The Mountaineers - 1933 Summer Outing, Olympic Mountains

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This film is silent, black and white, with a running time around 32 minutes. The film depicts The Mountaineers 27th Annual Outing, to Mt Olympus and the Olympics, from July 22 to August 5, 1933.

The complete film has captions preceding each section:

"Canoe Crossing Quinault River"

Canoes loaded with people glide across the river guided by men with long poles.

"Dr. Meany, President of the Mountaineers"

Dr. Meany and others ride through the forest on horses.

"At Low Divide Chalet"

Log cabin in a large clearing with people and horses milling about.

"Climb of Mt. Seattle"

Climbers, most using alpenstocks, climb a snowfield and a broad ridge.

"On the Summit"

Scrambling up the broken summit rocks.

"Mt. Meany and Mt. Olympus"

Distant views from the summit of Mt. Seattle.

"Looking East"

Panoramic view.

"Home in a Hurry"

The party glissades on foot or seat of the pants down a slope of summer snow. Most use alpenstocks for balance.

"Climb of Mt. Christy"

Up a snowfield to a rest break on a rocky ridge, then continuing up another snowfield in close formation. There is a fine scene of climbers on snow passing in front of a rocky notch with peaks beyond. They scramble up the summit rocks.

"On the Summit"

Climbers relax on the flat summit. Panoramic views of Mt Olympus.

"Looking over Dodwell-Rixon Pass"

View of peaks in the distance over the pass.

"Skyline Ridge"

More panoramic views.

"On the Return"

Mass glissade down a snowfield below a rocky peak.

"Mt. Seattle from Martins Park"

View of the peak from below, through trees.

"Elwha Basin Camp"

Campers mill around and relax. We see the camp kitchen with its tent, stoves and cooking fires, washing pans, and a cook kneading dough.

"Mt. Noyes"

View of the mountain from camp, a woman washes her hair, a man kneads loaves of bread with his knuckles.

"Back-Packing from the Queets Basin"

Hiking up a snowfield below a waterfall.

"Bill Norton - the Chef"

The Chef walks in snow carrying an alpenstock. The party continues up the snowy basin.

"Queets Basin and Mt. Olympus from Dodwell-Rixon Pass"

Distant view of Humes Glacier and Olympus massif from the pass.

"The Elk"

An elk walks on snow near timberline.

"Drying Out in the Queets Basin"

Campers hold sleeping bags near a campfire to dry them out.

"On Humes Glacier"

Fine view of unroped climbers in close formation crossing the glacier.

"Blizzard Pass"

The party crosses the glacier and hikes through the pass.

"Mt. Olympus"

Closeup view of the mountain from Blizzard Pass.

"On Hoh Glacier"

Crossing the flat glacier, closeup of a crevasse, the party walks unroped in close formation, view of the upper Hoh cirque, climbers pass a wind scoop.

"Summit of Middle Peak"

Scrambling from snow onto the rocks, panorama from the top.

"West Peak"

As seen from the Middle Peak.

"Panorama looking South-east"

Distant peaks viewed above the Hoh Glacier.

"East Peak"

The camera continues panning past the nearby East Peak.

"Bogashiel Peak and High Divide"

Panorama along the divide to the glacier below.

"On the Summit"

Closeup of the climbing party.

"The Committee"

Four men on the summit.

"The Graduates"

Four different men on the summit.

"On the Return, Views from Humes Glacier"

Panorama of the glacier and peaks to the east. Lots of snow. 1933 was a big snow year!

"Snout of Humes Glacier"

View of glacier margin from below.

"Climb of Mt. Meany"

Line of climbers ascends snow basin to broad snowy saddle. They walk along a scenic rocky ridge and climb another snow slope below the summit crag. There are closeups of climbers negotiating the crux (a leftward traverse) on top-rope. The rope is loosely tied around the waist.

"Summit of Mt. Meany"

View of crux traverse and final rock climbing from below.

"Panorama Mt. Olympus and Humes Glacier"

Panoramic views from the summit.

"Return from the Summit"

Closeups of climbers descending the crux traverse. Some are roped, others not. The party descends a rocky ridge to snow, glissades, and scrambles down a rocky crest.

"Looking back on Mt. Meany"

The summit from the ridge below; surrounding scenery.

"High-line Party from Elwha Basin to Low Divide"

Climbing a snow finger below a waterfall, closeup of party climbing a snowy shoulder. Climbing snowy slopes to a ridgeline with trees, resting there. Avalanche lillies.

"Pack-train"

Loaded horses depart from the Low Divide Chalet.

"Half-way Camp"

Another cabin with cook fires.

"Pack-train fording the Quinault River to Our Last Camp"

Horses cross the river tied nose-to-tail.

"The End"

(Digital transfer of this film was made possible by a donation from Olympic Mountain Rescue. Film notes and video clip by Lowell Skoog.)