| Chronology - Mount Rainier Area | Home |
Mount Rainier National Park, the Tatoosh Range, and areas to the east including Chinook Pass and Crystal Mountain.
For other chronology items, click here.
Key:
| White = Foreground chronology | Blue = Background chronology | Yellow = Undocumented chronology |
Undocumented items require more research or documentation. To submit comments, corrections or additions click here.
| Year | Month-Day | Who | Where | What | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1899 | - | U.S. Congress | - | Mt Rainier National Park established | subject index |
| 1900s | |||||
| Before 1910 | - | Milnor Roberts and others | Longmire to Paradise | Scattered use of skis by individuals in the park | Milnor Roberts, Thor Bisgaard |
| 1910s | |||||
| 1912 | - | - | Paradise | Road to Paradise opened (summer only, gradually extended in winter during the 1930s) | subject index |
| 1912-13 | New Years holiday | Mountaineers Tacoma branch | Longmire | First organized winter outing to Mt Rainier, which became an annual event through 1930. Olive Rand participated using skis. | subject index |
| 1917 | July 29 | Northwestern Ski Club | Paradise | First annual ski jumping tournament | subject index |
| 1920s | |||||
| 1922 | February 13 | Jean and Jacques Landry, Jacques Bergues, with Charles Perryman | Mt Rainier, Gibraltar route | First winter ascent of Mt Rainier, skis abandoned at Anvil Rock | spi-1922-feb, mtneer-b-1922-may, soyp-1936-y1922, molenaar-1997-p154 |
| 1927 | May 2 | Andrew W. Anderson, E. Lester LaVelle, W. J. Maxwell | Emmons Glacier | Attempted ski ascent of Mt Rainier, reaching 12,500 feet | mtneer-a-1927-p49, mtneer-a-1941-p5 |
| 1928 | April 8 | Bill Maxwell, Andy Anderson, Fred DuPuis, Lars Novseth, Walter Best, Otto Strizek, Otto Giese | Emmons Glacier | Ski-climb, abandoning skis at 11,800 feet. Three men continued to the summit on crampons. | mtneer-b-1928-may, mtneer-a-1928-p45, mtneer-a-1941-p5, bowen-1963-ch6, molenaar-1997-p169 |
| 1930s | |||||
| 1930 or before | - | W.J. Maxwell et al | Mt Rainier area | Popular tours established: Indian Henry's Hunting Ground, Cowlitz Rocks to the Paradise River, Pinnacle-Castle saddle, Camp Muir, Paradise to the Nisqually glacier snout, and from Steamboat Prow (Interglacier) to Storbo mining camp in Glacier basin | mtneer-a-1930-p53 |
| 1931 | - | Edwin Loners, Clifford Solberg, Robert Sperlin | Mt Ruth | Ski ascent (not the first?) | st-1933-sep-23 |
| 1931 | Summer | State Highway Department | Chinook Pass | Highway completed | subject index |
| 1933 | April | Paul Gilbreath and J. Wendell Trosper | Little Tahoma | Ski ascent | molenaar-1997-p192 |
| 1934 | April | Otto Strizek, Orville Borgersen, Ben Spellar | Mt Rainier | Ski traverse from Paradise to Glacier Basin via Camp Muir and Emmons Glacier | tt-1934-apr-17, mtneer-a-1934-p20 |
| 1934 | April 22 | Don Fraser, winner | Camp Muir to Paradise | First Silver Skis race | subject index |
| 1937 | - | Sigurd Hall and Dwight Watson | Cowlitz Chimneys | Ski traverse of Governors Ridge from Cayuse Pass to Summerland | mtneer-a-1937-p28, mtneer-a-1945-p32, dw-scrapbook-idx |
| 1937-38 | - | Chauncey Griggs and Jim Parker | Paradise | First rope tow at Paradise | subject index |
| 1938 | May 22 | Sigurd Hall, Dwight Watson and others | Old Desolate | Ski summit | dw-scrapbook-p459, dw-scrapbook-p101, mtneer-a-1945-p32 |
| 1939 | July 2 | Sigurd Hall and Andy Hennig | Emmons Glacier | Complete ski ascent of Mt Rainier, partial ski descent | spi-1939-jul-04, st-1939-jul-17, mtneer-a-1939-p30, mtneer-a-1941-p5 |
| 1940s | |||||
| 1940 | April 2-4 | Mel Borgersen, Bill Butler, Ome Daiber, Bob Hayes, other park rangers | Mt Rainier | Ski traverse from White River to Carbon River | mrnp-ranger-1940-apr |
| 1940 | June 9 | Virginia Hill, Otto Trott and Dwight Watson | Mt Rainier | Ski traverse from Colonnade to Klapatchie Park | dw-scrapbook-idx, dw-scrapbook-p73, dw-scrapbook-p97, dw-papers-box2-F |
| 1941 | February 10-14 | 15th Infantry Ski Patrol, including John Woodward and ranger Bill Butler | Mt Rainier | Ski traverse from White River to Mowich Lake | mrnp-ranger-1941-feb-Chief, woodward-john, burton-1971-p88a |
| 1941-42 | Winter | 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment, U.S. Army | Paradise | Army units trained at Paradise | subject index |
| 1948 | July 18 | Charles Welsh, Cliff Schmidtke, Dave Roberts, Kermit Bengtson | Emmons Glacier | First complete ski descent of Mt Rainier | mtneer-a-1948-p37, molenaar-1997-p169, welsh-chuck |
| 1950s | |||||
| 1953-54 | - | Gov. Arthur B. Langlie | Paradise | Tramway controversy | subject index |
| 1955 | July 24 | Robert McCall and Marcel Schuster | Emmons Glacier | Second ski descent of the mountain | molenaar-1997-p169, snw-1990-feb-p14 |
| 1960s | |||||
| 1961 | June 18 | John Ahern, Bill Briggs, Roger Brown, Gordie Butterfield, Joe Marillac, Roger Paris, Jim Whittaker and Lou Whittaker | Ingraham Glacier | Ski descent | summit-1961-aug-p14, tnt-1961-oct-15, nwskier-1961-oct-20-p1, nwskier-1990-nov-p8, isha-1997-3rd-p28, isha-1998-3rd-p19 |
| 1962-63 | - | - | Crystal Mountain | Crystal Mountain Ski Area opened | subject index |
| 1970s | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1980s | |||||
| 1980 | May 3-4 | Dan Davis, Tom Janisch, Jeff Haley | Fuhrer Finger | Ski descent | molenaar-1997-p343 |
| 1980 | May 12 | Chris Landry | Liberty Ridge | Ski descent | spi-1980-jun-08-p1, robinson-1996-ch24, summit-1994-win-p76 |
| 1984 | July | U.S. Congress | Mt Rainier Area | Washington Wilderness Act establishes Clearwater, Glacier View, Norse Peak, and Tatoosh Wilderness Areas | usfs-1984-wmaps, cascadian-1984-p7 |
| 1985 | Spring | Dale Farnham | Kautz Glacier and chute | Ski descent | undocumented |
| 1986 | May 24-30 | N.L. Kirkland, Terry Pritchards, Dana Rush and Dr. Roy Walters | Mt Rainier, High level orbit | Complete ski orbit of Rainier (clockwise from Paradise) | tnt-1983-jun-5-mag10, molenaar-1997-p320, filley-1996-p254a |
| 1988 | Spring | Dale Farnham | Gibraltar Chute | Ski descent | undocumented |
| 1990s | |||||
| Circa 1992 | June | Jim Collinson | Wilson Glacier Headwall | Ski descent | undocumented |
| 1997 | May | Rob Gibson, Aaron Horwitz, Darrel Howe | Tahoma Glacier | Partial ski descent (and traverse of the peak) | undocumented |
| 1997 | July 19 | Armond DuBuque, Doug Ingersoll, Andrew McLean, Carl Skoog | Edmunds Glacier Headwall (Mowich Face) | Ski descent | backcountry-1998-jan-p22 |
| 1998 | July 3 | Luke Edgar and Chad Kellogg | Success Glacier Couloir | Snowboard descent | couloir-1998-oct-p22 |
| 1999 | May 24 | David Persson | Liberty Ridge | Fatal fall while attempting ski descent | harlin-2001-p113 |
| 2000s | |||||
| 2000 | March | Loren Campbell, Jens Klubberud | Lane Peak | North chute ("Zipper"), ski descent | undocumented, strawman. |
| 2001 | June | Matt Farmer and Ned Randolph | Tahoma Glacier | Complete ski descent (and traverse of the peak) | undocumented |
| 2004 | June 22 | Donnelly Miller | Winthrop Glacier Headwall | Ski descent | undocumented |
| 2005 | July 18 | Sky Sjue | Central Mowich Face | Ski descent | undocumented |
| 2006 | June 11 | Sky Sjue | Kautz Headwall | Ski descent | undocumented |
| 2007 | May 13 | Sky Sjue, Christophe Martin | Fuhrer Thumb | Ski descent | undocumented |
| 2007 | May 31 | Sky Sjue | Sunset Ridge | Ski descent (used crampons below Liberty Cap to reach top of ridge) | undocumented |
Copyright © 2002 Lowell Skoog. All Rights Reserved.
Last Updated:
Wed Jul 16 15:23:00 PDT 2008