Lowell_Skoog
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Posts posted by Lowell_Skoog
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I found a bit more information on this in the 1985 Cascadian Annual, in a newspaper clipping:
p. 8, The Wigwam, January 16, 1929, "Local Mountaineers Climb Four Cascades Peaks In Nine Days"
This article contains more details about the 1926 "Marathon of the Mountains" (cascadian-1980-p6). At the time of this article Q.A. Blackburn was with Commander Byrd in Antarctica. Truitt and Starcher drove from Yakima to Cloudcap Inn on July 2. On July 3, they climbed over the summit of Mt Hood to Government Camp. The car met them there and they drove to Spirit Lake where they met Blackburn. After climbing Mt St Helens, the three men hiked the Skyline Trail to Mt Adams and climbed up and down the north ridge of Adams. After the climb of Mt Rainier, Blackburn left the party at Paradise. Truitt and Starcher hiked to Bumping Lake to return to Yakima. Their packs were limited to 16 pounds.
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These articles are documented on my ski history project website: www.alpenglow.org/ski-history
You're right about Starcher and Truitt being on the Castle climb and placing Rusk's ashes up there later. Truitt was also a legendary Scout leader of Troop One in Yakima. There's an article in another Cascadian annual (in the 1970s) about some climbers finding Rusk's ashes on the Castle. They left the urn in place.
Those Yakima hard guys are under-appreciated on the west side of the Cascades.
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I found the following in one of the annuals of the Yakima Cascadians. I thought you might enjoy it.
Cascadian Annual 1965-67, p. 53, "Marathon of the Mountains"
From July 3-11, 1926, Clarence Starcher and Clarence Truitt of the Cascadians, together with Q.A. Blackburn of the Seattle Mountaineers, "made a record for mountain climbing and hiking that as a pleasure trip likely has no equal in the experience of mountaineers." Starting at Cloud Cap Inn on July 3, they climbed Mt Hood and descended to Government Camp, then drove to Spirit Lake. On July 4 they climbed up and down Mt St Helens and started hiking toward Mt Adams. On July 6 they climbed Mt Adams, descended the north side and started hiking toward Mt Rainier. On July 9 they climbed Mt Rainier by the Kautz Glacier and descended the Gibraltar route to Paradise. Then they hiked over the Cascade crest to Bumping Lake, from which point they were driven by automobile back to Yakima on July 11. They carried no bedding and subsisted on berries, nuts, dried fruits, and canned wheat. They estimated that during the nine-day trip they hiked approximately 350 miles and climbed 56,826 feet. (I haven't tried to check those figures.) The article includes a detailed log of the trip.
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The Ellensburg Cross-Country Ski Club has invited me to present my talk on Washington ski mountaineering history at their meeting on Wednesday, November 13, at 7 pm. This is the same presentation I gave at the Mountaineers Annual Banquet in Seattle on October 11.
The presentation describes nearly 100 years of ski mountaineering in Washington, from 1909 to the present. It covers skiing on Mount Rainier before WWI, pioneering ascents of all the major peaks, the Silver Skis races of the 1930s, the WWII mountain troops, the post-war boom in downhill skiing and wilderness preservation, the telemark revival, and the modern development of high ski traverses and steep skiing. The program is illustrated with B&W and color slides plus a movie filmed in 1939.
Wednesday, Nov. 13, 7 pm
Ellensburg Cross-Country Ski Club
Morgan Middle School
400 E. 1st Street
Ellensburg, WA
Admission is free
For more on Washington ski mountaineering, see http://alpenglow.org/ski-history
[ 10-29-2002, 09:54 AM: Message edited by: Lowell Skoog ]
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I think the current forums are okay. I don't think a separate ski mountaineering forum is necessary. A forum on "pioneering" trips would be handy for people working on guidebooks or history projects, but not essential.
My pet wish is a link like "today's posts" that gathers up more than one day. Maybe three days, a week, I don't know. I don't visit cc.com every day, and would find something like that nice for catching up.
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It's a banquet! They feed you. This is the club's big annual event, and I understand some people even dress up for it.
No, you don't have to be a member. I've refrained from publicizing the event before this, because my understanding was that club members should get the first shot at tickets. But I was told it was okay to spread the word farther, so if you want to go, give 'em a call.
No, Fred's not in the film. The film shows the first summit ski traverse of Mt Baker in May 1939 by Dwight Watson, Andy Hennig and Erick Larson. It's great to see those guys in motion using the old gear. It makes you really appreciate what we have today.
[ 10-02-2002, 10:13 AM: Message edited by: Lowell Skoog ]
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My contact at The Mountaineers says it's okay to publicize this outside the club. I'll be presenting an updated version of my talk on Northwest ski mountaineering history at the Mountaineers annual banquet:
Friday, October 11, 7:00pm
(Social hour 5:30 pm)
The Mountaineers
300 Third Ave West
Seattle, Washington
Tickets: $25 each, call 206-284-6310
I call my program "The Snowy Range: The Story of Ski Mountaineering in Washington." It outlines 100 years of ski mountaineering in the state, from 1909 to the present. I'll talk about skiing on Mt Rainier during WWI, pioneering ascents of all the major peaks, the Silver Skis races of the 1930s, the WWII mountain troops, the post-war boom in downhill skiing and wilderness preservation, the telemark revival, and the modern development of high ski traverses and steep skiing. The program is illustrated with many slides and I will show a movie filmed in 1939.
For more about Washington ski mountaineering history see:
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Look at it this way.
Goran died climbing at Vantage, a place most of us have climbed. It reminds us that he was human, which makes his Everest adventure seem all the more amazing.
I was inspired by his energy when I saw his slide show about the Everest trip. I'm sorry to hear this news.
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As of a few weeks ago, the north couloir of Eldorado was snow-and-ice-free. The NE face consisted of low angle snow ramps broken by probably-impassable bergschrunds. Just so you know...
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From miles away last Sunday (driving through Enumclaw) the face looked like a hideous, melted out nightmare. I wouldn't recommend going anywhere near it, at least until we get a good autumn snow storm (if you want to climb it in "Ome Daiber" style). Myself, I consider it an early summer route.
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I bet more than one climb is being discussed here. Are you asking about the NW face of the peak or the NW face of the North Ridge?
Viewed from Eldorado Peak two weeks ago, the NW face of the North Ridge had a sizeable section of bare ice at the bottom of it. I couldn't tell what the schrund was like, but I believe there was a gap between the glacier and the face. The NW face (all rock) looked easily accessible from the glacier arm to its west. Conditions could have changed in two weeks.
Guidebook cogniscenti may remember Beckey's description of the NW face from his 1977 Cascade Alpine Guide (Vol. 2, 1st edition, p. 289):
"An exceptional climb of purity, with enough variety and difficulty
to satisfy almost anyone. Its mixed character, requiring some
genuine ice climbing, places it in a rather select group of North
Cascades climbs requiring flexible alpine skills."
Compare this to George Lowe's description of the North Face of the Enclosure, Grand Teton, from the 1970 American Alpine Journal (p. 132):
"This superb climb has enough difficulties to satisfy almost anyone,
and its mixed character, requiring genuine ice climbing, places it
in a rather select group of difficult American climbs requiring
skill in both rock and ice technique."
Sound familiar?
[ 09-11-2002, 08:15 PM: Message edited by: Lowell Skoog ]
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Left of Jack is Hardy. Right of Tower should be Azurite.
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I climbed Crooked Thumb on July 21, 1980 after climbing Challenger in the morning. Here's what my journal says:
"Descended (plunge step) down couloir immediately below summit [of Challenger] where we found water. Made high traverse to stepkicking up the couloir on Crooked Thumb. Very glad the gully was snow filled; would be awful in late season. One pitch onto crest and along past small pinnacle. Then running scramble to below final tower. Gordy's rope got cut by rock on 1st pitch. Face climb chimney-ramp (on left) to crest then climb along to the thumb. 4th pitch enjoyable up crack system on left to the summit. (Grade I-II, F4-5, about 5 hours from summit of Challenger)"
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Forget about using a paraglider to descend from climbs.
On the other hand, descending from a *hike* can be nice. The problem is, the entire trip ends up being planned around the flight. It's not like you go do a climb and bring along the glider as a bonus. The success rate on big peaks like volcanos is probably quite a bit less than 50%.
Check out the NW Paragliding Club site:
or my own site, where you can find some pictures of mountain flying:
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My brother Gordy and I climbed the 1963 NE Face route in mid-August 1983. While climbing the couloir, we exited before the narrows and climbed 3rd class rock on the left. This avoids the worst part of the shooting gallery. I descended this way several years later after a climb of Cascade Pk. It's reasonably solid and secure. From the Sill Glacier we had one nice pitch and one somewhat runout pitch up the left side of the fault, then worked right and had several hundred feet of easy climbing up the lower part of the rib. Near the top of the face are a couple of steep pitches on rather sharp, brittle rock left of the rib crest (low class 5, definitely the crux area). Then the rock eases off and there's some snow climbing below the summit.
We came down the CJ couloir, descending the snow all the way. Our round trip time was about 11 hours. In my journal I called it a "big treacherous mountain."
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I went to Observation Rock with skis today. I was able to ski down to about 6000 feet with a few ski portages. It probably would have been continuous a week ago. The snow is a little dirty but not too bad. It's the first time I've taken skis up there, so I don't know what's typical for this time of year.
I'll second the comment about the wind. It was strong all day. I cleared the clouds above 6500 feet after 1pm. The wind was blowing wild looking cloud plumes over Rainier. Willis Wall was covered with spindrift--blowing dirt.
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I haven't heard of people having much problem with the glaciers along the traverse, so basic precautions should be fine (i.e. light rope, prussiks). Many of the peaks are class 3, but if you want to climb Mixup, Spire Point or Gunsight you should bring along some chocks and slings. I think Magic is class 3 from the SW but it's class 4 from the NW.
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And do be careful on Mixup. A friend of mine fell to his death on the peak fifteen years ago. He was pulling the rope after completing the rappel from the summit. Some rocks fell and threw him off balance. He wasn't anchored to the ledge he was on and he fell. There have been other accidents up there as well.
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I'm not sure anybody saw this query the first time around, so I'm bumping it onto the daily list again. Anybody know any details?
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The Mountaineers History Committee recently found the "lost" master of the 1940 film of Jim Crooks and Fred Beckey climbing the SE face of The Tooth, near Snoqualmie Pass. The film has been re-mastered on digital videotape and a new VHS viewing copy should be available for check-out in the Mountaineers library in Seattle in a few days.
Here are my notes about the film from my history project. Enjoy.
http://alpenglow.org/ski-history/notes/movie/mtneers-1940-tooth.html
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The Mt Rainier condition reports mentioned that somebody skied the Wilson headwall in June, but didn't include any details. I sent a query to Mike Gauthier, and he's looking into it, but I haven't heard back from him yet. I'm wondering if anyone here knows who made this descent.
Thanks for any info.
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Or bring a pair of aquasox and just head straight across the swamp toward the peak.
Does circling left really work? I tried it sort of half-heartedly a while back and ran into ugly brush in addition to the streams. Maybe I didn't go far enough.
Anyway, going straight across works well if you don't mind wet feet.
Finally, the schrund at the base of the ice apron has gotten really bad in recent years. Go early in the season.
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No, I don't recall looking at Gunsight notch. You can't see it from Pelton Basin. I don't know of any access problems there. I've been there in July and it doesn't get a bad moat or anything that I recall.
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Andreas Schmidt, my brother Carl and I skied Pelton Peak and Hurry Up Peak in the North Cascades on Wednesday and Thursday this week. We took the direct route from the Cascade Pass parking lot to the pass (not the trail). This required some brush grabbing for a few hundred feet at the basin headwall, but allowed us to ski most of the way from our car to the pass. We skied into Pelton Basin and skinned up the Yawning glacier to Pelton-Magic col. We carried our skis up Pelton Peak then skied the NW gully. Pelton offered a great view of the north side of Hurry Up, which was our main objective.
From the Pelton-Magic col we skied down to Trapper Lake and bivied there. The next morning we climbed the 'S' Glacier to the summit of Hurry Up. The sun hits this face early. It had good softening snow when we started our descent around 9:30 a.m. We were prepared to belay the descent with ropes and pickets, but the snow was good enough for us to ski unroped, carefully. Three thousand feet lower we gathered up our overnight gear and then climbed and circled around the east flank of Pelton Peak back to Pelton Basin. From Cascade Pass we followed the direct route back to the parking lot. Thus we were able to ski from the summit of Hurry Up to our car with only a few hundred yards of walking. Pretty good for mid-July!
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Gee, everybody was on Sahale last weekend.
![[smile]](images/icons/smile.gif)
So was I.If you know where to go, you can still ski from Cascade Pass to the parking lot with only 100 yards of off-ski travel. (I just did it this afternoon.) It requires some scrambling and brush grabbing on the headwall below the pass (right-center as you look up from the parking lot). But as everyone has said, the snow is going fast. The trail from the pass to the arm is largely snowfree now, but once you're on the arm, it's still mostly snow covered.
If you've never climbed Sahale before, I recommend bringing a rope and a few chocks.
Mt. Baker marathons
in Spray
Posted
The marathons are described in John Miles' book "Koma Kulshan: The Story of Mt Baker." His source was the scrapbook of Charles F. Easton, Mt Baker Club historian. Here are some notes from my history project:
http://alpenglow.org/ski-history/notes/book/miles-1984.html#miles-1984-p114
p. 114: The Mt Baker marathons were conceived by the Mt Baker Club to promote tourism and development of the Mt Baker region. The race began from the Chamber of Commerce in downtown Bellingham. Runners had a choice of either a car or train to reach the foot of the mountain and either of two trails to timberline. They raced to the summit and back to Bellingham.
The first race began at 10 p.m. on August 10, 1911. Five of fourteen racers made it to the summit. Harvey Haggard was on his way back from Glacier when his train hit a bull and derailed. He continued by buggy and saddle horse, then by automobile after the horse threw him. He finished second, thirty-two minutes after Joe Galbraith who had taken an automobile and the Deming trail. The winning time was twelve hours and twenty-eight minutes round trip.
The 1912 race was delayed by bad weather, then started at 11 p.m. on July 31. The summit was enveloped in driving mist and racers became dangerously chilled on the mountain. Paul Westerlund fell on steep ice, sustaining internal injuries and a broken rib, but kept going. Racers emerged from the forest splattered head to toe in mud. Harvey Haggard won in a time of nine hours and fifty-one minutes.
The third marathon was run on August 15, 1913. The start was scheduled for 5 a.m. so the race could be run entirely in daylight. Due to bad weather and snow conditions officials on the mountain called for the race to be postponed, but officials in Bellingham started it anyway. Several racers reached the summit to find no judges stationed there and no marked trail. Victor Galbraith fell in a hidden crevasse and was rescued five hours later by a search party. Paul Westerlund won in nine hours and thirty-four minutes, but the race was embroiled in controversy. Organizers concluded that the race was too dangerous and it was not run again.
In 1972, the Ski-to-Sea Race was inaugurated from the Mount Baker Ski Area to Bellingham to revive the spirit of the old Mount Baker marathons.
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Olympic medalist Franz Gabl was one of the people who organized the Ski-to-Sea race.