Allen Steck and Salathé made the first ascent of the 1,500 foot (500 m) north face of Sentinel Rock. This five-day ascent was considered the last of the great Yosemite problems of the day. Their route, the Steck-Salathé Route is now a classic rock climb. Later life In 1953, Salathé suffered a mental breakdown, abandoned his family, and returned to Switzerland to live in a hut above Lake Maggiore. He became a devoted member of a Christian spiritualist religious group called the Spiritual Lodge Zurich, led by the medium Beatrice Brunner. He climbed the Matterhorn in August, 1958, his last significant mountaineering achievement. In 1963, he returned to the United States and spent 20 years car camping and wandering through the deserts and mountains of California. He maintained his vegetarian diet based largely on wild grasses and herbs, that he sought out, with barley, pinto beans and rice and preached his spiritualist beliefs. Death and legacy Salathé died on August 31, 1992 in Southern California. The Salathé Wall on El Capitan was named to honor Salathé (although he did not climb it) around 1960 by Royal Robbins. References 1899 births 1992 deaths American blacksmiths American inventors American mountain climbers American rock climbers American spiritualists American vegetarianism activists People from Basel-Landschaft Swiss emigrants to the United States Swiss expatriates in Canada Swiss expatriates in France