- ARCHIVE / history
- WATCH: Messner
Reinhold Messner has always scared me a little bit. The big Bavarian castle, the wild hair, missing toes – it just all adds up to a Force Not to be Messed With.
- WATCH: The North Cascades
Always a place that held both good memories and no small amount of mystery to me, Washington’s North Cascade region is a pretty unique. Many of my first climbing mis-adventures took place in this part of the state, and I have a lot of respect for those hills. This video gives a tidy little overview of the area and features a quick couple of minutes on the indomitable Fred Beckey… Someone I’ve had the pleasure to meet a couple of times and hope to see out there someday!
- WATCH: Scotland in the Seventies
A few clips from Paul Cunningham’s YouTube channel featuring some wonderful vintage footage of Scottish routes… Great stuff. The first clip is my favorite – the whole process of traveling on the bike, across the ferry, ending up at the pub – just makes me smile. According to the comments, much of the footage, including the ferry ride is from different areas and climbs, but it ultimately tells a story and that’s what I like.
Rare footage by Yvon Chouinard, initially created for National Geographic featuring John Cunningham climbing an unspecified climb on Ben Nevis in 1976.
John Cunningham and Creagh Dhu climbing The Cobbler in 1978.
- To Heck with Skis…
- More Mazama M-ad-ness
Gotta love those old Mazama annuals. Full of great content, including some fun ads in the back for different companies, some of which are still around in one form or another…
- Climbing with Monty
Working ultra-remotely today from the Teton County Libary in Jackson. I had intended to get up early enough to squeeze in a hike up in the Park but didn’t quite make it. I dropped by the vistor center instead and checked out the climbing exhibit. Some cool stuff in there, including the metal banner from the first ascent of the Grand.
Since it’s Friday, I thought a few distractions in the form of some Monty Python sketches were entirely appropriate:
- Of Men and Mountains
“Mountains,” said United States Supreme Court Justice William Douglas, “have a decent influence on men.”
I would have to agree. Mr. Justice Douglas spent more time on the US Supreme Court than any other Justice, and and in his autobiography “Of Men and Mountains”, he shares a lifetime of stories and anecdotes that probably put him in the lead for the Justice with the most amount of time outside as well. His ties to the Cascades are what initially piqued my interest, but he’s actually quite a character worth spending some time reading about. Consistently liberal, he became known on the court for his fervent support of civil rights and liberties, particularly the First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press.
I am particularly impressed however, with his commitment to the environment and outdoor conservation, in an era when it wasn’t yet at the forefront of the public consciousness. His prescience in making the environment an important part of the issues of the day helped preserve access to wilderness areas that otherwise might have been lost. Regardless of his politics, his eloquence in writing about the relationship between men and mountains is enough for me to keep him on my bookshelf.
See also: Time Magazine’s 1950 review of the book…
- 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…
- Quoted: No. 001
Tom Bourdillon on reasons for climbing mountains:
One reason is never given openly, rather is disguised and hidden and never even allowed in suggestion, and I venture to think it is because it is really the inmost moving impulse in all true mountain-lovers, a feeling so deep and so pure and so personal as to be almost sacred – too intimate for ordinary mention. That is, the ideal joy that only mountains give – the unreasoned, uncovetous, unworldly love of them, we know not why, we care not why, only because they are what they are; because they move us in some way which nothing else does; so that some moment in a smoke-grimed railway carriage, when in the pure morning air the far-off cloud of Mont Blanc suddenly hung above the mists as we rounded the curves beyond Vallorbe, or, still fairer, from the slopes near Neuchâtel, the whole Bernese range slept dreamlike in the lake at our feet, lives in our memories above a hundred more selfish, more poignant joys; and we feel that a world that can give such rapture must be a good world, a life capable of such feeling must be worth the living.
- The Olympic Elk
I can’t remember where I came across these scans, but I’m just glad I did. After last year’s Mount Olympus trip I’ve been very interested in the history of that beautiful area and just thought these were a fun find. The artist’s name is August Lenox, and was primarily known for his oil paintings of the old west. He worked for Disney for some time however, and was responsible for the comic versions of many True-Live Adventures, including Beaver Valley and Bear Country, as well as the Olympic Elk. We didn’t see any elk on our trip last year, which is as good an excuse as any for going back…