A Brief History: Mazama Ski Mountaineering

A BRIEF HISTORY:

MAZAMA SKI MOUNTAINEERING

by Richard (Dick) Iverson

The Mazamas have pursued various forms of ski mountaineering and backcountry ski touring for more than a century. According to Peggy Mills’ “Seventy Years of Mazama Skiing, 1897-1967,” the first Mazama ski mountaineering summit ascent/descent was of Mount St. Helens on May 27, 1950. It also seems likely that the Mazamas or other locals made ski descents from the summit of Mt. Hood prior to the oft-cited “first descent” by renowned Swiss skier Sylvain Saudan in 1971. Nonetheless, there appear to be few records of these individuals’ accomplishments, and before 1990 there was no official Mazama ski mountaineering class or program.

Above: Former Mazama Ray Patrick leading the way down Mt. Adams’ Southwest Chutes, 1994. Photo by Dick Iverson.

The development of a Mazama ski mountaineering class was the brainchild of former Mazama Don Adamski. Following a telemark ski race that was part of the 1989 State Games of Oregon Winter Edition, Adamski explained his vision to fellow race participants Jon Major and me while we enjoyed a beer or two on the deck of the Mt. Hood Meadows ski lodge. In the afterglow of fine skiing and refreshments, Don easily convinced us that such a class was a good idea.

Adamski next obtained authorization from the Mazama Executive Council to assemble an ad hoc steering committee to help organize and launch a Ski Mountaineering (SkiMt) class as a pilot program. The committee consisted of Adamski as chair plus experienced ski mountaineers Leo Sattler, Mike McGarr, Dennis Olmstead, and me. Our meetings also included John Courtney as a liaison to the extant Nordic Committee, which oversaw our activities and budget. The committee had many discussions about the class curriculum and implementation, and by early 1990 the first class was underway. Adamski and the other committee members served as instructors. I recall that the first class attracted only about eight students (others recall as many as 18), but regardless of the number, there was no lack of enthusiasm among the group. In those days most people skiing in the U.S. backcountry used skinny telemark skis with leather boots and either three-pin or cable bindings, and sharpening basic ski skills on ungroomed

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snow was an essential part of the class. Spills and chills were common.

Over the next several years, the SkiMt class began to mature, and in 1994 the Ski Mountaineering Committee gained full status in the Mazamas. The class size held relatively steady at about 30–35 students per year, but the curriculum evolved. There was a gradually increasing emphasis on safety and decreasing emphasis on teaching ski skills or advanced technical maneuvers—including rather comical attempts to teach groups of three or four people to ski downhill while roped together! Self-arrest practice using only ordinary ski poles as braking devices was more essential. Nonetheless, class members and instructors were undeterred from skiing such objectives as Mt. Adams’ Southwest Chutes, which seven of us first accomplished on a Mazama climb led by Ray Patrick in 1994. Nowadays, the Southwest Chutes draw hordes of springtime skiers, but one rarely saw other skiers there in the early-to-mid 90s.

By the late 1990s, ski mountaineering was evolving rapidly in North America, especially in response to the development of modern alpine touring (AT) ski gear that was lighter, more reliable, and more forgiving than older gear. This change lured throngs of skilled downhill skiers into the backcountry at a rate that continues to grow today. Eventually, even some of us who were diehard telemarkers made the transition to AT gear (in many cases in deference to aging knees). Snowboarding also crept into the backcountry and into the SkiMt class. Prior to the widespread availability of splitboards in the late 1990s, powderseeking backcountry snowboarders generally had to slog uphill on snowshoes, which was a deterrent for many. Today, backcountry snowboarding is almost as common as skiing.

Training in avalanche avoidance and victim rescue techniques has always been a key part of the Mazama SkiMt class. However, in 1990, the American Association of Avalanche Professionals—now called the American Avalanche Association, or simply A3—hadn’t developed its well-articulated guidelines for avalanche safety classes aimed at backcountry travelers. Moreover, substantial avalanche safety training that targeted recreationists was difficult to find anywhere in the Pacific Northwest. For SkiMt, we consequently assembled instructional materials from diverse sources and created an avalanche safety curriculum that consisted of a half-day lecture session at Timberline Lodge followed by a half-day on-snow session in Salmon River Canyon adjacent to the lodge. Over the years, Mazama SkiMt avalanche training has become more comprehensive and consistent with the evolving Level 1 Avalanche Fundamentals guidelines developed by A3. In

Above: Longtime BCST tour leader Wei Chiang riding his splitboard at Mt. Hood. Photo by Ali Gray. Right: Mazama ski mountaineering group pausing near the top of Mt. Adams’ Southwest Chutes to contemplate the descent route, 1994. Photo by Dick Iverson. recent years, the training has included 24 hours of instruction, mostly outdoors on the snow, and partly embedded in ski tours. No serious avalanche accident has ever occurred during a SkiMt class activity or tour. The fatal avalanche accident that occurred during a Mazama Basic Climbing School graduation climb on Mt. Hood on May 31, 1998, had major impacts on the SkiMt program, however. It led to a redoubling of Mazama efforts to assess and mitigate risks, and to new restrictions on the organization’s winter activities above treeline. Combined with increasingly stringent Forest Service regulations limiting group sizes within the Mt. Hood Wilderness Area, this signaled the demise of an early tradition in which the Mazama SkiMt class culminated with a mass ski tour to Illumination Saddle. Sometimes snow conditions on these wind-exposed winter tours made for tricky skiing, but I don’t recall anyone getting seriously hurt. Another early tradition of the SkiMt class was a springtime foray to Mount St. Helens. The outing wasn’t a formal part of the class, but all students and instructors were welcome to participate at their own risk. (This activity predated the implementation of the current climbing permit and quota system at Mount St. Helens, and springtime group size wasn’t an issue.) Sometimes a glorious ski descent from the Mount St. Helens summit was followed by an equally glorious barbecue with abundant beverages and revelry. Many participants wisely camped onsite afterwards, rather than making the drive home. In the past two decades, Mazama ski climbs led by ski mountaineering participants have included descents not only of Mount St. Helens and Mt. Adams but also South Sister, Middle

Above: Gear may change over the years, but the beaming smiles on a bluebird powder day never do. Photo by Ali Gray. Right: A group of BCST students on a tour at Mount St. Helens about a month before COVID-19 shut down the world. Photo by Ali Gray.

Sister, Diamond Peak, Mt. McLoughlin, and Ruth Mountain. Backcountry ski tours in many additional locations throughout the Cascades have also been part of the program.

The year 2020 marked the 30th anniversary of the first Mazama SkiMt class, and also brought a name change to Backcountry Ski Touring (BCST). The new name accurately reflects the fact that for ski mountaineers, reaching a summit typically isn’t the chief goal. Rather, the goal is to enjoy the journey, particularly when downward-bound and seeking slopes with the best available snow.

The 2020 BCST class completed its final sessions just before COVID-19 rocked everyone’s world. Soon thereafter, the Pacific Northwest backcountry was temporarily closed to nearly all public access, leaving many of us yearning for spring powder that was lying in wait in the mountains. In response to the continuing COVID-19 threat, the 2021 edition of the BCST class was the firstever Mazama class conducted entirely online, and the 2022 class is now using a combination of online and outdoor instruction. Most of us hope for a future in which every class session can again take place in person. We’re simultaneously aware that climate change poses a challenge for the future viability of all snow sports. More than most of these sports, however, self-propelled ski mountaineering can adapt to the changing seasonality and locations of good snow. Where there’s a will, there’ll be a way to do it for some time to come.

At its best, ski mountaineering—or backcountry ski touring— bears little resemblance to the crowded hoopla one typically finds at ski resorts. First, there’s the sustained uphill climb, which is worth every bit of effort for its benefit to body and soul. Then there’s the descent. Skiing untracked powder or velvety corn snow high on a remote and silent mountainside is a delight that’s hard to comprehend until you’ve experienced it. In my view, there’s no truer “freedom of the hills” than surrendering oneself to gravity and feeling moments of weightlessness as your skis or snowboard float in and out of the fall-line while quietly leaving tracks that will soon disappear.

Author bio:

Richard (Dick) Iverson lives in Hood River and is a scientist emeritus at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver. He has been an instructor for Mazama Ski Mountaineering/Backcountry Ski Touring every year since the class’s inception in 1990.