Descent Magazine by Warren Harding

Descent was an underground magazine produced by Warren Harding, Beryl Knauth, and friends in the 1970s. There were two issues released, which are pictured in this post. It's our understanding that a third, very small one was released around 1990, but no one seems to have one.

I purchased these signed Descents in November as part of a large buy from a lifelong collector, and they were basically sold before they even came into my possession (I have a guy for that). It was difficult to part with them, since they are quite rare and unique, but I am running a business here, and can't keep everything cool, or I would have no customers, no money, and a full house!

I took a few pictures before carefully packaging them up and mailing them off, and here I share them with you. I don't have a scanner and broke the outer lens on my phone camera two years ago after sitting down on a rock while fighting with my ex-girlfriend on an approach to an ice climb in Cody Wyoming (true story) so apologies for the quality.

Fund a scanner for Dan - buy some books.

Descent was a direct response to Ascent, the West coast climbing magazine produced by Steve Roper and the Sierra Club. Harding thought Ascent was too slick and stiff, and made Descent as a way of poking fun at climbers he perceived as overly self-serious.

He wasn't above naming names:

Harding has signed this page at the top- note the handwritten "BATso".

The cartoons below reference Royal Robbins, Harding's foil in the Yosemite scene. The two had plenty of ethical conflicts regarding climbing styles, most famously when Royal set out to chop Harding's bolts on the Wall of Early Morning Light. 

Although Ascent was the main target of the spoof, they were not the only ones Harding had issues with. Below, he goes at Summit, the most popular climbing magazine of the day:

Like the Vulgarian Digest from the Gunks, Descent was purposefully printed on very low-quality newspaper, a deliberate choice to reflect the concerns of this group. They didn't want to make a slick, glossy magazine you'd keep forever - they wanted to give you some laughs around the campfire, or on the shitter, and they wouldn't mind if you burnt it up because you had no other fuel.

In the introduction to this issue, Harding describes the philosophy of the magazine and makes clear the connection with the Vulgarian Digest: 

(continues, next image)

I really enjoy Harding's style and relate strongly to his take on climbing — it ain't that serious. You can get a lot more of Harding's attitude in his book: Downward Bound (I am out of copies at the moment, but more will come around-it was a popular book). 

That's all for our tour of Descent. If you want to see more, you'll have to track down one of the scarce remaining copies. Drop a note in the comments if you've got anything illuminating to share - and especially if you know anything about the issue 3. Inquiring minds want to know.