No. 751 Gordan Douglass and Mindy Shulak, 2010

File — Box: 72, Folder: 24

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Longtime Utah climbers Gordon Douglass and Mindy Shulak talk about their origins, how they got into climbing, their climbing activities in Utah and the West, and the history of Utah sport climbing. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Gordon grew up in Flagstaff, Arizona, and fell in lifelong love with skiing and climbing before he was out of high school. Mentored by Arizona climber Scott Baxter, he remembers hanging around The Alpinist, a nexus of northern Arizona climbing in the 1970s. He moved to Salt Lake City in 1979, took a degree in geography and Russian from the University of Utah, visited the USSR in the early 1980s, and then completed a master’s degree in geography at the U before embarking on a career in mapping for the State of Utah. In the late 2000s he moved on from the State to guide and work on the Alta ski patrol. Mindy Shulak grew up just outside Toledo, Ohio, and rode show jumpers and ran track. After her parents died, she began to go West on adventure trips with friends and ultimately moved to Bozeman, Montana, where she became a dedicated climber. She remembers help from Jack Tackle, Jim Kansler, Terry Kennedy, and other prominent climbers, and also recalls that in the 1970s women were a serious minority in the climbing community and considered less able than men. She moved to Salt Lake City in the 1980s to compete in climbing, and met Gordon, whom she married. Gordon and Mindy define themselves as Western and local climbers before anything else, and share their favorite routes. Gordon was heavily involved in the pioneering of sport climbing in Utah, and relates its history. He and Mindy share reminiscences of first ascents in Utah, Wyoming and Montana. Gordon was involved in putting on the first international climbing competition at Snowbird in the late 1980s, which he credits for putting Utah on the climbing world’s map. Both spend time discussing the nature of climbing, the community, and its developmental and spiritual side.
Project: Outdoor Recreation.
Interviewer: Matt Driscoll.

Dates

2010

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.