Kong and Us by Bob Boyles

[This article was first published in Idaho Magazine, July 2022.] The Peak That Got Away Lady and I gotten along just fine for about half of the five-day horseback trip up the South Fork of the Payette River, until she bolted off the trail into Lodgepole pines. She was at full gallop and I had to lie flat on the … Continue reading

Chimney Rock Off-Belay Magazine 1972

Off Belay Magazine was THE climbing magazine of its day. The following article had an extensive discussion of Chimney Rock [Off-Belay Dec. 1972 Vol. No 6.]. Ron Klimkow (1936-2012), the author, was a professor in the Music Department at the University of Idaho and an accomplished climber. … Continue reading

1975 Fatality on El Capitan

El Capitan from Alice Lake.

[Editor’s note: This August 6, 1975 article by UPI was published in the Idaho Statesman. No other details are known.]     Climber, 24, Dies After 70-Foot Fall United Press International -A mountain climber from North Carolina died in a Boise hospital Tuesday from injuries he suffered in a fall Sunday on El Capitan in the Sawtooth Wilderness. A hospital … Continue reading

The Early Climbing History at Table Rock by Bob Boyles

For those who live in the vicinity of Boise, Table Rock is an unmistakable landmark rising up on the Northeast Side of town. The climbing history of its rock walls, which are graced by seemingly random bolt placements and the occasional chalk mark, is slowly disappearing as time passes and excavators mine the Northeast Corner for building materials. Table Rock, … Continue reading

The Early Climbing History of the Black Cliffs by Bob Boyles

During the Summer of 1972, three of my friends and I took a basic rock climbing class at Table Rock from Frank Florence, a rock climbing instructor who had just opened a shop (Sawtooth Mountaineering) on Fairview Avenue. Frank and his father Lou moved to Boise from New York City in pursuit of a new life out West where the … Continue reading