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Jean Walkinshaw, KCTS-TV - Rainier: The Mountain

This program contains historic and modern footage. Noteworthy film sources include Ski Flight by Otto Lang, Fire on the Mountain by Beth and George Gage, Mt Rainier National Park archival films, and film of Gretchen Kunigk from the Shanaman Sport Museum.

Challenge of Rainier

This section offers impressions of the mountain from Mike Gauthier, climbing ranger and rescue leader; Eric Simonson, climbing guide; Deborah Parker, Tulalip tribe member; Lou Whittaker, climbing guide; Ruth Mahre, climbing instructor and guide; Douglas Kooker, a bicycle tourist from Maryland; and Carolyn Dreidger, USGS hydrologist and expert on volcanic hazards.

Preservation of Rainier

Describes establishment of the national park in 1899, construction of roads and facilities in the early 1900s, and issues of development, concessions, and resource preservation. The coming of the railroad to Ashford in 1904 made possible mass recreation in the park.

Inspiration of Rainier

This section offers comments of writers and artists who have made Mt Rainier the subject of their work. They include Floyd Schmoe, age 102, the park's first naturalist and author of A Year in Paradise; Bruce Barcott, author of The Measure of a Mountain; Dee Molenaar, map maker, former ranger, and author of The Challenge of Rainier; painter George Tsutakawa; and a passage from "Settling" by Denise Levertov. The Floyd Schmoe interview is illustrated with archival footage of early skiing through Devil's Dip (time 27:30).

Uses of Rainier

Describes the use of Rainier in advertising and promotion and how people make their living near the mountain, including the Johnson family, local woodworkers. The work of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) during the Depression is described. Otto Lang talks about early skiing on the mountain, illustrated with footage from his 1936 film Ski Flight. There is footage of rope tows and of Gretchen Kunigk Fraser. There are scenes described as the Silver Skis race, but I believe the footage is actually from other events. Sherm Smith talks about training on Mt Rainier for the mountain troops in World War II. This segment is illustrated with footage from Fire on the Mountain.

Love of Rainier

This section offers comments from Aki and Bronka Sundstrom, an older couple who climbed to Camp Muir 27 times during the year the film was made; Doug Pilcher and Steve Scott, Sierra Club trail crew leaders; Thomas C. Moore, who leads crews of Japanese citizens who come to Rainier each summer for work projects; Mari Muamatsu, one of the Japanese volunteers; and John Madden, Paradise park ranger.

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