John Bachar

John Bachar (March 23, 1957 to July 5, 2009) was an American rock climber noted for his skill at free soloing, who died during a free solo climb. He grew up in Los Angeles, started climbing at Stoney Point in the San Fernando Valley, and left UCLA to climb full time. Early partners included John Long, John Yablonski, Ron Kauk and Mike Graham, and he put up bouldering problems at Joshua Tree such as Planet X and So High. In Yosemite he was first noted for unroped ascents of New Dimensions and the Nabisco Wall, and with Kauk and Long he was part of the team that made the first free ascent of Astroman on the East face of Washington Column. He was a contemporary of the Stonemasters group, was known for extreme fitness, and created the Bachar ladder training device. In 1981 he put up Bachar-Yerian in Tuolumne Meadows with Dave Yerian.