Hall of
Fame Inductees
You Are Here: Home> Hall of Fame > Inductees > Beverly Johnson
The Yorktown High School Hall of Fame and
Inspiration
Beverly Johnson
Inducted Spring 2004
1947-1994
World-Class Rock Climber
YHS Class of 1965
Inducted 2004
Adventurer, most celebrated female rock climber; undertook
climbing, skiing expeditions all over the world; in 1978 became first woman to solo climb
notorious El Capitan's vertical face, which took ten days; in 1980's filmed
the Russian-Afghan war with her husband; first woman crew-boss firefighter in
Yosemite; first person to solo the Straits of Magellan in open kayak; first person to
pilot a gyro-craft in the Antarctic; skied across Greenland, windsurfed across Bering
Straits, led all-woman team to parachute into highlands of New Guinea; attended Kent State
University and University of Southern California; gymnast in college and high school; died
April 3, 1994, in helicopter crash during ski trip to Ruby Mountains of Nevada. |