Lowell_Skoog

Fred (born in 1923) was 19 when they climbed Waddington in 1942. I presume Helmy was 17. I think their parents worried about them a lot and introduced them to older and more experienced climbers. Fred entered the Mountaineers climbing course in 1939. His earliest mentors were Dwight Watson (born in 1900) and Lloyd Anderson (born in 1902). The Beckey brothers went to Waddington with Erick Larson, who was about 32 at the time. (Larson was a friend of Dwight Watson.) Larson became ill and was left behind by the Beckeys during the approach.

So if I'm reading this correctly, your goal is to raise sponsorship money in order to hire a guide to climb Pumori. And the hook is that in doing so you would be the youngest people to climb that peak. If you're hiring a guide, you're seeking a scholarship, not a sponsorship. You should be up-front about this. You got off to a poor start in this thread, since I had to read between the lines in Dane's comments to catch the guiding angle. I have little experience asking people for money. But I think it should begin with full disclosure.

I doubt that there is any publication that would have recorded the first winter ascent of Icy Peak approaching from Nooksack Cirque. Beckey's red guidebook doesn't seem to say anything about winter climbing on Icy. I suspect that's because he doubts that the winter ascents he's heard of were the first. The only way I know of to unearth this sort of information is to publish a "strawman" at some prominent location on the web and wait for somebody to knock it down. This is the approach I've taken in the Alpenglow Ski Mountaineering History Project. But I don't bother setting up strawmen if I think it's very unlikely that they're valid. My view as an amateur mountaineering historian is that the first winter ascent of Icy Peak would be an interesting fact to know. But the first winter ascent from Nooksack Cirque, if it is later than the first winter ascent, is not interesting.

Here are some photos that show the ridge profile more clearly. Looks steep at the top!

Thanks for the ideas, Mike. Unfortunately, I've placed the Dickert collection back in the Mountaineers Archives for now, so I don't have the pictures at home for re-scanning. Thinking about it a little more, I'm skeptical that the crag is in the Icicle or the Enchantment region, merely for logistical reasons. In 1935, I think it was a lot more trouble for people to drive from Seattle all the way to the Leavenworth area to climb. As far as I know, cragging in the Leavenworth area really didn't get going until after WWII, driven by Fred Beckey and his friends. I'm doubtful that Wolf Bauer would have gone there to practice rock techniques. I don't recall Wolf ever mentioning the Leavenworth area in my conversations with him and in the various oral histories that I've listened to. I'm not saying it's impossible, but I'm doubtful.

Yes he did. His collection includes a few pictures taken during the 1939 Mountaineers outing to the Tetons, when the Hossack-MacGowan route was established on the Grand. There are no action shots from that trip that I've noticed. I don't have a list of the participants handy, but I'm pretty sure Wolf Bauer was not on that trip. Wolf himself said recently that he thought the mystery wall pictures were taken on Lundin, but it's hard to know whether his memory is correct on that.

Bravo! I could have sworn that Klenke's location was correct, but Mike's observations of the cliff and tree patterns have convinced me. I presume that Wolf and Jack are near the base of the east face of Chair Peak in O.P. Dickert's old photo. It would be interesting to duplicate the perspective shown in the photo. Now if we can figure out the textured wall location... I was looking through my notes to refresh my memory of Wolf Bauer's early climbing techniques. The best description is in a 1974 interview conducted by Harry Majors. The interview tape is in U.W. Special Collections. I don't have a copy of it, but my notes can be found here: http://www.alpenglow.org/ski-history/notes/comm/bauer-wolf.html#bauer-wolf-1974-aug-27 Wolf talks in this interview about "friction climbing" and "friction belays." He contrasts these techniques with the use of pitons, which he tried to avoid as much as possible. I think when he says "friction" he means something a bit different than what rock climbers mean today. He means using the features of the rock alone, both for holds and for protection. Here's an excerpt from my notes: I think the O.P. Dickert photos illustrate Wolf's concept of friction climbing, where the rope is passed over features in the rock to protect the climbers. Wolf's 1935 Mountaineers climbing course taught those techniques only, but in 1936 Wolf added instruction in the use of pitons. They used them on the first ascent of Mt Goode that summer. The Majors interview tape at U.W. is 35 years old now. I believe there is only one copy and no complete transcription has ever been made. It would be a great service to Northwest mountaineering history if somebody would make a duplicate of this tape and then convert it to a digital file.

Good points. I've been having trouble with that too. Here's another thought: How about the area around Slippery Slab Tower and Thunder Mountain, south of Stevens Pass? There's some really good rock in that area, it's accessible, and the peaks are about the right elevation for the alpine look of those pictures.

Dang Paul! You're making this hard! From your pictures, it looks like it might be difficult to duplicate the sight lines that I envisioned. But I haven't given up yet either. The mystery wall might be higher or lower on Lundin than I speculated. Or maybe it is located elsewhere in Commonwealth Basin. When I interviewed Wolf Bauer for this story, he said they made field trips to Little Si, McClellans Butte, and Commonwealth Basin during the original Mountaineers climbing course.

New theory! I completed my catalog of the O.P. Dickert collection for the Mountaineers Archives. The catalog pages are here: http://www.mountaineers.org/history/notes/coll/dickert-op-photos-2009-1.html http://www.mountaineers.org/history/notes/coll/dickert-op-papers-2009-2.html I sent a note to several people who are in the Mountaineers or have an interest in NW mountaineering history. One has been working with Wolf Bauer on his memoirs. She writes: Now, even though the pictures were taken over 70 years ago and Wolf Bauer is celebrating his 97th birthday this month, he is a sharp guy, so I give his recollection a lot of weight. I fired up TOPO! to look at the topography. Here's a diagram: This looks very plausible and interesting. (Lundin has a reputation for better than average rock.) My theory is that the mystery wall is not the south face of Lundin. Instead, it could be a short wall on the east side of the approach gully (marked by the red arrow in the diagram inset above). The yellow arrow shows the possible camera angle for the photos below. The background peaks would be Red Mountain and the 5720+ foot bump ESE of Red Mountain. This location has all the right elements: accessibility, topography, and rock quality. The question is whether the wall is actually there. It's hard to know from the topo map and it's been many years since I climbed Lundin. But it seems worth a look.

It could be the Leavenworth area, but I think the mystery wall is in an alpine setting. I think that's heather not grass in the first photo. If you look closely at Post 864779, I think the pedestal that Wolf Bauer is standing on to belay in the lower-left photo of the top JPEG is the same as the pedestal below and behind his left heel in the left photo of the bottom JPEG. The background of the latter photo indicates that this is an alpine location. But where?

A group of us skied in the Tatoosh Range today. Snow conditions were poor so we had some time to just tour around. Based on today's observations, I don't think these pictures were taken near the Tatoosh Range.

Here's my latest thinking: I think the wall above faces SSW. I think so because the features are shadowed on the looker's left side all the time, even in the following pictures which look like they were taken later in the day. I've studied the above two pictures enough to be confident that they were taken on the same wall as the first set. If we presume that the climbing wall faces SSW, then the peaks in the background (above) face NNE. That seems plausible. It looks like they may have a little autumn snow on them. I think the following picture was taken at a different location altogether. I think the climbers are at the base of a NNE facing wall. They're below a col (or wall) that is shading them from the sun that's illuminating the background. There's no heather, just rock and snow, so I think this location is higher than in the earlier pictures. If I had to guess, I'd say this might be along the base of the NE face of Pinnacle Peak or The Castle. One thing to be aware of--the Stevens Canyon road wasn't completed until 1957. I don't know whether the road extended to Reflection Lakes in the 1930s or not. So we might not expect to see it in this view. I'm inclined to think that the last two pictures (below) were taken on the mystery climbing wall in the opening photos. The background skyline in the left picture is the key clue. If you could identify that peak, I think the mystery would be solved. If these pictures are on the mystery wall, I think that there may be a walk-off route at the looker's left side of the wall. That would provide the photographer's vantage point. It would also match the angle of the heathery slope in the very first (upper-left) photo above. If the wall faces SSW, then the walk-off route would be at the NW end of it.

As I look at these pictures and sort through Phil Dickert's collection, I'm awed by the historical significance of these pictures. They represent nothing less than the formal introduction of European rock climbing techniques to the Northwest. Phil Dickert was in the first basic and intermediate climbing courses taught by Wolf Bauer in 1935 and 1936. With instructor Wolf Bauer and fellow students Jack Hossack, Joe Halwax, and George MacGowan, Phil made the first ascent of Mt Goode in 1936 as a "class project". See this NWMJ article. Here are a few pages from a handbook that I found in the Dickert collection. It was published by the Bavarian Alpine Club in 1930. Flipping through it, there are many places where English translations have been scribbled in, no doubt translated by Wolf Bauer. Page 14 (lower-left) illustrates the rappeling technique that Wolf is using in the above-right photo ("suspendersitz").

I found more pictures that I think are from the same crag. I haven't been able to match the background with the previous pictures to confirm that it's the same location, but I think it is. Could that be Pinnacle Peak or The Castle in the background? Anybody have a photo that would confirm it?

I don't think it's a glacier. I think it's talus (possibly with some snow) that is very washed out in the picture. These pictures are quite small, just 2 by 3-1/2 inches, but they're pretty sharp. It's interesting that the leader is using horns (corners really) for running protection, but he's not using slings or pitons to secure the rope to the horns. He just flips the rope over a horn and then pulls on it to bring up his second. The upper-right photo at the top of the thread shows this clearly. (In the center photo, he has actually run the rope over two minor horns.) This seems like a technique that you can only use when the rock is just so, but that appears to be exactly what this crag offers.

Question to Jens or Matt: Is the crag you're referring to part of the 5003-ft bump west of Reflection Lakes on the following map? Here is another photo that I think was taken at the same location. (The rock looks a bit different, but Wolf and Jack are wearing the same clothes and the photo was found with the others.) I could easily be convinced that the background is part of the Reflection Lakes basin. Look again at the upper-left photo at the start of the thread. The climbers are standing on what appears to be pretty thick heather. That doesn't match the ground cover in Klenke's photo of Pinnacle Peak's NE face, which seems to be barren talus. The heather in the picture tells me that the location is within a pretty narrow elevation range. I'm warming to Jens' and Matt's idea. The mountainside in the background in the second set of pictures could be the north side of the Tatoosh Range, on the other side of Reflection Lakes basin from the crag.

Here it is again, together with another shot that shows the face in profile. I believe that Wolf Bauer is the climber in both photos. I wonder if it might be in the Tatoosh Range?

Go for it! You can do it! If nobody else does it, I might. But it could take a long time, because I have lots of other projects to work on. There must be lots of people out there who could lend a hand in this. Anybody can contribute to wikipedia, as far as I know. Fred deserves a more complete writeup and a better photo.

The Mountaineers recently received a donation of photographs from the family of Othello Phil Dickert. I've been sorting through them and I'm intrigued (and puzzled) by the following location. These photographs depict Wolf Bauer and Jack Hossack practicing rock climbing techniques in the 1930s. I don't recognize the location, but I presume it is in the Cascades somewhere. Does anybody know where this is? It looks like a cool spot! Note: If photos aren't displayed, try clicking refresh.

If you google "Fred Beckey" the very first reference points to the following Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Beckey The page seems inadequate and the photo is terrible. Would anybody like to try improving it? For comparison, here is the Wikipedia page for Yvon Chouinard: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yvon_Chouinard

The victim's full name was Megan Kinsalla (or Kinsella), according to this story: http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_010109WAB_ice_climbing_fatal_KC.2b3db194.html

I vaguely remember a fatality on the waterfall near Camp Sheppard in the 1980s. One or two young climbers were killed by falling ice as I recall. I don't remember details. This is a very sad event. I'll be watching the news reports to learn more. My thoughts go out to the family and friends of the victim.

I haven't talked to anybody else who has done it, but I'm sure somebody has. The story of our 1978 trip can be found here: http://www.alpenglow.org/skiing/nc-highway-1978/index.html

Someday I'll donate a copy of the video to the Mountaineers. For now, I encourage people to support The Don McCune Library which is maintained by the family of the late Don McCune, the host of KOMO-TV's Exploration Northwest. You can buy a copy of "Goldenhorn Pinnacle" on DVD (DVD-501) and videotape (VHS-304) from them.