Alpenglow Ski Mountaineering History Project

Home

Etc., 1941

Etc., Feb 1941, p. 10 - Fish, Byron, "Experiments in Freezing"

Four hundred men applied for detached duty in the Army's experimental ski patrol at Mt Rainier in the winter of 1940-41. Captain Howard C. Crawford, not a skier himself, picked 24 men from the 15th Infantry. They are being coached by Lt. Johnny Woodward, "the Northwest's outstanding cross-country skier." The group is doing preliminary work around Paradise Valley, and later will move higher on the mountain to test their equipment. One item being tested for sentry duty is a "penguin" sleeping bag, which enables the wearer to waddle around on foot. In the Finnish-Russian war, sentries froze to death. The other primary object of the skiing troops is to develop winter warfare tactics for the Army's Articles of War, a series of manuals covering every phase of military maneuvers. The men are experimenting with reversible parkas and other forms of camouflage. Later in the season the troops plan to make a trip clear around the mountain, carrying their equipment over glaciers and camping on snow, taking seven to ten days.

The article includes photos of Capt. Paul Lafferty and Lt. Johnny Woodward instructing the troops in skiing, troops marching on skis, sentries standing in penguin sleeping bags, men erecting a pup tent supported by skis, and Capt. Crawfard watching camouflaged troops maneuver above Paradise Valley.

Return to the Alpenglow Ski Mountaineering History Project home page