MULTIGENERATIONAL MAZAMAS

by Patti Core Beardsley

As we enter that magical time of year when the mountains become more accessible, the deserts are welcoming and the hills are filled with color, I am reminded of the cycle of life that we so easily take for granted in nature and in our Mazamas. What cycles of life can there be in the Mazamas you ask? Perhaps every climb is a cycle as we return to basecamp and certainly every season of climbing that matches the cycle of the seasons. But, what of the cycle of generations that grows with the Mazamas every year. We are curious to hear your stories of being introduced to the Mazamas and introducing others—whether through circles of friends or generational traditions.

In recent years, revisiting Mazama stories documented in past Annuals has raised a lot of curiosity about where those hikers & climbers and their children and grandchildren are in their mountain adventure lives. Outreach to a few coparticipants from the 1970s has brought forth some fun reminisces and opened up a lot of questions we’d all love to explore more.

My story is one of being raised hiking (picture kids with homemade backpacks as soon as they could walk) by two outdoor enthusiasts who found the Mazamas when they moved to Portland in 1968 and remained involved as hikers, climbers and committee members. Dad applied his engineering way of thinking with other members whilst measuring glacial retreats on the Eliot Glacier, determining variations on routes, and working on the Lodge. Like many Mazamas, his perseverance enabled continuing his adventures well into his 80’s including several climbs with the Mazama Elips (elders in the Chinook language). Mom’s adventurous organizational skills led her to join Mazama outings hiking around Annapurna and through the mountains of Peru whilst pitching in on the Mazama Banquet efforts where members shared their stories in a lively annual event. Together, their enthusiasm led us up and around mountains throughout the Northwest enabling us to meet some of the legendary leaders of the era and their children whose stories we hope to share here in future issues.

Take, for example, Malcolm Montague, himself a third generation Mazama, inspiring his children (the fourth generation) to hike up and around the mountains of the Northwest including being part of the crew that carried fireworks to the summit for the 75th Mazama Anniversary celebration. His daughter, Ellen, recently intrigued this writer with reflections about the Mazama experiences of her father, aunt, grandfather and great-grandfathers as well as her first and qualifying climb up South Sister at age 11. As many readers might also remember, she described sleeping over at the Mazama Lodge prior to a Mt. Hood climb and the distinct sound of yodeling at 3 a.m. to let the climbers know it was time to rise and shine and ascend. Summitting was not a requirement for great adventure as evidenced by multiple hikes around Mt. Hood with the Girl Scouts—much to her parents’ delight.

Ellen’s father was inspired by his aunt and grandfather. As a third generation Mazama, Malcolm became a frequent climb leader and this writer remembers a North/Middle Sister climb with him where the unexpected wind took care of at least one tent on the Hayden Glacier where the team had set up camp. Malcolm relished time around the campfire sharing stories and was thrilled describing the summit of 10 Alps during an early 1970s Mazama outing that included achieving his life long goal of summiting the Matterhorn. If he left any summit undone, it was the Eiger. The full story of the Swiss Alps outing in the 1970 Mazama Annual is a worthy read.

Malcolm’s grandfather, Richard, was one of the early Mazamas and inspired multiple descendants to be active outdoors people, historians, and conservationists. Ellen remembers her father along with close co-leaders and friends Carmie Dafoe and Peg Oslund demonstrating the Mazama ethics of truly caring about those on their climbs by “running the line” of the whole team checking on their progress, thus doubling or tripling their own mileage on any trip—with a smile.

Last year, Ellen had the opportunity to travel the Grindelwald to Matterhorn route that her father so fondly remembered, and she also visited the shop where Malcolm borrowed an ice ax and, along with several members of the outing, had one made. That recent trip included the next generation who are now inspired to pursue their own Mazama adventures in the future. Perhaps a future generation will reach that Eiger summit with Malcolm in mind.

As we look forward to learning more about multi-generational Mazamas, I am grateful for our part in the cycle. I met my other half of “generation #2” in a Mazama rafting class. He was an avid adventurer and mountain rescue guy who, upon meeting my mid-70s Dad on South Sister said “yikes, do you expect me to be that active at that age?” We continue to enjoy adventures with nephews, great nephews and our son who became a Mazama in his own right after a three day outing to the top of Old Snowy when he was an adventure-appropriate age of four and was distracted by “playing soccer” with a pinecone going up the trail. We leave our first generation Mazama family members’ unfulfilled mountain dreams (the Tour d’ Mt Blanc and the Baltoro Glacier) to retirement and these subsequent generations.

Tell Us Your Story

Many of these stories of adventures and conservation efforts are documented in Bulletins and Annuals and the Mazama archives, which are themselves great reading. Many reside in the memories of you, the reader, and your mentors/family members. Please help us build upon this initial collection by sharing your “cycle of generations” stories, whether through circles of friends or family traditions. Email us at yourstory@mazamas.org! Not sure where to start? We have some ideas...

■ What is the first hike you remember with your parent/ relative/friend? Where did you go? How did they entice you to keep going? How did that story get told over the years?

■ What inspired your parent/ relative/friend to become a mountaineer and climb leader?

■ What particular adventures do you remember them telling stories about?

■ What goals did they have—which completed and which left for future generations?

■ How has the love of the mountains been passed down to subsequent generations?

Email us at yourstory@mazamas.org