- ARCHIVE / books
- Off Belay: Igloos
Winter has pretty much arrived in Wyoming, and it’s going to be around for a while. Best thing you can do is learn to deal with it, and I can’t think of too many better ways of dealing with the white stuff than piling it up into habitable structures. It’s just one of those skills every man should know, and the boys and I are looking forward to the opportunity to build a few of these in the backyard.
Off Belay was a mountain-centric periodical out of Renton, Washington back in the 70’s and 80’s, and covered a wide variety of alpine topics. You can pick up back issues at Chessler’s, and the Mountaineers in Seattle have a complete library of issues. I have an issue or two yet to scan, but these special editions they put out are pretty entertaining – and useful.
- Beside the Armchair
This last Thursday morning I drove up to Jackson to catch the sunrise on the Grand and do a quick hike before work. Eventually I’ll do a trip report with photos and all that over at Altitude Slickness, but I wanted to drop a post in here regarding some of the treasures I picked up and found at the Teton County Library where I worked the rest of the day. They have a really nice Western Americana collection, as well as a large number of climbing books on loan from the American Alpine Club, and both sections kept me pretty busy trying to figure out how many books I could check out and carry back to the car.
I made it out with a few titles worth sharing:
- Alpine Glaciers – A study of glaciers and their history in the Alps
- The Romance of Mountaineering – A hefty tome regarding why climbers do what they do – some classic favorite passages will be featured in future posts
- Tetoniana – History of the Exploration of Grand Teton National Park – When in Rome…
I also picked up a few books in town to add to my own library:
With winter fast approaching and birds already starting to leave the valley, I’m pretty sure I’ve got enough reading material to keep me occupied for at least a few weeks of snow…
- Of Maps & Mazamas
One of the benefits of having lived in the Portland area was my brief association with the Mazamas. The Mazamas were founded in 1894 on the summit of Mount Hood as a mountaineering education organization.
I didn’t really participate much, (I’m sure I would have if we’d stayed in the area), but the biggest reason I joined up with to be able to get access to their library. The headquarters of the group is located in the historic Mt. Hood Masonic Lodge out on 43rd and Stark. It’s a pretty cool old building, very much worth just dropping by and checking out. The building has a handful of offices and a large meeting room, and lots of other little rooms tucked around here and there. The library and archives are downstairs, which is where I’d head during my lunch hour just to browse the collection and see what kind of treasures I could find. 
Guide books, biographies, historic narratives, trip reports, magazines, movies, maps – it’s all downstairs. Summit registers are archived downstairs as well, with records going back to the first ascents of northwest peaks in the 1800’s. The cool part is that they still have so much stuff that isn’t even shown, but stashed away because there’s just no room. They also archive and display gear of historic or other interest, which is displayed upstairs in a rotating exhibit. There’s still a bit of sadness when I think of all the good stuff in there, and me down here. I did manage to find a lot of bits and pieces that will appear in future posts here though, so I am grateful for the short time I did have to root around downstairs. I also introduced myself to one of the Library Committee archivists, Jeff Thomas, and had offered my help in preserving some of the older format videos and films. I didn’t get a chance to really jump into things with the whole Wyoming move happening, but I did manage to digitize some of their old VHS tapes. I also have a few of the Spring brothers films they didn’t yet have in the collection, so there’s still some communication that will have to happen.
In the meantime, I’ll share some cool maps scanned from a small book that was not in super-good shape, but worth hanging on to, for both its content and visual interest.
The Olympic peninsula is a pretty unique place, and one that I wish I’d been able to spend more time in. Living on the east side of the Sound for so many years and seeing the summits of Mt. Constance and The Brothers made them a permanent part of my mountain memory. Spending actual time up there has only happened in the form of a Mt. Olympus trip last year, a Boy Scout 50-miler up the north fork of the Quinault River and out the Elwha, and a handful of trips out to the Ozette area up on the western-most tip of the peninsula, but I hope to get back up there from time to time and kick around some more. These maps are not super detailed, but I really liked the minimalist approach and the colors, as well as just being able to connect the maps with locations and photos and memories from past trips. Enjoy.
- Things to Take Camping
Totally loving this mash-up of camping equipment and information design. This is from a book from National Geographic (Camping Adventure) I grew up with and these images have been part of my outdoor memories for a long time. The subject matter of now vintage gear makes this an instant favorite, as it’s both useful as a checklist and entertaining (loving that fishnet action) at the same time. It’s also a testament to the timelessness of camping and spending time outdoors.
Today’s gear may be lighter, faster, and stronger, but most outdoor-experienced baby boomers and their kids grew up with the same kind of gear pictured, which in its day was better than the equipment used by generations past. This shot is from just after the peak of the backpacking boom in 1975, where there were enough enthusiasts to foster the development of lighter weight gear and to support an industry of outdoor gear innovation and manufacturing. As more and more people have picked up on the benefits and enjoyment of being outside, the gear has kept up a pretty good pace as well.
My gear lust issues are no less fervent today than they were 15 years ago, and the bigger problem now is how to hide the receipts…
- Interpretations of a Mountain Landscape
Over these seemingly changeless mountains, in endless succession, move the ephemeral colors of dawn and sunset and of noon and night, the shadows and sunlight, the garlands of clouds with which storms adorn the peaks, the misty rain-curtains of afternoon showers.
– Fritiof Fryxell, The Tetons: Interpretations of a Mountain Landscape
My first year of college back at Ricks I started out as a Geology major. I think it had something to do with the fact that I didn’t know what I wanted to do and that I enjoyed spending time in the mountains, so it seemed at the time to be a logical choice. I only recall taking one or two courses actually related to geology, but also recall taking an Art History class. One of those classes was obviously more interesting and inspiring than the others, which is evidenced by the fact that I work as a designer and not for an oil company.
This book I picked up a few months ago is a perfect summation of my year at Ricks. A little geology, a little information design and cartography – a good mix. Fritiof Fryxell was a geologist and the first naturalist of the Grand Teton National Park and put this little beauty together. Not too over the head of the non-geologist, and an insightful look into the make-up and geologic history of a beautiful place.
- Friday Acquisitions
After having spent all day in a company meeting I was pretty much forced to stop by the Seattle Patagonia store to get my mind wrapped around something other than web strategy, design, development, UX, analytics, optimization, and social networking. Not that there’s anything wrong with that – but I just needed a bit of a distraction tonight instead of thinking about work all weekend. They usually have a pretty interesting book section at Patagonia, and tonight I found a couple of keepers.
- Northern Oregon Wilderness Areas
– Donna Ikenberry Aitkenhead
- Early Hiking in the Olympics 1922-1942
– Paul Crews
The guide book is a bit old, but just seemed like a book that would be good to have given my current location, and ever since last summer’s Mt. Olympus trip, I’ve become a sucker for anything about the Olympic range. Should be a good read.
- Northern Oregon Wilderness Areas
- Chessler’s 100 Best
From time to time for at least the last 12 years or so, I’ve had a simple catalog show up in the mail from a little company called Chessler Books. From a design perspective it’s purely functional, and I’ve honestly never ordered anything from them – every climbing book I own I’ve picked up from local Seattle and Portland booksellers – but there’s definitely money to be spent with these guys. From posters to autographed copies of historical narratives, antique maps (swoon) to vintage hardware, Chessler is easily the most recognizable resource for adventure, mountain, and polar literature.
The founder of the company, Michael Chessler, had a list that he shared of what he considers the 100 best mountaineering books out there. I can’t say I’ve read most of them, but I have read a handful and have my eyes on a few more. For the sake of posterity I’m sharing his list below with my own custom color key that I’ll update as I continue to work through them.
- Owned, but not read
- Not owned, but read and returned to the library
- Owned and read and enjoyed
Chessler’s 100 Best Mountaineering Books
