Jan and Herb Conn

They are credited with establishing many classic climbs in areas like Carderock in Maryland, Seneca Rocks in West Virginia, Cannon Cliff in New Hampshire and Black Hills of South Dakota.

[6] Jan and Herb spent their spare time exploring the rocks surrounding Washington DC, most notably Carderock where they began climbing in 1942.

In a letter to the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club Mountaineering Section the Conns describe a visit to Seneca with Don Hubbard: "Don and the two of us climbed the south peak on a gorgeous moonlit evening, carrying sleeping bags, and spent the night on the narrow summit ridge.

"[13] In 1944 they started publishing "Up Rope" magazine, which became the official newsletter of the Mountaineering Section of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC).

[1][14][15][16] In 1946, Herb was discharged from the US Army and the Conns began a five-year period of traveling and climbing around the US with short forays into Canada and Mexico.

[17][18] For several years they worked odd jobs and climbed at many locations from Yosemite in California to Mount Katahdin in Maine, making scattered first ascents along the way in places like Cannon Cliff in New Hampshire, Santa Catalina Mountains and Monument Valley in Arizona, Zion National Park in Utah, and Big Bend National Park in Texas.

In the early days, many pitons were US Army issue scavenged at Seneca Rocks after World War II.

In addition, each fall for 13 years Herb spent a week[1] doing maintenance work filling in cracks on the four faces of Mount Rushmore,[5][8][13][19] and Jan taught guitar and flute.

The National Park Service was intrigued by their reports of high, narrow passageways, huge rooms and unusual speleothems (cave decorations) and opened a new tour route.

[36][37] In a 2008 interview for Climbing Magazine the Conns explained: "I know sometimes people think we had this high dream of living like this, in a place like this … it wasn’t that way.

[11] On September 17, 2011, Herb and Jan were inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame in recognition of their pioneering exploration.

Jan and Herb Conn at Devils Tower, 1956
Jan and Herb Conn climbing in the Needles - 2000s. Herb belaying using hip belay technique. The Conns did not use harness or belaying devices. They used 80 [ 1 ] foot ropes, which are about a third of the length of modern ropes, and they usually downclimbed instead of rappelling . [ 2 ]
Herb Conn Chimneying in 1950s
Jan and Herb Conn in their camper
Herb Conn doing maintenance work on Mount Rushmore in 1960s or 1970s
Jan and Herb Conn's self-build house "Conncave"
Jan and Herb Conn, Dave Schnute and Dwight Deal in the Jewel Cave , 1959.
Jan in Janny's Cranny , [ 28 ] [ 29 ] Jewel Cave , 1959.
Dwight Deal, Jan and Herb Conn in the Visitor's Center of Jewel Cave National Monument in 1989 on the 30th anniversary of the Deal-Conn exploration effort. In the background Herb's maps of the cave.
Search for the mystery fern cartoon depicting search for Asplenium Xalternifolium in Black Hills [ 38 ]
Herb and Jan, in their 80s, walking back to the Conn Cave after a day of climbing