October 2018 Vol. 100 | No. 10
Bulletin
Portland Alpine Fest 2018! Meet the PAFletes PAF 2018 Schedule oregon wild yosemite trail stewards
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Mon-Sat: 10am-7pm
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Sun: 11am-6pm
back in Montbell Club Points
to be used for future purchases.
Photo: The film Michigan Ice will be showing during Portland Alpine Fest 18. Check page 11 for the full PAF schedule.
CONTACT US MAZAMA MOUNTAINEERING CENTER 527 SE 43rd Ave., Portland, Oregon, 97215 Phone: 503-227-2345 adventure@mazamas.org | Hours: Mon.–Thu. 11 a.m.–7 p.m.; Fri. 10 a.m.–2 p.m. MAZAMA LODGE 30500 West Leg Rd. Government Camp, Oregon, 97028 Phone: 503-272-9214 Hours: CLOSED until mid-November
LEE DAVIS Executive Director lee@mazamas.org SARAH BRADHAM Marketing & Communications Director sarah@mazamas.org ERICA STOCK Development Director ericastock@mazamas.org ADAM BAYLOR Stewardship & Advocacy Manager adam@mazamas.org MATHEW BROCK Library & Historical Collections Manager mathew@mazamas.org LAURA BURGER Development Coordinator lauraburger@mazamas.org CHARLES BARKER Mazama Lodge Manager mazama.lodge@mazamas.org JOHN BARKHAUSEN Education & Activities Program Coordinator johnbarkhausen@mazamas.org RENEE FITZPATRICK Finance & Office Coordinator reneefitzpatrick@mazamas.org MOLLY MOSENTHAL Youth Program Coordinator mollymosenthal@mazamas.org CLAIRE NELSON Youth & Outreach Manager clairenelson@mazamas.org JUSTIN ROTHERHAM Education & Activities Program Manager justinrotherham@mazamas.org KELSEY SHAW Member Services Administrator kelseyshaw@mazamas.org
FEATURES #SafeOutside, p. 5 Why You Should Get Certified in Wilderness First Aid, p. 7
Meet the PAFletes: Ari Novak, p. 19 Yosemite Climber Stewards, p. 22
Portland Alpine Fest: Intro & Schedule, p. 11
Mazamas: Past & Future, p. 25
Meet the PAFletes: Quinn Brett, p. 14
Oregon Wild, p. 28
Meet the PAFletes: Alan Rousseau, p. 15
Family Hiking in Europe, p. 34
Meet the PAFletes: Marcus Garcia, p. 17
A Women’s Tour, p. 30
MONTHLY CONTENT Upcoming Events & Activities, p. 4 Outings, p. 6 Mazama Library Notes, p. 8 Evening Travel Programs, p. 9 AYM, p. 24 Membership Report, p. 26 Successful Climbers, p. 27 Saying Goodbye, p. 32 Classics, p. 33 Mazama Lodge, p. 33 Trail Trips, p. 36 Executive Council, p. 38
PUBLICATIONS TEAM
Editor: Sarah Bradham, Director of Marketing & Communications (mazama.bulletin@mazamas.org) Members: Jonathan Barrett, Reymond Drew, Darrin Gunkel, Kevin Machtelinckx, and Katie Polanshek (publications@ mazamas.org)
ADVERTISER INDEX CBD Revolution, p. 39 Green Trails, p. 21 Embark Explorations Co., 38 Next Adventure, p. 5 Montbell, p. 2 The Mountain Shop, p. 31 Mystery Ranch, p. 29 OMC, p. 39 Ravensview Capital Management, p. 39 Advertise now! tinyurl.com/ MazamaAdvertising
MAZAMA (USPS 334-780):
Advertising: mazama.ads@mazamas.org. Subscription: $15 per year. Bulletin material must be emailed to the editor. All material is due by noon on the 14th of the preceding month. If the 14th falls on a weekend, the deadline is the preceding Friday. The Mazama Bulletin is published monthly by the Mazamas—527 SE 43rd Ave., Portland, OR 97215. Periodicals postage paid at Portland, OR. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to MAZAMAS, 527 SE 43rd Ave., Portland, OR 97215. The Executive Council meets at 3 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month. Meetings are open to members. The Mazamas is a 501(c)(3) Oregon nonprofit corporation organized on the summit of Mt. Hood in 1894. The Mazamas is an equal opportunity provider.
Cover: Ankush Varma at Smith Rock State Park. Photo: Vaqas Malik.
OCTOBER 2018 3
UPCOMING ACTIVITIES & EVENTS SKI MOUNTAINEERING Class Dates: Jan. 7–March 4, 2019 Registration Opens: Oct. 15 at 9 a.m. Registration Closes: Dec. 7 Badges Earned: Course: Ski Mountaineering, Skills: Ski Mountaineering
The Mazama Ski Mountaineering Program is designed to teach you the skills, attitude, and awareness necessary to safely enjoy the many backcountry ski opportunities that exist in the Cascades and elsewhere. Ski mountaineering in the Northwest can span the spectrum from multi-day traverses to skiing off the summits of local volcanoes to just basking in the sunshine on the South Side of Hood in July. Each tour has its special joys and dangers. Our goal is to help you make a safe and confident transition from skiing groomed slopes at resorts to touring the off-piste environment among mountains. The focus of this course is on the skills necessary to ascend/descend non-technical intermediate level ski mountaineering climbs in the Northwest (e.g. terrain such as Mount St. Helens, Snow Dome on Mt. Hood, and South and Middle Sister). The format of the class includes a series of lectures and field sessions that cover gear, travel techniques on backcountry skis (and snowboards), self-arrest techniques, emergency shelters, avalanche awareness (analysis, safe travel, and rescue), route finding, navigation, general mountaineering techniques, weather, and trip planning. This course does NOT cover roped travel, crevasse rescue or advanced skiing/snowboard skills. You will be provided with an avalanche beacon for use during the course if you do not own one; all other equipment is the responsibility of the student (skis or snowboards, skins, shovel, and probe). The course is open to randonee and telemark skiers, as well as split-boarders and is taught by experienced Mazama volunteers. Get details: mazamas.org/ skimountaineering 4 MAZAMAS
MOUNTAINEERING FIRST AID RECERT Class Dates: Dec. 5 & 6 Registration Opens: Nov. 1 at 9 a.m. Registration Closes: Nov. 15 Badges Earned: Course: MFA, Prerequisites: Current MFA or WFR Certification
The Mountaineering First Aid Recert course is designed to refresh your wilderness first aid skills, including performing advanced patient assessment, improvise equipment and cope with wilderness-specific conditions. At the end of the recert, you’ll have the knowledge, skills and ability to make sound decisions in emergency situations. mazamas.org/mfa/
VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION NIGHT
OCT. 15, 2018 & JAN. 18, 2019 6:30–8:30 P.M. AT THE MMC
Are you a Mazama volunteer? Well, then we want to take time out to appreciate YOU! Our new Volunteer Appreciation Nights are an opportunity to socialize with your fellow volunteers, meet people who volunteer in different areas of the Mazamas, play games, win prizes, offer shout-outs to your fellow volunteers, and get updates on what is happening at the Mazamas. Food and drinks are provided. If you have pictures or quotes you would like to share with your fellow attendees, please send them to sarah@ mazamas.org prior to the events. Get details and rsvp at beta.mazamas. orf/volunteerappreciation
IDENTIFYING FUNDAMENTAL VALUES OF MAZAMA PROGRAMS: COMMUNITY INPUT SESSION
Part of the Building the Future of Mazama Programs Strategic Project OCT. 11, 7–9 P.M. AT THE MMC (HOLMAN AUDITORIUM)
As the Mazamas enter our 125th year, we are working on ways to increase the reach of our mission, to inspire everyone to love and protect the mountains. As part of the Mazamas strategic plan, we will focus our attention on creating comprehensive leader training programs across all of the recreational disciplines that we participate in. Our goal is to create quality leaders of many recreational disciplines to better serve the diverse interests of our members and the greater outdoor community. Before we can begin work on the types of leaders we want to create for the future, we first need to better understand what our participants, members, volunteers, and community value. The Mazamas invites you to a community input session on October 11 in the Mazama Mountaineering Centers’ Holman Auditorium, from 7–9 p.m. We will build off of the results from the culture and community meetings that helped shape our current strategic plan. Your input will be used to guide the creation of a set of fundamental values for all Mazama education and activity programs in the future. If you are interested in the future success and sustainability of outdoor education and activities at the Mazamas, please consider attending.
Please RSVP at tinyurl.com/MazInputSession
#SAFEOUTSIDE In May 2018, the Mazamas, alongside many of our partner organization, worked with #SafeOutside to share a survey on sexual harassment and sexual assault in the climbing community with our Mazama community. The data collected from this survey showed that 1 in 2 women and 1 in 6 men reported having experienced sexual harassment or assault. While these statistics should not be surprising—they align with national statistics—they are sobering. At the Mazamas we know sexual harassment and sexual assault are issues we face within our own community, and we are committed to creating an environment free from all forms of harassment, assault and unlawful discrimination of any kind. We expect all employees, leader, volunteers, members, and participants to treat each other in a respectful manner and to maintain proper standards of conduct. Please join us in our effort to make the Mazamas free of sexual harassment and sexual assault. If you experience, or have experienced, sexual harassment or sexual assault within a Mazama activity, we now have a simple, and confidential, way for you to report your experience. If an incident is reported, we are committed to responding—unless filed anonymously—promptly. If you would like to make a report or check out our new reporting tool, you can find it mazamas.org/behaviorlincidentreport. We are committed to the ongoing improvement of reporting tools, policies, and trainings around sexual harassment and assault, and are working hard to ensure that we are tackling this issue head on. We all deserve to be #SafeOutside. If you would like to speak to us directly about an experience you’ve had or resources that have been successful in other areas of your life, please contact us at reporting@mazamas.org.
BEND SNOW & AVALANCHE WORKSHOP (BEND SAW) SATURDAY, NOV. 10, FROM 7 A.M.–7 P.M. AT CENTRAL OREGON COMMUNITY COLLEGE (BEND, ORE.) Join the Central Oregon Avalanche Association at Bend, Oregon’s first annual gathering of snow and avalanche experts. A full day of speakers from around the country touching on topics ranging from risk and decision making to traveling safely through the backcountry to snow science and human factors. Presentations will benefit all experience levels and attendees will gain new tools and knowledge beneficial to traveling safely and having fun in the backcountry! Lunch included. Tickets: $40 available at: bendsaw.eventbrite.com. OCTOBER 2018 5
ADVANCED ROCK (AR) Application period begins Dec. 1 Class Dates: Feb. 26–May 12, 2019 Application Open Date: Dec. 1, 2018 at 9 a.m. Application Close Date: Dec. 30, 2018 Skills Test: Jan. 10 & 11, 2019 Prerequisites: Leading outside within the last year, lead card at a local gym, and more. See website. Badges Earned: Traditional Rock Climbing, High Angle Rock Rescue, Multi-Pitch Techniques, Course: AR
Carmen Brown celebrating on the summit of the Mt. Russell (14,088ft,) after climbing the Mithril Dihedral route in the High Sierras. Mt. Whitney in the background. Photo: Cameron Brown.
MAZAMA OUTINGS You can now apply for Mazama Outings on our new website. When you apply, you will be prompted to complete your profile, and you’ll enter credit card information. If accepted, your credit card will be charged for the trip deposit, and you will then be sent an invoice for the remainder of the outing cost. This invoice can be paid by credit card or check.
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The Mazama Advanced Rock (AR) Course provides high quality instruction and training to enable graduates to be proficient at leading traditional climbs on vertical rock. We teach the technical and mental skills that will prepare you for a wide range of climbing, from single-pitch cragging to multi-pitch and alpine rock routes. The AR program is comprised of a series of lectures given by knowledgeable speakers with hands-on demos or exercises where appropriate. The lectures are supported by weekend field sessions, coordinated and taught by skilled, experienced climbers. The Advanced Rock program offers you the opportunity to meet new and experienced rock climbers, as you learn about climbing areas and destinations. Information & requirements, schedule, and application information are available at: mazamas.org/advancedrock
SPANISH PYRENEES GR11: JULY 24–AUG. 7, 2019 The Pyrenees are an amazing mountain system that acts as the natural border between Spain and France. GR11 (Grand Route or Gran Recorrido) is a trail of 522 miles that takes you from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean sea across these beautiful mountains. Over 12 days, we will hike around 90 miles of the first part of the GR11, starting in Puerto de Urkiaga and finishing in Canfranc. We will be sleeping in small villages, hostels, campground bungalows, and mountain refuges. We will enjoy the different landscapes that the Pyrenees offer from the lowest altitudes to the highest ones, including tons of amazing views (such as the Alanos Zuriza) and lots of mountain passes. Outing costs of $1,082 to $1,315 for a group of 10 or 8. Costs include lodging, outing fees, and two group meals. Trip overview meeting will be scheduled in May or June. Contact leader Juanfran Carceles (jfcarmar@gmail.com) or assistant leader Reuel Kurzet (rkurzet@comcast.net) for more information. Signup deadline March 1, 2019. Deposit of $200 due March 1, 2019. Full payment due by April 1, 2019. Get full detail, apply, and pay the deposit here: https://mazamas.org/ activity/instance/3260/detail/
Why you should get certified in WILDERNESS FIRST AID by Emily Carino
S
ummertime has arrived. Warm temperatures arrive, the birds sing majestic melodies, and the city feels alive. It’s a Tuesday afternoon and you decide to take an afternoon run through Forest Park. You’ve never explored the northern portion of the park so that is where you decide to start. Shoes laced and hat on, you set off into the trees. You begin to break a sweat a few miles in. You’re feeling good and you find yourself mesmerized by the moment. A few seconds later ... BAM! You trip over a rather large stump. “How did I not see this beast?!” you ask yourself. What was a fine moment in your day has now turned into a bit of a pickle. Your ankle is severely sprained, possibly broken and a rather concerning bump is forming on your forehead. You’re alone and failed to inform anyone of your whereabouts. Your cell phone cannot pick up a signal and you’ve got only the clothes on your back. Given your location in the park, your current physical state and the situation overall, you’re more than sixty minutes from appropriate care. What does this mean? You’ve crossed from an urban area into the wilderness without taking a step. What I’ve described above is what is called the golden hour. If you are unable to reach appropriate medical care following an incident within 60 minutes or less, you’re considered to be in the wilderness. Some of you probably relate to the story shared prior in some capacity. I know I sure can because it happened to a dear friend of mine. Her story was the reason I decided to take a Wilderness First Aid (WFA) certification class. Who’s to say something like this won’t happen to me? Who’s to say something like this won’t happen to you? Whether you’re running in Forest Park solo, hiking around Mt. Hood with some friends or climbing a mountain with a group of women you met online, many of us find ourselves outside this golden hour and often. As Solo Schools states on their website, “Accidents happen. People get hurt, sick, or lost. The temperature drops, the wind picks up, and it starts to rain. Would you know what to do? Many backcountry emergencies are preventable, and even when bad things happen, sometimes the wrong care can make things worse. By learning a few basic skills, you can make the difference between a good outcome and a bad one—and maybe even save a life.” Let’s discuss this from another perspective. Some of us are beginners with information and knowledge that has been handed down from generation to generation and word of mouth. You all remember the game telephone? Information passed informally this way isn’t at all that different. You ever
heard to suck poison out of a snakebite? Well, that’s not correct. There are many misconceptions, such as this one, about medical treatment in the wilderness. Take a WFA course to avoid putting yourself in even further danger. No need to become a part of the problem if you can help yourself. Or how about this: employment and volunteerism! Do you work with youth outside? Are you a summer camp counselor? Do you find your job taking you into the wilderness in any and every capacity? Then this course is for you. By becoming WFA certified, you stand out amongst the group. Employers and organizations see you as someone capable to handle or understand protocol when medical needs arise. For example, it has been a dream of mine to work in a wilderness camp. The opportunity arose to apply for such a position this past spring but something caught my eye about the qualifications listed in the job description. It read, “Wilderness First Aid or Wilderness First Responder certification preferred.” After reading that I thought, “Well, when and where can I sign up?” And guess what, I got the job!! Did my WFA certification play a key role in securing the job? I’ll never know, but what I do know is it certainly didn’t hurt my chances. So, go ahead. Sign up for a Wilderness First Aid certification course. It will provide you with more knowledge to confidently get outside and live your best life. Plus, it is a fantastic introduction and segue into deepening your knowledge to
become become a certified Wilderness First Responder ... we’ll save that for another time. Employers might like it, your family and friends sure will thank you, but most importantly you yourself will leave the class with no regrets. I became WFA certified through Solo Schools. However, you can pick a class and/or organization that works well for you. REI, NOLS, Next Adventure are just a few organizations and companies that provide such classes. Many are held over a 2–3 day period and cost anywhere from $175–$250. Gain knowledge, get outside, and stay safe. Author Bio: Emily Carino was Adventure WILD’s, a summer camp by the Mazamas, Camp Coordinator for the 2018 summer season. She’s always been an avid mountaineer fan girl from afar. However, last year, she decided she ought to try it herself. Emily summited Mt. St. Helens via Worm Flows earlier this year and looks forward to conquering Mt. Adams and South Sister this summer!
COURSES TO CONSIDER: Mazama First Aid (MFA): Get full details at mazamas.org/mfa NOLS WFA: nols.edu/en/ coursefinder/courses/wildernessfirst-aid-WFA/ NOLS WFR: nols.edu/en/ coursefinder/courses/wildernessfirst-responder-WFR/
OCTOBER 2018 7
MAZAMA LIBRARY
Established in 1915, the Mazama Library is nationally recognized as holding one of the top mountaineering collections in the country. Located on the ground floor of the Mazama Mountaineering Center, the library is a fantastic resource for members and the general public to find information on hiking, climbing, camping, and exploring the rich history of regional and global mountaineering culture.
Learn more about the Library & Historical Collection at mazamas.org/library NEW RELEASES AND ADDITIONS ▶▶ Oregon Rock & Boulder, by Everett West, 2018. This guidebook provides rock climbers and boulderers with an excellent analysis of this regions unique climbing treasures, all encompassed here in a single comprehensive book filled with depth and detail rarely found in any regional climbing guide. Call # 917.95 W52 ▶▶ Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain, 3rd edition, by Bruce Tremper, 2018. The more you know about snow stability, the better your travel and rescue skills. And the sharper your decision making, the better you’ll be able to avoid avalanche danger and have more fun in the winter backcountry. Call # 551.31.T72 3rd ▶▶ Vertical Mind: Psychological Approaches for Optimal Rock Climbing, by Don McGrath, 2014. This book teaches rock climbers how to improve their mental game so they can climb better and have more fun. It shows how the latest research in brain science and psychology can help you retrain your mind and body for higher levels of rock climbing performance, while also demonstrating how to train and overcome fears and anxiety that hold you back. Call # 796.52.M17 ▶▶ Alone on the ice: the greatest survival story in the history of exploration, by David Roberts, 2013. On January 17, 1913, alone and near starvation, Douglas Mawson, leader of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, was hauling a sledge to get back to base camp. The dogs were gone. Mawson was sometimes reduced to crawling, and one night he discovered that the soles of his feet had completely detached from the flesh beneath. This thrilling and almost unbelievable account establishes Mawson in his rightful place as one of the greatest polar explorers and expedition leaders. Call # 999 R54
CLASSICS OF MOUNTAINEERING No Picnic on Mount Kenya, by Felice Benuzzi, 1953. In 1943, Felice Benuzzi and two Italian compatriots escaped from a British POW camp in equatorial East Africa with only one goal in mind--to climb the dangerous seventeen-thousand-foot Mount Kenya. No Picnic on Mount Kenya is the classic tale of this most bizarre and thrilling adventure, a story that has earned its place as a unique masterpiece of daring and suspense. Call # 916.7.B44 ▶▶ Read the book, and then plan to come out to the Portland Alpine Fest on Nov. 15 at the Mazama Mountaineering Center for No Picnic on Mt. Keny: Batian Peak North Face Expedition. Learn more at portlandalpinefest.org.
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DID YOU KNOW? ▶▶ The Santa Monica Mountains were the backdrop scenes for the television series M.A.S.H. ▶▶ Mad Dog Earle, played by Humphrey Bogart, escapes into the Sierra Nevada mountains in the 1941 film, High Sierra. ▶▶ Alive tells the true story of a 1972 plane crash in the Andean mountains and the epic walk out to civilization that saved the survivors. ▶▶ In the movie Mountains of the Moon, Victorian explorer Sir Richard Burton searches for the source of the Nile.
BOOKS FOR ICE CLIMBING: ▶▶ Climbing Ice, Yvon Chouinard, call # 796.53.Ch46 ▶▶ Winter Dance, Joseph Josephson, call #917.87.J77 ▶▶ Ice and mixed climbing: modern technique, Will Gadd, call # 796.53.G11 ▶▶ Ice lines Select waterfalls of the Canadian Rockies, Brent Peters, call # 796.53 P44
THE MAZAMA LIBRARY NEEDS SUPPORT—FROM YOU! Do you or someone you know have vintage mountaineering gear that is looking for a home? Don’t give it to Goodwill, donate it to the Mazama Library and Historical Collections! We are always on the lookout for wood handle ice axes, early climbing gear, vintage catalogs, turn of the century photographs, early mountaineering books, and more. Please contact library manager Mathew Brock at mathew@mazamas.org to discuss potential donations. We apologize, but we cannot accept any Mazama Annuals published after 1925 or National Geographic magazines. Please consider a financial contribution to support the Mazama Library, a nationally recognized collection and one of the few remaining mountaineering libraries in the United States. Your financial donation will help support our full-time librarian, acquire rare mountaineering books and historic photographs, and maintain our valuable archives and historic objects collections. Thank you for your support.
Are you ready to support the Mazama Library? Go to mazamas.org/donate and select Library & Historical Collections.
EVENING TRAVEL PROGRAMS
Oct 10
The Mazamas offers a robust Evening Travel Program from mid-October through April every year at the Mazamas Mountaineering Center. You’ll virtually travel to every corner of the globe as our dynamic speakers immerse you in their experience through photos, video, and great storytelling. Programs are free and open to the general public. We appreciate voluntary contributions at the discretion of each attendee. Carpooling, public transportation, biking, and walking to the MMC are encouraged. View the entire season’s schedule at mazamas.org/eveningtravelprograms
Search & Rescue: Tips, Tales, and Trends: Oct. 10 Steve Rollins, a Rescue Leader with Portland Mountain Rescue, will share a series of mountain rescue stories and lessons learned from various missions he’s been on as a rescuer for over twenty years. This entertaining and educational lecture will include trends in accidents and tips on how not to need Portland Mountain Rescue’s services.
Oct 17
A Thousand Miles of Gravel: The Overland Route Through Patagonia: Oct. 17 Chile’s Carretera Austral and Argentina’s Ruta 40 are famed for their scenic grandeur. They’re also infamous for their primitive conditions. It took Darrin Gunkel more than a week to hitchhike these routes from Chaiten, Chile to Calafate, Argentina. He explains that there are certainly easier ways to get to the Fitz Roy Range, but none as entertaining.
Family Hiking Climbing Switzerland & Italy: Oct. 24 Join Keith Daellenbach, his wife Amy and their 11-year old son, Micah, on a summer adventure through trip through Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. They climbed Säntis, the highest peak in the Alpstein near Appenzell, Switzerland, hiked in the Lauterbrunnen and Bernese Oberland—the region Keith’s paternal ancestors emigrated from, summited the 13,662 foot ice mountain Breithorn near Zermatt, hiked and climbed hut-to-hut in the Dolomites including a challenging via feratta up Monte Paterno (Paternkofel) near the spectacular Tre Cime (Drei Zinnen), and ended their trip down the boot of Italy by hiking to the crater of Mount Vesuvius before visiting Pompeii. Between mountains, they visited some of Europe’s great cities proving it is possible to make such a trip with an active and adventurous child anything but boring.
Unprecedented Optimism: Oct. 31 Zach Clanton, alpinist and professional photographer presents four seasons of exploring unnamed and unclimbed granite peaks in Alaska and the Yukon with a slideshow about the logistical nightmare of climbing, flying, bushwhacking and generally getting in over your head in the great Northland. Make sure to check out Zach’s work online at: zachclantonphotography.com/climb
Oct 31
Nov 7
Ever Wild: A Lifetime on Mt. Adams: Nov. 7 For anyone who is intrigued with the Pacific Northwest’s majestic peaks, Ever Wild: A Lifetime on Mount Adams gives a first-time, close-up look at Mt. Adams through the lens and adventures of author and photographer Darryl Lloyd. Accompanied by his expert narration, Lloyd will present some of 180 color and black-and-white photos, maps, and illustrations from his new book. Through a personal journey, spanning seven decades, Darryl Lloyd cemented his place in the sweeping story of Washington state’s Mount Adams. As the foremost authority on this northern Cascades massif, a sometimes overlooked, but never forgotten, hulk of a mountain, Lloyd will share his alpine adventures, along with doses of human history, geography, geology, botany, and a vital call for protection. Growing up on a ranch at the base of Mount Adams, Lloyd devoted his life to learning the mountain, observing the ebb and flow of its glaciers, photographing the play of light, wandering lush meadows and old-growth forests, hiking boulder-strewn slopes and scaling icefalls ... and showing the way for those who’ve followed. OCTOBER 2018 9
Presented by GRIVEL
| Hosted by the MAZAMAS
Plan to join us for the 6th Annual Portland Alpine Fest! We have a great lineup planned with something to suit everyone who loves to play in the mountains!
SCOTT BENNETT
NOV. 16: The SUMMIT: An Evening of Inspiration with Quinn Brett, Alan Rousseau, and Libby Sauter. It’s the biggest party of the week! Get decked out in your finest non-climbing gear and head out to the newly remodeled Melody Center for an evening of friends, fun, and inspiration. The evening will feature presentations from our headliners, as well as plenty of social time, huge raffle buckets with amazing gear from our sponsors, vendor fair, tasty food & drinks, and more! ARI NOVAK
DAWN GLANC ALAN ROUSSEAU Presented by
NOV. 17: 13th Annual PORTLAND ICE COMP at Planet Granite. Put your skills to the test on the walls or come out to enjoy the fun! We move to an afternoon format this year. The day will feature a great comp, social time, snacks & drinks, raffle buckets, and more. ALL WEEK: EVENING EVENTS including two movie nights and three speakers. There are 5 different evening events to choose from during the festival. Each evening event will include a bucketed raffle and golden ticket raffle with great prizes up for grabs from our sponsors. ALL WEEK: CLINICS offer 3-hour, hands-on sessions with an athlete. Clinics are limited to 8–12 people to maximize your instructional time with the athlete. ALL WEEK: SEMINARS are 3 hours and are lecture-style with a larger group with an athlete.
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MARCUS GARCIA
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Portland Alpine Fest
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PAF Schedule
Get tickets now at:
portlandalpinefest.org
MONDAY, NOV. 12 ADVENTURE FILM FEST ▶▶ 6:30–9 p.m. at Lucky Lab NW with REI
REI’s passion for the outdoors runs deep and we are kicking off PAF with inspiring outdoor adventure through film. Films will include I Am Here, featuring Yesenia who grew up in the apple orchards of Hood River; How to Run 100 Miles, Trail Angel and more. Join us as we share stories of adventure and inspiration that are changing the narrative of what it means to push limits, challenge assumptions and break barriers. Film: I Am Here
TUESDAY, NOV. 13 GOING DEEP: AN EVENING WITH NWAC ▶▶ 7–9:30 p.m. at Mountain Shop with NWAC
What’s the difference between high and considerable avalanche ratings? How can I apply the NWAC forecast to the slope I want to ski? How long should I wait after a storm before I ski? If you’ve ever asked yourself these questions—or any others about avalanches–come join us for an evening with our forecasters, field observers, and staff to hear how it all works. The first half of the evening will be a lecture focusing on how to make the most of the NWAC avalanche forecast. The second half will be a casual question-and-answer session. Please bring any and all questions about NWAC forecasts; how to use the forecasts; and questions about avalanches themselves.The evening is a fundraiser for NWAC. C’mon out and help us keep NWAC operating for the year!
EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED ▶▶ 7–9:30 p.m. at Base Camp Brewing Company with Yassine Diboun
When you take on long distance races and adventures, there’s no telling what the result might be. Not only are you training your body to go the distance, but you are training your mind as well—to keep plowing forward, but also to know if and when to stop. Join ultra runner Yassine Diboun of Wy’east Wolfpack, as he talks about his last year in running, where he tackled three of the hardest 100-milers in less than 12 months: UTMB, HURT 100, and Badwater 135.
Yassine Diboun. Photo: Trail Junkie Photos.
PAF Schedule Continues OCTOBER 2018 11
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 14 ▶▶ Fast & Light Alpinism (Clinic): 8 a.m.–4 p.m. at MMC with Scott Bennett, Libby Sauter, and Quinn Brett.
NO PICNIC ON MT. KENYA ▶▶ 6:30–9 p.m. at MMC. Speaker: Ally Imbody
The Mt. Kenya massif is the world’s second highest monolith at 17,057 feet, containing many spires and sub-peaks with sheer rock, awesome exposure, and other-worldly scenery. Because of the technical difficulty and its status as only the second-highest African summit, it sees a fraction of the ascents of Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro. The first successful climb was completed in 1899, but perhaps most famously, in 1943 Italian P.O.W.s Felice Benuzzi, Giovanni Balletto, and Enzo Barsotti, obsessed with Mount Kenya’s hypnotizing beauty, snuck out of their wartime internment camp to attempt to climb the West Ridge without any technical gear, food, or beta, and then sneak *back* into the camp, just for a chance to stand on it’s summit. Benuzzi memorialized their fascinating story in the book, No Picnic on Mount Kenya. To commemorate the 75th anniversary of this inspiring attempt, as well as to document how the once common, now extremely rare snow and ice lines and equatorial glaciers of Mt. Kenya are receding at an exponential rate, Ally Imbody set out supported by a Mazamas Monty Smith Expedition Grant to climb to the true summit of Mt. Kenya’s Batian Peak. Her two week expedition included a circumnavigation of the massif to climb the North Face Route, a traditional alpine line that includes approximately twenty-three pitches of simul-climbing up to East African Grade V (YDS 5.9). While not the highest, longest, or most technically difficult climb that Ally and her partner had successfully completed, the combination of these factors represented a significant progression of skills for them both.
THURSDAY, NOV. 15 ▶▶ Fast & Light Alpinism (Clinic): 8 a.m.–4 p.m. at Beacon Rock with Scott Bennett
▶▶ Navigation (Seminar): 1–4 p.m. at MMC-MR3 with Alan Rousseau
▶▶ Intro to Ice & Mixed Climbing (Women) (Clinic): 8–11 a.m. at MMC with Dawn Glanc
▶▶ Multi-Pitch Efficiency (Clinic): 1–4 p.m. at Planet Granite with TBD
▶▶ Crack Climbing (Clinic): 8–11 a.m. at Planet Granite with John Barkhausen ▶▶ Good Enough Anchors (Clinic): 8–11 a.m. at The Source with Marcus Garcia ▶▶ Intermediate / Advanced Ice & Mixed Climbing (Clinic): 1–4 p.m. at MMC with Dawn Glanc
▶▶ Movement (Clinic): 1–4 p.m. at The Source with Marcus Garcia ▶▶ Rigging for Photos (Clinic): 6–9 p.m. at MMC with Marcus Garcia
MICHIGAN ICE: FILM NIGHT ▶▶ 7–9 p.m. at Patagonia Portland
Join us for a night of climbing stoke as we explore ice in a lesser known area of the US—the Upper Peninsula. The Michigan Ice Film pulls back the curtain on one of the world’s most overlooked climbing destinations: the frozen cliffs of Lake Superior on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The film explores the world class climbing available in this unlikely location with athletes like Conrad Anker, Sam Elias, and PAF18 athlete Dawn Glanc, but goes beyond the climbing genre to take viewers on a cultural tour of the rural upper Midwest with an ice fishing pastor and a fur-cloaked singer songwriter snowmobile guide. (Run time: 1 hour and 11 minutes). The evening will include drinks, snacks, and a raffle with amazing prizes from our sponsors.
Get PAF tickets now at:
portlandalpinefest.org 12 MAZAMAS
FRIDAY, NOV. 16
THE SUMMIT: AN EVENING OF INSPIRATION with Quinn Brett, Alan
Rousseau, and Libby Sauter
▶▶6:30–11 p.m. at the Melody Center
T
he Summit is the night where our mountain community comes together to celebrate everything we love about the outdoors. Don your finest non-climbing gear, and head on out to the newly remodeled Melody Center, for an evening with your friends for fun, food, and tales of inspiration and adventure. Our night will feature stories of courage in the face of adversity, first ascents, pushing boundaries, and more as we hear from our two keynote speakers of the evening. Hear from Quinn Brett & Libby Sauter on what it means to be inspired, and Alan Rousseau on what the life of a mountain guide is really like. There will be a bucketed raffle, where you get to choose the items you hope to take home with you! Raffle items will include hard goods such as ice axes, trekking poles, stoves, along with soft goods such as jackets, boots, packs, and base layers. We’ll also bring back the popular Golden Ticket raffle that was launched last year, that features BIG prizes and a limited number of entries.
▶▶ Intro to Ice & Mixed Climbing (Clinic): 8–11 a.m. at MMC with Dawn Glanc ▶▶ Ice Anchors (Seminar): 8–11 a.m. at MMC-MR3 with Ari Novak ▶▶ Better Crack Climbing (Clinic): 8–11 a.m. at Planet Granite with Marcus Garcia ▶▶ Multi-Pitch Efficiency (Clinic): 8–11 a.m. at The Source with Alan Rousseau ▶▶ Intro to Ice & Mixed Climbing (Clinic): 1–4 p.m. at MMC with Ari Novak ▶▶ (Tentative) Stewardship & Advocacy Workshop: 9 a.m.– noon with Quinn Brett & Libby Sauter, moderated by Adam Baylor.
SATURDAY, NOV. 17 ▶▶ Intro to Ice & Mixed Climbing (Clinic): 8–11 a.m. at MMC with Scott Bennett ▶▶ Chamonix Planning (Seminar): 8–11 a.m. at MMC-MR3 with Alan Rousseau ▶▶ Women’s Techniques (Clinic): 8–11 a.m. at Planet Granite with Dawn Glanc ▶▶ Lead Climbing (Clinic): 8–11 a.m. at The Source with John Barkhausen
PORTLAND ICE COMP ▶▶ 3–9 p.m. at Planet Granite
Are you ready? There is tons of fun to be had by all of you who come out to spectate and cheer on the competitors. This event is a fundraiser for Friends of Hyalite. With your help, we can help plow the road at Hyalite Canyon to keep the climbing available for all! The event will include a raffle, prizes, food carts, and amazing climbing. There will be a food cart onsite so you’ll be able to keep fueled while enjoying the comp. We’ll also have drinks & snacks available in the venue.
SUNDAY, NOV. 18 ▶▶ High Angle Rescue (Clinic): 8–11 a.m. at MMC with Alan Rousseau ▶▶ Lead Climbing (Clinic): 8–11 a.m. at The Source with John Barkhausen ▶▶ Intro to Big Wall Climbing (Clinic): NOON–6 p.m. at MMC with Scott Bennett Right: Portland Ice Comp 2017. Photo: Nicole Wasko
OCTOBER 2018 13
PAFlete: Quinn Brett Let’s start with some easy questions to warm-up: burritos or tacos? Depends. Am I in the mood for eggs wrapped up or am I in the mood for openfaced fish? That sounds unintentionally kinky. HA! Would you rather be buried under pile of puppies or kittens, and why? Kittens? Yes, question mark. I think cats do a better job of cleaning themselves, so maybe less chance of poo in the face. Climbing knickers. Defend them or ridicule them. Wear them with class and style and pride, unless its an off-width then whine about how my ankles will get shredded. Alright. Let’s get down the nitty-gritty. Our theme for the series of interviews is the future of climbing and where each of the athletes thinks that the future lies. So...Talk about your vision for America’s public lands. Obviously they are necessary for all Americans, but for climbers, the issue is particularly salient. What are your hopes, dreams, fears? My hope is that climbers trend a more selfless habit of giving back. I know we all want/need to get our fix outside but it is equally important to look further than the next project. Enlighten yourself with the how and why these lands were set aside. Share your experiences with others about these spaces but also invite others to experience them...infecting them with the same bug, with hopes that they will continue to be, yes used, but more importantly preserved and untrammeled. For many of our readers, your fall on El Cap in October of 2017 is the primary way you are known. So I think that it is worth addressing in a few ways. Until the modern era, there was the maxim, “The leader shall not fall”, and then for a long time, the leader whipped at will. As climbing is being pushed into new frontiers, that statement has become true again, at least as an overarching
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principle, as climbers seek to move faster over the same terrain. Talk about your perspective on this issue. As I learned to climb, I worked my way through the grades....trying to do every climb without a fall, usually first try. I didn’t like falling and I don’t think I had my trad. leader fall until I was well into climbing 5.10’s and testing the 5.11 waters. Even sport climbing, I was timid, scared of falling. I think falling, like climbing, should be practiced. Obviously, falling on certain terrain or using certain tactics, is less than ideal...but then again, accidents happen. Your recovery seems to be teaching you about grit and hope and patience. Compare these lessons to those that you have learned on some of your hardest or scariest climbs. Patience. Ha. Yup. I sucked at projecting climbs, I didn’t start gaining interest of enough patience to do so until the last few years. Inevitably, I would cry during the project process pin-pointing the one move that was shutting me down. Negative thoughts of, “I can’t, I will never make that move.” With patience and continued effort, eventually the move would unlock and the climb would relinquish her difficulties, sometimes the send would feel oddly effortless! I can’t wait for the day to arrive, and gosh I hope it comes, when I feel that effortless feeling regarding my mind and this seemingly permanent sitting position, also for nerve pain relinquishing to peace. Any time a climber is injured while climbing, there is inevitably a chorus of voices who speak out against the perceived stupidity of the actions undertaken at the time. How can this conversation be moved forward so that the real issues are framed in a more productive way and that a true dialogue is achieved?
These questions are difficult to answer. Personality and opinions are a part of life. If we all would just take a deep breath, remembering patience perhaps we would all have better success at responding instead of reacting. I think if we are compassionate with our time, even just a single moment, we give space to remember that we are all flawed. We all make mistakes. Accidents happen. Lastly, we need to address the elephant in the room. Talk about your handstands. Are they just a metaphor for your life, or am I misreading them? Handstands? Get upside down, change your perspective. Having trouble focusing, stuck in a rut, memory failing, trouble finding your balance (literally or figuratively), need a minute to breathe or are you always in control afraid to be vulnerable? Practice more inversions in your life.
QUINN’S PAF SCHEDULE Fast & Light Alpinism: Clinic (Nov. 14) The Summit (Nov. 16) (Tentative) Stewardship & (Nov. 16)
PAFlete: Alan Rousseau
B
efore Alan Rousseau disappeared into the mountains for a month-long trip, he was kind enough to spend a few precious minutes in Ladakh responding to some questions via email. Our exchange is below: First, you were given the 2013 Lyman Spitzer Cutting Edge Award. Please explain what that award is and how it came to influence your climbing. The Lyman Spitzer award was the old name for the AAC cutting edge award. This is a grant that funds climbers for expeditions that are attempting to push the modern standard in alpine climbing. In 2013 Tino Villaneuva and I received this grant to try the west face of Tengi Ragi Tau in the Rolwaling valley of Nepal. This is a huge fin-like mountain that is nearly 7000 meters tall. We walked below it the year before while nabbing the first ascent of Langmoche Ri (6611m) in a seven day push from the village of Na. Getting the grant made it possible for us to return to the Rolwaling. It was our first experience trying to solve a puzzle of this scale. We were turned around real high up on the face, about 1000 feet below the summit. We could not find a spot to sleep without subjecting ourselves to serious objective hazards. We rappelled 6,000 feet in 8 hours to get off the face only leaving 40 feet of cord and a few stoppers. After this experience I took a couple years off from climbing in Asia, not because it was a bad experience, but because I saw the gap in where my climbing was, and where I wanted it to be to set myself up for success on these big commiting features. Last year in 2017, Tino and I returned to the Himalayas and completed the first peak ascent of Rungafarka (6495m) via the 50-pitch north ridge (VI M6 A0 WI4+). Second, you were given the 2018 AAC Cutting Edge Award. Please explain what that award is and how that also influenced your climbing. It’s a bit too early to say how it influenced my climbing as I am in India now about to head on the expedition we received the funding for. It feels like we are in a good place, after our success last year,
we are hoping to apply a similar formula to the objective this year. For me getting a grant is a big motivator. I know lots of other people applied, and it makes me want to do everything in my power to be as ready as possible for the objective. I don’t want to feel like I wasted an opportunity. Third, as someone who is clearly at the front of the pack in terms of changing climbing, where do you see the new frontiers of climbing being? This is an interesting question largely because I don’t see the climbing I’m doing as changing the sport. I have always aspired to be a well-rounded technical climber, to apply a diversity of skills into completing large alpine objectives. As a result I’m not leading the sport in any single technical aspect. My hardest redpoints are 5.13 and M10. I see kids warming up on these grades! My only reasons for success have been 1) I try really hard, and 2) mentally I have been able to climb near my limit in the alpine. I’m just taking a relatively moderate skill set and applying it to big terrain. Perhaps that means I’m one of the people changing the modern culture of alpinism. However, I see the future of alpinism in the climbing gym. When I see a 15-year-old kid tie in, casually talk about who has a crush on who, while floating 5.13, it makes me think there will be very little aid climbing done in the future. The hardest traditional ground up routes completed in the alpine from
a technical standpoint are easy for most adept young guns. With a reduction in aid comes a faster ascent. The end result is a bigger route completed with a smaller kit required. Fourth, as climbing is moving forward into new ways of thinking about what climbing could become, in your mind, is there any danger that we are losing something, maybe a connection to the past? In your own experiences, what is that link between the past and the future of climbing? On this I have somewhat of a limited perspective. I’m 32 years old and my introduction to climbing was only 15 years ago. I don’t think there is much of a danger in losing the past. I think there will always be respect and intrigue for what each generation accomplished with the equipment available at the time. Skill sets will evolve, equipment will adapt, but at the end of the day the goal remains unchanged: climb the hardest thing you can and get down safe. As long as people OCTOBER 2018 15
Alan Rousseau cooking in the tent. Photo: Tito Villanueva
remember what was done to get the sport to where it is today, I believe the connection to the past will remain strong. Fifth, talk a little about the role that technology impacts your climbing. With the advent of social media, the proliferation of beta, and the continual evolution of the equipment itself, what do you see to be the general trajectory of the sport? Even when I started climbing, I didn’t think technology (other than equipment changing) would play much of a role in climbing. I think the online information sharing is incredibly valuable to the progression of our sport: conditions updates, access issues, new route development, better directions, rack recommendations. I think they are all great. The end result is we all climb more. I know for myself I find enough adventure on route. I don’t need to get lost on the approach and descent to get my fill of uncertainty for the day. Social media is another facet of this realm. A lot of info sharing does happen here as well. As does a spread of stoke and stories (I swear more people like ice climbing in July than January). Stories of climbing have always been told, in one form or another. I hope as social media’s presence continues to shape modern society, climbers continue to tell stories with an emphasis on authenticity, and not ‘how should I frame this to get the most likes’. I think social media presents a very interesting example of intrinsic motivations pitted against the human desire for peer validation. 16 MAZAMAS
Finally, talk about your process. How do you work to create a consistent evolution for your climbing such that it is always progressive. I think I’ve always been good at setting goals and finding out what work I need to do to obtain them. The first time I remember doing this, I wanted to run a sub-seven-minute mile while I was seven years old. I remember my dad working with me on pacing, logging laps on the track, eventually hitting a 6:55 and being totally stoked. I think that has stuck with me. The work you put in is what you get out. I approach my climbing goals with this same mentality, although breaking down an unclimbed face in the Himalayas is a bit more complicated than calculating split times in a mile. I also get bored when things feel stagnant, or like I’m at a plateau. I think this has motivated me to keep pushing my limits, as well as exploring new styles of climbing.
NOW, SOME REALLY “IMPORTANT” QUESTIONS Tacos or burritos. Which one do you prefer and why? Burritos. When it comes to food and drinks, I have always been a quantity over quality kind of guy. Head to toe or head to head sleeping in a tent and why? Head to head. My feet smell waaay too bad.
Name a totally bone-headed mistake you made when climbing. Can you laugh about it now? When I was 19, I climbed Mt. Hood. I forgot my sleeping bag in the car, and at the first break managed to drop my puffy jacket after putting it in a compression sack. It flew down the mountain. That was a cold trip for me. And yes I can laugh about that as well as just about every other “bonehead” move I did at that time. Knickers. They’re old school. Some have tried to bring them back? Defend them or ridicule them! They seem pretty silly to me. Maybe if I were “Portland hip” and could grow a sweet moustache, I would embrace them!
ALAN’S PAF SCHEDULE Navigation: Putting Modern Tools to Work for You (Nov. 15) Multi-Pitch Efficiency (Nov. 16) The Summit: Sisyphean Rotation—The Yearly Cycle of an IFMGA Mountain Guide & Exploratory Alpinist (Nov. 16) Trip Planning: Chamonix & The Alps (Nov. 17) High Angle Rescue (Nov. 18)
PAFlete: Marcus Garcia
I
f you’re looking for the definition of an all-around climber, Marcus Garcia may very well be your man. From an impressive list of more than 200 routes put up all over the USA and Mexico to a spot on the UIAA Youth Commission pushing to bring competitive ice climbing to the Winter Olympic Games, Marcus’ ambitions don’t stop at “simply” projecting a new, difficult line. As his climbing career evolves, he finds himself undertaking a new era of mentorship. In this interview, we get a brief glimpse into the mind of someone whose commitment to the climbing world goes beyond establishing hardcore 5.13 trad routes. Can you put a finger on the moment when you felt the transition from student to mentor happening? Was it one moment or more of a slow transition? The moment I felt the transition from student to mentor was after losing my mentor in a climbing accident. I was ready to quit climbing altogether. After mourning the loss, a friend asked me to climb a big ice route. I was off the couch and had not swung a tool in a while. That year, the first pitch was steep, really steep. I chose to start the route. Soon, I found myself pumped and run out. Too steep to stop and place an ice screw. So I calmed myself down and remembered what my late mentor taught me: “Enjoy the movement.” I just focused on the climbing and topped the pitch. At that moment, I realized I have something to teach others, just as I was taught myself. You’ve put a lot of emphasis on mentorship and coaching. There are plenty of excellent, world-class climbers out there that never take the leap from student to mentor. Why do you think that is? To be a mentor for some means putting aside personal goals as a climber and focusing on helping others achieve their goals. I feel this scares most climbers, as climbing in itself is a selfish sport when you look at it as a whole. Mentoring is a lot of work and a lot of challenges. It takes a lot of dedication to be a good mentor and some world-class climbers are just not ready to let go of their goals. Nothing
wrong with that, it is just not their time. I was there and now I have learned to balance my goals and blend them into how I mentor others. What is your personal drive to offer mentorship to younger, up-andcoming climbers? Why is it important? Over the years, balancing my goals and mentoring had to become one. My goals became what I learned by watching the mentees grow into their full potential, not only as a climber but as a young human being. Along the way, I realized I, too, am still the student. As the years go by, I am still learning how to be a great mentor. Everyone I encounter is different in learning how to climb. What is important to me is watching the growth of an individual. This can be during a 4-hour clinic or it can be watching one of the youth members graduate from high school, travel overseas, and become their own person. To me, that is the most rewarding feeling a mentor can have.
How is the bid to bring climbing to the Winter Olympics coming along anyway? What are the next steps to continue to bring the sport to the ultimate world stage? Unfortunately, the 2018 Winter Olympics in Korea did not choose to host an ice climbing exhibition during the games. The next steps are to grow the sport here in the USA and focus on the youth side of it, as I do, because they are the future of the sport. We need more US support from brands and the climbing community. We need to put on more ice climbing competitions that showcase the physical challenges of this sport and educate the climbing community to take time and teach it to people.
OCTOBER 2018 17
You’ve put up numerous routes during your long career as a climber that involve using all sorts of equipment. During this time, you must have seen trends in climbing gear come and go. What are some of the pieces of equipment or methods you are glad did not stand the test of time? What about old technology or methods that have been used for decades and are still around today that you find yourself using over and over again? As far as ice climbing, the days of the straight shaft ice tool are gone. They were notorious for the bashing of knuckles. Also, the ridiculous forearm pump you got came from from holding onto the slippery handles with a strap around your wrist that restricted the much needed warm blood flow. Even with all the latest training techniques around, nothing beats the good old basic dead hang. And focus on good technique. Footwear has changed but it does not replace good footwork or understanding how to climb using the least amount of energy. How do you find the balance between devoting time to mentorship and still pursuing your own personal climbing endeavors? There lies the most challenging quest. My time between teaching others and still pursuing my own visions has been merged into the same goal. My goal is to be a great mentor and if I get to go out and chase my own objectives from time to time, then that is a bonus. To do this I had to develop a workout that keeps me in top form so that when I do get out, I am ready. That is easier said than done. But having a great climbing partner and the kids I coach keep me motivated. Now that you’ve begun this “master” stage of your life (as opposed to student), what do you envision for your future? Is there another step beyond mastery or mentorship? Over the years, I have been asked if I would write a book. I really never thought of being a writer. This year I took the next step and began writing and putting together about 20 years of research copied in journals into the computer. I wrote a little workout for Rock and Ice and loved the process. So now to find the time. Early 18 MAZAMAS
mornings and dedication, just like I would if I am training for a goal, have become the norm. Looking backward, what do you feel is your most significant achievement (either as a climber or as a mentor)? Looking forward, what is the thing you most hope to accomplish? Looking back over the years, I find myself thinking about the times I have helped other world-class climbers achieve their goals while at the same time helping young, up-and-coming climbers find their own path. In 2017, I was able to achieve some of my biggest achievements as a climber. One was helping a strong Chelsea Rude find herself in trad climbing. Then, during the same week, establishing a FFA in Yosemite, a place that has been a stepping stone for many climbers. But to be able to leave my own mark in a place that had done a lot for me is a highlight. This was only to be topped a few days later by free climbing a big wall as a mentor, photographer, and climber in a day with Jon Cardwell and Sasha Digiulian. Leaving the valley after giving back to the climbing community will be one of my favorite times. What I hope to accomplish now is to watch my protégé chase their vision as a young climber. And the question that I ask everyone: What is the one food that you crave the most after a few long days in the mountains? Over the years, for some reason the food I crave most is Thai noodles covered in peanut sauce washed down with Thai iced tea without ice. Yes, without ice. Funny, I do not like ice in my drinks, nor do I like plain chocolate.
MARCUS’ PAF SCHEDULE Good Enough Anchors (Nov. 15) Movement Efficiency (Nov. 15) Rigging for Photos (Nov. 15) Better Crack Climbing (Nov. 16)
PAFlete: Ari Novak What’s the future of ice climbing? Are you seeing the sport changing, growing? I think that the sport will become less “fringe.” It’s really small compared to winter sports and even compared to rock climbing, but I think if we work to be inclusive, the sport will really grow. And that’s a good thing. The more people who enjoy the mountains and appreciate them, the more people will treasure them and take care of the environment. Are there any new, up and coming areas you think people should consider checking out? Yeah! There’s more ice than people expect. I happen to be in Minneapolis right now and I’ve found ice all over the banks of the rivers here. Some of it gets climbed and a lot of it doesn’t. I find ice in very wild, far-off places: I’m going to central Asia to explore and find new ice out there. Whether it’s super-distant like India, or something more urban, if you hunt for the ice in the winter time, you might find it in unexpected places. So instead of more traditional venues like Hyalite Canyon, new climbing could really be anywhere. Scott Adamson was a real adventurer. He would go look for ice in places like Zion Canyon where people would only think there were deserts, but suddenly he was finding it there. You know I love climbing at Hyalite; there are amazing, beautiful routes in Montana to do, and all over the more remote mountains in the West, but if you take that adventure spirit to bigger population centers like Chicago or other cold cities, there’s a place for ice climbing where ever people are. We just need some more imagination.
Unfortunately, any conversation about winter sports these days eventually winds up at global warming. Are you noticing the effects of climate change? Yeah, a hundred percent. Well, you know, there are still really, really cold days in the West. But I’d say we’re seeing fewer bitterly cold days in southwest Montana. On average you’re basically seeing about a month reduction in the season. So climate change is definitely affecting ice climbing as a sport. I think that’s another great reason to get people involved, because then people will have a stake in it. If climate change affects this thing they’re doing, and it’s not just something distant affecting penguins, and they might change the way they’re living. So I think that ice climbing has an important role in that bigger conversation. So as the environment changes, are you having to adjust your technique? The way you climb ice is always going to be a day-to-day thing—one day you go out to a climb and it acts one way, and you go out two days later and the temperature’s dropped or warmed up, and it’s going to react differently. That’s what makes it a really cool art form. I think the more the climate changes, the more you’re going to have to adapt and be used to brutal cold and then suddenly sticky and wet and that changes the gear you use and your boots and how you layer. Ice climbing is getting more popular, but it’s still a pretty specialized skill. Are ice climbing teachers ready for more students? I mentored a bunch of kids out of the Upper Peninsula in Michigan and their stoke and excitement gets me pumped up. I think that teaching makes me a better ice climber. The way ice climbing is taught, it’s usually pro athletes going to a festival and teaching. Some are really into it, and some do it because they have to. I think if more people are excited about the education of climbers, you’re going to see a better, richer community and people are going to be safer. When I teach my students up in Michigan, I’m trying to mentor mentors: I’m trying to teach them
to mentor others so that their mindset going into the sport is through that prism. And that’s an important focus, because if ice climbing is just about getting a sweet shot on Instagram and pumping up your ego, we’re not going to see really strong communities. Do think ice climbing will make it into the Olympics one day? Probably. I have entered climb competitions and been successful in them, but for me competition climbing takes something away from it—and that’s just me, it’s not a knock on people who enjoy competition climbing. I do think it will end up in the Olympics, and that’s cool for climbing as a whole. Rock climbing is in the Olympics, but if you look at that, they’re on plastic and it’s kind of a contrived set up, the way they’re competing. So it will probably be a growth process, and perhaps with some growing pains, but it would be really nice to see it on a bigger stage and recognized. What’s in your climbing future? I’m really excited I’m going to the Spiti Valley in India to do an expedition looking to score some new ice lines in the high altitude trans-Himalayan desert—kind of like Cody, Wyoming, but in the Himalaya—it looks just incredible. They are putting together India’s first ice festival. So I have an opportunity not just to climb and pursue my own endeavors but also do some teaching out there. We’re bringing a big cache of gear to help out the communities that live around that ice, so they can do more than just watch foreigners climb. We can actually empower them to get up on the ice and do it safely and give them some of the tools to accomplish that.
Anything else you’d like Mazama Bulletin readers to know about? I’m super-grateful to the Mazamas for the work that you all do to support people going out in the mountains, and doing it safely and responsibly. I’ve been a fan of your work from afar, so I’m stoked to be at Alpine Fest and meet some new people and have some fun!
ARI’S PAF SCHEDULE Ice Anchors Seminar (Nov. 16) Intro to Ice & Mixed Climbing (Nov. 16) OCTOBER 2018 19
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TRIP REPORT: CATHEDRAL PEAK & CLIMBER STEWARDS IN YOSEMITE by Adam Baylor, Mazamas Stewardship & Advocacy Manager
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tep by step through the forest, a type of silent meditation, I watched my thoughts come and go but one remained poignant—the legend of John Muir, for many people, is a faint and murmured hymn just as fleeting as Yosemite’s glaciers. Do people think about Muir when they visit Yosemite? Why or why not? And do they know about the glaciers that once capped the High Sierras? Both Muir and glaciers are vanishing.
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Such concepts were juxtaposed in my mind but more relevant thoughts took hold such as trying to not fall into horse crap while hiking along the John Muir Trail (JMT). The elevation and lack of oxygen at that point had me feeling like a strange, red-throated sloth-hermit crab hauling loads of gear and tools into the Wilderness. I was in a conga line of 14 other climber stewards headed for Upper Cathedral Lake (9,585 feet) to perform four days of trail work. This trek was part of the 6th annual Mazamas Climber Steward trip to Yosemite’s Tuolumne Meadows including parts of the High Sierras. We were there to help restore climber trails eroded by overuse due to the popularity of rock climbing in the Park. The team’s destination and trail project was the “climber’s descent trail” along the east flanks of Cathedral Peak (10, 916 ft.); the famous summit that was first climbed by Muir on September 7, 1869. Coincidentally, it was on September 6, 2018 that we departed Tuolumne Meadows via the JMT to set up basecamp for four days. Our plan, simple yet heavy, was to carry food, water & filters, shelter, climbing gear and trail tools for 3.5 miles to the alpine lake. It’s worth noting that each climber steward was responsible for proper human-waste disposal in accordance with leave-no-trace backpacker ethics. Once we arrived at Upper Cathedral Lake, we set up camp and
then hiked another mile to the work site, scouted the project, commenced a bit of rock work and then cached the tools for the next morning. Temperatures dropped a few degrees below freezing each night but the rugged group of Mazamas including two Park Rangers and one Yosemite Trail Crew member enjoyed the alpine air with its hoarfrost sprinkled about the lake’s meadow flora each morning. We seemed to thaw back to life as the range of light increased slowly with sunrise eventually warming the camp and creating a listlessness before work. For four days, the 2018 Mazamas Climber Steward group took things to another level in terms of trail crew work. Our non-recreational visit was very different from other volunteer groups in Yosemite and trail crew workers. It is not typical that a group of volunteers or paid staff spike camp and work in the backcountry for four days, carrying all supplies and tools and operating on a high-angle, high-elevation work site. Park Ranger Cameron King (project leader with the Climber Steward program) commented that such a difficult project was only possible because Yosemite National Park staff trusts the Mazamas to show up and contribute stellar work on popular climber trails. The fragile alpine environment where the Cathedral Peak nunatak (an isolated mountain peak that once projected
through a continental ice sheet or an Alpine-type ice cap) is located is resilient but not without limits. That’s why a wellworn trail with clear delineation and all-seasons, rock-stairs construction can help reduce the impact from climbers and hikers. Our project was approved by Yosemite National Park and is currently unfinished. As we concluded our final day of work, we looked at sections of trail that were uncompleted and eroded. The Mazamas Climber Stewards have plenty of trail tending and construction to do in this area of Yosemite. And while we may not remember exactly who John Muir was and why he climbed high in the Sierras and we may not think about climate change and melting glaciers, one thing is certain; climbing impacts continue to increase in fragile ecosystems due to the popularity of the sport and the efforts of the Mazamas can make a big difference toward a more sustainable recreation program for our favorite climbing areas.
Left page: Trail work in Yosemite during the 2018 Yosemite Trail Stewards week. Above: Retreat of the Lyell Glacier from 1883 to 2015.
OCTOBER 2018 23
ADVENTUROUS YOUNG MAZAMAS (AYM) Activities for those in their 20s & 30s or anyone young at heart. Check the website at mazamas.org/AYM and the AYM Meetup page frequently for the most up to date schedule. All trips are $2 for members/$4 for nonmembers unless otherwise noted. Want to be featured on the AYM Instagram account? Tag @aympdx in your photos of Mazama adventures! MONTHLY EVENTS ▶▶ AYM Committee Meeting is on Monday, Oct. 22, 6:30 p.m., at the MMC ▶▶ Pub Night: Date TBD, check mazamas.org for updates! ▶▶ Climb Night: Wednesday, Oct. 3, 6:30 p.m. at Planet Granite
You can now find and sign up for all AYM hikes/backpacking trips on our website at mazamas.org/ AYM. Create your account (get all the details at mazamas.org/ gettingstarted), click on activity, and sign up! It’s quick and easy, and you’ll be able to track all of your Mazama activities in one place.
MONTHLY HIKE LEADER FIRST AID CLASSES TO RESUME
LABOR DAY WEEKEND WITH THE ADVENTUROUS YOUNG MAZAMAS About 30 Adventurous Young Mazamas gathered at Deer Flat Campground on Southern Oregon’s Umpqua River for our annual Labor Day campout, chaired by Mike Kacmar. Mike along with leaders Reena Clements, Taylor Courier, Sweeney Grabin, David Grabin, Keith Dechant, Krista Collins, and Sandor Lau led hikes to Crater Lake, Mt. Bailey, Cowhorn Mountain, Umpqua Hot Springs and the North Umpqua River.
24 MAZAMAS
On behalf of AYM and Trail Trips, we are pleased to announce that Hike Leader First Aid classes will be offered monthly at Mazamas. These classes are targeted specifically to hike leaders and will cover specific wilderness-based scenarios and considerations. Registration priority will be given to current Mazama hike leaders who need to renew their certification, but classes are also open to anyone in the process of becoming a hike leader who needs to be certified. Certification is through the American Heart Association, and classes will include both CPR and First Aid training to meet current AYM and Trail Trips requirements for leading hikes. Class format is “blended learning,” where participants will do the coursework online, at their own pace, at home, and then come into Mazamas for a 2-3 hour review and skills test. Please contact Reena Clements, AYM Chair and Course Instructor, at aym@mazamas.org with any questions. Our next class offering will be on October 9 with future dates TBA on the website.
MAZAMAS: PAST & FUTURE
T
he Mazamas’ legacy is one of shared love of mountaineering, mountain exploration, stewardship, research, access, and a commitment to educate others how to recreate responsibly in the mountains. On July 19, 1894, on the summit of our home mountain, 105 intrepid climbers signed on as charter members of the Mazamas. The past 124 years have seen countless summits, expeditions near and far, intense conservation efforts, and the education of thousands of outdoor recreationists in mountaineering, rock climbing, ice climbing, backpacking, first aid, and much more. Over our expansive history, the Mazamas has undergone changes. Changes related to programs, committees, leadership, membership, mission statements, vision, and even our headquarters. At times these changes have been intentional; conceived and implemented by individuals looking holistically at the entire organization. On other occasions the changes have been arbitrary or less intentional. When the Mazamas had a limited number of programs and participants, this less intentional change was manageable. In fact, it often led to wonderful programs and experiences for members. But just as frequently it led to a lack of consistency and quality in our programming, a lack of activity opportunities, as well as intense interpersonal conflict, a lack of inclusivity, and issues with poor behavior. These issues are not new. The organization has attempted to deal with them over the years, with limited success. After much review, the Executive Council determined that our organizational structure was keeping us siloed, helping perpetuate the challenges with which we have long struggled, and holding us back from achieving our mission and vision. It is our responsibility as the current generation of Mazama leadership to ensure that our organization continues to thrive and be a part of this new and complex world. We face a very real threat of losing relevance in an area where we used to be the leaders—mountain education, mountaineering knowledge, and mountaineering opportunities. We are also facing significant environmental and policy threats, including changes to organizational liability, new permitting systems in almost every area we operate, access to public lands, overcrowding of
once pristine areas, threat of wildfire in areas we operate, and climate change (shrinking glaciers). To effectively meet the challenges of our new world head on, we must adapt. We must update the way we manage our programs, our people, and our strategies and goals. We must look many years down the road to see where we want the Mazamas to go, and start working today to meet that vision. If we fail to act now, we risk the health and relevancy of the Mazamas, as other organizations continue to pop up to meet the needs of our community, while we stay insular, siloed, and out of touch. To that end, the Executive Council adopted a new management structure for the Mazamas in December of 2016. This updated structure was shared with our leadership, committees, and members in a variety of ways over the last 19 months— Mazama Bulletin, direct mail, email, and in person meetings. Today, we reaffirm that structure. As an Executive Council, we are responsible for our organization to stay aligned with its mission and values, to comply with all federal and state laws, to hire our Executive Director, and to provide oversight and guidance to our Executive Director and staff. The Executive Director is in turn charged with the operation of the Mazamas. The Executive Director hires staff, and outlines their goals to align with the organization’s mission. Our staff, along with Executive Council members, leads seven organizational departments and directs the work of committees, volunteers, contractors, and external organizations to achieve the goals set by the Executive Director. Each department leadership team is led by a staff member, supported by two
Executive Council representatives. While external changes are constant, and while we are making progressive changes inside the Mazamas to better serve our members and the community, one thing will and must remain unchanged. The Mazamas was founded and continues forward with a fundamental purpose of inspiring everyone to love and protect the mountains. Whether it’s through community-based outdoor education, advocacy work, or community outreach, our love and care for the mountains will always be at our core. The Mazamas is, and will remain, unique. No other organization or club today can say that it is solely focused on inspiring people to love and protect the mountains. And a big part of what holds us true to this purpose is you, our members. We thank you for the knowledge, passion, dedication, and experience you bring to the Mazamas. We look forward to working with everyone who wants to see the Mazamas be a leader in outdoor education, recreation, access, and advocacy. With your support, we will continue the great legacy of the Mazamas well into the 22nd century. Your 2018 Mazama Council, Chris Kruell, President; Laura Pigion, Vice President; Traci Manning, Secretary; Marty Scott, Treasurer; Keith Campbell, Preston Corless, Jon Jurevic, and Darrell Weston.
OCTOBER 2018 25
e m o c Wel
NEW MAZAMAS
Our new members join a 124year legacy of mountaineering, exploration, stewardship, advocacy, and a love of the outdoors and outdoor recreation. Please give them a warm welcome if you encounter them in a class, activity, or an evening program. We welcome you to our ranks!
MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS Whether you are a lifelong Mazama member, a recent BCEP graduate, reading this Bulletin at your local climbing shop, or somewhere in between, you should make sure you know all of the benefits of Mazama membership. JOIN THE MAZAMAS TODAY! Get all the details on how to become a member of one of the most active mountaineering organizations in the country: mazamas.org/join ▶▶ DISCOUNTED rates on all Mazama activities—climbs, hikes, classes, and outings. ▶▶ This MAGAZINE, filled with articles, photos, activities, and events delivered to your door monthly. ▶▶ DISCOUNTS at local retailers and gyms. ▶▶ Access to MAZAMA LODGE at the base of Mt. Hood. ▶▶ The Mazama Annual, a yearbook of the past year at the Mazamas, including articles, awards, and recognition of our volunteers. ▶▶ Free RESCUE INSURANCE anywhere in the world below 6,000 meters. ▶▶ Full access to the world-class MOUNTAINEERING LIBRARY.
26 MAZAMAS
NEW MEMBERS: 27
Peter Boag, South Sister Nicholas Bottcher, Mt. Baker Jason Boucher, Middle Sister Arwen Bradley , Mt. Hood Shanon Browne, South Sister Thomas Clarke , Mt. Hood Joseph Cornett, Mt. Shasta Sheri Dover, Mt. St Helens Amanda Gellhouse, Mt. Kilimanjaro Frosty Gill, Mt. Shuksan Blake Gundry, South Sister Alice Hellyar, Mt. Adams Chris Hoge, South Sister Amy Krull, Mt. Rainier
Micah Lynn, Mt. Rainier Alex Malozemoff, Mt. St. Helens Jeffrey Mazer, Mt. Adams Forest Mealey, Mt. Shasta Andrew Miller, Middle Sister Ryan Myers, Mt. St Helens Tomoko Nakajima, Mt. Rainier Tricia Pancoast, Mt. St Helens Kebra Rogers, South Sister Anita Risberg, Mt. Rainier Matthew Rollins, South Sister Justin Scherer, Mont Blanc Matthew Schifberg, Mt. Rainier
REINSTATEMENTS: 2
Christopher Boeger (2012) & Jesse Inkpen (2008)
DECEASED: 1
William “Bus” Gibson (1969)
Total Membership as of August 31, 2018—3,527; 2017—3,627
Membership Renewal You can now renew your Mazama membership quickly and easily online! If you are already a user of mazamas.org, simply login and click the Renew button on the top right side of the page. You’ll be walked through the renewal flow. If you haven’t yet created your account, head on over to mazamas.org/gettingstarted to get all the details you will need to finish the process. Once you have created your account, you’ll be able to go through the renewal process. The renewal process will work for anyone who has been a member of the Mazamas (not just current members). So if you login and don’t see the renew option, email us at beta@mazamas.org so we can help you out.
2018 RESEARCH GRANTS
SUCCESSFUL CLIMBERS Aug. 24, Mt. Thielsen, West Ridge/ Standard Route. Leader: Gary D Bishop, Asst. Kristi C. Riedel. David Andrews, Jeremiah Biddle, Laura House, Connie Keller, Shane Lorimer, Meng Lu, Jeannine Rouleau, Marc Rouleau Aug. 24, Middle Sister, Renfrew Glacier/North Ridge. Leader: Rico Micallef, Asst. David Acton. Daven Berg, Juanfran Carceles, Calista Galarneaux, Jeremy Galarneaux, Ian McCluskey, David Rosenbaum Aug. 24, Plummer-Denman, Standard. Leader: Teresa Redman, Asst. Dawn Van Seggen. Bert Berney, Karen De Vera, Keith Dechant, Kristi Hooton, Evan Kelly, Rodny Rodriguez, Teresa Rosa, Brett Taute, Jen Travers Aug. 25, Ingalls Peak, East Ridge of North Peak. Leader: James M Jula, Asst. Tom S Baughman. Suzi Rubino, Brad Wood Aug. 25, Pyramid Peak, Standard. Leader: Richard Bronder, Asst. Dawn Van Seggen. Melissa Crest, Teresa Dalsager, Thomas Eriksen, Marjorie (Margie) Hendryx, Karly Osten, Bill Resley, Andrew Taylor, Kim Taylor, jOaN WaLLace, Christine Yankel Aug. 26, North Sister, South Ridge/ Hayden Glacier. Leader: Long Ong, Asst. Eric Brainich. Michael Austin, Anna Buckley, Daven Berg, Julie Kentosh, Ian McCluskey Aug. 28, Three Fingered Jack, South Ridge. Leader: Andrew M Leaf, Asst. Rico Micallef. Toby Tyler Creelan, Talia Kahn-Kravis, Julie Kentosh, Tomoko Nakajima, Alden Wilson Aug. 31, Liberty Bell, Beckey Route. Leader: Thomas Miller, Asst. Kent Kimball. Kaitlin Rupert, Chaitanya Sathe, Rob Vanneste, Alex Willson
Sept. 1, Three Fingered Jack, South Ridge. Leader: Long Ong, Asst. Daniel J Mick. Scott Auble, Darren Ferris, Jessica Minifie, Kirk Rohrig, Sept. 2, South Sister, Devil’s Lake. Leader: George S Shay, Asst. Stephen M Hirai. Lacey Jones, Rae Lantsberger, Kayla Ondracek, Lowell Owen, Amanda Ryan-Fear, Kevin Swearengin, Lawrence Welsh, Hannah Wentz Sept. 5, Mt. Stuart, West Ridge. Leader: Michael P Levis, Asst. Pushkar Dixit. Linda Man, Noelle Price Sept. 5, Plummer Peak, Standard Route. Leader: Ray G Sheldon, Asst. Larry W Murry. Sarah Bradham, Carol Dickson, D. Keith Dickson, Ed Johnson, Janet Peterson, Kathy Sasso, Michael Sasso Sept. 8, Mt. Washington, North Ridge. Leader: Andrew M Leaf, Asst. Bruce Yatvin. Hana Binder, Toby Contreras, Terrance Harrelson, John Persell, Trey Schutrumpf, Christine Troy Sept. 8, Three Fingered Jack, South Ridge. Leader: Joshua Robert Lockerby, Asst. Darrin N Funk. Kate Evans, Darrin Funk, Kirsten Jacobson, Lacey Jones, Debra Sankovitz, Leslie Shotola, Jun Wang, Lawrence Welsh Sept. 8, Acker Rock, Peregrine Traverse. Leader: Matthew Sundling, Asst. Joshua A Lupkin, Andy A. Nuttbrock, Dian Ott. Charles Blanke, Allison Cherry, Toby Tyler Creelan, Sabrina Hickerson, Elaine Morlock, Tamara Ross, Al Schacher, Lily Xu
Sept. 9, North Sister, South RidgeHayden Glacier. Leader: Jill Kellogg, Asst. Helene A Simon. Scott Auble, Gary Ballou, Elayne Logan Currie, Duncan Hart, Kristofel Simbajon, Nate Zeiler Sept. 9, Mt. Stuart, Cascadian Couloir. Leader: Marc Milobinski, Asst. Amy Graham. Avinash Ananthakrishnan, Anika Friesinger, Matt Gardner, Matt Krueger, Karen Vernier Sept. 9, Acker Rock, Peregrine Traverse. Leader: Matthew Sundling, Asst. Joshua A Lupkin, Andy A. Nuttbrock,. Megan Banker, Jessica Dalton, Jessica Minifie, Andy Phan, Rebecca Ross, Kaitlin Rupert, Kelsey Shaw, Michael Tran, Alex Willson Sept. 13, Mt. St. Helens, Monitor Ridge. Leader: Bill Stein, Asst. Richard F Bronder. Theodore Askwith, Suvi Chisholm, Forest Fogarty, Matt Fogarty Sept. 15, Three Fingered Jack, South Ridge. Leader: Joe (Josie) Crook, Asst. Eric Brainich. Kerra Blakely, Joe Camizzi, Ian McCluskey, Eric Rutz, Thomas Tritz, Brooke Winter Sept. 17, Pinnacle Peak, Reflection Lakes/Standard Route. Leader: Eugene Lewins, Asst. Kristi Hooton, Steven Reid, Kori Rosenstiel, Lynsey Tyler, John Pendleton, Scott Stevenson Sept. 18, Stevens Peak, West Ridge. Leader: Doug Wilson, Asst. Jeff Earll. Lacey Breton, Lowell Owen, Scott Stevenson
Sept. 9, Three Fingered Jack, South Ridge. Leader: Alex Fox, Asst. Trey Schutrumpf. Brittany Eriksson, Marsha Fick, Denara Goble, Paul Kallmann, Oksoon Mora, Kirk Newgard, Gary Riggs, John Sterbis
Errata: There was an error in these two climb listings in the August 2018 Bulletin. This is the correction: June 24, Middle Sister, Hayden Glacier, North Ridge. Leader: Joe Petsche, Asst. Larry R. Buzan. Scott Auble, Jeremiah Biddle, Toby Contreras, Liz A. Crowe, Anna Dearman, James Robert Dearman, Blair A. Grimmer, John Meckel, Robert E Sinnott, Christine Linda Troy.
Aug. 18, Mt. Stuart, West Ridge. Leader: Gary Ballou. Asst.: Amy Brose. Lynny Brown, Joan Wallace.
OCTOBER 2018 27
OREGON WILD ANOTHER MAZAMA CONSERVATION PARTNER
by the Conservation Committee
I
n interviewing Arran Robertson, Communications Manager of Oregon Wild, Tom Bard of the Conservation Committee asked, “ Why do you do the conservation work that you do for Oregon Wild?” She responded, “Ten years ago I was working for Congress. It was pretty dysfunctional (though not as dysfunctional as it is these days) and stressful. To escape the grind of the daily news cycle and unending flow of email, I did what I am sure many of us do: I escaped into the Wilderness. No email, no policy briefings, no constituent meeting logistics. The outdoors was my sanctuary. Working for Oregon Wild, I now have the privilege to defend that opportunity for future generations. I strive to preserve not just those experiences in the backcountry and on public lands, but to be a voice for how our wildlands, wildlife, and waters have a direct impact on us even when we’re away from them.” She also gave the following information about Oregon Wild:
OREGON WILD Founded in 1974 as the Oregon Wilderness Coalition, then Oregon Natural Resource Council, Oregon Wild has worked to protect our state’s most iconic landscapes. While their name has changed throughout the decades, the conservationists at Oregon Wild have always been devoted to the preservation of Oregon’s special places. Working with passionate advocates across the state, Oregon Wild has been instrumental in securing protections for nearly 1.7 million acres of federally designated Wilderness, from the Kalmiopsis in Oregon’s Southwest corner, to the Eagle Cap and Hells Canyon it the far Northeast. Some of Oregon’s most iconic places like the the expansion of the Three Sisters and Opal Creek were Oregon Wild Wilderness campaigns. Unfortunately, Oregon has not added 28 MAZAMAS
any Congressionally designated Wilderness since 2009, when Oregon Wild and the Mazamas, along with other conservation partners, helped secure additional protections on Mount Hood. Those efforts resulted in new or expanded Wilderness designations for scenic canyons along White River, the biologically diverse forests of Fifteenmile Creek, the old-growth forest surrounding Roaring River, and the beautiful whitewater of the East Fork of the Hood River. Since then, Oregon Wild has continued to advocate for remaining potential Wilderness on Mount Hood, a National Recreation Area for the Ochoco National Forest, and an ambitious 500,000 acre proposal to protect the backcountry of Crater Lake National Park and its surrounding roadless forest lands. Beyond federal Wilderness campaigns, Oregon Wild works to defend public lands. This goes far beyond just pushing back against the Bundys and their extremist followers. Of far greater danger are the policies championed by elected politicians, including some here in Oregon, to dismantle environmental protections or sell off public lands. Oregon Wild fought against the sale of the Elliott State Forest, and has worked to defend the CascadeSiskiyou National Monument, which was
targeted by the Trump Administration’s “Monument Review” last year, a process recently released documents have revealed to have been working toward a predetermined outcome. Oregon Wild has also increased pressure at the local level, where many Western Oregon counties have been using public dollars to fund lawsuits and lobbying to strip protections from the CascadeSiskiyou, as well as advocating a return to clearcut and old growth logging in Western Oregon Forests. They were successful in advocating Multnomah County’s withdrawal from anti-public lands efforts earlier this year, and are moving on to highlight other prominent counties like Washington, Clackamas, Lane, and Lincoln that continue to support anti-conservation efforts. Of course, public lands are for everyone, and building a larger, more diverse coalition for their preservation is vital. Oregon Wild leads their own hikes, but also partners with other organizations like Soul River and Vive Northwest to expose new communities to the beauty and importance of public lands. They also offer a training series called the “Oregon Wild Ones” that helps teach political advocacy skills, from letter writing to lobbying. Management is an important aspect
of public lands protection. Through participation in Forest Service collaborative groups across the state, Oregon Wild’s conservationists meet with agency personnel, the logging industry, and other stakeholders to design projects in the forests that protect native wildlife, safeguard clean water, and improve forest health. However, not all differences can be worked out, especially in places where the logging industry and local politicians have worked to marginalize conservation and pro-public lands voices. In those cases, Oregon Wild does not hesitate to litigate, forcing federal agencies to obey their own rules and environmental laws. Oregon Wild has recently added new state advocacy programs as well. They have been heavily involved in the protection of gray wolves in Oregon, and have recently been working to secure additional protections for other imperiled wildlife like the coastal marten and marbled murrelet seabird. In the Coast Range where communities have become increasingly concerned with the impact of Oregon’s lax logging rules, Oregon Wild has been helping organizing grassroots campaigns for modernizing the state’s Forest Practices Act. While Oregon was the first state to institute logging rules decades ago, current practices have fallen far out of date with best available science and the laws of neighboring states when it comes to safeguarding clean drinking water, community health, and storing carbon.
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PROTECTING OUR WILDLANDS Arran continued, “More Oregonians are discovering the value of disconnecting from the wired world and reconnecting with the natural one. Simultaneously, the conservation and recreation movement are endeavoring to make outdoor spaces more inclusive to communities that haven’t traditionally felt welcome there. This gives me hope. Each new person connecting with a special place is another potential advocate for protecting that experience. At every crowded trailhead and in every Instagram post is the seed of a realization: these wild places are pretty cool and we should protect more of them. As recreationists and lovers of wild places, it’s our task to help those new advocates engage with decision makers—by emailing, advocating for good policy, and attending constituent meetings with our Senators and Representatives. It’s hard work, but it will pay off. And maybe we’ll drive a few more Congressional staffers into the Wilderness to realize—hey, there is something to this outdoors stuff after all.”
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP OREGON WILD? Oregon’s wildlands, wildlife, and waters can always use more passionate champions. Oregon Wild sends out regular action alerts and event invites with opportunities to advocate for protecting the things that make Oregon special. There are also opportunities to become volunteer hike leaders and demonstrate to the public the value of public lands and conservation. Their “Oregon Wild Ones” program series is also available for those interested in hands on training on how to engage in public processes, testify before state commissions, and lobby lawmakers. Left page: The author and his collegue, Sarah Cuddy, hiking the Heart of Darkness trail in the Ochoco National Forest.
OCTOBER 2018 29
A WOMEN’S TOUR by Ali Gray
I
’ve spent a lot of time being the only woman in the room, in a tour planning session, or at the top of a rad ski line. Now, I’m taking it one step further and am working toward being the Mazama Ski Mountaineering course’s only (current) female tour leader. I’ve volunteered on tours full of male students. I’ve served on the Ski Mountaineering board and am often the only woman present. I recently spent two days on an incredible leadership training trip with 11 fellow male tour leaders.
Don’t get me wrong—the men I’ve encountered in all aspects of the Ski Mountaineering course are fantastic teachers, ski partners, and friends. Without mentors like Layne Russell and Wei Chiang, I wouldn’t be pursuing being a leader at all. These guys helped me get to where I am today, and encouraged me along the way. 30 MAZAMAS
So now here I am, most of the way through my tour leader development and training. I’ve learned about teaching backcountry ski skills and leading a group. I’ve taken MFA. I’ve purchased an AIAIRE field book ($35, really?), and upped my avalanche knowledge game. But most importantly, this last season I led a group of awesome women on an all-women ski
tour at Mount Saint Helens as part of my provisional leader training. It was AMAZING. These ladies rocked it. One of our students, Carly, is an ace compass navigator and helped explain techniques to her fellow tourers. Rachael, our lone splitboarder, was concerned about the icy runout through the trees. But everyone stepped up and offered
encouragement in a way that just doesn’t happen in a group of guys. Oh, and Rachael did amazingly well on the runout—don’t doubt yourself, girl. Tracy, Hannah, and Carey volunteered as assistants, providing awesome insight about things on and off the mountain, sharing jokes, and smiling all day long. Thanks much, ladies! Getting women out in the mountains together is so important. It builds community and gives our female students and volunteers the opportunity to connect with like-minded women. With the Ski Mountaineering course, we want to create a space where all people in the program feel welcome, no matter their skills or who they are. We want to encourage our femaleidentifying students to come back and volunteer, and maybe even become a tour leader in years to come. We want to make the backcountry as a whole more inclusive.
Experience shows us that women— some women, anyway—struggle to find their voice in groups of men. I know I feel more confident speaking up and sharing my opinions in a group of women. In the backcountry, this can be dangerous—not speaking up about terrain that intimidates us or conditions that seem unsafe can help lead the whole group into bad situations. In contrast, I think being in a group of women creates an atmosphere of honesty and openness, where everyone’s physical and emotional needs are more easily met. In women-only or women-majority groups, we feel less pressure to prove ourselves as being “one of the guys,” and spend less time doubting our capabilities in the presence of more outspoken men. I think our tour was a resounding success, and as far as I know the other women involved agree. I hope the tour
created a space where all of us could be ourselves, and just go out in the mountains and have fun. I know I had tons of fun. Here’s to this year’s upcoming ski and Mazama Ski Mountaineering season—see you out there!
Get details on the Ski Mountaineering 2019 class on page 4 or at mazamas. org/skimountaineering
Left main: The 2018 Ski Mountaineering women’s tour at Mt. St. Helens. Left to right: Carly Verboort, Hannah Dondy-Kaplan, Tracy Andrews, Rachael Pike, Ali Gray, Carey Otto. Photo: Alexandra Lev. Inset: Ali near the summit of Mt. St. Helens on her first tour after completing the class in 2016. Photo: Andy Veenstra.
OCTOBER 2018 31
Saying Goodbye
PAUL TOENJES
CHARLES W. ROSENTHAL
1925–2018
1928–2018
Mazama life member Paul Toenjes passed away on September 4, 2018, at the age of 93. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon he attended Reed College for two years before serving in the US Navy during WWII. After the war, he had a 27-year career that he loved as a US Postal Carrier. Paul went through climb school and joined the Mazamas in 1954 after summiting Mt Hood. He served on the Lodge Committee between 1958-1960. During his time on the committee the log lodge burned down and the current Mazama Lodges was built. In 1963 he met his wife Marilyn at Mazama Lodge. They were both attending separate functions held at the lodge on the same weekend. In the 1960s and 1970s Paul and Marilyn were hosts to many Mazama Wednesday night picnics at their home on the Sandy River. Besides climbing and hiking, Paul and his family enjoyed fishing, camping, and canoeing in the Northwest. Paul and Marilyn also enjoyed white water rafting with Mazamas. One of their favorites was a trip down the Grand Ronde.Bus Gibson for his many years of hard work and dedication. He will be deeply missed by his family and many Mazamas friends.
Longtime Mazama Charles Rosenthal passed away on May 4, 2018, at the age of 89. Born in New York City, he earned degrees in Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, and Mathematics before embarking on a 36-year career at AT&T/Bell Labs. Charles and Miriam, his wife of sixty years, moved to Oregon in 1987 where he became active in the community and the arts. Charles joined the Mazamas in 1989 after climbing Wyoming’s Granite Peak. He and Miriam traveled widely and camped around the USA and in many countries with their children and as a couple. Charlie was an ardent skier, backpacker and mountain climber. He ran the Boston marathon several times and earned his Guardian Peaks award in 1993. A year later in 1994 he received the Seven Oregon Peaks award and earned his Sixteen Peaks award in 1997. Over the years Charle assisted with many Mazama education programs. The Mazamas will miss his wit, charm, curiosity, and upbeat personality. His family will host a Celebration of Life at the Mazama Mountaineering Center on Oct. 7, 2018, at 11 a.m..
32 MAZAMAS
CLASSICS
MAZAMA LODGE
For Mazamas with 25 years or more of membership or those who prefer to travel at a more leisurely pace.
Lodge Musings & Happenings
CONTACTING THE CLASSICS If you wish to contact the Classics, you can call or email Chair Flora Huber at 503-658-5710 or flobell17@comcast.net, Executive Council liaison Steve Couche at 503-998-0185 or stephencouche@ mazamas.org, or classics@mazamas.org.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED We are looking for volunteers to step up and help run the committee. Positions we need to fill are secretary, activities coordinator, and database updater, and help or backup for same. Our meetings are the fourth Monday of every other month at 11 a.m. at the MMC. Email classics@mazamas.org if you are interested.
LEADING EVENTS IN NOVEMBER Send details to classics@mazamas.org by the twelfth of each month for inclusion in the Bulletin.
CLASSICS TRANSPORTATION PLAN Our east side transportation pick up point is Gateway; our west side location is the Sunset Transit Center. If you are interested in providing or receiving rides to Classics events, you can sign up on the Classics section of the Mazama website or contact our transportation coordinator Flora Huber at flobell17@comcast.net or 503-658-5710.
by Charles Barker, Mazama Lodge Manager While Mazama Lodge is closed for another a month we are starting to take reservations for Thanksgiving Dinner! Head on up to the lodge early and work up an appetite on a A-lelvel hike from Mazama Lodge led by Dyanne Foster. The hike leaves the lodge at 1 p.m. and will return by 4 p.m. Appetizers will be served at 4 p.m. and dinner at 5 p.m. Adults: $25; Kids, 12 and under: $15; 2 and under: free. Reservations can be made by calling the lodge or sending us an email at lodge@ mazamas.org. The Lodge will open at noon on Thanksgiving Day. Once we reopen after the renovations, the lodge will be open from noon on Thursday until noon on Monday during the school year, with extended hours during school holiday breaks. Let’s hope for another great ski season! We are still looking for one more lodge volunteer who would like to lodge sit from Oct. 14–Nov. 1. If you are interested in helping out during this time, email Charles at lodge@mazamas.org.
THANKSGIVING DINNER MENU
MON. OCT. 15: ELK MEADOWS CASUAL HIKE Departure from Trailhead at 9:30. The Elk Meadows Hike is an enjoyable summer hike with outstanding views and floral displays. On highway 26, go past Government Camp to the junction with Highway 35 for Hood River. Bear right here and drive 7.8 miles to make a left turn and then another quick left for the Elk Meadows Trailhead. Drive 0.3 miles and park on the right near the trailhead signs. The sign here states that this is the “Elk Meadows and Sahalie Falls Trailhead”. A NW Forest Pass is required. We will depart from the trailhead at 9:30 am. This hike is 6.2 miles with an elevation gain of 1200’. This hike is limited to 10 persons Email David.R.Christopher@gmail.com to check in and get answers to questions. Email classics@mazamas.org for a full prospectus on this hike.
FRIDAY, DEC. 7 AT THE MMC: CLASSICS HOLIDAY LUNCHEON Seating available at 11:30 a.m. with buffet lunch at noon. We will have our annual luncheon to celebrate the milestone for members achieving 25 or 50 years of membership, hand out pins to those in attendance, and celebrate the season. Lunch will be provided by Charles and we suggest a $5 donation at the door. Speaker to be announced in November. Limit of 80 people. You can sign up online at mazamas.org/Classics, or call the office at 503-227-2345.
APPETIZERS Smoke Salmon Platter Pickle and Olive Tray Hot Apple Cider DINNER Focaccia Bread Mashed & Sweet Potatoes Will’s Gluten Free Cornbread Stuffing Cranberry Sauce Jen’s Kale Casserole Mixed Green Salad Turkey and Gravy DESSERT Apple Pie & Pumpkin Pie with Vanilla Whip Cream
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FAMILY HIKING AND CLIMBING IN GERMANY, SWITZERLAND, AND ITALY by Keith Daellenbach
I
n the summer of 2017, my wife, Amy, our 11-year old son, Micah, and I went on a 24day summer tour through Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy. Both Amy and I had been to Europe on several occasions before and, over the years, we developed a sense for what we could possibly do beyond some of the more obvious tourist targets. Micah is an athletic and inquisitive boy so getting him outside was a must. We arrived to Europe in one of my favorite places—Munich in the Free State of Bavaria—the splendid Gothic zwiebel (onion) domes of the Frauenkirche soar above the Bavarian capital of art and culture nestled into the foothills of the Bavarian Alps. The Isar, a tributary of the Danube, flows through the center of this atmospheric city of lovely parks and museums that form an homage to the nobel Wittlesbach dynasty who ruled for over 750 years. Citizens of this German state are more “Bavarian” than “German” and, while industrious, they know how to have a good time. We met up with one of my all-time heroes and friend, Professor Doctor Walter Welsch, who mentored me in the study of glacial mechanics—and life—while on the Juneau Icefield of southeast Alaska while I was an undergraduate engineering student at Oregon State University. Walter, an engineer, intrepid mountaineer (he led the first ascent of the Moose’s Tooth in the Alaska Range in 1964), and philosopher, met us in town at the Hofbräuhaus, an almost 500-year-old beer hall at which he found a secluded outside veranda for a truly memorable evening of Hefeweizen and gemütlichkeit. We also met with the family of Tim and Britta Blachnitzky, their children, Noemi and David, and Tim’s parents, Horst and Hildegard. Tim and Horst are also fellow engineers and I knew them through their grandfather (and father), Klaus Blachnitzky from the Juneau Icefield (see: “First Ascent of Mount Blachnitzky and Peak 6,500 ft. on Juneau Icefield”, Mazama Journal, 2004). They are such a warm and beautiful family
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and we visited the astonishing BMW Plant, Klaus’ grave in Penzberg, attended Holy Mass in the Rococo masterpiece Wiesckirche, swam in the Plansee of Austria, and visited King Ludwig II’s extravagant Schloss Neuschwanstein and his more personal escape at Linderhof, deep in the Bavarian Alps. From there, we deployed our Swiss Rail Pass and made our way around the eastern toe of Bodensee (Lake Constance) heading for the mountains of the Alpstein south of St. Gallen. Here, we were greeted by our friends Hans Peter and Claudia Manser. Hans Peter is an old friend and colleague with whom I worked for part of my career developing needle-free jet injection technology for drug delivery. He is a marvel of generosity, humor, and intelligence and he and Claudia are simply a joy. We hiked from what is the last rail station in the valley above Appenzell roughly 4 miles and up almost 3,500 feet up through bucolic alps with small farms, Brown Swiss cows, Sealpsee—a beautiful turquoise mountain lake—and, continuing up onto a high ridge, to the mountain inn Berggasthaus Schäfler (www.schaefler.ch). The online topographic map website for Switzerland (map.schweizmobil.ch) was especially helpful for planning purposes. As fortune would have it, we arrived to Schäfler on August 1. Nationalfeiertag (Swiss National Day), which
commemorates the confederation of three original cantons into Confederatio Helvetica (Switzerland) during which the country goes wild with fireworks and barn-sized bonfires into the alps. I’ve always loved a roaring fire and the Swiss did not disappoint with a large blaze high on that Alpstein ridge far into the night, sparks swirling into the blackness, fireworks blazing in the distance in the towns and villages below. Micah remarked, “When I get to college, I’m coming back, packing up wood in a backpack, and helping make the blaze.” Our paternal name, Dällenbach, is Swiss and we felt right at home. The next day we hiked roughly another five miles along the prevailing southwesterly trending ridge, through meadows of alpine wildflowers and past tortured spires of dramatically folded layers of rock, then over the Blaushnee snow field and finally up the steep, cabled Himmelsleiter (“Heaven Ladder”) to the summit of Säntis. At 2,503m this is the highest peak in the Alpstein range and it towers over the region with views into
the four countries of Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and Liechtenstein. On the summit is a large telecommunications tower and café structures fitting for a James Bond movie. Most importantly, there is a gondola in which we glided off the summit down nearly 4,000 feet to Schwägalp where we caught a bus to Herisau where we had a wonderful dinner with Hans Peter and Claudia before departing for Bern. In Canton Bern, where our Dällenbach lineage came from, we travelled all over the upper reaches of the Emmental to visit the hamlet of Otterbach from which my ancestors emigrated 135 years ago to America. Here, we were guided by my long time wonderful friend and local genealogist Therese Metzger (and husband Willy) who has helped my family immensely by researching my Swiss genealogy. I was eager to show Amy and Micah the nearby Bernese Oberland so on we went (by a train you could set your watch to) into the upper reaches of the Lauterbrunnen. We took a cog rail to Wengen then a gondola to Männlichen. From there, we made the easy 2.5 mile hike to Kleine Scheidegg perched just below the Eiger’s Nordwand, a truly inspiring sweep of rock and ice towering 6,000 feet above. The weather was decent so we spent a small fortune to take the Jungfraujoch, an ingenious rail line that tunnels through the Eiger with an observational stop at Eismeer, high on the flanks of the Eiger looking down on the Ischmeer glacier, on its way to the highest rail station in Europe—the observational platform on the Sphinx at 3,571 m. It is situated on the ridge between the Mönch and Jungfrau and has a sweeping view down the largest glacier in Europe, the 13-mile-long Grosser Aletschgletscher. After weaving through the throng of tourists chilled in the mountain air, giddy no doubt from a combination of hypoxia and their first mountain “summit” view, we made our way off the Sphinx and down through the touristy glacial ice tunnel and onto the cog rail back to Kleine Scheidegg. From there, we hiked back down into the Lauterbrunnen Valley via Trümmelbach where we encountered a young steinbock (ibex). I suppose the word is already out but we made our lodging in Gimmelwald, a slice of alpine heaven with no vehicular traffic. We lodged in the Mountain Hostel which serves delicious beer and pizza and we watched shafts of light linger on the nearby
peaks at dusk. The next day, we struck out of Gimmelwald and hiked up valley several hours to Oberhornsee, a small out-of-the-way glacial tarn lake, into which we plunged into the icy waters oh so briefly. We returned via Stechelberg and the gondola to Gimmelwald for a waiting pizza pie reward. Our final adventure in the Berner Oberland was to launch a tandem paraglide (each of us with an experienced pilot guide from Airtime Paragliding) from above Mürren back to Stechelberg for a 15-minute flight down 2,800 feet. It was something I’ve always wanted to try and it was spectacular and thrilling—why not? Micah was nervous starting as the air replaced terra firma but quickly took it all in stride. Our next stop was Zermatt, the storied alpine climbing town at the base of the Matterhorn. Twenty-two years earlier, I made the pilgrimage there with my father, Charles, to attempt the Matterhorn (4,478 m) via Hörnligrat. It was July and the mountain was covered in ice, not even the guides were climbing it, so we made an ascent of the Mettlehorn, then Breithorn, then a bold ascent up the northwest ridge of Castor (4,228 m) along the frontier border—left crampon in Switzerland, right crampon in Italy. In August 2017, the mountain weather in the Swiss alps again thwarted my plans to climb that mountain of mountains, but I could not countenance being in Zermatt without at least trying to climb something. While no guide was heading up the icy Matterhorn, the Breithorn (4,164 m) seemed within grasp during a small weather window so the three of us marched down into town from our Jugendherberge lodging to Yosemite Zermatt, rented three sets of boots, crampons, and ice axe and shot up and out of Zermatt (1,616 m) via a three-stage gondola to the Klein Matterhorn (3,882 m). We hiked out across the Breithorn glacial plateau on the frontier between Switzerland and Italy and up the south slope. This is generally easy route but it is a 13,000-foot ice mountain with some crevasses high on the slope and continually deteriorating weather. We soldiered on using our narrow gauge canoe rope from home double-backed as our climbing “rope” and finally summited in a vicious, freezing wind. We had a brief break of blue sky above the clouds on the summit for which we cheered and then got out of there back down to the safety of the terminal gondola station which took us back down
valley over roofs of rock-slate chalets and farm buildings and into Zermatt to celebrate. Perhaps the Matterhorn will happen some day for me; I guess time will tell. Since my undergraduate years some thirty years ago, I have always wanted to complete a via ferrata (“iron way”) in the Dolomites of the Süd Tirol in northeast Italy. I made two previous attempts to unlock the mystery of these mountains of “flames frozen in stone” but had been thwarted. The Dolomites are not one mountain or one mountain area but rather multiple clusters of peaks spread over a wide region. This time I was able to enlist the support of fellow Mazama adventurers, Patrick Feeney, Jim Palo, and John Leary. These guys are great! They offered me suggestions, maps, guidebooks, and support. I am so grateful; I feel like in 2017, I finally cracked the Dolomite “code”. With limited time, I wanted to make the pilgrimage to Tre Cime (in the dual language tradition: Drei Zinnen or “Three Peaks”). The Dolomites are perhaps the most spectacular mountains I have ever seen and they should not be missed in this lifetime. These limestone spires and faces change in the light and at every turn in the trail they offer yet another stunning view. We circumnavigated Tre Cime clockwise from Rifugio Auronzo, where we were dropped off by bus at the end of road, and made our way to our lodging at Dreizinnen Hütte (Rifugio Antonio Locatelli, www.dreizinnenhuette.com). The north faces of Tre Cime are sheer and imposing reminding me of Yosemite big walls. One of my undergraduate college math professors, I don’t recall his name, climbed there with Layton Kor in the 1960s and shared pictures with me once. I was inspired and seeing this in person with my family was a dream come true! The second day we had a decision to make: either take the hiking trail to our next night of lodging at Büllelejochhütte (Rifugio Pian di Cengia, www.rogger.info) or embark on the adventure of a Grade 2 (of 5), Seriousness B (of C) via ferrata of up the north ridge of Paternkofel (Monte Paterno, 2,744 m) and down its east ridge (Grade 1, Seriousness B). We had with us all the gear needed: helmets, harness, via ferrata lanyard, and bike gloves yet I, over the course of the trip to that point, had convinced myself that doing this via ferrata with two novice mountaineers would be too treacherous. As point of fact,
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TRAIL TRIPS JOIN US! MAZAMA TRAIL TRIPS ARE OPEN TO EVERYONE Contact Trail Trips trailtrips@mazamas.org with any questions. Hike leaders, to schedule a hike next month, go to: mazamas.org, login, and schedule.
CHECK OUT OUR ONLINE HIKE SCHEDULE & SIGNUP! Head on over to mazamas.org/hiking to see our new website and a new way of viewing our upcoming hikes. Some hikes you can sign up for online, and they arenoted with “Online” in their title. Get ready now by creating your profile on the Mazama website. Go to mazamas.org/gettingstarted and read the FULL directions. The ONLY trick is for those of you who are already Mazama members, you want to make sure to create your account using the email address we already have on file for you. You should have receiveid several emails from the Mazamas already at that email address encouraging you to seup your account. If you are still unsure what email address that is, just drop us a line at beta@mazamas.org and we will look it up for you. Security note: Your saved credit card is not hosted on a Mazama server. We use a third party processor to manage all payments. This ensure proper encryption and protection of your payment information.
WEBSITE UPDATES Visit mazamas.org/hiking for the most up to date hike schedule. WESTSIDE STREET RAMBLES: TUESDAYS & THURSDAYS Multiple teams hike at different paces with various leaders. Bring a headlamp. 4–8 miles, 500–1,500 feet. Meet at REI– Pearl, NW 14th and Johnson. Group leaves promptly at 6 p.m. Ramble information available at mazamas.org/streetrambles MORE HIKING Adventurous Young Mazamas and other Mazamas lead hikes as well. See the full list at: mazamas.org/AYM Class A: Easy to moderate; less than 8 miles and under 1,500 feet elevation gain Class B: Moderate to difficult; less than 15 miles with 1,500–3,000 feet elevation gain OR 8–15 miles with less than 1,500 feet of elevation gain Class C and Cw: Difficult to strenuous: 15+ miles in distance or 3,000+ feet elevation gain. Class D: Very difficult, strenuous trips in challenging conditions. No specific distance or elevation gain. Special equipment, conditioning, and experience may be required. Contacting leader for details before the day of the trip is mandatory. “Wilderness—Limit 12” indicates the hike enters a Forest Service-designated Wilderness Area; group size limited to 12.
Numeral after class indicates pace. All pace
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information is uphill speed range; e.g. 1.5 = 1.5–2 mph: a slow to moderate pace; 2 = 2.0–2.5 mph: a moderate speed common on weekend hikes; 2.5 = 2.5–3.0 mph: a moderate to fast pace and is a conditioner. MU: Hike is posted on Meetup. WF: Qualifies for Waterfall Award. AR: Qualifies for Awesome Ridges Award. GH: Qualifies for Gorge High Points Award. WO: Qualifies for Wild Ones Award. MH: Qualifies for Mt. Hood Award. Hike fees: $2 for members, each family participant, and those belonging to clubs in FWOC; $4 for nonmembers. No person will be turned away if they are unable to pay. Street Ramble fees: $2 per person; $1 per person if over 55 or 14 and under. Both members and nonmembers are welcome at all trail trips. Trail Tending events are free. Meeting Places: Gateway–SE corner of P and R Garage near 99th and Pacific (I-84
(Online!) HK 2.5 Oct. 03 (WED) Nick Eaton Ridge–Gorton Creek Loop (W) Rex Breunsbach (971) 832-2556, breunsba@teleport. com. Wilderness—Limited 12. The Indian Point loop travels through forested trails in the eastern Gorge to a fantastic viewpoint. The loop will be described counter clockwise, requiring a steeper climb up Nick Eaton Ridge in order to descend more gently on the Gorton Creek Trail. This area was reopened in 2018 after the major Eagle Creek fire of 2017. Expect to see remnants of the fire’s work in the area. 8 mi., 2,600 ft., Drive: 80, MMC at 8 a.m. (Online!) HK 1.5 Oct. 04 (THU) Lolo Pass via PCT to top of trail to Lost Lake Flora Huber, 503658-5710, flobell17@comcast.net. Wilderness—Limited 12. We are going to hike from Lolo Pass to the top of the trail to Lost Lake. We will not be going all the way to Lost Lake. This is a fairly flat trail. 9 miles, 500 feet of elevation gain. 9 mi., 500 ft., Drive: 100, MMC at 9 a.m. MU HK C2 Oct 07 (Sun) Salmon Butte (W) Sherry Bourdin 503314-2911. Wilderness—Limited 12. The Salmon Butte Trail #791 is one of the more popular trails in the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness, but the hike got longer by about 2 ? miles and gained more elevation with the decommissioning of FR 2618 in 2010. The optimal time to visit is on a clear day in June, when the rhododendrons, bear-grass, and other wildflowers are in full bloom with multi-mountain views from the summit. 11.8 mi., 3,170 Ft., Drive 90, Gateway 7:30 a.m. (MH,WO) Exit 7); L and C–Lewis and Clark State Park (1-84 Exit 18); Oswego TC–Boones Ferry Rd at Monroe Parkway; Salmon Creek P and R–Vancouver P and R at 134 St (1-5 Exit 7 or 1-205 Exit 36); Parkrose/Sumner Transit Center–Sandy Blvd. and 98th Ave. (1-205 Exit 23A); Durham–P and R at Boones Ferry and Bridgeport (1-5 Exit 290); MMC– Mazama Mountaineering Center, 527 SE 43rd at Stark; Pendleton–Pendleton Woolen Mills in Washougal; REI–Pearl, NW 14th and Johnson; Target185–Target P/L Sunset Hwy at 185th. Dr.–round-trip driving mileage. ft.–Hike elevation gain. TH Pass–USFS parking pass needed for trailhead; SnoPark–Snow park pass. FLTC–3510 SE 164th Ave. in Vancouver. 99th TC–9700 NE 7th Ave. in Vancouver. Trail Trips Hike Rules: Hikers are encouraged to carpool and share costs. The maximum suggested total rate each is a donation of ten cents per mile for up to three people per vehicle. Dogs are not allowed except for hikes designated as “dog-walks.” Alcohol
(Online!) HK 2.5 Oct. 10 (WED) Herman Creek to the Cedars Rex Breunsbach (971) 8322556, breunsba@teleport.com. Wilderness—Limited 12. Cedar Swamp Camp is located at the junction of the Herman Creek Trail and the Herman Creek Cutoff Trail. There are many old-growth western red-cedars, but a couple of them have recently (2013) fallen down over the trails. Numerous creeks run down the slope and through this area into the East Fork of Herman Creek. 14.6 mi., 2,640 ft., Drive: 78, MMC at 8 a.m. (Online!) HK 1.5 Oct. 11 (THU) Salmon River Trail Flora Huber, 503-658-5710, flobell17@comcast. net. Wilderness—Limited 12. Beautiful hike along the Salmon River, with lots of mushrooms and greenery. 7.2 mi., 950 ft., Drive: 82, MMC at 9 a.m. MU HK A2 Oct 13 (Sat) Opal Creek– Jawbone Flats Bob Breivogel 503292-2940. Although the beginning of this hike is not a trail, after visiting here you may consider it one of the most scenic roads you will ever walk upon. You will travel through magnificent old growth, gaze upon the dazzling turquoise waters of the Little North Santiam, and view part of the mining history and artifacts of Little North Santiam Mining District. 6.6 mi., 360 Ft., Drive 180, Sunset Transit Ctr—NE Cor, Hwy26/217 8 a.m. (Online!) HK 2.5 Oct. 14 (SUN) Saddle Mountain Hike Bruce Giordano, 503-477-6013, brucegiord32@gmail.com. You and firearms are not allowed. Participants should wear appropriate hiking shoes, and carry lunch, water, rain gear (umbrella, parka, or poncho), and the 10 essentials (whistle, extra food and clothing, sun protection, map, compass, flashlight, first aid kit, pocket knife, waterproof matches, fire starter). Participants should be in a physical condition appropriate for the difficulty of the hike. Leaders may decline anyone not properly equipped or judged incapable of completing the hike in a reasonable time frame. Hikers voluntarily leaving the group are considered nonparticipants. In case of accident, illness, or incapacity, hikers must pay their medical and/or evacuation expenses whether they authorize them or not. Hikes leave the meeting place at the time listed. Adverse conditions, weather, and combined circumstances can affect difficulty.
may sign up online or show up at the meeting location. We will be meeting at the Target at SW 185th and leaving at 8 a.m. 7.2 mi., 1,900 ft., Drive: 96, Target & SW 185th at 8 a.m. HK B2 Oct 17 (Wed) Kings Mountain Tony Spiering 503-6808112. Nice fall hike in the Coast range. Good views on a clear day of the Coast mountains all the way to the ocean. 5 mi., 2500 Ft., Drive 66, Target/185th 8 a.m. (Online!) HK 1.5 Oct. 18 (THU) Tillamook Burn visitors center Flora Huber 503-658-5710, flobell17@comcast.net. Starts at Tillamook Burn visitors center continues West on Wilson River, past Wilson Falls and then to bridge and back. 6 miles, 1,000 ft. 11 mi., 1600 ft., Drive: 125, MMC Parking Lot at 9am. MU (Online!) HK 1.5 Oct. 21 (SUN) Ft. Vancouver & Vancouver Waterfront Jim Selby (828) 5085094, selbyjb@comcast.net. We will be leaving from Pearson Air Museum at 11:30 a.m. for this nice 5 mile hike. Start at headquarters
for Ft. Vancouver NHS, hike through Officers Row, stop at Mother Joseph’s Academy, go through the Farmer’s Market to the new Pier at the Waterfront Park, continue east to Wendy the Welder statue, back over the Maya Lin Land Bridge to headquarters. 5 mi., 100 ft., Drive: 32, Pearson Air Museum at 11:30 a.m. (Online!) HK 2.5 Oct. 24 (WED) Aldrich Butte-Cedar Falls Loop Rex Breunsbach (971) 832-2556, breunsba@teleport.com. In addition to the great view from Aldrich Butte, this hike explores a little known section of the Gorge between Table Mountain and Hamilton Mountain. 5.8 mi., 1,700 ft., Drive: 84, MMC 8 a.m. (Online!) HK 1.5 Oct. 25 (THU) Wind Mountain Flora Huber 503658-5710, flobell17@comcast.net. easy hike from girl scout camp. 2.7 mi., 1,100 ft., Drive: 94, MMC Parking Lot at 9 a.m. MU (Online!) HK 1.5 Oct. 28 (SUN) Steigerwald Lake NWR Jim Selby (828) 508-5094, selbyjb@comcast. net. This easy loop hike will take you through a wildlife refuge that opened to the public in summer
2010. The refuge contains more than 1,000 acres of wetlands, a stand of Oregon white oaks, cottonwood trees, and grassland habitats. Depending on how where the birds are located this could be 2-5 miles in length. Slow pace, probably take 3 hours hiking time. 2–5 mi., 40 ft., Drive: 40, Gateway Park & Ride at 11:30/noon.
Rock. Given the date anything could happen weatherwise, but I’ll make the determination whether to proceed or not when the time comes. Being what you need for the season and conditions. Wilderness number of participants limited to 12. 11.5 mi., 3,770 ft., Drive: 42.5, Clackamas Town Center Max Park & Ride Garage at 7:30 a.m.
HK B2.5 Oct 27 (Sat) Hamilton Mountain Loop Kate Evans 503-635-6540. Enjoy the views of the waterfalls and Gorge on this classic loop hike. We’ll be hiking up the ridge then coming down Don’s Cutoff trail. A Discover Pass is needed at the trailhead. 7.5 mi., 2,135 Ft., Drive 93, StatePark, Gateway 8 a.m. (WF,AR,GH)
(Online!) HK 2.5 Oct. 31 (WED) PCT and Trail #400 from Cascade Locks to Herman Creek Rex Breunsbach (971) 832-2556, breunsba@teleport.com. This is a pleasant hike to a couple of interesting geologic formations. You’ll cross the Herman Creek Bridge, a large steel truss bridge. From here, the trail climbs, sometimes steeply to the Pacific Crest Trail. You’ll come to Pacific Crest Falls and shortly after, the Herman Creek Pinnacles. 11 mi., 1,000 ft., Drive: 70, MMC Parking Lot at 8 a.m.
(Online!) HK 2.5 Oct. 28 (SUN) Rooster Rock via High Divide Trail Rick Craycraft (503) 679-2113, leftfield5@juno.com. Wilderness— Limited 12. No, the other Rooster Rock, the one down by Molalla. This is an “e” hike for me, but I will have scouted it by the time we go. If we get the weather it’s apparently a lovely ridge hike with meadows that ends at a feature called Chicken
Family, continue from previous page on a via ferrata, you are fully on your own for you are not tethered to another person by rope as with a standard climb. Rather, you are tethered to a cable threaded through iron pegs affixed to the rock. If one makes a terrible mistake not attaching the lanyard and falls, the consequences can very likely be deadly. All that said, Amy and Micah told me they wanted to “go for it”. They were brave or ignorant or maybe both but I eventually agreed and we started up the north ridge of Paterno figuring we could always turn back if needed. This via ferrata actually starts up steps within the mountain threading through spooky caves blasted out of the north ridge by Italian and Austro-Hungarian forces to gain the high ground during the ferocious battles of World War I. To this day, barbed wire, fortified lookouts, and tunnels are found throughout this region. Following Austria’s defeat, the region was transferred to Italy after the war (hence the dual naming convention). The route continues up to the Forcella del Camoscio where Amy took a break and Micah and I took the short optional detour to the summit of Paterno which is marked with a sorrowful wooden crucifix. I noticed Micah developed an increasing confidence and
enthusiasm as we ascended and Amy, who abhors exposure, took to the outing with her calm inner strength and fortitude. I was truly amazed and proud as they took this on with alacrity. We descended the east ridge without incident in a light rain for the second night stay at Büllelejochhütte which is heavenly in its peace, solitude, cozy small size. The staff are friendly and the meals served were some of the best of our entire European tour. The third day we continued on the trail back to Rifugio Auronzo. One thing is certain, we’ll be back to the Dolomites. Following our Dolomite adventure, we visited the dreamy city of Venice and then worked our way down the boot of Italy through my favorite city in the world, the Renaissance city of Florence, and on to Rome with all of its ancient and baroque heritage including the Vatican. Our tour finished with a visit to Pompeii, for which Micah had completed a report and LEGO model of in the third grade, and Herculaneum. I arranged for transportation up to the north side of Monte Vesuvio (Mount Vesuvius, 1,277 m) to the trailhead. The hike up to the crater rim is just over 500 feet in a little over a mile. It follows a narrow jeep trail and is not hard. It offers sweeping views of Naples and the Mediterranean. Due to the geologic sensors
on the summit, we were not allowed to proceed past the final gift shop on the crater rim to the tippy top so we admired the view into the crater just below the final rise to the summit. Pompeii is a short 7 miles away as the crow flies or, perhaps I should say, as the ash cloud flies. It was inundated and then buried by 30 feet of ash by the eruption of Vesuvius 79 A.D. and excavations started in 1748. Many of the treasures of Pompeii and Herculaneum are now in the Museo Archeologico in Napoli and should not be missed. For me, this was possibly a “perfect” vacation for it involved all of my favorite ingredients: Amy, our boy Micah; a foreign destination with different culture, history, food, language; lots of amazing museums, architecture, and history to explore; and a place to get out and into the mountains for some true adventure. On this tour, we visited several friends which was a blessing and a highlight for which we are very grateful. Between some of Europe’s great cities, we spent time in the mountains and proved it is possible to make such a trip with an active and adventurous child anything but boring. Join Keith for an Evening Travel Program, Family Hiking and Climbing in Switzerland and Italy, on Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. at the MMC. OCTOBER 2018 37
THIS MONTH IN EXECUTIVE COUNCIL (MAZAMA BOARD OF DIRECTORS) The next board meeting date is Monday, Oct. 1 following the Mazamas Annual meeting. All meetings begin at 4 p.m. and are open to all members. There is a member comment period at 5:30 p.m. This summary has been approved by the Mazama President or Vice President for publication. Members can access full meeting minutes one month after the meeting by sending an email to adventure@mazamas.org and making a request. by Mathew Brock, Development Coordinator President Chris Kruell called the Executive Council (EC) meeting to order at 4:03 p.m. on Tuesday, September 18. President Kruell reviewed the meeting’s agenda and asked for approval. A voice vote approved the agenda. Secretary Traci Manning asked for and received approval for the revised minutes from the August meeting. In the Treasurer’s Report, Marty Scott noted that at the end of July total operating revenue is $959,201 and total operating expenses are $1,459,146. Current total assets are $861,095. Income and expenses are both tracking under budget, at 22 percent and 17 percent respectively. Total membership as of the end of July 2018 stands at 3,527. In his Executive Director’s report, Lee Davis reported the Mazamas Foundation met on September 10 and failed to reach a quorum. However, the three new foundation board members were present, and a constructive conversation occurred about funding the Mazama Lodge renovations and the role of the Foundation. An electronic vote is scheduled to approve the Mazamas Facility Funding Loan request. Lee noted several upcoming events. The Mazama Annual Meeting and the October Board meeting will occur on October 1 starting at 6 p.m. The second Volunteer Appreciation Night is October 15. The Mazamas will host a community input session to identify the fundamental values of all education and activity programs on October 11. All the events are at the Mazama Mountaineering Center. Lee concluded his abbreviated director’s report with a brief update on the lodge renovation. Demolition and exterior work are currently taking place. Interior plumbing and mechanical upgrades will follow. So far the project is on budget and on schedule. Sarah Bradham, Director of Marketing and Communication, presented a Strategic Year in Review 2017–2018 Progress Report. The Marketing and Communication department launched the new IT Project on time and on budget. The Membership and Development department onboarded a new director and is rolling out a fundraising plan for the fiscal year 2019. The Education and Activities department successfully ran BCEP and climbing registration through the new website (no more climb cards!). The Youth and Outreach Programming Department increased Adventure WILD! offerings by 33 percent and filled enrollment for the full seven-week run of camp. The Stewardship & Advocacy department helped form the Oregon Outdoors Coalition and completed crag restoration at Broughton Bluff and Rooster Rock, along with high elevation trail maintenance at Yosemite National Park. Erica Stock, Mazama Development Director, gave an overview of the Mazamas development plan and needs for the fiscal year 2019. Noting an ambitious goal of $1.2 million, Erica laid out plans to met the target with a combination of member donations, grants, and support from foundations and corporate partners. Erica concluded by noting that fundraising to cover the Lodge
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renovations has already begun and is showing positive returns. Treasurer Marty Scott then presented the board with the Mazamas draft 2018–2019 fiscal year budget. Marty noted that the budget relies on standard performance from Education committees and other departments while increases fundraising revenue by roughly fifty percent. The budget represents a re-focusing on support for volunteer and outdoor education programs. The board voted to approve the $2.4 million budget as presented. Following a short break, Vice President Laura Pigion gave a status update on the Smith Rock Ranch project. The Mazamas Foundation asked the board for input and thoughts on the project in light of Deschutes County’s land use decisions. The Foundation is interested in selling the property to capitalize on the active real estate market. Following a broad-ranging discussion that touched on the Mazamas reputation in the region and the upcoming revision to the Smith Rock Master Plan, the board recommended that the Foundation not take any action now and await further developments. Lee agreed to pass along the board’s recommendations to the Foundation. The meeting then adjourned into Executive Session at 6:30 p.m. The council reconvened in open session a few minutes before 7 p.m. President Kruell called for a vote on Amad Doratotaj and Laura Guderyahn to fill the seat left vacant by Stephen Couche’s resignation. The board voted to elect Laura Guderyahn to fill the vacancy. The board would also like to talk to Amad about creating an External Advisory Board. Several members felt the idea was worth pursuing and hope Amad will be interested in revisiting the proposal with the council. No members chose to speak during the member comment period. The next Executive Council meeting is Monday, October 1, following the Mazamas Annual Meeting.
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APPAREL / CAMPING / HIKING / CLIMBING SKI / TRAVEL / FOOTWEAR / SPECIALTY
Come See Us! Event Schedule Nov. 2-4 - SkiFever & Snowboard Show - Portland Expo Nov. 8 - Glide Waxing for Cross Country Skis Karl Andersson - Oregon Mountain Community - 6-8 pm Nov. 16 - Portland Alpine Fest - The Summit at Melody Ctr Nov 17 - Portland Alpine Fest - Portland Ice Comp at Planet Granite 2975 NE Sandy Blvd Portland, Oregon Blvd 503-227-1038 ndy a S www.omcgear.com NE NE 33rd Ave
NE 28th Ave
Mon-Fri: 10-7 Sat: 10-6 Sun: 12-5
Mazamas® 527 SE 43rd Ave. Portland OR 97215 www.mazamas.org
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Athlete interviews & full schedule inside. Get your tickets today! portlandalpinefest.org
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