Snoq. Pass Mountaineers Lodge on Fire

[Weekend_Climberz]

I just saw on the morning news that there's a fire at the Mounties Lodge at Snoqualmie Pass.

 

There goes my ping-pong championship trophy.

 

http://www.king5.com/w/

[AlpineK]

Bummer. That was a cool old lodge. I learned how to ski there as a wee sprout.

[whidbey]

Fire destroys historic Mountaineers Lodge

 

07:27 AM PDT on Friday, May 12, 2006

From KING / KING5.com Staff and Wire Reports

 

 

 

SNOQUALMIE, Wash. - An early morning fire destroyed the historic Mountaineers Lodge at Snoqualmie Friday.

 

The lodge, located in a heavily forested area five miles west of Snoqualmie Summit, was burned to its foundation, according to one fire crew member at the scene. Crews had difficulty reaching the scene since the lodge was located at the top of a road covered in snow.

 

Resources

Mountaineers Web site - Snoqualmie Lodge

Washington State Patrol has closed State Route 906 in both directions as fire crews battle the blaze. Witnesses said they could see smoke rise above the trees.

 

A Mountaineers spokesperson said the lodge had been closed for the past month, so it was unlikely there were people inside. There were no reports of injuries.

 

The Web site for the Seattle-based Mountaineers Club says the 57-year-old lodge is on the state Register of Historic Places. Located near the Snoqualmie ski area and the Pacific Crest Trail, it was used by club members and rented to others as a base for skiing and hiking.

[catbirdseat]

Bummer. Sounds awfully suspicious. Booth Creek has been trying to buy or lease the property so they could build crossovers between their existing holdings. Looks like they'll get it now.

[ncascademtns]

Bummer. Sounds awfully suspicious. Booth Creek has been trying to buy or lease the property so they could build crossovers between their existing holdings. Looks like they'll get it now.

That doesn't make the Mountaineers look good. Sounds like a win win for both parties. Authorities better be checking for any current updates to insurance policies.

[Lowell_Skoog]

What a sad end. Here is a link to a trip report for the Mountaineers Patrol Race ski tour, which I led in February. The tour began at the Snoqualmie Lodge:

 

http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=4150.0

 

A small group of very dedicated club volunteers has been working to keep the lodge open and viable for several years now. The lodge was closed as a ski hill after a skier was killed in an accident while riding the rope tow. I'm in no hurry to point fingers at anybody in the club for this terrible fire.

[catbirdseat]

[AlpineK]

Bummer. Sounds awfully suspicious. Booth Creek has been trying to buy or lease the property so they could build crossovers between their existing holdings. Looks like they'll get it now.

 

It's within the realm of the possible, but I wouldn't make that jump. Old lodges can burn down quite easily. The Mounties had a lodge at Lodge Lake on the west side of the pass; that burned down a long time ago.

[ncascademtns]

Yes it is possible. Sad thing to see it go though.

Funny thing is that I just finished a Fire Investigation/Arson Course and there are many factor that can point to arson. Was the lodge occupid within that last few days? If not, it doesn't look good. More questions could be asked but I guess will wait and see what the investigators come up with. Those guys are good.

[olyclimber]

Jeebus, try applying Occam's Razor once in awhile, people.

[ncascademtns]

Yes, we should make as few assumptions as possible. The whole thing just gets you thinking. We hope it was just a fluke accident.

[knotzen]

Jeebus, try applying Occam's Razor once in awhile, people.

 

Isn't it unsanitary to use someone else's razor?

[cj001f]

The whole thing just gets you thinking.

Aye. Especially since they recently voted to sell their current building.

[Alpinfox]

Yes, we should make as few assumptions as possible. The whole thing just gets you thinking. We hope it was just a fluke accident.

 

It's obvious to me. Dean Potter did it.

[Figger_Eight]

Occam's razor (also spelled Ockham's razor) is a principle attributed to the 14th-century English logician and Franciscan friar William of Ockham. Originally a tenet of the reductionist philosophy of nominalism, it is more often taken today as a heuristic maxim that advises economy, parsimony, or simplicity in scientific theories. Occam's razor states that the explanation of any phenomenon should make as few assumptions as possible, eliminating those that make no difference in the observable predictions of the explanatory hypothesis or theory. The principle is often expressed in Latin as:

entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem,

which translates to:

entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity.

Furthermore, when multiple competing theories have equal predictive powers, the principle recommends selecting those that introduce the fewest assumptions and postulate the fewest hypothetical entities. It is in this sense that Occam's razor is usually understood.

 

Potter did it. Definitely.

[PBRstreetgang]

Yes, we should make as few assumptions as possible. The whole thing just gets you thinking. We hope it was just a fluke accident.

 

Perhaps the giant pile of dirty shorts and polypro spontaneously combusted.

[zaugg]

thanks for the google download

[G-spotter]

Yes, it is bad technique to store oil soaked rags like that in such close proximity to mountain of bamboo wands.

[olyclimber]

it was an earthquake that caused it

 

[G-spotter]

The Earthquake from the st Helens Slab collapsing, no doubt. Which was probably caused by Potter free soloing it for video.

[olyclimber]

that sounds pretty authoritative dru...i was just speculating.

[ncascademtns]

Didn't you mean this?

 

[olyclimber]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_Mountaineers_Fire.html

 

"He estimated the loss to be about $200,000, however the Mountaineers Club didn't carry fire insurance."

[Figger_Eight]

Anytime.

[catbirdseat]

I met an old timer there once who told me a story about how he got in trouble as a kid aid climbing across the dining room ceiling by way of the large timber beam.