Chet Ullin

[Lowell_Skoog]

Today's Seattle Times had a tiny notice of the death of Chester 'Chet' Ullin. There were no details of his life, but I'm pretty sure he was the father of Gary Ullin, who was killed in an avalanche in the Pamirs in 1974. That story was told in Robert W. Craig's book, "Storm and Sorrow in the High Pamirs."

 

Chet Ullin was himself involved in an avalanche tragedy many years earlier. In July 1939, Ullin was an assistant guide for a party of 25 students from Western Washington State College making their annual climb of Mount Baker. Hot weather released a huge avalanche on the Roman Wall that killed six students. Ullin said it was "like lifting a table cloth and we were the dishes." It was the worst mountaineering accident in the Pacific Northwest for many years.

 

In a 1964 Bellingham Herald article, Ullin explained his reasons for going back to the mountains. "It may sound silly, but they were my friends--some of them close friends. Somehow, I think they would have wanted us to keep climbing. A mountain is a beautiful, powerful thing and you have to have respect for it."

 

The 1964 article described Ullin as a supervisor of teaching materials for the Bremerton public schools in Washington. I found a site on the Web indicating that he had two other sons who still live in the Puget Sound area. I don't know anything more about him, but his passing seems noteworthy. If anybody knows more about him, I'd be interested to hear it.

[Lazyboy]

I just ran across this.

 

I did not really know Chet Ullin but I did talk to him a couple of times.

 

Ira Spring has a little information about him in his book "An Ice Axe, A Camera and A Jar of Peanut Butter". At one time there was a Boy Scout Camp at Lower Lena Lake called Camp Cleland and Chet was on the staff there when the Spring brothers attended the camp. It is on page 23 and 24 in the book.

 

Also I have read or heard that Chet had something to do with building the Great Stone Arrow at the saddle above Hagen Lakes on the ridge that runs from Mt. Hopper to Mt. Stone. I thought Ira might talk about it in his book but I cannot find it. Wood might mention it in his trail guide. I will have to check.