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Leslie A. Viereck (1930-2008).

Article Excerpt
Les Viereck was born on 20 February 1930 in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Undergraduate urges for adventure led Les and two friends from Dartmouth to drive a Model A Ford to Alaska in 1948. By happenstance, after the briefest of interviews with the legendary Cap Lathrop, a colorful and enormously successful Alaskan pioneer and entrepreneur, Les was employed that summer at Lathrop's Suntrana coal mine. However, he spent his days off at Denali National Park, and when he returned the following year, the colorful Grant Pearson, then park superintendent, hired him as ranger for Wonder Lake.

After graduation from Dartmouth in 1951, Les returned to Alaska and was promptly drafted into the Army. For part of his tour (1952-54) he served as post game warden at Fort Richardson, Anchorage, distinguishing himself by arresting one of his senior officers for a game violation. This clear sense of right and wrong presaged a serious test of character a bit more than a decade later.

While still in the Army, Les and three other climbers pioneered the South Buttress route on Denali. In an approach typical of the time but unheard of now, they began the climb at the railroad, not by flying to the Kahiltna Glacier. This climb...

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