Lowell_Skoog

I've climbed Logan three times by ski. Since our trips were later in the spring, we probably left the skis a little lower on the peak than you guys. The first trip is mentioned above. Here are the other trips, from my on-line journal notes: 1987, May 5-10, "Thunder High Route" (Rainy Pass to Eldorado Peak) With Jens Kieler and Dan Nordstrom. This trip was inspired by the view from Mt Arriva obtained during the Rainy-Mesahchie traverse. Starting about 2-1/2 miles NW of Rainy Pass on the North Cascades highway, we crossed Granite Creek and skied up the valley east of Fisher Peak. We crossed the saddle north of the peak, skied into Fisher Creek basin, then climbed to Silent Lakes and camped. On day two we traversed the south flank of Mt Arriva, crossed the col beyond it, and made our way onto Spectacular Ridge. We skied a broad gully down the SW flank of this ridge to Fisher Pass, then climbed to the north shoulder of peak 7910' (which we referred to as "Dream Peak"). Jens and I skied to and from the summit of this peak and we all continued to the Douglas Glacier margin above Bridge Creek. On day three we skied up the Douglas Glacier to Mt Logan, scrambled to the top, and crossed to the Fremont Glacier. We skied into the headwaters of Thunder Creek and climbed (on foot in forest initially) to Thunder Glacier and skied to the east margin of Boston Glacier. On day four Jens and I made a run from the head of the glacier next to Boston Peak, then we all traversed the Boston Glacier and crossed the north ridge of Forbidden Peak. We skied the Forbidden Glacier to Moraine Lake, crossed the softening lake surface, and finally climbed to the SE margin of Inspiration Glacier. On the fifth and final day we climbed Eldorado and skied along the Triad divide to Sibley Pass. We'd left our second car at the Sibley Creek trailhead. [Day four of our 1987 trip is the heart of what is now called the Forbidden Tour.] 1996, June 13-16, Mount Logan High Route (Rainy Pass to Cascade Pass) With Carl Skoog. This trip was conceived as a shorter variant of the Thunder High Route, avoiding the low section in Thunder Creek and passing Mt Buckner on the south instead of the north. We started along the same route I took in 1987--from the North Cascades Highway, over the saddle north of Fisher Peak to Silent Lakes. We continued across the south flank of Mt Arriva and camped at the scenic col SW of the peak. On day two we traversed Spectacular Ridge, skied to Fisher Pass and climbed to the Douglas Glacier. We skied up and down "Dream Peak" (peak 7910') on excellent corn snow. We camped at the head of the north fork of Bridge Creek. On the third day we skied up Mt Logan, tagged the summit and descended the Fremont Glacier. At this point we varied from the 1987 route, traversing through Park Creek Pass and climbing the Buckner Glacier cirque to the Buckner-Booker col. We camped in Horseshoe basin. On the fourth day we had hoped to ski Mt Buckner, but crusty snow deterred us. I cramponed up and down instead. We crossed Horseshoe Basin, climbed to the Sahale Glacier moraine and descended Sahale Arm to Cascade Pass and the Cascade River road. --- The Banded Glacier is a scenic side of the mountain, but the ratio of backpacking to skiing never attracted me. I did a trip on foot in the area once.

I believe (and I can't remember where I heard it) that Chouinard had considerable help from Doug Robinson in the writing of "Climbing Ice." Robinson's help was not acknowledged in the book. Anybody else heard this?

One time I visited Wedgewood Boulder with a copy of Climbing in North America and compared the picture to the real thing. I'm pretty sure it's the same rock. Wolf Bauer was probably the first person to use the rock for organized climbing practice, in the mid-1930s. That's where he took the Boy Scouts who later became the Ptarmigan Climbing Club. Here's a photo caption from REI: 50 Years of Climbing Together by Harvey Manning. Sounds like Wedgewood Boulder has a "colorful" history: When I visited the rock a couple summers ago, it looked like the last coat was gray paint. It was slippery and not too good for climbing.

Colin Haley has stepped down as Washington correspondent for the American Alpine Journal (AAJ) due to lack of time. The volunteer editors of the Northwest Mountaineering Journal (NWMJ) are taking up the AAJ correspondent's role. The NWMJ editors will contact persons who have reported new routes in Washington to obtain permission to publish their reports in both the NWMJ and the AAJ. Our goal is to be complete as possible, so please pass this message on to climbers who might not see it otherwise. The NWMJ submission deadline is March 31, 2006. This is after the normal sumission deadline for the AAJ. The NWMJ editors will forward materials to the AAJ editors as soon as possible after the NWMJ deadline closes. Both the NWMJ and AAJ are scheduled to be published in "Summer 2006." The NWMJ accepts first-person accounts of all new routes, first winter ascents, and first ski descents reported in the Northwest. The AAJ accepts first-person accounts (200-500 words) of climbs of Grade IV seriousness or higher. For shorter routes and current trends, the NWMJ editors will prepare a regional summary for the AAJ. Please submit reports for either the NWMJ or AAJ to the address shown below. Thanks! Lowell Skoog NWMJ editorial team leader submissions@nwmj.org

Nice picture, John. Glad your trip went well, Sky. It's good your slope didn't rip out like the one to looker's left! === Edited to add: Congratulations on your decision to stay below, Dave. That can't have been an easy one. You demonstrated real integrity by holding back when your friends continued. By integrity I mean Paul Ramer's definition - not breaking personal promises with yourself.

Thanks for your kind words. Our family has talked about setting up a non-profit organization that would continue to sell Carl's pictures. We haven't figured out where the money would go, and there's a bunch of work to do before his pictures are organized, the estate settled, and so on. What's more, my mother died last month at age 85. My father-in-law died in December. We're pretty maxed-out just dealing with all of this. It's going to be a while before we're prepared to respond to queries about Carl's pictures. As an aside, I understand that Mike Hattrup of K2 and Adam Howard of Backcountry magazine put together a nice memorial buffet (classic Carl) at the OR show in Salt Lake City last week...

I'm trying to understand what Christian values were demonstrated by Jamie Pierre deliberately doing something that he said was "lucky" to not leave his wife a widow, his daughter an orphan, and his parents witnesses to his funeral. I'm also wondering whether the folks at TGR had any reservations about being enablers for this act. Is there anything that they won't film?

I've read several accounts that described difficulty crossing the Emmons glacier from Little Tahoma to Steamboat Prow. That's one of the big advantages of the Foss/Molenaar route. It starts at the White River campground and ends at Fryingpan Creek, avoiding the Emmons. When we skied the route in 1996, we crossed the Tahoma and Nisqually glaciers lower than he did, to avoid crevasses. Otherwise, we pretty much followed the route in Dee Molenaar's book. It's a beautiful trip.

Call for Submissions - Northwest Mountaineering Journal, 2006 The mission of the Northwest Mountaineering Journal is to be an edited, permanent, annual record of mountaineering in the Pacific Northwest. The journal documents the events, people, history and spirit of climbing and other mountain sports in this region. The journal is published free on the World-Wide Web by volunteers from the mountaineering community in collaboration with The Mountaineers. The 2004 and 2005 issues can be found at: 2004 - http://www.mountaineers.org/nwmj/04/issue1.html 2005 - http://www.mountaineers.org/nwmj/05/issue2.html The NWMJ editorial team is now accepting submissions for Issue 3, to be published in Summer 2006. The deadline for submissions is March 31, 2006. Submission guidelines can be found on-line at: http://www.mountaineers.org/nwmj/submissions.html The NWMJ covers all aspects of mountaineering in the Pacific Northwest, from high alpine climbing to lowland rock and ice climbing to ski mountaineering. New route reports, historical or research articles, profiles of interesting people, and land use and access issues are all appropriate topics for the journal. Also welcome are pieces that capture a timely or timeless aspect of Northwest mountaineering, regardless of whether they describe a pioneering climb or historic event. If you are uncertain of whether your article is appropriate for the journal, please send a query describing your idea to the editorial team. Send queries and submissions by e-mail to "submissions@nwmj.org". --The Editorial Team Northwest Mountaineering Journal

In his book, Czikszentmihalyi cites the writings of Doug Robinson quite a bit. I think he broadened his climbing sources between the early essay and the book. Regarding surgeons and humor, that seems like a good example of modifying the challenge to maintain one's interest. For an expert surgeon, the game is no longer just a mechanical task, but it also includes the interactions of the operating room staff. The activity has grown more complex. Czikszentmihalyi's book describes all sorts of variants on flow: The joys of movement Yoga and the martial arts The flow of music The play of words Work as flow The joys of seeing Sex as flow Enjoying solitude and other people Flow and the family The book challenges you to use your imagination to find enjoyment and create meaning in your life. It was published in 1990. If the author were to revise it today, maybe he would include a section on "flow and posting to the Internet."

I doubt that I have ever experienced the sort of on-the-edge mental state that Voytek Kurtyka describes. I've read about extreme high-altitude experiences, and the nearest I've come to it was when I was sick with a high fever. I was border-line delirious, but with very sharp senses. It was an interesting mental state, but not something I would deliberately seek out. On the other hand, I think most climbers have experienced "flow." One of the earliest descriptions of this sensation was in the book Flow, The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Amazon.com description). Flow is possible whenever you pursue a task in which the challenges are well matched to your skills. If the challenge is too high, you will feel anxiety. If the challenge is too low, you will feel boredom. When challenge matches skill, you may experience "flow," a mental state in which distractions fall away, time may be compressed or expanded, and you feel focus and enjoyment. This experience leads to greater personal complexity and higher skill. (Czikszentmihalyi suggests that this may be evolution's way of making us learning creatures.) So the next time you seek a flow experience, you will typically seek a higher or different challenge. Flow provides positive feedback that leads to personal growth. As Czikszentmihalyi explains, there are an infinite number of ways to experience flow. Climbing is one of them. But there are many, many others. If you choose to keep climbing, you don't have to push your technical level to maintain challenge. Mountain photography, guiding friends, studying nature, and so on, can all enrich the climbing experience--without increasing risk. I read Czikszentmihalyi's book about ten years ago and I still consider it one of the most important books I've ever read. Its message is that there are many ways to be happy and to grow, and climbing is just one of them. "After all, mountaineering is a means to personal growth." --John Roskelley

Earlier in this thread somebody said that living a long life is overrated. Over the past few years, I've had conversations with many older skiers and mountaineers. These conversations have made me keenly aware of the loss of my father from a heart attack nearly 30 years ago, when he was only 56. Last week an interviewer asked me what I would miss most about my brother Carl, following his recent accidental death. I said I would miss growing old with him. Some young people think that a long life is overrated. I feel that old age is tremendously underrated, especially by the young. My life has been enriched by the older people I've gotten to know over the past few years. ----- Edited to add: It's interesting that some posters seem unwilling to answer the question posed in this tread. Sure, nobody knows what the future holds, but the question is useful to explore your values. As Socrates said: "The unreflected life is not worth living."

Thanks Gary. I agree. I returned a call from a KING-TV reporter after getting home from work last Thursday and he asked to come over in 1/2 hour. I was pretty stressed pulling together pictures for them and trying not to say something I would later regret. On viewing the segment this evening, I was happy with the way they handled it. Thanks, KING-TV.

The following notice will appear in the Seattle and Eastside newspapers tomorrow. Details of Carl’s memorial gathering are at the end of the notice. Carl Warren Skoog Carl Skoog, 46, died October 17, 2005 in a ski mountaineering accident on Cerro Mercedario (6770 m) in the high Andes of Argentina. Carl was accompanied by his steadfast friend Rene Crawshaw of Chilliwack, B.C., who fortunately was not injured. Born February 10, 1959, Carl grew up in Medina with four older brothers and a sister, all introduced to the outdoors by their ski jumping father, Dick Skoog and skiing mother, Ingrid Skoog. A lifetime Eastside resident (the family moved to Bellevue in 1953), Carl was an avid recreational skier and ski instructor during high school. He graduated from Bellevue High in 1977 and earned a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington in 1981. After college, Carl developed products for Seattle-area outdoor equipment manufacturers such as SMC, SunDog and Outdoor Research, combining his love of the outdoors and his talent for design. While still in college, Carl began climbing mountains with his older brothers Gordy and Lowell. He worked part-time during college summers as a mountain guide, introducing beginners to mountaineering on Mt. Baker and leading clients up peaks ranging from the Cascades to South America. Over a period of twenty-five years, Carl climbed and skied hundreds of peaks throughout North America and pioneered dozens of new climbing and ski mountaineering routes in his beloved Cascades. Carl's desire to share his mountain adventures led to a growing interest in photography. In the mid-1990s, he quit equipment design to pursue outdoor photography as a career. Carl excelled in the demanding niche of adventure photography, his photos gracing dozens of ski magazine covers, advertisements, catalogs, and feature articles. Carl was preceded in death by his father Richard B. Skoog and is survived by his mother Ingrid W. Skoog of Bellevue; brother Lawrence Skoog of Seattle; brother R. (Randall) Philip Skoog (wife, Janice) of Washington, D.C.; sister Anita Skoog Neil (husband, Bill Neil) of Bellevue; brother Gordon Skoog of Redmond; and brother Lowell Skoog (wife, Stephanie Subak) of Seattle. Carl was a loving uncle to Courtney Skoog (Philip), Wendy Gerber, Julie Iriondo, Dana and Erik Skoog (Gordy), and Thomas Skoog (Lowell). He is also survived by his aunt, Elsie Skoog, and cousins James, Jon, and Leonard Skoog, all originally of Mercer Island. A gathering to celebrate Carl's life is planned for Saturday, November 12, 2005 at 4:00 p.m at The Mountaineers clubhouse, 300 Third Ave. W, Seattle, WA. Friends and family are encouraged to bring photos and mementos to share about Carl's life.

This is the most succinct post yet in this thread. This thread is about a hypothetical question: If you knew without a doubt that you would die climbing, would you quit? I would. I've got other things I want to accomplish in life. But none of us know that for sure, so most of us are willing to take the risk, cautiously and with our eyes open. Including me.

The last line of the Times story was unfortunately worded. A celebration of Carl's life is definitely being planned. A notice should appear in the Seattle papers this Sunday, 10/30. I'll post the details after the notice appears.

Good thread. If I knew I had a choice between dying while climbing and quitting climbing to live longer, I would stop climbing. Simple decision. There's a lot more to life than climbing, and I have a lot more potential in me than just being a climber. I continue to enjoy climbing, and I will continue to try to balance it with the rest of my life. But when I think back to my youth, when I was more obsessed with climbing, it's clear to me that I used climbing to fill in a life that could have been filled in other ways. Obsession with climbing often reflects narrow-mindedness and a lack of imagination. I reject the notion that climbers live more fully than non-climbers, or that climbing is more noble than other life pursuits. Climbing is a tremendously self-absorbed activity, and if you're life is focused just on doing climbs you're missing a lot. I've felt this way for a long time, and the death of my brother last week had nothing to do with it.

On behalf of Carl's family, I'd like to thank the readers of this board for their words of support. Since news of the accident has spread based on reports from Argentina on the web, I thought I should post a short summary of what I know, based on my conversation with Carl's climbing partner, Rene Crawshaw. On October 17, 2005, my brother Carl Skoog died in a mountaineering accident on Cerro Mercedario (6777 m, 22210 ft) in the high Andes of Argentina. Carl was climbing and skiing with his friend Rene Crawshaw of Chilliwack, B.C. Their trip plan was to revisit and document the country described in the 1975 book by Piers Paul Read, "Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors," about a 1972 plane crash involving a Uruguayan rugby team. Carl and Rene had already climbed a peak called Cerro Negro. That climb and descent went well. After climbing Cerro Negro, they established a camp at 14,500 feet on Cerro Mercedario. After some weather delays, they climbed the south face of Mercedario and established a higher camp at about 20,000 feet. They spent three nights at the high camp and during this period they made a successful one-day climb to the summit and back. Rene said that he and Carl were both doing well at altitude. Around mid-morning on October 17, they began their descent from high camp. According to Rene, they were working their way down a 42-degree snow slope when Carl's fall occurred. The snow texture was uneven and they were side-slipping on skis at the time. Carl may have struck a hidden rock or other obstacle, but there is no way to know for sure. He attempted to arrest his fall but was not successful. He struck some rocks, and Rene thought he may have lost consciousness at that point. Carl ultimately tumbled 4500 vertical feet. Rene descended over a period of several hours and located Carl's body, confirming that he had died. Cerro Mercedario is in remote country, and it took Rene 1-1/2 days to hike out for assistance. The U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires notified Carl's family on October 20 and on the same day a military party on foot and with mules left to recover Carl's body. The recovery is expected to take three days. Lowell Skoog Seattle, WA

Despite a poor snow year in the Northwest, a number of fine ski mountaineering trips were done in the Cascades during the 2004-05 season. I've updated the Chronologies on my history website, http://alpenglow.org/ski-history , for 2005. Most new entries are marked "undocumented," which means that I haven't written or posted abstracts of the trip reports. I'll get around to it eventually. I've also added a "strawman" annotation on routes for which the previous history is in doubt. Some of these reports have been published in the Summer 2005 issue of the Northwest Mountaineering Journal, http://www.nwmj.org . The NWMJ was assembled in the middle of the ski mountaineering season, so several reports won't be published in the journal until next year. Here's a summary of new route activity that I know about, with links to published trip reports, when available. More information may be available on the following personal websites: http://www.alpineslider.com/ - Sam Avaiusini http://www.alpinedave.com/ - Dave Burdick http://www.mtnphil.com/ - Phil Fortier http://www.cascadecrusades.org/ - Jason Hummel http://staff.washington.edu/skykilo/ - Sky Sjue ================= April 11, 2004: Monte Cristo Range ski circuit; Keyes Pk, Pride Glacier ski descent, by Josh Kaplan (strawman). http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/s...rt/1#Post333480 http://www.mountaineers.org/nwmj/05/051_Shorts1.html June 22, 2004: Mt Rainier, Winthrop Glacier headwall ski descent, by Donnelly Miller. http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/365278/an/0/page/9#365278 http://www.mountaineers.org/nwmj/05/051_Shorts2.html January 31, 2005: Mt Blum, NW shoulder ski descent (from N ridge), by Jason and Josh Hummel, Sky Sjue. http://www.turns-all-year.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=tr0501;action=display;num=1107231054 http://www.mountaineers.org/nwmj/05/051_Shorts3.html March 12-13, 2005: Hurry Up Peak, South couloir ski descent, by Sam Avaiusini and Jason Hummel. http://www.turns-all-year.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=tr0503;action=display;num=1110880256 http://www.mountaineers.org/nwmj/05/051_Shorts5.html March 25, 2005: Mt Hardy, "Open Fly" couloir ski descent, by Dave Burdick, Phil Fortier. http://www.turns-all-year.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=tr0503;action=display;num=1111857371 http://www.mountaineers.org/nwmj/05/051_Shorts1.html April 27, 2005: Jack Mtn, NE glacier ski descent (from N ridge), by Ross Peritore and Sky Sjue. http://www.turns-all-year.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=tr0504;action=display;num=1114712509 http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/453783/an/0/page/0/gonew/1#UNREAD May 23-24, 2005: Mt Goode, East face ski descent (from SE ridge), by Ross Peritore, Sky Sjue. http://www.turns-all-year.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=tr0505;action=display;num=1117035700 http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/461582/an/0/page/0/gonew/1#UNREAD May 29, 2005: Sinister Peak, North face ski descent, by Jason and Josh Hummel, John Mauro, Carl and Lowell Skoog. http://www.turns-all-year.com/cgi-bin/ya...7573194;start=0 June 4, 2005: Mt Maude, West couloir ski descent, by Phil Fortier, Jason and Josh Hummel (strawman). http://www.turns-all-year.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=tr0506;action=display;num=1117989925 June 15, 2005: Robinson Mtn, North couloir ski descent, by Phil Fortier and Sky Sjue. http://www.turns-all-year.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=tr0506;action=display;num=1118961286 June 22-25, 2005: Bonanza Peak, NW buttress ski descent, by Paul Belitz, Dave Coleman, Phil Fortier, Sky Sjue. http://www.turns-all-year.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=tr0506;action=display;num=1119889322 July 18, 2005: Mt Rainier, Central Mowich Face ski descent, by Sky Sjue. http://www.turns-all-year.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=tr0507;action=display;num=1121791302 ---- This message has been cross-posted to the following forums: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/507235/an/0/page/0#507235 http://www.turns-all-year.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=ha1;action=display;num=1129056947;start=0 http://www.telemarktalk.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=11566

I flipped through my old Off Belay magazines and found the following news item in the April 1978 issue: The text says: I first climbed at Peshastin in the spring of 1976. The next fall Gary Brill lent me his EB's to climb Grey Whale and I went straight out afterward and bought a pair at the Swallow's Nest. About a month later (12/12/76) I led Trigger Finger. According to my journal, that was the only time I ever climbed it. Good times!

I've been as guilty of anybody of staying away from Peshastin. I think I've been there only twice since it became a state park in the early 1990s. But I really enjoyed the climbing yesterday. Yeah, some of the slab climbs are a bit runout, but that's okay if you know what you're getting into. I enjoy slightly runout slabs if they are well within my abilities. It's stimulating climbing. Long-time climbers will remember that Peshastin was regularly shut down by the orchard owner in the days before it was a park. From that standpoint, the creation of the park has been a great thing. But there was something special about the old days, when you walked up to the crags through rows of mature apple trees, and then filled your pack with apples (after the picking season was over) on your way back to the cars at the end of the day. And then there was Trigger Finger. How many of you climbed it before it fell down?

My friend Will and I went climbing at Peshastin today. Like many of you "older" climbers, I did my first belayed climbs at Peshastin decades ago. I have fond memories of walking back to the cars on golden fall afternoons surrounded by the scent of fallen leaves and ripe apples. I also have memories of crowds of climbers and line-ups on the most popular climbs, especially in autumn. So it was a surprise when we pulled into the parking lot at 9:30 this morning and found...nobody. The day was as fine as any I can remember, the climbs were as fun as always, and we saw a grand total of one three-person party all day (and they were even more "veteran" than us). A lot of great new climbing areas have opened up in the past thirty years, and Peshastin is definitely old school. But it was amazing to climb there all day and see virtually no one else.

Thanks for the correction, Don. The information about Duke's Waddington climb was told to me by one of his friends (not Duke himself) and as you have pointed out, it was not correct. In a recent interview, Duke said that his 1959 party did not reach the summit. They had fine weather on their summit day, but the tower was plastered with ice feathers, which were raining down frequently, so they retreated. The rest of the information in my short note about Duke is correct. I'm planning to write a profile of him for the 2006 issue of the Northwest Mountaineering Journal. He's a remarkable guy. He was Fred Beckey's platoon leader in the U.S. army mountain troops, and gave Fred his basic training. He commanded the army's Seneca Rocks climbing school in 1944, which included as instructors most of the best climbers in the country at that time. Duke's assistants were David Brower and Raffi Bedayn, famous before World War II for the first ascent of Shiprock. In his 50s and 60s, Duke canoed over 20,000 miles throughout Canada, including a 7,000 mile crossing of the entire continent, in stages over many years. He's about to celebrate his 90th birthday. I'll be meeting with Duke again to return some materials. I'll ask if he knows what has become of Virginia Mohling. I'll also be meeting with the Mountaineers History Committee next month (including Frank Fickeisen perhaps) and I'll ask if they know about her.

Congratulations Jon and Tim! Wow, I didn't realize that I registered so early in the life of CC.com. Is this a sign of prestige, like a low Co-op number? Should I pass my login along to my son when he gets older? Just kidding ... (one smiley for each year)

No, it was a one-day loop. We went from the Boston Basin trail over Sharkfin Col, skied across the Boston Glacier and climbed the North Face, then skied the SW route and returned across Horseshoe Basin to Sahale Arm. Beautiful trip. Sorry for the tread drift... Back to Johannesburg!