Richard Daniel "Dick" Bass (December 21, 1929 – July 26, 2015) was an American businessman, rancher and mountaineer.
He was the owner of Snowbird Ski Resort in Utah and the first man to climb the "Seven Summits", the tallest mountain on each continent.
[3] After completing some graduate work at the University of Texas, Bass served two years with the U.S. Navy on board the aircraft carrier USS Essex during the Korean War.
[3][7] Bass returned to Texas in 1953 to join in the running of the family oil and gas business and ranching operations.
[7] He also built the largest private residence in Vail, later inviting President Gerald Ford to winter there with his family.
[5][7] Bass opened the Snowbird ski resort in Utah with investor Ted Johnson in 1971;[5] he was its sole proprietor until he sold his stake in May 2014.
Jon Krakauer's 1997 book Into Thin Air argues that Bass's ascent of Mount Everest with Breashears pulled the mountain into a "postmodern era" wherein commercial guided expeditions became big business and encouraged climbers with limited experience to pay large sums of money to these enterprises in order to ascend Everest.