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Seattle Times, 1900-49
To obtain copies of these articles, try the Seattle Times Historical Archives available through the Seattle Public Library. Alternatively, you can try the Microforms Collection at UW Libraries.Seattle Times, 1910s
Apr 28, 1918, p. 16 - "Many Scandinavian Girls Find Home At The Lyng"
This article describes The Lyng, a home for Scandinavian girls in Seattle which was established in 1917. The home is backed by prominent local Scandinavians. According to the article, more than 225 girls have been cared for there during the past year.
The article features Miss Olga Bolstad, who has lived at The Lyng since she arrived in Seattle from her native Norway. The article includes a photo of Miss Bolstad in traditional Norwegian dress holding "the silver loving cup which she won as first prize in the skiing contests held on Mount Rainier last summer."
According to the article, the word "Lyng" is the name given to a sort of heather which grows in the Scandinavian countries, and is much loved by the people. The home was named after this heather.
Seattle Times, 1930s
Mar 12, 1930, p. 19 - "Women Can Ski As Expertly As Men"
Mrs. Stuart P. Walsh of The Mountaineers recently became the first woman to ski from The Mountaineers' Snoqualmie Lodge to the Meany Ski Hut, a distance of 20 miles. The article says that the feat had previously been accomplished by only six men. The tour was made preliminary to the club's first Patrol Race to be held over the same terrain.
"Men have always said women couldn't make this trip," said Mrs. Walsh. "I hope by doing it I've proved their error. I was tired, yes. We were on the way eight hours. But scarcely more tired than I have often been after an unusually active day. I only wish I could have made the trip sooner. I should certainly have organized a woman's patrol to compete in this year's race. Next year, though, just watch us!"
Mrs. Walsh believes that women can do everything in skiing that men can do, with the exception of ski jumping. They could do that too, she says, but it isn't generally recommended. "Eight years ago the Mountaineers Club sent out a call for a ski meet and only five women responded," she explained. "At last check-up there were 150 women who could take part in the sport--and do it well."
Jul 9, 1933, Magazine p. 2 - Mosauer, Dr. Walter, "Here's Your Real Summer Sport--Skiing"
In June 1932 the author took a summer skiing trip to Oregon and Washington. On June 12, he climbed Garfield Peak (Crater Lake) "and skied on the very rim, several thousand feet above the level of the lake." Two days later, he climbed Mt Hood and descended on skis to near Government Camp. Traveling to Seattle, he met Bill Maxwell, "one of the most enthusiastic ski-fiends I ever knew." On June 23, with eight Mountaineers, he skied on Mt Rainier from Narada Falls to Anvil Rock and back. He writes: "Every one of the Mountaineers was well equipped and seemed surprisingly familiar with all the ultramodern trends in skiing and outfitting methods... Thus there is a small number of people in Washington equalling the progressive spirit of ski mountaineers of Europe. Yet the great majority of skiers on the Pacific Coast adhere to the methods taught by the Norwegian and Swiss experts who came to this country too long ago to participate in the recent development of high mountain skiing."Returning to Seattle, he left for the Mt Baker Lodge area with Bob Hayes. "Bob Hayes and his mountaineer companion, Ben Thompson, know that country better than anybody else. It was they in whose company Miss Milana Jank made her ski climb of Mt Baker." He describes a tour on Table Mountain. "In the Alps there is a variety of peaks of almost equal altitude, creating a world of ice and snow, where every climb affords a panorama of majestic towers and pinnacles. This is also true of Mt Baker." He mentions skiing on the north side of Mt Rainier, at Camp Muir, and finally on July 16, "the climax and glorious finish of a summer's skiing," a 6,000 foot ski descent from the summit of Mt Adams (12,307 feet).
Aug 13, 1933, p. 5 - "Conquering Mt Baker on Skis" [digital file]
"The first uninterrupted climb to the 10,750-foot summit of Mt Baker and back ever made was the recent achievement of Hans Otto Giese and Don Fraser of the Seattle Ski Club. They made the ascent in 6-1/2 hours; descending, they dropped 6,750 feet in 30 minutes."Photo captions: "Above: Fraser in an awe-inspiring setting on Roosevelt Glacier at the 9,000-foot level. Right: The two climbers at the summit as photographed by a member of a party of Bellingham Boy Scouts who had climbed the peak in conventional fashion."
Nov 10, 1933, p. 20 - Boren, Virginia, "Practice Yodeling, For Ski Days Are At Hand" [digital file]
Last year (1932-33) Rainier National Park opened some 15 cabins. Due to demand, 42 cabins will open up this year. Seattle couples are leasing quarters for the season in the new winter lodge, which has 35 rooms. The old lodge has 37 rooms. The author names several couples and individuals who have taken quarters in the new winter lodge. About Paradise, she writes: "There's dancing in the lobby at night, there's skiing on the side hills in the gleam of a big searchlight that plays on the snowbanks, giving the whole scene the effect of a tinseled Christmas postcard." Also: "There's the fast new sport called slalom" employing flags placed at intervals and "you steer dexterously in and out of this path of flags."The author describes cabins owned by individuals at Snoqualmie Summit, including one on Surveyors Lake. A group of Seattleites has built the Kendall Peak Lodge. The College Club has the Roaring Creek Lodge above Lake Keechelus. The newest winter dwelling established at the Summit is the Helen Bush School Lodge, which is owned by the school and built for the use of the pupils and their friends. The author notes that the Snoqualmie Lodge owned by the Mountaineers is the oldest at the Summit. The Mountaineers also have the Meany Ski Hut at Martin. A few miles beyond Martin are box cars used by the Washington Alpine Club. The WAC also has a "grand new lodge" built last year three miles below the Summit. The Seattle Ski Club lodge is right at the Summit. The Commonwealth Ski Club lodge is to the left as one approaches the Summit (presumedly from the west).
Feb 22, 1936, p. 1 - "Two Die in Snoqualmie Slide!" [digital file]
Two motorists were confirmed dead and another was missing and believed dead after several early morning avalanches swept the Snoqualmie Pass highway near "Airplane Curve" just west of the summit. Truck driver Harold Devereaux was rescued from his vehicle after being trapped under nine feet of snow for seven hours. The avalanche occurred on the eve of the Pacific Northwest ski jumping championships at the pass.Feb 23, 1936, p. 1 - "3 Killed; Rescuers Dig Out 50 Buried Alive In Snow" [digital file]
The avalanche victims were identified as Edwin J. Miller of Redmond, William Gill of Bothell, and Ben Lichty of Zillah. It was said that they died after helping to rescue Harold Devereaux. Twenty-three people were rescued from a single buried bus. Corey Gustafsson and other members of Portland's Cascade Ski Club helped dig out two men trapped in a buried car. The article includes several photos of rescuers working in the snow. A related article says that a train was derailed by a snow slide near Bandera, three miles west of the Milwaukee tunnel through Snoqualmie Pass. The Northwest Ski Tournament scheduled for this weekend at Snoqualmie Summit was posponed then cancelled.Feb 24, 1936, p. 3 - "Pass Reopened by Snowplows" [digital file]
State Highway Director Lacey V. Murrow said in Olympia today that the 1937 legislature would be asked to appropriate $400,000 to construct snow sheds at dangerous points along the Snoqualmie Pass highway to prevent repetition of the weekend avalanche tragedy that claimed three lives.Jan 24, 1937, Rotogravure p. 4 - Borgersen, Orville, "Snowtime Is Playtime in the Cascades"
Fine photos taken at Mt Rainer and Mt Baker. Photos include Don Fraser jumping off a cornice at Panorama Ridge above Paradise, Otto Lang teaching a class below Alta Vista, Don Amick performing a gelandesprung, scenic views in the Mt Baker area, and others.Mar 12, 1939, Rotogravure p. 4 - Borgersen, Orville, "Sculptured in Snow"
Photos of snow flocked trees and slopes in the Mt Baker country.Seattle Times, 1940s
May 12, 1940, Rotogravure p. 1 - Dyke, Walter, "To the Top of Mount Baker"
Fine pictures of a ski-climb of the Coleman route by Dave Lind, Dwight Watson and Walter Dyke of Seattle and Walt Price and Clair Jarvis of Forest Grove, Oregon. Skis were discarded for crampons at the 8,000 foot level. Photos show the men carrying skis at sunrise, skiing up the Coleman Glacier below the Black Buttes, walking to the summit, and skiing down the upper Coleman.Apr 7, 1946, p. 9 - Hanson, Howard A., "Pioneer Ski Tournament at Mount Rainier"
As a boy in Mennesota, the author had his own skis. When his family moved to Seattle in 1889, his father induced him to give the skis away. "He said the climate here was too mild for skiing and the mountains were inaccessible, for lack of roads." Later the author joined with others to organize the Rainier National Park Ski Club and hold tournaments on Mt Rainier to promote skiing.The July 4, 1922, tournament was the first in the Puget Sound area that was not purely a local event. The author acknowledges that four smaller tournaments had been held on Mt Rainier in previous seasons. The project was launched on May 17, 1922, Norway's Independence Day, at a luncheon of business and professional men, nearly all of Norwegian descent. O.A. Kjos, who had competed on the famous Holmenkollen course in Norway, was named president of the new club. One of the club directors was Reidar Gjolme, later president of the Seattle Ski Club.
The committee paid for three professionals to come to the 1922 meet: Lars Haugen of Steamboat Springs, CO, Miss Olive Holdahl of Glenwood, MN, and Nels Nelson of Revelstoke, B.C. They also brought in several amateurs from Revelstoke and Madison, WI. The author does not list the tournament results.
In 1923 the club organized a similar meet at Rainier, which also was a success, with better snow conditions. One of the constestants was Allan Granstrom of Revelstoke, who later moved to Seattle and became president of the Pacific Northwest Ski Association. The three professionals who came to the tournament gave exhibitions only. Ivind Nelson of Revelstoke won the jumping event and Chris Bakken of Centralia won the cross-country race. According to the author, men's and women's downhill races were also held, won by E. Sonnichsen and Mrs. Haakon Friele, respectively.
May 18, 1947, Magazine p. 1 - Bruseth, Nels, "Tall, Little-Known Glacier Peak"
This article, found in the Dwight Watson collection at U.W., is a good introduction to the mountain. "Only from the air or from the high neighboring mountain tops and ridges can Glacier Peak be seen in its full majesty," writes the author. He describes the geology, plant and animal life of the mountain, Indian legends and early climbing. The author, a forest guard at Darrington for 30 years, first climbed the peak in 1916. He writes, "Perhaps the most interesting trip of all was one I made around the mountain at the 7,000-to-8,000-foot levels. My only regret on any of these lone mountain journeys has been that I have not had more time to linger and observe." He describes climbing approaches from the Suiattle (north), Whitechuck (west) and Sauk (southwest) rivers. The article includes a painting of the mountain by the author and a photo of the author standing on skis below Three Fingers Mountain, probably near Squire Creek Pass.
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