Dave Altman Memorial Bench

Photo: Fred Cook Collection

Update November 2021: We discovered that our goal doesn't meet the application costs, so we've increased our goal amount accordingly. Our hope is to be able to raise the additional funds in time to submit near Dave's anniversary of passing, which is also the earliest the city allows. The city has informed us that the application process often takes at least six months to complete once the initial application is received. Please share this with anyone you know who might wish to contribute. Much thanks to all of you who have already <3

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In loving memory of Dave Altman and all he meant to our community, we are raising funds to install a Memorial Bench at Indian Rock. The City of Berkeley requires that the honoree be deceased for at least one year before an application may be submitted, so our plan is to submit an application on the one-year anniversary of Dave’s passing. Once an install date is set by the city, we will host a memorial service at Dave's Memorial Bench. Our hope is that we will be able to congregate freely by then and tell stories to celebrate the amazing life that Dave led as a climber, math genius, Ironworks guru and adventurer. 

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Pioneering climber and Berkeley Ironworks strength guru Dave Altman, 68, died early Tuesday morning on November 10, 2020 when the van he called home caught fire.

Part of the Touchstone family for more than two decades, Dave—whose legendary feats of strength included a one-finger pull-up with 50 pounds in the other hand—helped countless climbers get stronger, rehab injuries, and improve their bouldering and climbing techniques.

Known as the Mayor of Indian Rock for his knowledge of every eliminate and willingness to share beta, Dave ticked the first ascent of Yosemite’s Cookie Cliff classic Red Zinger (5.11d) with Ray Jardine in 1979, and early ascents of numerous hard Yosemite cracks, including Tales of Power, Separate Reality, Crimson Cringe, Hang Dog Flyer, and Cosmic Debris.

[Excerpted from Touchstone's tribute to Dave Altman, written by Janet Wells, you can find the entire tribute here: https://touchstoneclimbing.com/remembering-dave-altman/]

In the December 19, 1995 issue of Climbing Magazine, Berkeley local, Mike Papciak, wrote an ode to this special man introducing the greater climbing community to Dave's reputation as the Mayor of Indian Rock and reminding climbers of an earlier era. "He started climbing in earnest in 1972 at Indian Rock . . .  A visiting climber circling Indian Rock might identify two dozen problems. The locals, however, know hundreds --variations, eliminates, quadruple eliminates. Together with the legendary Fred Cook, Altman serves as a walking catalogue of such Indian Rock esoterica."


Photo: Fred Cook Collection

Here are some words from those who loved him well:

"He was a major mentor during my years as a math graduate student and later as a post-doc in Berkeley. It feels like those moments in Star Wars - the Force just took a hit. Irreplaceable - generous and multitalented in creative endeavors of mathematics, music, climbing fitness and culture, friendship, language, fine cooking, ... argghhh" --Bob Palais

"Dave Altman was many things to many people, to me he was a modern Diogenes an ascetic philosopher and athlete. His curiosity was boundless and he was a natural teacher loving nothing more than to share his encyclopedic knowledge, from rare feats of human strength and endurance to his deep love for Japanese art and culture. My favorite often related stories are tales of a  freer time populated with characters and anecdotes torn from a Kerouac novel, hitchhiking to Alaska and gorging on apples and cherries, backpacking the Muir Trail in the High Sierra and Climbing in Yosemite at the dawn of sport climbing in America. Dave will be dearly missed." --Jeffrey Kosoff

"When Dave bounced into CityRock, each step of his suggested his body wasn’t meant for the ground. And with a mind as his, he certainly wasn’t meant for the mundane. It could be said he was in his element above the rest of us." --Walter Murch

Photo: Mark Patana

The Berkeley Ironworks crew will be in charge of ordering the bench, sending in the application and paying the city fees. Any money left over once the costs have been covered will be donated in Dave's honour to a worthy cause that he would have supported. Suggestions welcome, either leave a comment or send an idea to [email redacted]