Scott Peterson. He is not your average climber, he sparkles - or maybe flashes, when he raises his kilt. Yep, he often wears this stuff around and has plaid patterns on his gear. He acquired his nickname "Plaid" as a kid and played with his name, Scott and his Peterson-Scottish ancestry. The nickname stuck. 
 
Climbers often call him "da Plaidman" and he has become a bit of character in the Valley scene. Plaid lights a smile on most climbers faces as he chugs along the big lines like an old steam engine as the young rockets fly by. I hope you enjoy getting to know Plaid as much as many of us enjoy calling him a friend.  Take it away, Plaid…

-- Dave Barnes, Assistant Editor, Common Climber

There are Bards in Yosemite. In this magical place there are many. A Bard is that spinner of tales, a weaver of yarns, a teller of stories, a provocateur of the absurd. I am a Bard, a Traveling Troubadour of The Obscure. I seek those tales, stories, and places that others might pass by and miss. Most folks are too busy to slow down and hear a winding tale with many twists and turns. They roll their eyes when they see me coming. I’ve always got a wild yarn or two to tell. 
 
I’m a climber of sorts. My particular bent is I prefer the solo aid climbs in the obscure places of the Yosemite Valley. I climb on The Dark Side. In the shade away from others in solitude. Alone with my thoughts, struggling on things others might find easy.

Yosemite for me is a Crucible. A roaring white hot flame that fills and refines my soul to overflowing - to the point that it leaks out my eyes. I often remind myself why I seek for what I crave on The Dark Side of The Yosemite Valley. It’s because the memories that are burned deep into my soul in that place makes the telling of the tales I gather in my struggles easy to tell. These memories flow like the waters of the Merced out to those that have the time to listen. I try to scribble these tales onto paper or keyboard but I feel I am inadequate to the task. I continue to practice the art of the tome by way of the written word, but I feel I am much better in the flesh with my audience in my grip. They struggle to rip themselves away, but they are intrigued and are unable to fly away from my from grasp. 

Service. To give of ones self. To put the whole of your being into the thing you are doing. A Bard does this. It is a service they provide. They think less of themselves but more about the task at hand. Providing entertainment, gathering and preserving stories for later times. They are not showboating but are telling the stories that need to be told and the audience provides the energy to the mix. So it is a sharing of this place and this time that is important in the now of the moment. 

Scott "Plaid" Peterson at Higher Cathedral Rock in the Yosemite Valley, California. (Photo Credit: Jacob Raab)

Entertainment. That is the goal of a Bard. They tell the tales so others can go along on the journey. Those in the audience follow as a Bard shows the way. The way of adventure and the finding of the hidden things. As a Bard they are working their skills in story telling, laying clues and coaxing those that have ears to hear and follow. These ones that are eager to journey along, willingly, their eagerness adds energy to the venue. A Bard is sensitive to their yearning to hear more. So it’s a push and pull. The audience spurs on the story teller and story teller gladly accepts the gentle pushing to continue and both the audience and a true Bard are entertained. ​

​I admire Scott because he did the work necessary to be able to unapologetically follow his own path without being stymied by fear of judgment but I love him because he throws his whole giant heart into things. I watch him when we are watching a movie because his reactions are funny. He cheers for the superhero out loud and sobs at the sad parts - whether we are at home or in a theater. Scott is smart, super kind, and upbeat. He is the most extroverted person I've ever known: I had a lump removed from my breast and he and the nurse were having an extended climbing conversation over my naked boob while I was being prepped for surgery. Who makes new friends over someone's naked surgery boob? Scott loves history and watches Great Course documentaries and tells me about them at length whether I want to know about it or not. He is beyond tough and doesn't mind suffering. A quirky habit is he won't throw anything away; including the soupy PB&J sandwich I pulled out of my pack after a day of hiking. I frequently find myself saying, "is saving two dollars really worth food poisoning?" We just moved a bunch of scrap wood in varying sizes, type, and condition without any particular project in mind from Portland, Oregon to Madras, Oregon because "wood's expensive." He brings out all the colors in my life and life feels a whole lot blander while he is gone. If I got to write blessings, I would wish upon everyone a great love like I have.  

- Ronda (Plaid's wife)

"Plaid" during the filming of "Beacon Rock: Then and Now" which shares the history of Beacon Rock in the Colombia River Gorge, Washington. (Photo Credit: Sean O’Conner)

​

Commitment. A Bard is committed to the craft. The cultivation of stories, tales, epics, of tragedy and triumph are their aim. It takes time, effort, and determination to yank, twist and toil to find the sweet spot in a well-woven tale. The Bard’s commitment is evident in bringing the epic tale to life, just as a fire starter brings a flame to a blaze. By gentle persuasion, then by more energetic coaxing, the story now has a life of its own. It hangs in the air as does a sweet fragrance of lilac. The point is, now it is a real thing brought about by the struggles, effort and commitment of a Bard.
 
I’ve mentored under the tutelage of many great Bards. I’ve seen embodied the service, entertainment and commitment to story telling in my teachers. They might have not known they were teaching me, but I was being schooled in the art. My grandparents on both sides of the family were incredible story tellers. I listened intently when the rest of my family would tire of the same old story being told again and again. But I learned that  if I listened long enough there would be details added and after the standard stories there would be other stories never heard that would emerge. This skill required much patience. To sit and really listen and wait till they came, but emerge they did and I was rewarded by new light on old tales and new ones never told before. 
​
Others taught me also. After climbing hard all day, sitting around many camp fires, or in Yosemite in El Cap Meadow, or at The Bridge that crosses the Merced, here I found willing tellers - Bards if you will - even though they might not see themselves as great story tellers. The stories were there, told with passion and given freely. We in the know call The Bridge the center of the universe because there is a richness worth more than the finest gold or jewels, or at least it is to me. Being there in the moment is like stumbling on buried treasure laid bare by the skill of a Bard. ​

Plaidman is one of the toughest, most determined, most stubborn, and single-minded climbers I have ever met.
 
When he sets a goal, he will move heaven and earth to achieve it, or he will die trying. In the complex and multitasking world of big wall climbing, Platinum Plaidman is an anomaly because he can only perform one task at a time! If you need to talk to him and ask him to do something or think about something else, he literally has to stop hauling in order to listen to you! 
 
But I believe it is this same focus that allows him to succeed. He is kind of like me… no natural talent! Anything we have achieved we have done through sheer determination and will power, certainly it is not by any God-given talent or natural ability!
 
Scott is the nicest guy you would ever want to meet and he would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. You will find him with his wheelbarrow at the Yosemite face lifts helping to pick up garbage every year.
 
When I climbed the big wall route on El Capitan called Tempest, Plaid had a rappelling accident. How does anybody have a rappelling accident with a GriGri? Anyway, Plaid lost control of his rappel and did a free fall into the loop of the rappel rope. We saw his head lamp go flying by in the dark and we were sure he had fallen to his death.
Nope. Good old Plaidman jugged  back up to the anchor in the dark.  He had 3rd degree rope burns on his hand.
 
I said something like, “I guess we have to bail now.” And he replied, “No, it's nothing. I am a welder, I get burns like this all of the time, it is no big deal.” To me, it looks like a gigantic deal! But Plaidman sucked it up and he never complained - not even once ever. He finished the wall in stoic silence. 
​
- Peter Zabrok

Selfie of "Plaid" cooped up in his portaledge during a two day snow storm while lead-rope soloing "Zodiac" on El Capitan.

Snotsickle-selfie of Scott "Plaid" Peterson while attempting his first WI-5 climb in Hyalite Canyon, Montana. The temperature was -29 degrees F ( -34 degrees C)

Sitting on my Portaledge on the walls of the Yosemite cliff faces I sometimes take the day off and reflect on the climbing I’ve done the day before.

​I think about the experience so that I can capture the memory. To capture the thoughts, feelings, and emotions of the moments that transpired throughout the day are important. If not remembered and pigeon-holed into the index of the mind, that treasure will fall as sand through the fingers. These memories are the building blocks of stories for future times. If not stories for others, they are my personal treasures. Most folks count their money or things. I count my experiences and memories.

Others wonder at my taking this time to reflect, but I know that if not now when? I’m older, there are no guarantees in this life. Life is a fleeting thing - here today gone tomorrow. I’ve seen too many people wait to live their dreams, not me. The time is now! “Seize the day!

Plaid sitting on his portaledge reflecting on the day during the second rope-solo ascent of "Blood and Coin" on Lost Brother in Yosemite Valley.

​I sometimes scream at the wind while climbing. I put all I have into that day, that time, that hour because I might not get another. I will not wait for retirement, I will live the dream while strong and the inner vigor still beats in my heart. Let others wonder. I say I am on my path not theirs. 
 
So with all this stated I have found my place of high adventure here in The Yosemite Valley. I will endeavor to do my best to live up to the code of a Bard that I have laid before you, my audience. In the volume of stories I tell I hope to share some of  the things I’ve seen, the valiant warriors and gentle folk I’ve met, and the places I’ve been here in this magical valley of dreams and visions, which is Yosemite.

Scott "Plaid" Peterson on The Footstool at El Capitan , Yosemite Valley, California. (Photo Credit: Jacob Raab)

"Plaid" captured by a legendary Bard of photography, Dean Fidelman.

Scott "Plaid" Peterson is known for a number of first ascents the Columbia River Gorge and other areas in Oregon. Although he didn't have any first ascents on Beacon Rock (located in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington State), it is Scott's home crag and has played an important part of his development in climbing. Scott also got married to his wife - Ronda the "Adventure Queen" - on top of this prominent formation - while wearing his kilt, of course!

Beacon Rock is a basalt monolith known for bold, challenging climbing on friable, moss-covered rock. The local climbing organization, The Mazamas, captured Beacon Rock's history.

Beacon Rock: Then and Now 
A MAZAMA FILM
​DIRECTED BY ADAM BAYLOR / PRODUCED BY JEFF THOMAS / DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY SEAN O'CONNOR

Beacon Rock Master Cut (Mazamas) from Mazamas on Vimeo.