Climb	Type	Suggested Grade	Date of Ascent	Notes
Magic Line	Trad	5.14c/8c+	14th Nov 2018	He had repeated Magic Line 5 times since.
Too Big Too Flail	Highball Boulder	V10	2013	Second ascent after Alex Honnold
Ambrosia	Highball Boulder	V11	2014	He did 4 laps on the highball boulder
Loonie Binge	Solo	5.12c	2015

Learning the Ropes

Lonnie Kauk is a Yosemite Valley native. He was born in 1984 at the medical clinic in Yosemite Valley, a tiny one-story building nestled among the matchstick cabins that make up Yosemite Village; another link in a long chain that stretches back for generations. On his mother’s side, Lonnie is of native American descent and can trace his ancestry directly back to Chief Tenaya, a leader of the Ahwahneechee peoples who once called what is now Yosemite home, and long before the U.S. military’s westward expansion policies.

As crazy as it may sound, Lonnie was raised in Yosemite – he even attended school there! Having spent so much of his childhood and many of his formative years in that landscape, he has forged a deep connection with the area. He was very much raised within Native American traditions and is deeply invested in the spiritual ideals which form the essence of his people, the Ahwahneechee. Naturally, this is a component of his life as a climber, as well. You can often see him burning sage at the base of a route, especially one that he plans on free-soloing. He describes it as his way of granting permission to climb the rock.

Being the son of Ron Kauk, Lonnie learned to climb from a very young age, though for many years, the sport held very little meaning to him. At the age of 16, he and his family moved from Yosemite to the Eastern Sierra and resided in a number of communities along highway 395. Systematic racism and prejudice made Lonnie’s adolescence difficult. His native American heritage meant that he was the target of scrutiny from his school teachers and from the local police. As a result, Lonnie fared poorly in school for many years. It was during those years he discovered snowboarding.

Although he began as a skier, Kauk found that he enjoyed snowboarding more. After picking up the sport at age 14, he quickly rose to professional level status and began gathering sponsors. When he was 16, a broken while skateboarding meant he had to stop snowboarding until he healed. It was at this time that he rediscovered climbing.

After only a few years of climbing in and around Yosemite, he was already pulling down on 5.12 and was obviously just getting started. At this time, Lonnie’s father Ron was still climbing at a professional level and did not see much of his son.

A family friend and climbing partner of Ron’s, John Bachar, sort of took Lonnie under his wing. As long as Lonnie was psyched and ready to work, Bachar was there, rope in hand and ready to give his protégé a catch. Bachar also introduced Lonnie to another aspect of the sport – free-soloing, something which has more spiritual currency for him than anything else.

Notable Ascents

Magic Line

In 2016, after a year or projecting, Lonnie succeeded in doing a pinkpoint ascent (all on preplaced gear) of one of his father’s most difficult climbs in Yosemite Valley: Magic Line (5.14c). While this was certainly one of the proudest moments of his climbing career, it wasn’t quite enough for Lonnie. Wanting to do it in better style, he returned – often with his father belaying him – and spent the next three years projecting the route for a red point ascent (placing all of his own gear while on lead. In 2018, he finally succeeded.

Too Big To Flail

Lonnie has repeated numerous of the most difficult climbing routes and boulder problems in California, including Too Big To Flail V10, a highball test piece in the Buttermilks outside of Bishop. For Lonnie, his commitment to climbing and the spiritual fulfillment he finds in his pursuit of excellence can best be summed up by something like this; a 50-foot boulder problem that is so tall and so difficult that, at the top, falling is no longer really an option.

Legacy

Lonnie Kauk is one of the more inspiring figures of American rock climbing. He is so amazingly well-rounded, climbing boulders, trad and sport all at pretty much the same level; he has a refreshing attitude and, whenever you see him, never presents as self-involved. But more than that, he brings an element of spiritual composure to the sport that is not commonly seen. He is so in touch with himself and his climbing is reflected in that self-knowledge. It is truly a privilege to see Lonnie out at the crag.

Give him half a chance, though (and I know this from personal experience), he’ll talk your ear off about his clothing brand Magic Line and the high stretch pants that he has designed, specifically for athletic movement in bouldering and sport climbing.