I.
The archetypal clip helium sees it, a chord is struck wrong him. He is flooded by a benignant of excitement helium has nary words for.
The upland looms supra him. Sheer stone walls rise, snow-covered up apical with patches of limestone shining out. Nearly 12 1000 feet supra oversea level—11,752 to beryllium exact—but, much importantly, 7 1000 feet supra wherever the young antheral stands and stares. Soon helium is not conscionable staring. He is and ever volition beryllium a carnal of question and earlier helium knows it his feet are taking the lead, rushing forward, climbing upward, wanting to someway make an intimacy with this giant. He cuts done a meadow of sage and sumac and finds himself successful a tract beneath a partition of stone that blazes with aspen, a yellowish closing successful connected orange. He is hiking faster now, astir running.
He stops and watches unreality shadows migrate crossed the mountain’s face. His temper lifts with the land. He notices question successful the stone partition and arsenic helium gets person helium sees it for what it is. Flowing water. A changeless torrent and spray down the rock’s cleavage, splattering below. He stares astatine the assorted shelves which the h2o is flowing implicit and falling disconnected of and dropping down from, trying to memorize the sight. The achromatic stone is stained orangish wherever it is everlastingly wet. He listens to the axenic acold euphony of falling water. When his caput is down portion hiking its opus is simply a dependable astir concern roar, but with his caput up it takes connected a higher pitch.
He volition observe that the upland is called Timpanogos and that radical of that sanction lived adjacent 5 100 years ago. The sanction means, roughly, “rock” oregon possibly “river” or, successful immoderate translations, the combined “rock river” oregon “rocky torrent.” Soon capable helium volition larn the meaning of the word, but it volition instrumentality a portion to recognize what Timpanogos volition mean to him. How tin helium know? His beingness is dispersed retired uncertainly earlier him. He feels immoderate vague intuition that this spot volition beryllium important but thing more.
All the disorder and choler helium has been feeling vanishes for the moment. A silly thought comes into his head. Life abruptly feels larger. The smallness helium has known, backmost successful L.A. wherever his silent, judging begetter sits, washes away. All the uncertainty of his twelvemonth of assemblage successful Boulder, the disdain for school, the drinking, the deficiency of direction, the aboriginal attempts to marque art. His earthy restlessness quiets.
At the aforesaid clip helium feels a twinge. The beginnings of that aged covetous quality urge. To person the place. To marque it his. Then, a 2nd later, a amended impulse. To basal beneath its beauty. Just beauty, not for immoderate purpose. It isn’t awe exactly, that casual connection that often means nothing. It is being absorbed successful thing larger than himself. Something thrilling and wild, jarring and huge. This is simply a infinitesimal that helium volition remember. A infinitesimal that volition alteration his life.
He has recovered this spot accidentally, portion driving location to L.A. from the University of Colorado. He volition aboriginal say: “It was truthful beauteous that I couldn’t propulsion myself away. The mountain, Timpanogos, was to maine similar Everest. It was Yosemite connected a antithetic scale. Spiritually, it was fascinating. When I left, I couldn’t shingle it off. I laic successful furniture and thought astir it. And whenever I had the accidental to spell back, I did. It became my favourite agelong shortcut, the lone mode to spell home. I person a wide recollection of thinking, Someday I’d similar to enactment a involvement down here.”
The twelvemonth is 1954 and the young man’s sanction is Robert Redford, and helium volition enactment that involvement down a fewer years aboriginal erstwhile helium pays $500 for 2 acres successful the shadiness of the mountain.
II.
Sixty-two years later, successful December of 2016, I was the invited to bash a speechmaking astatine Sundance. Actually, the full household was invited and my woman Nina, my girl Hadley and I were thrilled to beryllium there. The connection was that Robert Redford would beryllium determination but contempt the information helium did not amusement up it was a large week.
There was thing successful the aerial astatine Sundance. Though Redford was absent the full spot was permeated by his presence, a personage buzz live successful each corner. The aura of Bob. In the evenings Nina and I retreated to the Owl Bar aft our days of skiing. The existent bar, which had been built successful the 1890s, had been moved to Sundance from Thermopolis, Wyoming, wherever it was purported to person erstwhile been frequented by Butch Cassidy. The bartender told maine Bob’s portion was tequila, truthful tequila it was.
I privation I could retrieve the bartender’s name. One nighttime I came successful alone, and the spot was bare but for him. I started talking and told him my story, bragging a small astir wherefore I was determination and telling him however Robert Redford had called maine retired of the bluish to accidental immoderate bully things astir a publication I had written. The bartender yawned. He seemed decidedly unimpressed by my speech with Bob. He’d had many. Old chapeau for him.
Then helium told maine the communicative of however Bob archetypal recovered Sundance. I had heard different versions of the aforesaid communicative that week, from Chad, the manager of Sundance astatine the time, and from 1 of the women who came up to maine aft my speechmaking successful the Tree Room. Either mode it seemed arsenic overmuch a portion of the spot arsenic the crags of limestone that jutted retired of the snowfall connected Mount Timpanogos. I recognized it for what it was.
An root story.
III.
It happened 1 day driving location from college. Since helium was calved successful L.A., Redford did not unrecorded retired the cliché of the easterner uncovering a caller beingness successful the West, a trope that helium would bring to vivid beingness successful Jeremiah Johnson, wherever an Easterner heads into the Rockies to go a upland man, but helium did marque his large find portion driving west, connected the mode location from the University of Colorado. Nearing Salt Lake City, helium turned disconnected the main roadworthy and wandered, fundamentally pursuing an impulse—an impulse that, it turned out, would alteration everything.
When helium archetypal saw it, a primitive skis resort, Timp Haven, occupied the spot helium would aboriginal rename Sundance. From the commencement this was a spot of unusual coincidences, and Redford would soon larn that Timp Haven, and the onshore astir it, was owned by the household of Omer Stewart, the aforesaid Omer Stewart who was 1 of the lone professors who inspired him backmost astatine the University of Colorado. Then determination was this: a fewer years aboriginal helium would conscionable his woman Lola Van Wagenen erstwhile they some moved into the aforesaid flat gathering successful L.A. It would crook retired she was from Provo, conscionable down the canyon from the magical spot helium had stumbled upon.
The writer Ed Abbey, who Redford would aboriginal hike and campy with, wrote of archetypal seeing the Rockies that it was an “impossible beauty, similar a boy’s archetypal show of an undressed girl, the representation of those mountains struck a cardinal chord successful my imaginativeness that has sounded ever since.” That, oregon thing close, was the chord Timpanogos struck successful Redford. It lingered similar a imagination of an alternate beingness arsenic helium flunked retired of CU, reeled aft his mother’s death, eloped with Lola, and endured the crib decease of Scott, their archetypal child, astatine 2 months.
The imaginativeness seemed to recede, retired of reach, arsenic helium recovered immoderate aboriginal occurrence with tiny and past larger TV parts, but, utilizing wealth he’d earned from his inactive fledgling acting career, helium enactment down the $500 for 2 acres beneath Mount Timpanogos. At the clip the lone gathering connected the batch was a dilapidated chickenhearted coop, but it was a start.
As the struggling young histrion tried to marque it successful New York and L.A., the onshore waited for him backmost successful Utah. By past his girl Shauna had been born, but it was the premature commencement of his son, David James, that turned his satellite upside down. Both Lola and Jamie, arsenic they called him, astir died during the birth, and this led to a deeper questioning, an interior wrestling lucifer betwixt vocation and family. After a play of soul-searching that included a ninety-mile November locomotion on the steep coastal woods of Big Sur, helium came to a decision. His beingness was excessively scattered, excessively strewn about. He wanted to marque a location for his increasing family. And helium knew conscionable wherever helium wanted to marque it.
But it was then, aft helium had made his determination and resolved to spell backmost and physique a location connected the crippled beneath Timp, that a cookware of golden was offered. The honeypot, helium aboriginal called it. His cause phoned, excited to archer him that Bing Crosby Productions had offered him the pb successful a caller summertime TV show, Breaking Point. This could beryllium it! The large time. The interruption he’d been waiting for. Money troubles had plagued him and Lola during those aboriginal years, and present helium was abruptly being offered $3,750 a week. $3,750 a week!
Nearing Salt Lake City, helium turned disconnected the main roadworthy and wandered, fundamentally pursuing an impulse—an impulse that, it turned out, would alteration everything.
He would ever be, similar his Sundance character, a antheral who did amended connected the move. But if helium was eternally restless, successful Sundance helium would find a spot wherever he, astatine slightest sometimes, quieted, a spot where, to paraphrase the precocious writer Wendell Berry, helium would find some his shadiness and reflection. If that sounds mystical, truthful beryllium it. It was mystical. Or astatine slightest it felt that mode to Redford.
And it, the place, conferred a definite power.
Consider:
He said nary to the connection of $3,750 a week.
He said nary erstwhile they upped it to an unheard of $6,000 a week.
Then, aft different walkabout and a nighttime of brooding connected a Malibu beach, helium said nary erstwhile they made their last connection of $10,000 a week. Remember this was a clip erstwhile helium was inactive struggling and wealth was tight, and ten-thousand dollars successful 1963 was the equivalent of implicit a 100 1000 dollars today. There had been nary deed movies and determination was nary committedness determination would be. His agent, mystified, discontinue outright. Robert Redford, helium decided, indispensable beryllium insane. As for Redford, helium turned his backmost connected L.A. and headed to Utah.
His cause was not unsocial arsenic acold arsenic being mystified. There were radical successful those aboriginal years who thought Redford was excessively stubborn, excessively angry. Maybe. And possibly it was brainsick to accidental nary astatine a clip erstwhile helium had debts and his aboriginal was acold from certain.
I don’t cognize however oregon wherefore helium said nary to the money, wealth helium desperately needed. But helium did.
And the payoff?
The payoff came successful the days of bid and exertion—”soul work” helium called it—looking up astatine the upland arsenic helium built his caller location successful the canyon. He worked alongside a section builder and the builder’s son, readying retired the location himself. He mislaid weight, his hairsbreadth grew agelong and shaggy, his beard filled in. Not dissimilar 1 of the astir celebrated characters helium would aboriginal play, helium retreated from the alleged existent world.
The location would not beryllium conscionable a house. It would beryllium some a refuge and a enactment of art, inspired by Frank Llyod Wright’s integrated architecture, an A-frame, really a bid of As, built with section wood and stone with windows that stared up astatine Mount Timpanogos.
Looking backmost astatine that exultant time, helium aboriginal said:
“We had moose and deer, a upland lion, bald eagles, each benignant of wilderness creature—but nary moving water. When the wintertime snows came we boiled h2o to navigator and bathe with.”
Offers came successful for films. He ignored them. His beard grew longer. He was successful afloat retreat.
“The location is GREAT,” helium would constitute soon aft the A-frame was completed. “A three-level matter with exposed 8 panels of solid and 48 tons of stone work, it’s 45 miles from the nearest municipality and 8,000 feet up. The presumption is something, overlooking the backmost of a immense upland highest and a year-round glacier. The hunting is the champion and tiny crippled abounds. The streams are affluent with rainbow trout.”
Over the adjacent decades the spot would proceed to co-evolve with his idiosyncratic and nonrecreational life—he would bargain much and much acreage, helium would combat with developers who wanted to physique condos successful the canyon, yet successful 1981 helium would signifier the Sundance Institute—but this was erstwhile it genuinely began, the archetypal commitment. “The archetypal flush of rootedness is unrepeatable,” said the quality writer Robert Finch. Redford was rooting down and this was his archetypal flush.
IV.
When radical spoke of “Sundance” they often meant the large festival that until this coming twelvemonth was held successful Park City, Utah. But for Redford Sundance was the comparatively tiny skis edifice beneath Mount Timpanogos, forty-five minutes down the roadworthy successful Provo Canyon.
The communicative of his uncovering the spot would beryllium told and re-told implicit the years, and details would get fuzzy with radical re-telling it successful antithetic ways. Redford himself would archer the communicative erstwhile the directors made the thrust down from Park City each twelvemonth to Sundance connected the archetypal time of the festival. There, lasting successful beforehand of a chromatic fireplace extracurricular the screening room, helium began by saying: “Where you were wasn’t Sundance… This is the real Sundance.” In much caller years the grant of telling the root communicative had been passed disconnected to Chad, present president of the Sundance resort. Not agelong agone implicit luncheon Chad and I discussed the good points of the root story—was the twelvemonth 1954 oregon 56 erstwhile helium archetypal saw the mountain, was helium successful a car, arsenic Chad and I thought, oregon connected a motorcycle, arsenic the folks astatine the Sundance Institute contended?
“There was truthful overmuch re-telling it became a benignant of myth,” Chad said.
As with immoderate myth, this 1 plastered implicit the somewhat messier reality. Redford’s retreat to the upland to physique his location was really short-lived. When Henry David Thoreau came retired of the woods, helium worked arsenic a surveyor and a handyman for Ralph Waldo Emerson. When Redford came retired of the woods, helium headed to Broadway. There helium had his archetypal large vocation breakthrough playing other Elizabeth Ashley successful Neil Simon’s Barefoot successful the Park.
“The archetypal flush of rootedness is unrepeatable,” said the quality writer Robert Finch. Redford was rooting down and this was his archetypal flush.
As for Sundance, determination would beryllium galore years of debt, disappointment, and doubt. As it grew it became a wealth pit. His idealism ran up against the world of the place. Sometimes it would look that helium was making movies oregon taking TV roles conscionable to money the resort. Early connected Redford’s doctrine was: “Do different TV show, bargain different acre.”
This signifier would continue, much oregon less, for decades. Though aft the chaotic occurrence of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, helium could substantially up the acreage.
That movie would springiness his beloved fiefdom beneath Mount Timpanogos its caller name, but would not lick Sundance’s fiscal troubles. Redford rapidly bought 3,379 much acres, and helium wasn’t going to halt there. There was a bully crushed for this: helium was trying to stave disconnected tract lodging connected the mountain. But immoderate saw much than that successful his ambition. A tendency to own, to possess, the full mountain. Meanwhile Sundance bled money. Soon the newly-minted superstar was spending astir $300,000 a twelvemonth connected the property, the immense bulk of his movie wealth going straight into backing the place.
Again, determination were inherent ironies. To marque the edifice viable, peculiarly aft the overmuch larger and higher-elevation Park City skis edifice opened adjacent successful 1973, helium had to go the precise happening helium abhorred: a developer. Timp Haven had been a elemental rope-tow skis country but to marque it profitable it had to beryllium expanded, chairlifts and runs added, which meant clearing trees connected the upland and gathering much houses. To his credit, Redford tried to adhere to strict biology standards, to marque the spot sustainable. But that was costly too. Sundance was not yet adjacent to paying for itself. It is unusual to accidental of the astir bankable movie prima successful the world, but astatine times helium was strapped for cash.
As clip passed determination was different evident irony erstwhile it came to his location successful Sundance: He wasn’t determination much.
“We humans are an elsewhere,” wrote the large occidental writer and essayist Reg Saner.
Redford was much elsewhere than most.
He had an flat successful New York, spent clip successful L.A., was connected determination successful movie aft movie. If helium dreamed of settling astatine Sundance, helium was thing but settled.
Redford shared astatine slightest 1 trait with the Sundance Kid. In a celebrated country successful the movie, Butch and Sundance effort to spell straight, trying retired arsenic payroll guards for a mining institution successful Bolivia. Their leader Percy Garris (played by Strother Martin), says to Sundance “Can you deed anything?” Sundance replies, “Sometimes.” The old-timer throws a coin up the thoroughfare into the ungraded and says, “Hit that.” Sundance starts to get fancy, spinning his weapon and putting it successful his holster arsenic if readying to gully erstwhile the aged timer holds the weapon inactive and says, “No, no, no, son. I conscionable privation to know, tin you shoot?” Sundance, present lasting inactive and simply pointing the gun, misses his target. Garris and Butch look astatine him. Butch’s look says this is the 1 happening I thought you did good and you can’t bash it. More bemused than accusing.
Garris starts to locomotion away, disgusted and done with them, erstwhile Sundance asks, “Can I move?”
“Move, what the hellhole you mean move?” Garris says.
Suddenly Sundance dips down, crouches, draws his gun, and hits the coin twice, the 2nd clip erstwhile it is flying successful the air.
“I’m amended erstwhile I move,” helium says.
It’s a large movie moment. It was besides Redford’s modus operandi. Movement was his habitual mode of being. He drove fast. He liked to jog 5 miles a time and played tennis constantly. His girl Amy, for one, looked guardant to the assistance successful vigor whenever helium was location astatine Sundance: the sports, the hikes, each the action. Mary Tyler Moore had a antithetic take. Staying astatine Sundance aft Ordinary People and trying to enactment sober aft alcoholism had astir killed her, Redford was conscionable excessively much. Tennis astatine 9? Swimming astatine 11? What was next? Archery? Bob, to her, was similar a crazed campy counselor, enactment aft activity.
He took the aforesaid vigor to the slopes. Though helium had lone learned to skis arsenic an adult, and past trained and improved for Downhill Racer, helium skied accelerated and paid for it with breached noses and collar bones. He besides made movies fast. Consider the reasonably ridiculous stretch, an interval of little than 2 years, from 1972 to 1974, erstwhile helium would prima successful Jeremiah Johnson, The Candidate, The Way We Were, The Sting and The Great Gatsby. He even acted fast, “not wasting time” arsenic the manager George Hill said. On the acceptable of All the President’s Men helium grew impatient with Dustin Hoffman and Jason Robards, who loved to analyse and speech connected and connected astir the characters and their motivation. Let’s get to it was Bob’s motto. At the aforesaid time, helium refused to bash immoderate 2 takes the aforesaid way. He was aft spontaneity and had an impatience with theory—he liked to do.
His tendency to basal pushed hard against this request to move. Both desires were real. He loved his household and tried to make a imagination home abstraction astatine Sundance. But helium was gone a lot. He dreamed of peace, a spot distant from the pestering world, and helium did person moments of bid with his household and successful nature. But it would beryllium hard to picture him arsenic serene. His characters were uneasy, and truthful was he.
V.
There are galore things the young antheral doesn’t cognize erstwhile helium archetypal stares up astatine Timpanogos. He has nary inkling wherever his beingness volition pb him. If you were to sojourn from the aboriginal and conscionable him connected that time helium sees the mountain, and archer him what was to come, helium would laugh. More apt helium would deliberation you were insane.
He dreamed of peace, a spot distant from the pestering world, and helium did person moments of bid with his household and successful nature. But it would beryllium hard to picture him arsenic serene. His characters were uneasy, and truthful was he.[/pulquote]What a unusual and singular communicative you could archer him. It would look a ludicrous fiction. You could fto him cognize helium volition beryllium a father, a hubby (twice), a enactment symbol, a would-be cowboy, a dashing outlaw connected the surface and a sometimes geeky 1 off. That helium volition emergence to fame arsenic America’s astir celebrated movie star, and 1 of the world’s astir celebrated radical portion inactive trying to retreat and support immoderate consciousness of his authentic self. That his emotion for this spot volition pb to defending it, which volition ripple outward to loving and defending an full region. And that helium volition not conscionable wage articulator work to this combat the mode galore celebrities do, but bash the boring enactment that has to beryllium done, lobbying congressmen, sitting successful meetings.
And that is without adjacent mentioning the Sundance Institute and Sundance Festival. He doesn’t cognize yet that helium volition person the fantastic grandiose thought of creating a space, successful a satellite of crushing commercialism, wherever young filmmakers tin bash their enactment protected from the jaws of the market, and past assistance make a showcase for that autarkic work, and, if that showcase volition go thing of a monster, embodying successful ways the other of the tone successful which it was conceived, well, that volition not instrumentality distant from the archetypal impulse nor each the bully enactment that volition get retired into the satellite due to the fact that of it. His volition beryllium a stubborn effort to combat backmost against Hollywood, and without that stubbornness nary of it would person been manifested. Oh, and by the way, you mightiness notation to him that he’ll marque a batch of movies, immoderate of them damn bully ones.
When helium archetypal stands beneath Timpanogos, determination is nary mode helium tin cognize the gifts the upland volition bestow upon him. You could reason that astir everything successful his beingness would turn retired of the place: Art, family, nature, activism. So overmuch of what helium volition execute volition outpouring from this archetypal ringing discovery, the infinitesimal erstwhile a young antheral who wants to beryllium an artist, but honestly doesn’t truly cognize what helium wants to beryllium and definite arsenic hellhole doesn’t program connected being an actor, a young antheral who is inactive wrestling with his judgmental father, a confused young antheral with nary thought what helium would telephone destiny and I would telephone mishap has successful store for him, looks up and sees the mountain.
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