WE CLIMB HIGH
VOLUME 2 IS ALMOST HERE!
We Climb High Volume 2
A chronology of the Mazamas 1965–2015
I
n 1965, to mark our organization’s 75th Anniversary, the Mazamas published John Scott’s We Climb High: A Chronology of the Mazamas 1894-1964. Scott spent over a year of his own time, reading, writing, and editing the 100-page work.
Today, the record of the next 50 Mazama years is nearing completion! Thirty Mazama members and staff have spent hundreds, if not thousands, of hours combing nearly a century worth of Mazama Bulletins, Annuals, and other documents to produce We Climb High Volume 2: A chronology of the Mazamas 1965–2015. Chapters are ordered by year, and include other special topics, such as Claire Tenscher’s study of women in Mazama climb history. We’re including excerpts from that chapter, and Rick Craycraft’s entry on 1980 in this month’s Bulletin, to whet your appetite for this historic volume.
FROM “1980” BY RICK CRAYCRAFT ...Early on the morning of May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens, which had been stirring for several months, awoke from a 123-year slumber and let loose an unexpectedly large volcanic blast that spread devastation for miles. Fifty-seven people (although that figure is in some dispute) were caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and perished, including our then Mazama Bulletin editor Jean Parker and her husband, Bill. The Pacific Northwest was suddenly in the national and international news. This seismic event also left a crater in the Mazama climb schedule. Between the loss of access to Mount St. Helens and the attendant restrictions on Mt. Adams, about 15 percent of the year’s planned climbs were wiped out. Climb leaders scrambled to find other peaks to ascend. The Annual, understandably, was dominated by recollections of Mount St. Helens. First was an account of the first Mazama ascent in 1898, which put 31 climbers on top of the now non-existent summit, including the ubiquitous Charles Sholes. Following were articles about the history of the Spirit Lake Camp/Camp Meehan, which had introduced young people to the wilderness for decades, a thorough scientific account of the event by Dr. Paul Hammond, and a look behind the scenes at rescues needed in the wake of the blast. Most compelling, however, was a first-hand account by Marianna Kearney of a harrowing drive out of the blast zone, with the understated title of “One Sunday in May”. Besides a handdrawn sketch of their escape route, this article featured iconic sequential photos by Ty Kearney of the initial explosion.
FROM “WOMEN IN THE MAZAMAS” BY CLAIRE TENSCHER ...In the course of writing this, I was lucky enough to speak with the first woman to lead the Mazama Climbing Committee, Allison Belcher. She has a stellar record of leadership, including pioneering ascents throughout the northwest and being the creator of a mountaineering safety program for Reed College. After her climbing life ended she spent decades giving voice to people who could not speak for themselves including foster children and Oregonians with disabilities, through social work and political action. With all of this accomplishment and demonstrated physical and leadership strength, she still repeated to me that she knew she wasn’t as strong as the strongest men but that she made up for it with other strengths and was plenty capable. Another common feature of female authored climbing literature is justification of our right to lead and participate in the harder levels of sport. Allison tells of a particularly heartbreaking climbing trip where she was turned back at the trailhead after a multi- hour drive, purely for being a woman. Her frustration was palpable five decades later. Climbing is not fundamentally about the physically strongest candidate reaching the top of a peak. Endurance, teamwork, and grit are likely better measures of success at altitude than strength alone. Allison did not become the first female leader of the Climbing Committee easily. She fought for the position against tremendous opposition with no attempt made to hide that she was considered unsuitable because she was a woman. This overt sexism is largely gone in the Mazamas today. Thanks to pioneers like Allison it is not something I recall encountering in my lifetime.
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2020 33
