Austin Post, 3/16/22 - 11/12/12

[John_Scurlock]

Austin Post died peacefully yesterday morning at his home in Dupont, Washington, surrounded by his family. He was 90 years old. He was my friend, mentor, and role model. He was a northwest original in the most complete sense, achieving greatness from a markedly humble beginning. He was a titan in the field of glaciology and aerial photography, and his passing truly marks the end of an era. His photographs greatly influenced climbers, skiers, and scientists, and continue to do so. He was adamant that there be no services, and so I suggest that everyone take a few minutes today to browse through the red CAG and pause with a few of Austin's images. That would be a good way of thinking of him, and I know that wherever he is, he'd appreciate it.

 

JS

[layton]

John I know how much he meant to you, I'm very sorry for your loss. If only we could all be so lucky to live that long and make such a mark.

[ivan]

"wise sir, do not grieve

it is always better to avenge dear ones

than to indulge in mourning

for every one of us living in this world

means waiting for our end.

let he who can achieve glory before death

when a warrior is gone

that will be his best and only bulwark"

[chirp]

Thanks for the update and my condolences John. I never met Austin but you got us connected for a brief correspondence, what an amazing fellow with and amazing life.

 

 

[bobinc]

Very sorry to hear of this. His pictures (and yours) will continue to inspire my desire to head to the backcountry.

 

Bob Davis

[John_Scurlock]

Here are four of my favorite images of Austin:

 

July, 1957, starting up for the Worthington Glacier:

 

[img:center]http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/76339477/large.jpg[/img]

 

At Johns Hopkins Sta. 5, July 24, 1971 - L to R, Jim Sanders, Bob Howe, Marion Millett, Austin Post

 

[img:center]http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/76339478/large.jpg[/img]

 

 

Austin & Dave Bohn At Lamplugh Glacier, 2000 (David Bohn is the author of the book "Glacier Bay: The Land and the Silence")

 

[img:center]http://pbase.com/nolock/image/76339479/large.jpg[/img]

 

Austin in his study at his Vashon Island home, 2007:

 

[img:center]http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/75767703/large.jpg[/img]

 

Oh, and just one more, Austin's panorama of the Hubbard Glacier in the Wrangell-St. Elias Mountains, constructed from three separate images. The peak at L is Hubbard, Mt. Vancouver is at center distance.

Valerie Glacier joins Hubbard just above the glacier front.

The width of the front at tidewater is approximately five miles.

 

[img:center]http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/75914946/original.jpg[/img]

 

[AlpineK]

Great pictures.

[bstach]

Great beard.

[JasonG]

Though I never met Austin, I will miss him, he was such a remarkable man. Thanks for the information John, and I'm very sorry to hear about the passing of your friend.

 

I had the good fortune of climbing Asa Peak last summer, a summit that was first ascended by Austin's dad (Asa). Austin was the second ascent, almost four decades later. Through nothing more than a simple register entry, I felt I got a glimpse as to what a great person Austin was.

 

 

[Whatcomboy]

I will indeed look at some of his work.

[pms]

What a nice guy. I spent some time last night with the Beckey guides and was reminded how important Austins pictures were for my own climbs and dreams. for example notice how dramatic Elephant Head is in the photo on the wall behind Austin in John's picture. Thank you Mr. Post.

[Tyson.g]

Indeed one of the greats and a true inspiration.

I think I have actually destroyed some of the photos in my CAG by drooling on them.

 

 

Edited November 16, 2012 by Tyson.g

[Off_White]

Thanks for the pics John, I never met Austin but I've been a huge admirer of his work for years. What a life that man led.

[Fairweather]

Sitting here thumbing through my tattered, first edition copy of Glacier Ice. Good journey, Austin Post.

 

And it's something quite peculiar

Something shimmering and white

It leads you here despite your destination

Under the Milky Way tonight

 

[Buckaroo]

[video:youtube]

[John_Scurlock]

So there we were... (I was fortunate to have a few of those moments with Austin)...

 

Bonanza Peak Really Isn't That Great Of A Mountain

 

On one of the flights I did with him, we were headed over to Bigelow because he thought there might be a glacier on it's NF, which would have been the easternmost glacier in the North Cascades if it did exist. The line of flight from Vashon took us directly across Bonanza Peak. Here I was, zooming along with the great Austin Post, past this amazing mountain. I banked the wing, I said something like, 'isn't that incredible? Let's go around it again..' He'd taken like, a single photograph with the little digital cam he was carrying; he looked over at me and said, 'nah... I've seen that plenty... let's get out of here..we've got more important things to do..' I didn't propose too much more "scenery" after that!!

 

[img:center]http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/75772011/original.jpg[/img]

 

There we were, part II:

 

The Day Austin Post Died At Washington Pass Meadow

 

On one of the outings we took him on, we were up at Washington Pass, strolling about. JR was there, along with a few other folks. Austin decided he wanted to head over to the north side of Washington Pass Meadow, where there is an old trail - it predated the highway of course, and he'd helped build it back in the 1940s. I was amazed, having been there many times and not realizing there was a trail over there. Well, Austin wanted to walk over there and dig around a little to see if any ash layers from Glacier Peak could be found. So he and I made our way over there, found the old trail, and walked perhaps a half mile to the west. In an open area there, he sat down on the ground and poked around with a swiss army knife, as we did not have a shovel. After finding nothing, I suggested we head back, since the rest of the group might be wondering where we were. We got off the trail a little, ambling across the meadow at his slow but steady pace. We were most of the way back when he turned to me and said, "you know, I'm kinda tired. I think I'll take a nap." Before I had a chance to say anything, he sat down on the ground and simply fell over sideways. I thought, holy crap, this is it... he's croaked.. right here in front of me..! Now what am I gonna do, way up here in the middle of nowhere? So I walked back over to him, checked that he was indeed breathing, snoring even, so the tension was off a little. So then I thought, well if it was me lying down like that, he'd take my picture. So I stepped back a little and took his picture, and then sat down and waited about fifteen minutes until he stirred around, got up, and we headed back to the group as if nothing had happened!!

 

[img:center]http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/75773867/original.jpg[/img]

 

 

 

I was on the phone last night with Roberta and re-told this story to her and believe me, we had quite a laugh over it..

Edited November 17, 2012 by John_Scurlock

[genepires]

we should all be so lucky. thanks for sharing.