TheGeneral wrote:A5RP wrote:IRC: The client in question was hostile and refused to follow Norman's directions from the get go. On the route in question, the client decided to part from the group and ascend a far harder and more direct line than what Norman and the group had decided to take. He basically told Norman to fk off and told Norman/group that he was no longer part of the group. Within 30 or so minutes, the client got himself in a rather precarious pos, way over his head, slipped and took a ride.
Irony of this story, not more than a month after being fired by Brower, who does Brower beg and plea with to go find this
fella....
I'm still hunting for the story, not easy to find. BTW, Norman bailed on Dulley, too, don't forget.
Regarding the above anecdotes, per Pavlik's biography of Clyde, the above characterizations of Clyde's behavior and attitude are either partially incorrect, or exaggerated.
The injured client was not so much hostile as hapless and incapable, and, like Clyde, stubborn. He did indeed refuse to follow the steps Clyde had chopped and consequently fell. Clyde refused to tend to the profusely bleeding man. Brower et al fired Clyde for his subsequent callousness, arguing that it didn't represent the values of the club. Clyde was deeply hurt by that.
It's inaccurate to say that Brower came back to Clyde to "beg and plea" with him to go find Pete Starr, especially since it was Francis Farquhar, not Brower, who organized the rescue. Clyde took on the job willingly and solemnly, motivated by a sense of respect for Starr, even though the two had never met. Starr's reputation was well known to Clyde. The story of Clyde's continued efforts to locate Starr well after the official search was called off is well known, and doesn't in any way suggest a man who was cajoled in to the role by anyone, let alone the factually incorrect Brower.
Read the link above. It actually gets the story right.
Finally, regarding Dulley, Clyde didn't abandon him. They were separated in a blizzard while skiing through (or near) Piute Pass and Dulley died of a stroke en route. Clyde went back to recover him later. While Clyde did have some critical words of Dulley, to the effect that if he (Dulley) had just managed to stay with him he'd have survived, he was deeply regretful of the man's death, regret being a feeling one could hardly ascribe to Clyde following the aforementioned dumb client.
These are not hard facts to check.
sources were gathered from Sierra Club records, for the record. Look at the bibliography in the back. 
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