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.

I picked up a couple of these old Mazamas Annuals at Powells a few months ago to stash in the bathroom, but only recently have been able to go through them and scan some of the ads in the back. After doing a little searching on some of the companies featured in the ads, I came across a few links worth passing along as background info.

Enjoy.

In 1911, C.A. Lund of St. Paul, Minnesota founded a ski factory, later called the Northland Ski Company. Its hickory skis dominated the market for another 30 years.


The Beebe Company apparently was originally a marine and contractors hardware retailer, but apparently they got into the sporting goods business at some point. Not a lot of info out there.


Hirsch-Weis (White Stag)was a Portland-based outfit that was one of the first companies in the United States to manufacture and mass-produce clothing specifically designed for recreational skiing.


The Mountain Shop is still around and doing the same thing it has for years. They’ve fixed up a pair of boots for me that I’m really happy with and have a lot of regular sales. Knowledgeable staff, too.


Now known as Honeyman Hardware Lofts in the Pearl District.


J.K. Gill was a prominent Portland businessman, who owned a very successful stationary/bookstore and publishing house. In digging around on Google I also came by this treasure of a link which will warrant its own post at some time in the near future…

A few real gems inside this issue from the mid-seventies… The hot pink cover is a real keeper.

Looks like fun. I totally love Geoff McFetridge’s work, and would love to go to this… but it’s a bit far to drive. There’s a handful of these shirts in my closet, and they are very easily the best looking things in there. Doesn’t say a lot for my closet, but hey, there you go.

Some more Geoff McFetridge links worth checking out: Western State 3: Geoff McFetridge video profile, High Snobiety Interview, and Pottok review at Kitsune Noir.

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.

View the Set

So I’ve invited my good friend Mark Griffith to join me here and throw out a post from time to time. He does get a lot more mileage per year than I do lately, and I’m pretty sure he reads more as well. In fact, I don’t know of a lot of people who stay as routinely busy as this guy, so I’m not really certain he’ll have a lot of time to contribute. That said, I’m looking forward to seeing what he digs up.

Mark and I met through Flickr a few years back, having noticed that we both posted a lot of photos of the same places up near Snoqualmie Pass. Then we found out that not only did we both attend the same church (just in different cities), but we also rode the same bus to work in Seattle. A handful of excursions and epics later, we’re still managing to get outside and get lost from time to time. This is a good thing - most everyone else gets tired of us stopping to take photos every two minutes…

Mike’s set has more…

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.

1. Northern Oregon Wilderness Areas - Donna Ikenberry Aitkenhead
2. 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.

Just this:

Bummer.

If only I’d surfed CascadeClimbers.com more often at work… Shoulda, woulda, coulda. On the bright side though, seeing that post reminded me of the excellent couple of sites Mr. Skoog is responsible for.

1. Northwest Mountaineering Journal
2. Alpenglow

With the vast amount of content and history packed into these two links, I’m pretty sure I’ll be revisiting them at some point down the road…