CHIEFTAIN 6 | DUNN 8 | ART GUIDE 15 | PUPPETS 20
Vol. 2 No. 7
AUGUST 4, 2023
Photo by Rory Harbert
• DIG DEEPER •
| COMMUNITY | ACCOUNTABILITY | CURIOSITY | CONNECTION | Photos courtesy of Jimme Dunn
‘It’s not normal, is it?’
Legendary Southern Colorado climber reflects on incredible career, soaring achievements, family
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By Ben Cason
It’s dangerous, you could die, you spend all your money and you don’t work as hard as you should. But for me it was full tilt.” Climbing legend Jimmie Dunn has done it all, from climbing the Black Canyon in Gunnison, to accomplishing history on the cliff face of El Capitan at Yosemite National Park. Now Dunn lives in Pueblo West, chronicling his many accomplishments. Dunn has been climbing since he was 17; the now 74-year-old is still climbing and is active in the southern Colorado climbing community. “In the Pueblo area there is some great rock climbing,” Dunn said. “I did a little bit of it 30 years ago but now I’m getting reintroduced to it. I’ve been jumping on the bandwagon lately and getting my butt kicked.” When he first started, “climbing was life” for Dunn. He learned from a friend and progressed into tougher and tougher climbs. Dunn said: “One of my friends in college was into minerals and he sold his car to
buy a rock. All of his friends asked him how he could sell his car for this rock? His answer was; ‘there’s a lot of cars to buy and only a few great rocks to buy.’ There were a ton of cars then, and I could buy a car for $50 and have more money to climb up at Yosemite. That was my attitude.” 23-year-old Dunn and his group of friends made numerous trips around the country to find new climbs. In 1972, on spring break from college in Colorado Springs, Dunn made his way to Yosemite Valley with plans to attempt a new line on El Capitan. El Capitan is a vertical rock formation that rises about 3,000 feet from it’s base to the summit. The cliff face was first climbed by a group in 1958 in 47 days. They climbed “The Nose” route, which Dunn was able to climb in 1970 with a partner. He climbed two other routes in 1971. DUNN continued on page 8