Celebrating Chuck Warren
A fitting rememberance and tribute to a Thacher stalwart.
As the sunset painted the sky a rich orange Saturday evening, friends, family, colleagues, and alumni toasted the memory of former Thacher faculty member Chuck Warren. The gathering, organized by current faculty Bo Manson and Brian Pidduck CdeP 1992, was intended to be a casual, intimate gathering of Chuck's old friends and climbing partners. As word spread of the event, the small gathering turned into a full-blown celebration of the memorable Chuck Warren.
Chuck's time at Thacher began in 1968 and lasted until 2006 with only a short four-year period away in the 70s. He worked in both the math and science departments, and served as an instructor and packer in the Horse Department. Chuck also directed the School's Outdoor Program and headed the Thacher Mountaineering, Epicurean, and Philosophical Society. Additionally, Chuck developed the Climbing Program from a casual, weekend activity to a legitimate two-season sport option.
The gathering on Saturday, complete with a campfire and Chuck's old Porsche, served as a platform for friends and family to share their favorite Chuck stories and memories. Many of the stories centered around climbing and camping as Chuck was an avid and expert outdoorsman.
Head of School Michael Mulligan remembers an experience at Golden Trout with Chuck:
There are so many memories, small and large, but over and above these is the great respect I still have for you as the quintessential Thacher camper and Camp Program Director. Over the years, camping at Thacher has only been as strong as the faculty who promote it. You were always a legend in this regard and in my mind still are. You truly have made Thacher a better place and left an incredible legacy.
Bo Manson and Brian Pidduck have many fond memories of their friend and mentor. Brian shared the following:
Chuck did make a climber out of me. He took me on trail runs and bouldering loops, gym workouts and, of course, many climbing trips. He shared his enthusiasm and expertise while always pushing me to the edge of my abilities. He introduced me to our local crags: Y-Crack, Practice Rock, Banjo Cave, Sespe Wall, San Ysidro and Gibraltar Rock. We traveled farther afield in Chuck's green Econoline van to Tahquitz, Joshua Tree, the Kern River Gorge, and, of course, Yosemite. He filled my guidebooks with notes in his distinctive scrawl that distilled years of experience into precise kernels of knowledge, details that kept me on route, moving up and safe. Chuck introduced me to an activity that has become a passion. He mentored and cajoled, challenged and supported me. He freely shared his love for knowledge of all sorts and experiences of all kinds. Without his guidance, expertise and vision, Thacher's Climbing Program would not exist and my career at Thacher would be considerably less rewarding and far less memorable.
Back
Chuck's time at Thacher began in 1968 and lasted until 2006 with only a short four-year period away in the 70s. He worked in both the math and science departments, and served as an instructor and packer in the Horse Department. Chuck also directed the School's Outdoor Program and headed the Thacher Mountaineering, Epicurean, and Philosophical Society. Additionally, Chuck developed the Climbing Program from a casual, weekend activity to a legitimate two-season sport option.
The gathering on Saturday, complete with a campfire and Chuck's old Porsche, served as a platform for friends and family to share their favorite Chuck stories and memories. Many of the stories centered around climbing and camping as Chuck was an avid and expert outdoorsman.
Head of School Michael Mulligan remembers an experience at Golden Trout with Chuck:
One time many years ago Chuck and I had to bring the burros out from the Golden Trout Camp after the faculty orientation. After an hour of pushing prodding and lifting those beasts into the back of the horse trailer, we noticed that there was a big flat tire on the trailer. Chuck said we had to empty the trailer again in order to fix it. That was bad news. So we unloaded the beasts who were our burden—a play on words here for the confused—and then we got out the wrench and started to try to take off the bolts on the wheel. No matter how hard we twisted the wrench we could not get the nuts to move. After a little while, we were jumping up-and-down on it trying to get them to move. It was a total conundrum. An hour had passed. No success. Chuck went for a little break; he came back and he said, "Oh, I forgot. On commercial trailers and trucks, the nuts unscrew to the right."
Of course we had just spent the last hour tightening the things beyond conception. They were never going to come off. And in fact it took us another hour of jumping in the opposite direction to loosen them. It was a mess. And then of course, we had to put the burros back in the trailer. Lifting, prodding, pushing, urging, controlling, punishing, insisting. Occasional expletives. Ugh.
So after that mess, we finally took off back towards school and Chuck pulled out his mandolin and he sang to me all 45 verses of every song ever known. But because he was new to the mandolin, he played everything very slowly. And he sang very slowly. And by the time we were about through the Mojave Desert, I was ready to commit hara kiri. He is has the most determination of anyone I've ever known. He never gave up. Unbelievable guy.
Dave Livermore CdeP 1937 remarked in a letter to Chuck:
There are so many memories, small and large, but over and above these is the great respect I still have for you as the quintessential Thacher camper and Camp Program Director. Over the years, camping at Thacher has only been as strong as the faculty who promote it. You were always a legend in this regard and in my mind still are. You truly have made Thacher a better place and left an incredible legacy.
Bo Manson and Brian Pidduck have many fond memories of their friend and mentor. Brian shared the following:
I had many experiences with Chuck that are memorable. Some of them were moments of sheer delight and unbridled joy of being in the mountains. Others were difficult learning experiences as Chuck guided me through trial by fire. One of my best memories of him occurred during a backcountry ski trip to the Sierra Nevada with Bret Richmond CdeP 1992. The three of us skied into Golden Trout during spring break and stayed in the main cabin, defrosting Kern juice cans over the wood stove and melting and waxing our skiis with birthday candles. Bret and I made a pie for Chuck from Bisquick pie crust and a few cans of fruit we found in the pantry. It wasn't very good, but Chuck made us feel like kings by admiring the fact that we made a pie and acknowledging that we had fulfilled one of the prerequisites for the Thacher Mountaineering, Epicurean, and Philosophical Society. My favorite experience from that trip was when we were out skiing below the Mesa and we found a large snow bowl (a blow out) formed by the wind. Chuck encouraged us to jump off the lip onto a pillow of fresh powder on our skinny skis and see if we could land the jump. We tried countless times, and mostly flailed in the deep snow, laughing deeply with the kind of joy that comes from being in the mountains with friends and delighting in the utter sense of freedom and abandonment of pretense. I was deeply moved by the fact that Chuck encouraged us and joined in such a pointless yet deeply fun diversion. I was surprised too: here was a highly intelligent and accomplished man who I looked up to a great deal, and he was trying as hard as we were and smiling even more broadly with each subsequent wipe-out. He inspired me, and continues to inspire me, a great deal. With absolute confidence I can say that I would not be the person I am without the influence and tutelage of Chuck Warren.
Several years ago, Chuck shared a book with Bo and me, written by Doug Robinson: A Night on the Ground A Day in the Open. Chuck embodied the unique sensibility of a true mountaineer as articulated by Doug Robinson. He was a master of many skills, and continued to seek increasing levels of proficiency, but it wasn't for collecting summits or trophies of accomplishments. He was contented with the pursuit of learning and the ultimate goal: a night on the ground and a day in the open.
Bo Manson had this remembrance:
I met Chuck for the first time at a faculty gathering a few days before the start of the 1988-89 school year, my first at Thacher. As a new teacher, I was nervous about the year ahead and eager to get to know my new colleagues. Shortly after arriving at the party, I noticed a fellow crossing the room towards me. He was small but solidly built. He wore a clean white shirt and scuffed jeans. His skin was tanned and weathered. He stopped right in front of me, looked me in the eye, and said, "You look like a climber. I think we'll make a climber out of you." Then, he grinned a lopsided smile that he held for a couple of seconds before introducing himself.
Chuck did make a climber out of me. He took me on trail runs and bouldering loops, gym workouts and, of course, many climbing trips. He shared his enthusiasm and expertise while always pushing me to the edge of my abilities. He introduced me to our local crags: Y-Crack, Practice Rock, Banjo Cave, Sespe Wall, San Ysidro and Gibraltar Rock. We traveled farther afield in Chuck's green Econoline van to Tahquitz, Joshua Tree, the Kern River Gorge, and, of course, Yosemite. He filled my guidebooks with notes in his distinctive scrawl that distilled years of experience into precise kernels of knowledge, details that kept me on route, moving up and safe. Chuck introduced me to an activity that has become a passion. He mentored and cajoled, challenged and supported me. He freely shared his love for knowledge of all sorts and experiences of all kinds. Without his guidance, expertise and vision, Thacher's Climbing Program would not exist and my career at Thacher would be considerably less rewarding and far less memorable.
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