Skagit Alpine

Skagit Alpine Club – March 2008 Newsletter

Meeting:

Our March meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. on March 12th (no rooms available March 5) at Skagit Valley College in Ford 120.  The following shortcut is to a campus map http://www.skagit.edu/images/color_mvCampus.pdf.

Secretary‘s Report:

By Angie Vandenhaak

President Paul and VP Jeff were unable to attend so the meeting was presided over by Jason Griffith.  Thanks Jason!

Old Business:

1.)      Reminder to pay your dues!  $25 for your annual Skagit Alpine Club (SAC) membership.  Pay them now and get a new SAC sticker!

2.)      Stickers can also be purchased for $1 each.

New Business:

1.)      Next month’s meeting will be held on March 12^th, NOT on the first Wednesday of the month.  Skagit Valley College (SVC) has no rooms available on the first Wednesday.

2.)      Climbing Course Update by Chris Danilson: Registration opens for the Mountaineering Class on February 19^th.  The class is listed in the SVC course catalog and runs April 1-June 10.  Contact Chris at (360) 336-3991 if you’d like to volunteer to help with outings or in the classroom. If you know others who are interested, the class fee is $199 plus a $25 gear fee.

3.)      John Erbstoeszer made a motion to make a gift in memory of Fred Darvill to the North Cascades Institute Wild Ginger Library.  With input from Jason Griffith, John Erbstoeszer amended the motion to specify the amount of the gift to be $500.  Cathy Monrad seconded the motion.  Fred was instrumental in preserving the Park Butte Lookout, the Hidden Lakes Lookout and was the founding president of the SAC. 

4.)      John Erbstoeszer will also look into the possibility of putting a plaque up near or in the Park Butte Lookout in honor of Fred.

5.)      Lynn Poster will submit information for posting in the SAC newsletter regarding a proposal for SAC to adopt the Darvill Trail as one of our trail maintenance projects.

6.)      It was suggested that Corrina send a reminder to 2007 Climbing Class members who have not yet paid their membership dues that they received their first year of membership as part of the Class registration but now it is time to join if they want to keep on getting the newsletter and other glorious perks of membership.

7.)      (Ed. Addition) Proposal from Lynn Postler: A "SPECIAL" TRAIL PROJECT - To honor Fred Darvill's memory I would like to propose that the Skagit Alpine Club pledge to help maintain the trail that Fred and Ginny Darvill built between their home on Hickox Road and Little Mountain City Park.  The club could commit to holding one trail work party each year to improve and maintain this trail in memory of Fred.  We can discuss this proposal at the next SAC meeting in March.  If you can't come to the meeting, or have any comments/suggestions, please email Lynn at sancho999@comcast.net.

Thanks to Lowell Skoog for a great slideshow!  In case anyone was wondering, here are the films he showed clips from:

“SnowFlight (a.k.a. Ski Flight)”, 1936, 20 minutes

This twenty-minute film is called Ski Flight in every reference I've seen (including the DVD box) but the title in the opening credits is actually Snow Flight. The film was produced by Jerome Hill as "a document of skiing according to the principles of Hannes Schneider." It features Otto Lang, director of the Mt Rainier and Mt Baker ski schools. According to Lang's autobiography (lang-1994) the film was shot in early spring 1936 and opened in New York City in January 1938.

From: http://www.alpenglow.org/ski-history/notes/movie/jh-1937-flight.html

"Skiing Cascade Wilderness", 1956, 33 minutes

This film illustrates skiing in the Lyman Lake area above Holden near Lake Chelan. Chuck Hessey and friends visited this area many times in the 1940s and 1950s, staying for weeks at a time in a snow survey cabin that stood near the lake in those days.

From: http://www.mountaineers.org/history/notes/movie/hessey-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 (Bob and Ira Spring, John Carter and Paul Wiseman) 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.

From: http://www.alpenglow.org/ski-history/notes/movie/spring-movies.html

Secretary’s Quote of the Month (this quote was printed on the back of Huxley College of the Environment’s Planet Magazine and I love it!)

"One final paragraph of advice: Do not burn yourself out. Be as I am-a reluctant enthusiast... a part time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it is still there. So get out there and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, encounter the grizz, climb the mountains. Run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, that lovely, mysterious and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to your body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much: I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those deskbound people with their hearts in a safe deposit box and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this: you will outlive the bastards."”

Edward Abbey quotes (American Writer whose works, set primarily in the southwestern United States, reflect an uncompromising environmentalist philosophy. 1927-1989)

Food and Drink Schedule:

David Whitelaw and Matt Perkins are going to talk about climbing in Darrington.

Lookout:

Outing(s):

Conservation Report:

Climbing Committee:

Spread the word! The Skagit Alpine Club mountaineering course is just a few weeks away! Veteran SAC climbing instructors and recruits from the 2007 class are planning the annual spring mountaineering course. The eleven week course, which is administered through Skagit Valley College, begins April 1st and runs through June 10th. The course includes weekly lectures and hands on seminars (Tuesday evenings) along with ten challenging and exciting weekend outings that will focus on rock climbing, snow and glacier travel, and the spectrum of skills associated with these activities.

To register, see the community education section of the Skagit Valley College Spring Schedule (www.skagit.edu) or contact the college directly at (360) 416-7873. Registration for the 30 available spaces begins February 19th. Course tuition is $199 plus an additional $25 gear fee.

Course information is available on the SAC website (www.skagitalpineclub.com) and class specific inquires can be directed to Chris Danilson at cdanilson@yahoo.com.

Trip Report:

Notice:

ATTENTION 07 SAC mountaineering students!

The year has gone by fast, and your free membership to the SAC will soon lapse!  Contact Kim Griffith, our fearless treasurer, to continue your membership.

See you at the next meeting,

Corrina and Maggie (senders of the newsletter)

Special Event:

Hello friends,   You may be interested in the following Pacific Northwest Trail Association community program that involves hiking.  Joan Melcher, PNTA Chair

CASCADE WEST WINTER PROGRAM

HIKING 108 MILES ON THE PNT  AND CDT IN GLACIER NATIONAL PARK

 PNTA board members Dave  Hess and Doug Shepherd will present a power-point presentation of their nine day 108 mile hiking trip along the Pacific Northwest Trail and Continental Divide Trail in Glacier National Park.  If time allows, they will also show their pictures of their 30 mile hike around Mt. St. Helens on the unmaintained Loowit Trail and also their climb to the summit of Mt. Baker via the Squak Glacier route.

Date:  Friday, 29 February 2008 Time: 7 p.m.  Place: Aqua Room, Mount Vernon PUD, 1415 Freeway Drive, between Lowes and Blade Chevrolet.

Free program.      Refreshments will be served.

Officers:

President – Paul Sherman  293-2984 or 391-6078 (cell),  pshermanpt@verizon.net

Vice President – Jeff Smith 425-478-2698

Treasurer - Kim Griffith  (360) 419-7480 jkgriffith@gmail.com

Secretary - Angie Vandenhaak Angela.Vandenhaak@wwu.edu  (360) 756-6950

Newsletter - Corrina Marote corrina.marote@gmail.com

Webmaster - Steve Trent skagitalpineclub@comcast.net

Programs – Jason Griffith (360) 419-7480 jkgriffith@gmail.com

Lookout - John and Marie Erbstoeszer erbst@cnw.com

Outings - Lynn Postler sancho999@comcast.net

Conservation Com- Maggie Sullivan 724-3158

Social Com- Wade Bessett bessettw@hotmail.com