“The thing that distinguished, it’s a stretch to use that word, The Stonemasters is that one you had to climb valhalla which is by far one of the hardest routes in the country, two you had to be a young arrogant punk, and three you had to have the capacity to smoke enormous amounts- prodigious amounts- of really really bad marijuana and we all had those talents so that was sort of the glue that held the whole thing together.”
-John Long from Vertical Frontier
The Stonemasters were a group of climbers in the 70’s notable for their style and attitude, it’s also worth mentioning that a few of their members made the first one day ascent up the nose of El Capitan. Dan Fidelman was both a Stonemaster and talented photographer whose pictures have been published into this book which also includes some more stories by fellow Stonemaster John Long.
also see: Glen Denny