Words by Tom Herbert- TM's son

On March 23rd 2024 my hero passed away. TM Herbert was the quintessential Yosemite Climber. Born in Utah April 26th 1936, he grew up in Southern California. He found climbing in 1957 and it became his life-long passion. He went through the grades at Tahquitz CA starting at 5.0 and worked his way up to the hardest grade at the time 5.9.  He moved to Berkeley CA and spent the 1960's in Yosemite. TM had the great fortune to be one of the Golden Age climbers in Yosemite; it was an era where the walls had virgin lines waiting for a team brave enough to climb them prior to the advent of rescues. The first ascents of El Capitan's Muir Wall with Yvon Chouinard 1965 as well as The West Face of El Capitan 1967 with Royal Robbins were two of his finest achievements. By 1969 he had graduated college and started a family with his wife, Jan. They moved to the foothills of the Sierra where he worked as a school teacher. Most weekends of the spring and fall my mom, brother Don, and I spent with Dad in Yosemite Valley. During the summers we lived in either Tuolumne Meadows where he guided for Yosemite Mountaineering School or the Tetons in Wyoming. Winter breaks involved Christmas vacation in Joshua Tree. During the 1970's and 80's he climbed with the Stone Masters in the Valley. He was a generation before and was the last of his small tribe to continue climbing. During the 90's and 2000's he continued to climb in Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne and continued the tradition of sitting around the campfire telling stories with the Stone Monkeys. Every summer weekend he would drive to Tuolumne Meadows and park at the guide school and bivy in the back of his car. He came out of big wall retirement at 50 years old to climb Half Dome with me and again at 60 to climb El Capitan.  TM moved to Reno in his 60's to be near his grandchildren, Tommy and Riley. He worked for Patagonia and came over daily after work to play with his "grandbabies".  Up until his mid 70's he soloed South Crack on Stately Pleasure Dome and Cathedral Peak. Dozens of climbers have come up to me with the story of an old man with a hat and a great sense of humor that passed them on one of those routes. TM finally stopped climbing when it became too difficult but he continued to visit Tuolumne, staying in the back of his car until he was 80. He hiked, bird-watched, and loved to tell his stories around the campfire behind the guide school. Alzheimers Dementia slowly set in and he lived in an independent living facility then group home. He continued his daily walks and maintained his jovial nature. Two weeks before his passing we walked together and he introduced me (his son) as his twin brother to the staff as a joke. 

What does TM stand for? It is his name on his birth certificate. He would tell you it stood for Tough Mother. I will tell you it stands for Tuolumne Meadows. He loved Yosemite. He was an authentic Yosemite Climber for over 5 decades. Hours before he passed, I sat with him. He stared at his poster of Yosemite on the wall. He said "That is the most beautiful place I have ever been". He talked about how much he loved being a Yosemite Guide. I told him he was my hero. He will be dearly missed.

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