Author: Kelsey Shaw

According to a recent press release from the Washington State Department of Transportation, the North Cascades Highway is expected to be open around the first of May. The clearing project will begin on March 25 — about the same time it began last year — but unusually low snowpack in the area means the project will be completed more quickly. In 2012 the road was opened May 10.

 From the press release:

Snow depths at the summit of Washington Pass measured about 5 feet compared to 7.5 feet last year, while snow was 5.5 feet deep at Rainy Pass compared to 8 feet last year. Snow piles in the Liberty Bell avalanche zone ranged from 25 to almost 40 feet compared to 35 to nearly 60 feet in 2012.

You can learn more details about this year’s snow study, as well as a few statistics from previous winters, by visiting the press release at this link.

[From: June 2012 Mazama Bulletin]

By Ray Sheldon

It seems that nothing is new in the Mazamas. We usually find out that an idea is already a part our history. So I’ll open this story on “Classic Climbs” by saying, the first I heard of an age-oriented climb designation was when Hal Nichols led an “Old Timers” climb of Middle Sister on July 6, 1996. His over-55 leadership continued and in 1997 he led a group up Broken Top. Stan Enevoldsen was the assistant on both of those climbs.

I started leading the 55 and older group on climbs in 1998 with a climb of Mount St. Helens on June 11 with Joan Mosser as the assistant. In 2000, Stan started assisting and is still going strong.

The title “Old Timers” didn’t really describe the mental and physical level of the climbing parties. Hal had called them “Elips,” which is Chinook for senior or elder. That was certainly a more respectable title. Still, in an effort to put even more class into the group, I changed the name to “Classic Climbers” but retained the 55 years and older restriction. The idea has always been to climb at a leisurely pace without any feelings of holding the party back. Over the years, climbs were scheduled on Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, Mount St. Helens, South Sister, Thielsen, and many of the minor peaks in the northwest. One memorable climb was on Mt. Hood when we arranged a snow cat to take the climbers up to the top of the Palmer snowfield, climb the mountain, and then have dinner and overnight accommodations at Silcox Hut. This turned out to be such a great time that we decided to schedule it again over the years. On one of the Mt. Hood climbs a picture was taken of four of us on the summit and the average age was 74 years old! Who says old goats can’t have fun.

Every year at signup time, I would get requests from younger climbers asking if they could go on the (C) climbs. I would tell them that age isn’t as important as attitude. If they felt comfortable with the slower pace, they were certainly welcome. Besides, it gave us a ready made source of Sherpas! And we could tell our war stories to a whole new audience. It finally dawned on me that the climb designation should emphasize the pace and not the age. The Climbing Committee (CC) agreed and changed the code to read: C: Classic. For “Classic Climbers” (those of any age desiring a slower-paced climb)”

And with that, the CC asked climb leaders to consider leading a Classic Climb in an effort to supply climbs for that group of climbers. Back in 1998, only seven people signed up for Hal’s climb. This year, the five Classic Climbs filled up immediately. A second climb of one peak was scheduled. There were 20 climb cards sent in for climbs out of Mowich Lake at Mt. Rainier. On the other hand, Matt Carter’s Classic Climb of Cowhorn has just one signup.

If slower-paced climbs are going to be a part of the climb schedule, more interest and participation will be needed. If the idea of a leisurely climb appeals to you, contact your favorite leader and ask to have them schedule a climb. You might have to go out and recruit a party but it can be a classic experience.

White River Glacier

In 2012, supported by funding from a Mazamas research grant, PSU geologist Hassan Basagic visited numerous mountains in the Pacific Northwest in order to duplicate glacier photographs originally recorded early in the 20th century. He is now compiling those images for his Glacier Repeat Photography Database, a website which “seeks to summarize the existing glacier repeat photographic record throughout the American West.”

Mr. Basagic’s first set of images are taken from the glaciers of Mount Hood.

Walking in the footsteps of renowned American geophysicist H.F. Reid and W.A. Langille, Basagic repositioned his camera precisely in the “photographic stations” used by these scientists over 110 years ago. The result is a juxtaposition of images representing a century of glacier retreat with unique clarity and precision.

“Read more” below for a collection of Mr. Basagic’s images and commentary.  Click images to enlarge.  All photos courtesy Hassan Basagic.

White River Glacier. These images were taken not far from the Timberline Lodge. Close inspection reveals the addition of a chairlift. The White River Glacier has lost the most area on Mount Hood, decreasing by 60% since the original photo was taken. Coalman Glacier can also be observed in the photo pairs.

Newton Clark Glacier. Located on the east side of Mount Hood. In 1901 the glacier terminated at a dramatic cliff. In 2012 the ice has nearly vacated the photo frame.

The Bureau of Land Management, with the help of the Outdoor Alliance and Mazamas in Portland, organized a public workshop on February 5, 2013 to collect data about outdoor recreation throughout Western Oregon. Bringing together an overwhelming crowd of more than 200 people, the event gathered much-needed information to aid the BLM’s Resource Management Planning (RMP) by actually mapping the role, value, importance and demand for outdoor recreation.

The workshop was the final event in a series of four held throughout Oregon.

The data collected will be used to make decisions about management on 2.5 million acres of existing and future recreation areas in Western Oregon as well as the demand for the development of new opportunities for the next twenty years.

The OA and Mazamas were honored to be part of a federal government initiative to let the voices of the recreation community be heard. The BLM’s RMP workshops were innovative in reaching out to recreationalists before the writing of plans and should be applied throughout the U.S.

Mazama Angela Bohlke just volunteered in a project that placed cameras in the forest to search for the American Marten on the Olympic Penninsula. The project, organized by Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation, was featured on a recent OPB Earthfix program.

You can watch the segment here.

Learn more about Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation, including lots of other cool volunteer opportunities, by visiting this link.

Mt. Shasta

This winter, Seattle-based photography and climbing hero Steph Abegg has been collaborating with John Scurlock, the Northwest’s icon of aerial mountain photography.

Together, the two have made some very impressive alpine photography flights this month.  You can continue reading this post to see a small selection of Steph’s images, or you can visit Steph’s blog (links below) to find some truly extraordinary collections that include both images and video.  All photos courtesy Steph Abegg.

January 19 tour of the Cascade Volcanoes! Current conditions on Rainier, Adams, Hood, Jefferson, Three Sisters, Crater Lake, Shasta, Lassen, St. Helens, and more…

January 3: The North Cascades, featuring Jack, Ballard, Azurite, Golden Horn, Tower, Logan, Goode, Buckner, Booker, Hurry-up, Johannesburg, Snowqueen, Chaval, Higgins, Whitehorse, Three Fingers, Sloan, Pugh, White Chuck

New Year’s Day: West Rim of the North Cascades, with North Twin, South Twin, Three Fingers, Baring, Chimney Rock, Overcoat

Here are a few more of Steph’s photos:

Three-Fingered Jack and Jefferson from the south

Volcano Lineup

North Cascades in an alpenglow icing

Tower Mountain from the northeast

According to a recent Scientific American article bisphenol S (“BPS”), the compound widely used to replace bisphenol A in “BPA-Free” water bottles, appears to present the same health risks as BPA.

Bolt next to a cam-friendly crack, Cerro Torre. Photo: Rolando Garibotti

The UIAA (trans. International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation), an affiliation most famous for safety-rating climbing equipment, has issued a position paper against excessive bolting and favoring a re-assertion of “the case for adventure climbing.” The paper asserts that in many climbing areas worldwide, current bolting practices now violate the ethic first championed by the UIAA in 1998 in its To Bolt or Not To Be paper.  Throughout this contoversy, the UIAA has called for respecting original methods of protection on older lines, and refraining from bolting new lines wherever natural or removable protection could be used instead.