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Larry Penberthy - Personal Communication
Phone conversation, 4 June 2001
I had a short phone conversation with Larry. I was interested in his recollections of skiers and climbers at Holden during the mining years. Larry said he was at Holden between 1938 and 1941. He said there was a small ski hill near the town that people would walk or ski up and ski down. He said there was no organized group of skiers at that time. He said skiing was too new.
by Lowell SkoogI asked Larry about Lynn Bennett and he said he was an assayer at Holden and Larry knew him. Larry didn't remember him being a skier. Bennett is now deceased.
Larry said that one of the Holden fellows went to Leavenworth to ski jump there. Larry made a film of a skier (I believe it was this fellow) crashing on a jump they had at Holden. He made a sequence of still photos of the crash and put them in a book of Holden photographs that he privately published. He said he would send me a copy of the book and that I was free to use the photos. Copies of the book can be purchased from Larry.
I asked Larry about the 1939 Rainier ski ascent by Sigurd Hall and Andy Hennig. Larry confirmed that Hall and Hennig joined up with a group of six that Larry was leading up the peak on foot. Larry made a movie of that climb. He said, however, that Hall and Hennig pretty much went their own way and Larry didn't keep track of them on their climb. He didn't know much about their ascent.
Phone conversation, 12 June 2001
After receiving the Holden photo book sent to me by Larry, I called to ask the name of the skier in the crash sequence. He said the man's name was George Bator, but he couldn't remember whether he was a miner or worked in the office.
by Lowell Skoog
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