite's last unclimbed granite faces. They're celebrated in 'California Surfing and Climbing in the Fifties, ' featuring 102 photographs that capture legends--surfer Bev Morgan at play in the Malibu waves, rock climber Warren Harding ascending El Capitan--back when they were just kids with an itch for adventure.--Joel Patterson "Details"