The story of ski mountaineering in Washington

[Lowell_Skoog]

I'll present my talk on Washington ski mountaineering history three times inMarch. Admission is free for all of these shows:

Thursday - March 14, 2002 - 7:30 pm The Mountaineers 300 Third Avenue West Seattle, WA 206-284-6310

Saturday - March 23, 2002 - evening Hurricane Ridge Winter Sports Club [time and location to be determined] Port Angeles, WA

Wednesday - March 27, 2002 - 7:30 pm The Cascadians Providence Medical Center Auditorium 9th Ave and Chestnut Yakima, WA

Here's a summary of the program:

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"The Snowy Range: The Story of Ski Mountaineering in Washington"

This presentation describes nearly 100 years of ski mountaineering inWashington, from 1909 to the present. It covers skiing on Mount Rainierbefore WWI, pioneering ascents of all the major peaks, the Silver Skis racesof the 1930s, the WWII mountain troops, the post-war boom in downhill skiingand wilderness preservation, the telemark revival, and the modern developmentof high ski traverses and extreme skiing. The program is illustrated with B&Wand color slides plus a movie filmed in 1939.

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When the time and location of the Port Angeles show gets set,I'll post it here:

http://www.alpenglow.org/ski-history/project/presentations.html

--Lowell Skoog, Seattle

[texplorer]

I guess we'll cut you some slack since your not speaking at the North Face store. Sounds like an interesting program.

[jon]

My boss saw this presentation and the Mounatineers lodge by the Mt. Baker ski area a couple months back and really enjoyed it.

[AlpineK]

I just got back from watching the show. Nice pics and a cool movie.

[russ]

Nice job Lowell. You're right that someone needs to record those early events before they're lost. Watching the film of the traverse over Baker really showed the spirit of the early ski mountineers.

One question I had, before the "senor historian" took over the question session - Were S. Hall's underware Patagonia or Black Diamond?? and the guy must have spend a fortune on sun block.

[northfork]

Go Lowell!

[Lowell_Skoog]

Thanks for the encouragement.

I think the best moment for me was when Wolf Bauer spoke up about the ski equipment he used in 1919. ("Two poles vas for vimps!") Giving the talk in front of Wolf, Matie Daiber, Phil Dickert and Joe Firey felt like a final exam.

The best part of this project has been meeting living legends like these. The second best part has been learning about people like Dwight Watson and Sigurd Hall, who are not legends, but should be.

--Lowell Skoog Seattle