Mark Powell

Acting

Mark Powell

Born — Died

1928-08-05 — 2020-07-02

Place of birth

Selma, California, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

2 titles

Mark Powell, born Marion Lyle Powell on August 5, 1928, in Selma, California, and died on July 2, 2020, is a major figure in American mountaineering. His childhood was marked by frequent moves, and after his parents divorced at the age of 15, he moved with his mother to live with his grandparents in Laton, California. After graduating from high school in 1946, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and served primarily in Alaska. Discharged just before the Korean War, he quickly developed his passion for the mountains, which he had already begun hiking and climbing as a child. In 1954, he began technical climbing with the Sierra Club Rock Climbing Section in Fresno. From then on, Powell distingu…

Known for

Brave New Wild poster
10.0

BRAVE NEW WILD is an offbeat chronicle of America’s Golden Age of rock climbing before and after the controversial ascent of the Dawn Wall in 1970. Some forty years later, Oakley Anderson-Moore, the daughter of a pioneering climber, stumbles upon her father's old hi8 tapes, and sets out to answer the question: why climb when there's nothing to gain -- and everything to lose? Wry humor and an eclectic original soundtrack punctuate the delinquent antics of the Vulgarians in the ‘Gunks, the larger-than-life rivalry of Yosemite’s rock gods, and the fruit tramping, freight train hopping hobodom of her dad’s climbing life. This film is quintessential viewing for those who long for adventure.

Brave New Wild

2014

Warren Harding - Recollections of the First Ascent of El Capitan in Yosemity Valley poster
10.0

On November 12, 1958, nearly a year and a half after planting his first piton, Warren Harding climbed to the summit of El Capitan, the legendary face of Yosemite, which he became the first to climb via the equally legendary Nose route. An extraordinary undertaking closer to a heavy Himalayan expedition than to rock climbing. Climbing mainly on weekends in the fall and spring with companions whose level of skill was of little importance to him, Warren Harding spent a total of 47 days (spread over 17 months) on the face. 675 pitons (including 125 expansion pitons) and several thousand hammer blows were necessary to build his legend, despite the displeasure of the "Christians of the valley," as he somewhat sardonically nicknamed Royal Robbins and his cronies, who swear by style.

Warren Harding - Recollections of the First Ascent of El Capitan in Yosemity Valley

2011

Film credits

2010s · 2 titles

Brave New Wild poster
10.0

BRAVE NEW WILD is an offbeat chronicle of America’s Golden Age of rock climbing before and after the controversial ascent of the Dawn Wall in 1970. Some forty years later, Oakley Anderson-Moore, the daughter of a pioneering climber, stumbles upon her father's old hi8 tapes, and sets out to answer the question: why climb when there's nothing to gain -- and everything to lose? Wry humor and an eclectic original soundtrack punctuate the delinquent antics of the Vulgarians in the ‘Gunks, the larger-than-life rivalry of Yosemite’s rock gods, and the fruit tramping, freight train hopping hobodom of her dad’s climbing life. This film is quintessential viewing for those who long for adventure.

Brave New Wild

2014

Warren Harding - Recollections of the First Ascent of El Capitan in Yosemity Valley poster
10.0

On November 12, 1958, nearly a year and a half after planting his first piton, Warren Harding climbed to the summit of El Capitan, the legendary face of Yosemite, which he became the first to climb via the equally legendary Nose route. An extraordinary undertaking closer to a heavy Himalayan expedition than to rock climbing. Climbing mainly on weekends in the fall and spring with companions whose level of skill was of little importance to him, Warren Harding spent a total of 47 days (spread over 17 months) on the face. 675 pitons (including 125 expansion pitons) and several thousand hammer blows were necessary to build his legend, despite the displeasure of the "Christians of the valley," as he somewhat sardonically nicknamed Royal Robbins and his cronies, who swear by style.

Warren Harding - Recollections of the First Ascent of El Capitan in Yosemity Valley

2011