Lowell_Skoog
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Posts posted by Lowell_Skoog
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That reminds me, is the 2011 NWMJ going to be published soon? I've sure enjoyed reading it and appreciate all of the work you guys have invested.
See last year's foreword:
http://mountaineers.org/NWMJ/10/101_Foreword.html
I stepped down as lead editor because I don't have enough free time now to spearhead the NWMJ. Several volunteers have worked on Issue 8, but I think it's accurate to say that the effort is stalled. I don't have a solution at this point.
It may be that the NWMJ will be like Ascent, emerging from time to time when the community makes it happen.
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And always, the routes, with purity of aspect, traversed obliquely.
A should be classic...
Yeah, that's a favorite. Pure Fred and Distinctly Beckey.
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I'm kinda currious if any CC historians have any knowledge of these races
Previous thread:
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Photo from Friday, May 25:
An awful lot of snow on the west ridge last week.
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you guys pretty much cited the seminal influences for the recent Cascade ski-mtnrng renaissance: from the Skoogs to Scurlock to Sky and the Hummels--all helped publicize what can be done 'round these parts and/or likely places to get after it. The info. not only inspires but definitely reduces the cost for folks seeking adventure, makes for fewer false starts to be sure.
Don't forget Ben Manfredi. I think he was the first in Washington to regularly pursue steep skiing AND publish his trips on his website: http://cascadeclassics.org/
The Hummel brothers and Sky got started with Ben.
Martin Volken has also been influential due to his writing, guiding and pioneering.
There were a small number of skiers who pursued steep skiing in the 1980s and 1990s, but before the Web, nobody knew what they were doing. The Web really changed things, because it created a tight social feedback loop. Improved gear has also made a difference, but I think the web is a bigger factor.
The following article from NWMJ #1 discusses the early days:
http://mountaineers.org/NWMJ/04/041_Steeps.html
That article is pretty out-of-date though. After publishing it I learned about people like Steve Lyford (in Oregon) and Karl Erickson (in Washington) who made descents that almost nobody knew about. They've been added to my alpenglow.org chronologies.
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In 1985, I hiked the Ptarmigan Traverse with my wife Steph and our friend Tom Wiesmann. In seven days we climbed the standard routes on Hurry-up, Spider, Formidable, Le Conte, Sentinel, Old Guard, Spire Point, Dome Pk, Gunsight, and Sinister. At that time the Bachelor-Downey Creek trails were in pretty good shape and you could drive all the way to Downey Creek.
Other climbs you might consider include Magic, Mixup and some of the smaller summits in the Dome Peak area. Of these, I would probably avoid Mixup. It has a bad history. Tom Wismann died on that peak two years after our traverse.
All these climbs are in the difficulty range that you're looking for. Our trip was done in early July, which probably made some of the peaks easier by covering some of the loose rock. It remains one of my most memorable trips, for a lot of reasons.
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Had this face even ever been climbed before?
The first ascent was made by my brothers Gordy and Carl in August 1978. Gary Brill and I did the second ascent in May 1979 under snowy conditions similar to the ski descent.
When Gary and I climbed the face, we were climber's left of the central rib. Our route had a step that I don't think would be skiable. I'm guessing that you guys were skier's left of the rib. Correct?
Glad you had a safe trip...
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Wow, that is quite a scrapbook! Can you look at it if you go to the Mountaineers?
UW Special Collections, Accession 2170-004
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Thanks for the extra detail Lowell! I seem to remember my dad and grandparents relating that Dwight was not fond of guidebooks. It makes sense, considering how he loved the thrill of discovery and exploration. Maybe somebody can ask Fred his recollections of why the guidebook wasn't written, but I suspect Dwight wanted others to discover the Cascades for themselves, as he had done.
No, in later years, Dwight was not fond of guidebooks. In his scrapbook he wrote on a 1966 ad for 100 Hikes, "Much wear and tear began with this book!" and "Don't go to these. Too many people!"
I think the 1940s guidebook proposal was not Watson's idea. It was conceived as a combined climbing/skiing guidebook. I think Fred and others approached Dwight to contribute the skiing portion. Ultimately, the Mountaineers decided not to publish it. When the AAC decided to publish Fred's first guidebook a few years later (1949) they dropped the skiing portion. I don't have any record of why they did that.
If you haven't seen it, you might enjoy my notes from Watson's 600+ page scrapbook:
http://alpenglow.org/ski-history/notes/ms/dw-scrapbook.html
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For more about Dwight Watson, including a clip from his movie of the Mt Baker traverse, look here:
http://written-in-the-snows.net/ski-climbers5.html
I'm planning another chapter in my ski history book that will include more about Dwight Watson's trips in other parts of the Cascades. It will be called "Ski Scouting" after his landmark 1937 article in the Mountaineer Annual:
http://alpenglow.org/ski-history/notes/period/mtneer-a/mtneer-a-1930-39.html#mtneer-a-1937-p28
I have papers (that I haven't really digested yet) which reveal that when Fred Beckey made his original proposal for a climbing guidebook to the Mountaineers in the 1940s, he also proposed a skiing guidebook to be written by Dwight Watson. The Mountaineers passed on Beckey's proposal and his guidebook was originally published by the AAC. Watson's book was never written. This proposal confirms for me Watson's position as the most important pioneer of backcountry skiing in Washington.
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Glad that you made the trip, Jason. The first time I did it with my brother Carl, we went east to west (and camped) just like you did. It's a great way to savor the solitude of the east side.
I'm happy that the name "Watson's Traverse" has stuck. Dwight himself would probably be embarrassed by it, but he deserves to be remembered, and what better way to do it.
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A satisfying ending to this project...
UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES - University of Washington
PRESS RELEASE -- For Immediate Release
April 25, 2012
UW Libraries, Special Collections, awarded $200,000 NEH Grant
The University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, has been awarded a $200,000 Humanities Collections and Reference Resources grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Humanities Collections and Reference Resources Grants allow institutions to preserve and provide access to collections essential to scholarship, education, and public programming in the humanities. The award to the UW Libraries is for the preservation, arrangement and description, digital reformatting and selective web streaming of 448 films, created by the Mountaineers Club, that document the natural environment of the Pacific Northwest. The 2-year project was submitted by Nicolette Bromberg, Special Collections Visual Materials Curator and will continue work on the moving image collections currently supervised by Hannah Palin, Film Archives Specialist.
The Mountaineers, an outdoor recreation, education, and conservation group based in Seattle, Washington, recently donated the films to Special Collections. The collection includes the films of Bob and Ira Spring, Dwight Watson, and Charles and Marion Hessey, as well as, a newsreel shot by Selznick Pictures cameraman Charles Perryman documenting a 1922 winter ascent of Mount Rainier. Highlights from the collection include Mountaineers’ trail trips and summer outings, a tour of the Paradise Ice Caves, mountain rescue films such as Mountains Don't Care and This is Self Arrest, and performances by the Mountaineer Players at the Kitsap Forest Theater including Alice in Wonderland, Sleeping Beauty, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Earliest films in the collection date to the 1920s and extend to the early 1970s.
The University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections is a major resource for rare and unique materials. Research strengths include the history of the Pacific Northwest, Alaska and Western Canada; architectural drawings; book arts; photography, and the University of Washington Archives. The film collections include home movies, documentary film, news film, industrial film, educational film, and more. Examples from the moving image collection can be seen at: http://content.lib.washington.edu/filmarchweb/index.html
The Moving Image Collection housed in Special Collections on the University of Washington Seattle campus contains films created or collected in the Northwest covering a wide range of topics and genres. Home movies, industrial films, documentaries and art films capture life in the Pacific Northwest and beyond from the earliest film shot in 1914 through videotape taken last year.
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced earlier this month that $17 million in grants were awarded for 208 humanities projects. The grants will also support fellowships for scholarly research, the development and staging of exhibitions, digital tools, and the preservation of humanities collections and reference resources. Several projects receiving grants in this funding cycle will help preserve fragile historical and cultural collections and make them more accessible to the broader public.
Institutions and independent scholars in 42 states and the District of Columbia will receive NEH support. Complete state-by-state listings of grants are available here (39-page PDF): http://www.neh.gov/files/press-release/march2012statebystatefinal.pdf
The National Endowment for the Humanities was created in 1965 as an independent federal agency supporting research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov. Media Contacts: Paula Wasley at (202) 606-8424 or pwasley@neh.gov
The NEH grant is a wonderful confirmation of the importance of these films. It's a tribute to the people who helped care for the films over the years. Here's an article from the Moving Image Archive News on the NEH grant:
http://www.movingimagearchivenews.org/money-for-mountain-films/
My thanks go especially to the Mountaineers History Committee, the Mountaineers Players, the Mountaineers Foundation (Brunhilde Wislicenus Fund), the Ira Spring and Charles Perryman families, friends of Charles and Marion Hessey, and the estate of the Dwight Watson.
Congratulations to Nicolette Bromberg and Hannah Palin of UW for their work on the NEH grant request. This is a big shot in the arm for the University's film program, and I'm proud that The Mountaineers were able to help. I look forward to seeing the UW's online finding aids take shape in the months ahead. In the meantime, you can find more information about these films on the Mountaineers History Committee website here:
http://mountaineers.org/history/cat/movies-film.html
Lowell Skoog
History Committee Chairman
The Mountaineers
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darin, i had considered your quicklink idea... if the tag line breaks (you'd have to set it up to pull the tag line) the knot gets jammed.
so far, that's the best possible solution. you could use some webbing/cord and tie a smaller bight - but then your making it diffuclt (more friction) to pull the rope. I think I'd rather use some smaller aluminum quicklinks concidering the forces involved aren't going to be huge.
My preference has been to tie a bulky knot like a rewoven figure-8 then pass the lead rope through a sling or cord with a bight tied in it that is smaller than the knot. Then I pull the lightweight rope. The theory being that the knot will jam in the sling bight if the thin line is cut. As long as the sling bight isn't actually tight around the lead rope, I don't think it adds much friction to the pull.
My experience is that smaller ropes have a much higher likelihood of getting jammed because they are so "spaghetti like" so I would rather have the lead rope come down last. I think you're more likely to have an epic due to a snagged tag line than due to a failure of the system I described.
A metal quicklink like Darin suggests might be safer, but it's one more thing to carry. I figure that alpine climbing is about managing but not eliminating risk, and I have felt okay using the technique I described. But I could be convinced that it's a bad idea.
Edited to add:
The other thing I do is to pack the tag line in a lightweight stuff sack. The stuff sack has a loop sewn on it that I can clip to my harness. When pulling down the rappel one guy pulls the tag line and the other guy stuffs the tag line into the stuff sack. When stuffed this way, the tag line always pays out cleanly--no untangling required. When you begin the next rappel you don't throw down the tag line. Instead the lead rappeller keeps it clipped to his harness and the thin rope pays out of the bag into your brake hand. Never a tangle, and no futzing around.
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I've been wondering when somebody would ski this line. I found the following picture in my brother Carl's collection. I think he and his friends may have had their eyes on it a few years ago. I don't know if they ever made an attempt.
Congrats, that's a nice looking line.
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Andre Roch, Hjalmar Hvam, and Arne Stene during the first ski ascent of Mount Hood in 1931 (from Written in the Snows)
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The International Skiing History Association (ISHA) and the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame are holding their annual Skiing Heritage Week in the Pacific Northwest during the week of April 8-15, 2012.
The week is an opportunity for skiers to enjoy Northwest ski areas in the company of local experts and to celebrate the history of skiing. The week culminates with the 2012 US Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Bell Harbor Conference Center in Seattle on Saturday, April 14.
Here is a description from the US Hall of Fame website:
As the saying in show business goes, we're taking our act on the road. During the week of April 8th-15th, 2012, we'll visit one of the cradles of American skiing: the Pacific Northwest. This once-in-a-lifetime gathering will see ISHA members and friends visit several mountain destinations whose names evoke some of skiing's grandest traditions: Timberline Lodge; Mount Hood Meadows; White Pass; Crystal Mountain; Mount Rainier; Stevens Pass and Snoqualmie. In a perfect ending to our Northwest sojourn, we'll end up in Seattle for the annual Induction Ceremony of the US Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame, plus a special tribute to America's greatest ski & snowboard company - K2 - as it celebrates its 50th anniversary. Numerous milestones in the growth of skiing and snowboarding have come out of the Northwest, from international competition to innovations in equipment, resort operations and publicity (FYI - Ski Magazine was started in Seattle 75 years ago). There is no aspect of the sport we know today that can't, in some form, trace its heritage to the Northwest.The full information packet, including the schedule of events, cost details, and a registration form can be viewed here:
https://www.skihall.com/Skiing_Heritage_Week_NW%20Packet_Final.pdf
There are two options for participating:
1. Sign up for the whole week of activities starting Sunday April 8th in Oregon. Package includes lodging, transportation, most meals and all lift passes, for $1,585 or $1,795 (depending on which Seattle hotel you choose).
2. Or join other participants in Seattle, starting the evening of April 11th, and purchase what you need – hotel, functions, skiing, etc. on an ala-carte basis.
Participation in the road trip thru the Northwest is limited (capacity two busloads) available on a first come first serve basis. Registration must be completed by March 23rd.
Of particular interest to me is the Ishpeming International Film Festival, which starts at 7pm on Wednesday, April 11 at Seattle's Bell Harbor Conference Center, Bay Auditorium. The festival is free and will continue on the evenings of April 12 and 13.
Rick Moulton, a renowned New England filmmaker, writes:
Wednesday the 11th in Seattle is the "Jerry Awards" and kick off of the Ishpeming International Film Festival. After the awards on Wednesday we are premiering "Ski Heil" (the ISHA Film Award winner this year) with Q&A by the Austrian filmmaker afterward... You do not want to miss this only American showing!The five award winning films will be presented by the filmmakers Thursday from 7 to 8:30 PM and then repeating 8:30 to 10:00 PM Friday. No registration is needed just come and enjoy ...
A website about the intriguing film "Ski Heil" can be seen here:
http://www.skiheil-derfilm.com/?view=inhalt&lang=en (summary)
http://www.skiheil-derfilm.com/?view=trailer&lang=en (trailer)
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Oyvind and Monika skied the Wells and Durr route, and then climbed the hour glass.
Right. I had a pretty extensive email correspondence with John Wells about it a few months ago. He and his partner skied the lookers' right line (I guess we should now refer to it as the central line) a year before Oyvind and Monika.
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Some great photos here
Great pictures Curt.
Regarding the times, I got my information from John Miles' book, "Koma Kulshan: The Story of Mt Baker". Notes found here:
http://alpenglow.org/ski-history/notes/book/miles-1984.html#miles-1984-p114
It's interesting to note that one of the pictures you linked to says that Paul Westerlund went to the saddle but not to the summit during the 1913 race. That's the one that had the 9-1/2 hour winning time. I'll have to look at the book again, but I don't think John Miles mentioned that detail.
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Well, if something's sled accessible, all bets are off. That's a hard crowd to teach manners to, given the fundamentally 'in your face, ears, and nose' nature of their recreational choices.
Ayup. That's why I spoke up. Winchester lookout is sled country, as should be obvious from Jason's first photo in this thread!
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Todd Warger, a Northwest historian and filmmaker, has produced a documentary about the original Mount Baker Marathons of 1911-1913. In these amazing races, local men raced by automobile, train or horseback from Bellingham to the foot of Mount Baker, ran through forests and up glaciers to the summit, then retraced their route back to tidewater, completing the round trip in as little as 9-1/2 hours. Information about the film (and a trailer) can be found here:
http://www.themountainrunners.com/www.themountainrunners.com/Home.html
The film is set to be released at the end of May 2012 during Ski to Sea week in Bellingham. (Historical trivia: The Ski to Sea race was inaugurated in 1972 to revive the spirit of the original marathons.)
Warger and his crew hope to get the film shown at the Banff Film Festival, Taos, and other festivals across the country. They have received interest from PBS and European venues. To help launch the film, they have created a fundraising page on "kickstarter.com". This gives them 44-days to reach a goal of $20,000. I'm posting this note to help spread the word. Pledges can be a little as $5. Every little bit helps.
Here is the kickstarter.com page. Note that this page has a different trailer than the one linked above:
Here is a description of the film from imdb.com:
The Mountain Runners is the story of America's first mountain endurance/adventure foot race, which took place in Bellingham, Washington. First run in 1911, the grueling 28 to 32 mile race to the glacial summit of Mount Baker and back lasted only three years due to its intrepid dangers. Told in a docudrama style, the film incorporates vintage images, historic film, visual graphics and 3D effects, and recreated dramatizations staring William B. Davis (X-Files, Smoking man). The film is well supported by a cast of Cascadian historians, descendants of race participants and a group of world-renowned experts in their field. Interviews with multiple contemporary champion athletes and authors, including: alpine speed-climbers and climbing author, Steve House and Chad Kellogg; ultrarunners Krissy Moehl, Scott Jurek, and Doug McKeever; and Second Wind author Cami Ostman, reveal a look back at the accomplishments of their endurance-athlete predecessors with astonishment...
Note: I have no financial interest in this project. I just think it's a worthy effort and a cool idea.
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I'd be curious to see statistics on avalanche fatalities of skiers/boarders killed in out of bounds areas accessed by lifts vs true backcountry skiers/boarders killed in avalanches.
Here you go (Northwest only):
http://alpenglow.org/ski-history/notes/book/logan-1996.html
http://alpenglow.org/ski-history/notes/web/www-avalanche-org.html
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"For years now I have had the same experience: I am working, sitting in a chair, the electric lights playing across my table or desk. I feel the bones snapping in my body and think my entire life at the moment is safe, useless, and like many another. I sense that I can manage, if I mind my manners, to squander all my days and nights and die in bed confirming what I never believed. And that this act will win approval. From everyone, including me. I see myself dead, properly dead. Perhaps kind lies are being said about me. My bones are snapping."
As if there is no middle ground.
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Good post by Will Gadd.
I have a list. It contains 26 names. These are all people I've known who died in recreational accidents. None of them died in a car crash. My criteria for including somebody on my list was that I had met them in person.
Following the death of one of my friends while paragliding, I wrote the following essay about the classic grief process and how it applies to our unwillingness to acknowledge the risks we take:
http://alpenglow.org/paragliding/writing/grief.html
Those who think that this is an absurd topic are probably in the denial phase.
Coming to terms with this topic requires balancing the likelihood of an accident, the reward you get from risky activities, the rewards you get from other parts of your life, and what you stand to lose. Many people find that dialing back the risk is a good balance, especially as your life becomes more full of other rewards, like family. And having lost friends, they begin to understand what it would mean to their own friends and family if they were lost.
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As an historian myself, I can certainly appreciate what's at stake. Not being familiar with your organization, I can only speculate vis-a-vis your stewardship and/or control over this public space...
A historian who's not familiar with the Mount Baker Club? Oops.
As a general rule, I think it's a bad idea to publicize winter use of Cascade fire lookouts. They're not built for it, and the management infrastructure isn't there. The people posting in this thread seem to be responsible, but there are plenty of yahoos out there.
I have a lot of sympathy for volunteers like Mr. Inscho. How do you get the word out about proper care of a lookout without making the problem worse by overexposure? I don't have the answer, but I think some behind-the-scenes outreach by both sides--responsible users and the volunteer maintenance organizations--might be a good start.
Jason? Pat?
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There was an obit for Dan Davis in today's Seattle Times:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/seattletimes/obituary.aspx?n=daniel-r-davis&pid=155567833
Daniel R. DAVIS
The many friends of Dan Davis were deeply saddened by his passing on January 14, 2012. Born in California and raised in Seattle, Dan earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in mathematics from the University of Washington, and worked as a mathematician at Boeing. During the 1960s, Dan emerged at a young age as one of the most distinguished alpinists of North America by virtue of numerous high level first ascents . His calm wisdom combined with enormous strength and skill made him a favorite climbing partner for many. Most notable were his first winter ascent of the N. Peak of Mt. Index and first ascent of Mt. Robson's N. Face in the Canadian Rockies, both emanating from his intense focus and bold initiative. His record of climbing Mt. Rainier 24 times by 23 different routes, including some new routes, is exceptional. In recent years, he had nearly completed his project of reaching the highest summit in each of the 50 states. Dan was equally passionate about cycling, as evidenced by his 900 mile bicycle trip from Seattle to Berkeley at age 17 to visit his grandmother. An avid racer in his early years, Dan continued serious bicycle riding throughout his life, notably participating in the 200 mile Seattle-to-Portland event 19 times, 13 of which he was in the elite group completing the ride in one day. Survivors include his partner, Suzan Reiley and sisters, Juanita Davis, Christine Powell, and Mary Richards, and brother Harry W. Davis. A celebration of Dan's life will be Saturday, July 28, 2012. For further information contact: dan.davis.climber@gmail.com
Published in The Seattle Times on January 22, 2012
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I'm puzzled by the posted memorial date, July 28, 2012. Is that correct or is it really January 28, 2012? I've asked for more information and will post the date when I know it for certain.
Accident on Baker?
in Climber's Board
Posted
I don't think that's correct. Other parties reported talking to the skiers on the summit and they were definitely intending to ski the headwall. The following TR had a picture of two skiers on the upper part of the headwall:
http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1072472/TR_Mount_Baker_North_Ridge_6_1#Post1072472
That picture has been removed, but it showed perfect visibility. I don't know whether the picture was taken before or after the accident.
Other ski parties reported cold, hard snow conditions near the top of the Coleman-Deming route.
My interpretation of the revised press release (assuming that the press didn't mess it up, as they often do) is that the party was probably working their way toward the headwall trying to judge whether the snow would soften. The fall occurred before they felt fully "committed" to the headwall, but not before the terrain was steep enough to result in an uncontrollable fall. This would be consistent with both the press release and the other information I've seen.