Iconic mountaineer and renowned cartographer, visionary explorer and genius photographer, Bradford Washburn reinvents the art of the mountain as he makes history. Resolutely and passionately, he joins summits to better sublimate them. Alongside his wife Barbara Washburn, he has devoted his life to the breathtaking natural world, from the heights of Alaska to the far reaches of the Himalayas. Portrait of a legendary adventurer, Bradford Washburn, forerunner of high-mountain aerial photography.
Bradford Washburn: Birth of a legendary mountaineer at summit de l'Aiguille Verte
Henry Bradford Washburn Jr. was born on June 7, 1910 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Born into a wealthy family, he grew up alongside his younger brother, Sherwood Larned Washburn, who would later become a leading figure in search anthropology. His father, the Reverend Henry Bradford Washburn Sr., instilled in him a taste for adventure and the great outdoors. By the age of 11, he was climbing the White Mountains of New Hampshire with some of the best guides in the business. As for his love of photography, he owes it to his mother, Edith Buckingham Hall, who gave him his first camera, a Brownie, when he was just 13. From that moment on, his destiny was sealed, and from the heights of the Alps to the far reaches of Alaska, he would go on to achieve many memorable and exceptional achievements.
Bradford Washburn took to the Alps in the summer of 1926. At just 16, he climbed the Matterhorn, Mont Blanc and Monte Rosa. Nothing stood in his way, not even the most legendary mountains. He burns to learn and improve. But far from the arrogance of mad youth, he treads the summits with humility and sees mountaineering as a race of solidarity. A human epic in the heart of nature. This first alpine season led to the publication of the first volume of a trilogy, Among the Alps with Bradford. In this veritable guide for the budding mountaineer, published in 1927, Bradford Washburn already illustrated the accounts of his ascents with his own photographs.
At the start of this new century, a trailblazer has hatched, and now it's his turn to spread his wings. It's up to him to illuminate the world's high summits with his art. The time has come for Bradford Washburn to achieve great things. On September 2, 1929, the 19-year-old explorer made history with his first ascent of the Couturier couloir on the north face of the Aiguille Verte. Dominating Chamonix, he completed the route in just 4 hours 20 minutes, accompanied by Georges Charlet, Alfred Couttet and André Devouassoux. More than 80 years later, on April 25, 2013, Vivian Bruchez and Sébastien Montaz followed in his footsteps, descending this legendary couloir on steep skis.
Bradford Washburn: An explorer's prowess from Alaska to Mount Everest
This feat revealed Bradford Washburn to the world, and he entered the big leagues. A hero of mountaineering on the other side of the Atlantic, he was elected to the prestigious French Alpine Club and the Explorers' Club of New York. He published and lectured extensively. Acclaimed at Carnegie Hall and the National Geographic Society, he graduated from Harvard University in 1933.
It was at the college's Institute for Geographical Exploration that Bradford Washburn made a seminal and providential encounter. With his greatest friends, Charlie Houston, Adams Carter, Terry Moore and Bob Bates, he formed the Harvard Five. Between them, they defined the contours of North American mountaineering. Between them, they breathed a breath of fresh air and modernity into the discipline. Through their performances, of course, but also through their generous and sincere spirit. Men of duty and conviction, the Harvard Five have inspired their peers and passed on their thirst for heights to younger climbers.
Now it's time for the adventurer to leave the Alps, where he grew up, for the highest summits in Alaska and Canada. From then on, his heart beat to the rhythm of these wild and wonderful mountains. He roamed their slopes, clinging to their crests. From 1930 onwards, he set out on unexplored routes, crossing them time and again. In June 1937, he and Robert Bates made the first ascent of Mount Lucania. Culminating at 5226 meters in northern Canada, it became the highest summit ever climbed in North America.
Then Bradford Washburn crossed paths with Barbara Polk, like a lucky star at the top of the world. Immediately smitten, they married in 1940 and made their honeymoon an unforgettable odyssey. In Alaska, they made the first ascent of Mount Bertha. Barbara Washburn had just been introduced to the demands of climbing, and was already making her mark on the history of mountaineering. In 1947, alongside her husband, she became the first woman to climb Denali, or Mount McKinley. The feat was incredible. Together, they opened the West Buttress Route in 1951, now considered the classic route to summit and one of the most famous climbing routes in the world. Together, they are stronger than anything. They multiply expeditions, from Everest to the Grand Canyon. They are at one with the high mountains and dedicate their lives to them.
Bradford Washburn: Forerunner of high-altitude aerial photography
But more than a climber, Bradford Washburn is first and foremost a photographer. As he declared inAlpinist Magazine in spring 2004: " I'm a photographer who climbs, not a climber who photographs. From the Himalayas to North America, he immortalizes summits to better map them, to highlight the most beautiful traverses, to finally reveal the splendor of a world beyond our own.
From an early age, the work of Italian photographer and mountaineer Vittorio Sella inspired him to soar beyond the clouds to the azure, a dazzling showcase of unexplored jewels. Abandoning his beloved Brownie to the past, he acquired a Fairchild K-6 camera. An invaluable tool and faithful companion, together they composed their most important images. At the age of 24, Bradford Washburn obtained his pilot's license and made his first solo flight in Seattle at the controls of a biplane. Enthusiastic and determined, he never gave in to difficulty. As André Gide, his contemporary, wrote in Si le grain ne meurt in 1924: There are many things that only seem impossible until you try them. To contemplate the sumptuous reliefs of the highest mountains, he must in turn defy the laws of nature? No problem, he'll go! From the air, he will reach their summits to offer them a new eternity through his art.
No obstacle stands in the way of our adventurer. At an altitude of over 6,000 meters, in furious winds and freezing cold, Bradford Washburn removes the door of the plane he's borrowing to become one with the mountain. He attaches himself to the aircraft, secures his camera and carries out his mission. Photographing summits again and again. A true pioneer of aerial photography, he revolutionized both art and cartography. In the 1970s, he even had an optical glass window fitted to the emergency door of the Learjet he was using. From then on, there was no need to face the lack of oxygen and sub-zero temperatures. At an altitude of almost 12,000 metres, he took some incredible photos, which served as the basis for the most beautiful map ever made of Mount Everest.
Bradford Washburn: Genius photographer and mountain portraitist
Bradford Washburn's work is remarkable for its aesthetics. He has the eye of a scientist, the heart of a nature lover and the soul of an artist. Through his photographs, he manages to capture the glow of the heights, that sublime flame that makes us feel his wonder. From shadow to light, the mountains reveal themselves before our dazzled eyes. Their fascinating lines, the texture of their rock, the cracks in their ice and their mantle of snow.
In black and white, Bradford Washburn succeeds in revealing the full magnificence of the highest summits. He celebrates the very essence of mountains, intimate and prodigious. He also brings us face to face with our own finitude, with the dramas we experience on the rock face, the ultimate climbs, the implacable falls.
Bradford Washburn's work has much in common with that of his lifelong friend, photographer Ansel Adams. Visceral and fiery, impetuous and flamboyant. Emerging from the clouds as if on the first day, with infinite grandeur and extreme purity, Bradford Washburn's mountains seem to entrust us with the most sensitive of secrets, as well as the most epic of quests. Their truth, in short. Their portrait.
Bradford Washburn: Remarkable cartographer and renowned scientist
Bradford Washburn's aerial photographs are also a reference in the world of mountaineering. Their detail is so visible, their sharpness so remarkable, that they are used by explorers to define the routes of their future ascents to the heights of Alaska. Indeed, his work played a major role in improving the cartographic coverage of mountain ranges the world over. Leading numerous exploratory missions throughout his career, he produced the finest and most detailed maps to date of Denali, Mount McKinley, the Grand Canyon, Mount Everest and the New Hampshire Presidential Range. Based on the exceptional precision of his aerial photography, they are the fruit of a lifetime of expeditions throughout Alaska and the world.
In 1992, Bradford Washburn was appointed to an American team that succeeded in making the first laser measurement of summit Mount Everest, probably one of the most exhilarating experiences of his career. The dream continued in 1999 when, at almost 90 years of age, he was appointed to lead a scientific expedition to measure the exact height of Everest using new GPS technologies. The aim was to demonstrate that the Himalayas continue to grow as a result of movements in the earth's crust due to the phenomenon of plate tectonics. In fact, Everest's summit now stands at 8850 metres, 2 metres higher than the previous measurement.
Bradford Washburn: Founder of the Boston Museum of Science
Bradford Washburn's career is exceptional. A pioneer in aerial photography, a renowned mountaineer and undisputed Alaskan specialist, his cartographic work is authoritative. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1956, of London's Royal Geographical Society and of numerous mountaineering and photographic clubs, he owes his fame to the fervor of his commitment. In 1979, the Royal Scottish Geographical Society awarded him a gold medal for his contribution to search cartography.
Throughout his career, he received numerous distinctions from the scientific world, but one of his most prized awards was undoubtedly the one he shared with his wife Barbara. In 1988, they were awarded the National Geographic Society's Centennial Medal for a lifetime's dedication to exploration and cartography. In 1994, he was awarded the King Albert Medal of Merit by the King Albert Foundation of Belgium for leading the development of a new large-scale map of Everest.
But more than the honors bestowed upon him, Bradford Washburn attaches particular importance to the legacy he will leave to future generations. A precious trace that gives meaning to his life and the path he has travelled. In 1938, he founded the Museum of Science in Boston, where he served as director from 1939 to 1980. He remained honorary director from 1985 until his death. With characteristic drive and determination, he enlarged and modernized the premises to attract America's youth and help educate them. He brought together under one roof the collections of the Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Physical, Applied and Medical Sciences, inaugurated a planetarium and presented the public with innovative and captivating exhibitions.
Bradford Washburn: A precious legacy in honour of the mountain
After contributing so much to science and art, Bradford Washburn left this world on January 10, 2007 in Lexington. He was 96 at the time. His legacy is immense, and will influence our vision of the mountains for a long time to come. Through his books and photographs, through cartography and science. On February 16, 2008, the Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering Museum was created in Colorado by the American Alpine Club, the Colorado Mountain Club and the National Geographic Society. Aspiring to continue Bradford Washburn's legacy, the museum celebrates mountaineering, its history, culture and values. Its aim is to inspire new vocations, pass on the public's love of the high mountains and encourage their preservation.
Bradford Washburn's work inspires artists, mountain photographers, sky adventurers and image pioneers alike. In 2022, for example, Freddie Wilkinson and Renan Ozturk made their film Beyond summits. It all began when they discovered a black-and-white photograph of Alaska's Denali National Park. Bradford Washburn had taken it by plane in 1936. It was an exceptional photograph that caught their imagination. Suddenly, their gaze plunged into the heart of the image, they were flying over summit on Moose's Tooth, in the Great Gorge. They were transported a century earlier in the footsteps of Alaska's most famous explorer. They came up with the idea of filming three renowned mountaineers following in the footsteps of their legendary predecessor. It's an unforgettable journey of self-discovery, a tribute to nature's grandiosity and indomitability.
Bradford Washburn left his mark on our relationship with the mountains. Whether you're a scientist, mountaineer, explorer or artist today, you can't ignore the extent of his legacy, his visionary work and the resonance of his commitments. A pioneer of aerial photography, a master of black and white, a mountain portraitist, he inspired the greatest and continues to pave the way for the boldest.
