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Lou Whittaker - Memoirs of a Mountain Guide
See also whittaker-1999.p. 18: Twins Lou and Jim Whittaker were born on February 10, 1929, eight months before the stock market crash at the beginning of the Great Depression. In 1939, the twins took their first overnight trip into the mountains with the Boy Scouts (p. 24). This provided their start in mountaineering and climbing.
p. 31: The author describes his first ski mountaineering trip, to Mt Margaret near Snoqualmie Pass. According to this account, Dr. Otto Trott was along on this trip. Other early mentors included Ome Daiber, Max Eckenburg, Sam [Ralph] Eskenazi, Wolf Bauer, and Dee Molenaar.
p. 33: The author describes learning first aid techniques from Otto Trott, working on cadavers in the anatomy lab at the University of Washington.
p. 35: In 1948, Lou and Jim Whittaker became charter members of the Mountain Rescue Council, founded by Wolf Bauer, Ome Daiber and Dr. Otto Trott. The author describes recovering the body of Art Jessett after an unroped crevasse fall on Mt St Helens (p. 38). Through their interest in skiing and rescue, the twins naturally got involved in the National Ski Patrol. They worked for the patrol at Stevens Pass (p. 42).
p. 51: The Whittaker twins were drafted into the army in the spring of 1952, during the Korean War, following graduation from college. Thanks to recommendations from Bob Craig and Ed Link, they were transferred to Camp Hale, Colorado, to teach skiing and winter survival to the mountain troops. After leaving the army in 1954, the author settled into married life, resumed guiding on Mt Rainier, and went to work for the Osborn and Ulland sporting goods chain (p. 55).
Later chapters of the book describe the author's early years as a guide, setting speed climbing records with John Day, starting his own businesses (Whittaker's Chalet and Rainier Mountaineering, Inc.), the 1975 K2 expedition, friends and personal heroes (including Willi Unsoeld, Sherpa Nawang Gombu, Dusan Jagersky, Dave Mahre, Jim Wickwire and Robert McNamara), the 1981 Rainier icefall tragedy, survival in the mountains, the making of a guide, the 1982 and 1984 Everest expeditions, the 1985 Kangchenjunga expedition, and other aspects of the author's life.
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