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Seattle P-I and Seattle Times - Mountaineers Patrol Race
I concentrated my search on 1936 and after, when the Patrol Race was open to all Northwest clubs. I suspect that the race was covered lightly in the papers when it was a Mountaineers-only event. I found that neither the Times nor P-I covered the race thoroughly, so I searched both as needed. I also copied a few other articles and ads for context. All newspaper issues were reviewed on microfilm at the UW Libraries.1936
Seattle Times, 17 Feb 1936 - "New Record Set"
A tiny item on the sports page gives the results of the Mountaineers club patrol race on 16 Feb 1936. The team of Wolf Bauer, Chet Higman and Bill Miller won in a record time of 4:37:23. The team of Bill Degenhardt, Paul Shorrock and Scott Edson was second in 5:04:18. The team of Erick Larson, C. Spute and Arnold Webster was third in 6:11:00. The article says they had 18 miles of perfect powder snow.Seattle P-I, 17 Feb 1936 - "Bauer's Patrol Wins Mountaineer Event"
The article gives the same information as above, and mentions that each man was burdened with a ten-pound pack.Seattle Times, 8 Mar 1936 - "Mountaineers' Ski Patrol Due"
This article announces the first patrol race open to all Northwest clubs. It describes the course: "It runs from Snoqualmie Lodge of the Mountaineers to Martin; it contours the high, gleaming ridges of the Cascade Range; it goes from the low to the moderately high, back to the low, up to the high and then sweeps down." Bob Hayes of the Washington Ski Club comments, "You can't realize what's coming out until you've made the trip. It's marvelous."Seattle Times, 11 Mar 1936 - "Skiers Prepare For Patrol Run; New Team Signs"
The Washington Ski Club has announced a team (Hans-Otto Giese, Paul Gilbreath and Pat Patterson) and the Seattle Ski club has also. The article says, "The line of patrol race teams, which are willing to run like mad (on skis) over the silhouette of the Cascades you may see out of your east window next Sunday, forms today to the right."Seattle Times, 13 Mar 1936 - "Mountaineers' Marathon Ski Racers All Set"
A team from the College of Puget Sound has signed up, as well as the Seattle and Everett Mountaineers. The article describes the event as "the nation's longest and hardest ski race" with this summary: "Three men form a team in the patrol race. They carry ten-pound packs. They must stay together and finish within one minute. Their course lies from Snoqualmie Lodge to Martin, across the backbone of the Cascades, and it is a magnificent trip, if they have time to see it." Norval Grigg is the referee and Herb Strandberg the chief of course. Checkers will be stationed at Mirror Lake and Baldy Pass.Seattle Times, 14 Mar 1936 - "Three-Man Ski Teams Set Out On Heavy Trip"
The article notes that 15 inches of new snow covers the route.Seattle Times, 15 Mar 1936 - "Patrol Race to Test Skiers on 18-Mile Course"
The article includes a photo by Bob Hayes entitled "Half Way On Long Ski Trail." The photo depicts Wolf Bauer, Bill Miller and Chet Higman sagged out in the snow below Dandy Pass during their record breaking race in February. The article says that no one under 20 years of age may enter. "The course is considered too severe for youngsters." Each racer's pack must weigh not less than 12 pounds and must include "articles designed to make possible an overnight bivouac in the event of injury or bad weather."Seattle Times, 16 Mar 1936 - Advertisement: "For Digestion's Sake, Smoke Camels"
The ad features "Wizard On Skis" Sig Buchmayr who says, "When taking off or landing, there's often a gripping feeling in the stomach. Frequently digestion is upset. And that's why I smoke Camels. Wouldn't enjoy my food as much if I couldn't smoke Camels while eating and afterwards. It seems to me that after good food there's nothing like smoking a Camel to aid digestion and build up a feeling of well-being."Seattle Times, 16 Mar 1936 - "Seattle Club's Patrol Team in 18-Mile Victory"
The article includes a fine photo of the Seattle Ski Club's winning team of Ole Tverdal, Howard Dalsbo and Roy Nerland after finishing the race in 4:50:39. The photo is entitled "--And Still Pert." The second place team, from the College of Puget Sound, crossed the line at Martin more than four hours after the winners. On the Washington Ski Club team, Pat Paterson broke a ski and borrowed an emergency ski tip from another patrol, which automatically disqualified his team. Bill Miller on the Seattle Mountaineers team became ill and was to return to Snoqualmie Lodge. Teammates Wolf Bauer and Scott Edson continued toward Martin. After a rest, Miller decided to follow them, but arrived too late for them to finish as a team. The Everett Mountaineers team of Erick Larson, Arnold Wester and Kenneth Boatz was disqualified after Boatz turned back due to illness.
1937
Seattle Times, 28 Feb 1937 - "20-Mile Patrol Ski Race Is Due"
"Those hardy skiers who think nothing of toting a twelve-pound pack and a pair of weary legs twenty miles across the backbone of the Cascade range go at it again next Sunday in the second annual Northwest championship ski patrol race." Teams are expected from the Seattle Ski Club, Cascade Ski Club, Washington Ski Club, Leavenworth Ski Club, the Mountaineers, Penguin Ski Club and Yakima Ski Club.Seattle P-I, 9 Mar 1937 - "Mountaineers Win Patrols"
The Mountaineers team won in a time of 5 hours 13 minutes. The Seattle Ski Club was second and the College of Puget Sound third. Two other teams also finished.Seattle Times, 11 Mar 1937 - "The Timer Has the Last Word"
A regular column of sports tidbits and commentary. This one begins, "The coming of Otto Lang and a slow realization that ski control affords more skiing pleasure then abandoned straight running down steep slopes has helped; but accidents in skiing still continue. If skiers would learn control, the danger of such accidents would be materially lessened." The column continues: "How about a gentle suggestion to the Rainier National Park Service about that Devil's Dip trail? The Timer's neck crawls every time he spills in the Dip, doubles up into a horrified knot and peers out of the self-imposed huddle to see what straight-running demon is going to ram a ski clear through him. A wider trail might help."Seattle Times, 29 Mar 1937 - "Double Jump--And Disaster"
A spectacular photo of Sverre Kolterud and Sigmund Ruud performing a tandem jump at the Seattle Ski Club's Beaver Lake ski tournament. (Beaver Lake is near the top of the Snoqualmie Summit ski area, above Lodge Lake where the patrol races started.) Both jumpers flew over 200 feet, but Ruud lost control after the landing and crashed into a spectator, injuring his ankle.
1938
Seattle Times, 22 Feb 1938 - "Ski Teams to Battle Sunday in Patrol Race"
"Skiing steps back for a moment, next Sunday, to the days when skiing wasn't sport, but transportation, and when a man had to be properly accoutered to avoid damage by the elements."Seattle Times, 27 Feb 1938 - "Patrol Race On Program Today"
"No audience will watch them, for their course doesn't run past any grandstand; but a small group at the finish will cheer six three-man ski teams this afternoon at Martin, far up in the Cascades, when they cross the line in the third annual Northwest Patrol Race championships. They'll have earned it."Seattle Times, 28 Feb 1938 - "Ski Patrol Race Tough"
The Mountaineers team of Scott Edson, Sigurd Hall and Art Wilson won the race over difficult icy snow in 4:57:45. The University of Washington team was second and the Sahalie Ski Club team third. The Seattle Independents (Roy McCoy, Bill Cox and Will Thompson, of the Ptarmigan Climbing Club) were fourth. Two teams failed to finish.
1939
Seattle Times, 18 Feb 1939 - "Ski Teams to Race"
"That Mountaineers' patrol race tomorrow for twenty miles along the backbone of the Cascade range seems slightly crazy to the lay skier, but maybe it's time to deliver a short and not too heavy sermon on its excellence--and the serious purpose behind it all... The patrol race breeds weather-wise and snow-wise skiers... They must [know] how to go to beat the dickens, but conserve enough strength for a stanch finish ... in other words, how to conduct themselves in the mountains." The article says that ten teams are entered.Seattle P-I, 18 Feb 1939 - "Uphill and Downdale: Patrol Race on Tomorrow" by Mike Donahoe
"It's an odds-on, mortal cinch that the most-tuckered-out gang of ski racers in North America will huddle around a stove in Meany Ski Hut near Martin tomorrow at the close of the Mountaineers' fourth annual patrol race from Snoqualmie Pass. The Mountaineers' patrol race is an event unique in Northwest skiing. The patrol race is a copy of the annual free-for-all staged by the Alpine troops at the conclusion of their winter maneuvers. It's a team affair. There is no such thing as an individual star in a patrol race. There may be ... and often, too ... a goat." The author describes the sequence of climbs and descents on the course and concludes, "Boy! Copy! Take it away. Take my skis too! These typewriter trips are killing me."Seattle Times, 19 Feb 1939 - "Skiers Race Today"
The article includes a list of the required equipment to be carried by each racer.Seattle P-I, 20 Feb 1939 - "Seattle Patrol in Ski Win"
The Seattle Ski Club team of Sigurd Hall, Roy Nerland and Bert Mortensen won in a time of 4:39:20. Conditions were described as ideal. The University of Washington team was second and the Mountaineers team third. Seven patrols started the race.
1940
Seattle P-I, 2 Mar 1940 - "Ski Patrols in Trek Tomorrow" by Mike Donahoe
"Starting at 10 o'clock in the morning the patrols will leave the Mountaineers' Snoqualmie Lodge and hep-hep across a ridge of the Cascades to Meany Ski Lodge at Martin, east portal of the Northern Pacific tunnel. It's quite a stunt, especially when one considers the fact that most of the Northwest skiers are apparently very much downhill-slalom minded and averse to getting off the beaten practice slopes." Nine patrols are entered.Seattle P-I, 4 Mar 1940 - "Alpine Patrol Scores Ski Triumph In Upset"
The Washington Alpine Club patrol of Carlton Greenfield, Al Wilson and Grant Lovegren won in 5 hours, 13 minutes. Conditions were described as slushy. The Seattle Ski Club patrol was second and the Washington Ski Club third. The Ptarmigan Climbing Club entered a team (Calder Bressler, Ray Clough and Will Thompson) that finished sixth.
1941
Seattle P-I, 8 Mar 1941 - "Mountaineer Test Slated Sunday In Cascades" by Mike Donahoe
Six teams are entered. The article says that "no artificial aids to climbing other than wax are permitted which means that the race is definitely not for 'practice hill' skiers." Walt Little and Helmy Beckey will break trail starting at 4 a.m. while Fred Beckey and Bill Elfendahl will follow after the patrols as "cleanup" squad.Seattle P-I, 8 Mar 1941 - "Blackout Total Success"
As a demonstration of war preparedness, the entire city of Seattle was blacked out at 10:30 p.m. on March 7. The lights remained off for fifteen minutes until the "all clear" signal was given. Mayor John E. Carroll admonished people to stay home but thousands drove to vantage points around the city resulting in jammed traffic afterward. Frank Cadman, the general blackout chairman, said "Seattle has set an example for the whole country, of which it can justly be proud."Seattle P-I, 10 Mar 1941 - "Alpine Skiers in Patrol Win"
The Washington Alpine Club team of Grant Lovegren, Al Wilson and Carlton Greenfield repeated their victory in a time of 5:27:55. The going was made tougher than expected by hard crusted snow. Second place was taken by the army ski patrol team from the 41st Division, Lee R. Zerba, Donald H. Brown and Raymond Osborn. The Mountaineers team took third. "The Seattle Ski Club, many times winner of this race, failed for the first time to enter a patrol."
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