Evening Magazine - Last Climb

A KPIX-TV Evening Magazine segment from October 8th 1986 produced by Michael Hoff and narrated by Richard Hart, featuring scenes from the Horton family's summer climb up Yosemite National Park's 8839 ft. rock formation known as Half Dome. The eight Horton brothers and their father had never climbed Half Dome as a family and agreed to do this as a gesture of love, unity and tribute to family member William K. "Billy" Horton (1955-1988), a San Francisco State University alum who was diagnosed with Kaposi's sarcoma in 1985 (a cancer associated with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). Includes views of: family, friends and Bill's partner Bob Holloway sitting around a campfire the night before their climb, where brothers John and Joey and their father - James - talk about how Bill's diagnosis affected them; preparing for the climb at 4:30am; trekking and riding up from the valley floor on mules; hiking up Quarter Dome and some of the family ascending to the summit of Half Dome, waving the family flag for Bill who is watching from below. At the time Bill Horton was dealing with the side effects of his first chemotherapy session and also with tumors in his legs. It should be noted that up until this broadcast, Evening Magazine's show format typically dealt with light-hearted subject matter, in 3-4 minute segments. This groundbreaking show for Evening Magazine was well received and the PM Magazine National Office evenutally aired 'Last Climb' on affiliate stations nationwide. Steve Parmley was the videographer and cameraman for this report and Mark Dwyer was the audio technician. The TV Archive would like to thank Bill's brother John Horton for preserving and graciously providing access to the media. Opening graphic designed by Carrie Hawks.