Mar 22, 2009: Celebrate Mt Rainier skiing 100 yrs

Lowell ,
as usual you have done a lot of hard work. I wish I coud be there but this morning the schedule board at work reminded me I'm on call this weekend.
Bummer because I was looking forward to skiing on my A&T olympic models with army surplus skins,

Thanks for your work on this great idea, Lowell!  A well-written publicity article was just posted:
www.thenewstribune.com/adventure/story/677149.html    Hope the weather cooperates on Sunday...

I corresponded with the interpretive ranger at the Jackson visitor center today. He's given the okay for me to show a short movie on Sunday on their projection system. I was thinking it might be fun to do this after the ski tour (for those interested) as a way to regroup and warm up. I'm thinking to show Bob and Ira Spring's "Skiing Above the Clouds," which is described on the following web page.

www.mountaineers.org/history/notes/movie/spring-movies.html

"Skiing Above the Clouds", Circa 1955, 16mm color with sound, 12-1/2 minutes

This film was sponsored by Fisher Flouring Mills, the makers of Zoom instant cereal. A party of four skiers plans a traverse from Paradise to the White River across the glaciers of Mount Rainier. They are shown packing their 60 lb. loads including Zoom. They climb to Camp Muir carrying huge packs and using canvas climbing sleeves on their skis. The next morning they leave their packs behind to tour and ski among the crevasses. This scenic segment was filmed on the Emmons Glacier below the north face of Little Tahoma Peak. Later, the skiers pack up and travel to a camp on the other side of the mountain. In the morning they prepare Zoom and Paul Wiseman enjoys it for breakfast. They set out again without packs and explore scenic crevasses, making delicate crossings on skis. On the last day, they descend through timber to their waiting car.

Some of you may have seen my showings of this film before. It's an enjoyable film that's appropriate for the occasion.

Thanks for your work on this great idea, Lowell!  A well-written publicity article was just posted:
www.thenewstribune.com/adventure/story/677149.html    Hope the weather cooperates on Sunday...

Nice full page spread in the Adventure Section (just a little sliver at the bottom on the upcoming Coho season).

Lowell, Folks - Doug and I will plan to attend. This gives me a chance to use some of my Dad's old equipment. Mostly 40's or 50's era stuff so more for personal nostalgia perhaps than history. Not sure at this point how well we will get around on it. It it pretty level to Sluiskin Falls? I'll bring some modern skins in case. Looking forward to it!

Mostly 40's or 50's era stuff so more for personal nostalgia perhaps than history. Not sure at this point how well we will get around on it. It it pretty level to Sluiskin Falls? I'll bring some modern skins in case. Looking forward to it! 

Sounds great, Garth! Below is a thumbnail of the route I'm thinking of (click to enlarge).

Topo! shows a climb of 768ft over a distance of 1.36mi. I may try to do this using cross-country ski wax, but I'll have strap-on skins along for backup. Bring plenty of duct tape! Did they have that in 1909?

I was thinking of following the road from the parking lot to the head of Paradise Valley and, if weather and snow conditions are okay, maybe climbing to the Stevens-Van Trump memorial, which should provide a bit of a viewpoint. This seems like a pretty avalanche safe route, but we'll see. If any Paradise regulars have other suggestions, I'm all ears.