Mount Saint Helens Climbing Safety Guidelines and map, ca. 1955

This flyer advises climbers ascending Mount Saint Helens to take safety measures into account register at the Ranger Station before beginning their climb. It also provides practical advice for climbing safely including "Never travel on glaciers, steep snow fields, or rock cliffs without rope pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Other Authors: University of Washington Libraries. Special Collections
Format: Other/Unknown Material
Language:unknown
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Online Access:http://cdm16786.contentdm.oclc.org:80/cdm/ref/collection/pioneerlife/id/14843
Description
Summary:This flyer advises climbers ascending Mount Saint Helens to take safety measures into account register at the Ranger Station before beginning their climb. It also provides practical advice for climbing safely including "Never travel on glaciers, steep snow fields, or rock cliffs without rope protection, and without a trained mountaineer in charge of the rope technique" and "Heed the first signs of weather changes, darkness, loss of route, fatigue, etc, while you can still place yourself in a secure position." A list of recent accidents on the mountain encourage climbers to travel safely, warning "Don't let the next victim be you." The back of the flyer features a map of Mount Saint Helens with markers of areas where accidents commonly occur. The Mountain Rescue Council was established in 1948 by a group of veteran climbers including Ome Daiber, Wolf Bauer, Arne Campbell, Max Eckenburg, Dorrell Looff, Kurt Beam and Dr. Otto Trott. Many of the members were already experienced in rescue operations and recognized a need for a more formalized rescue service because of the increasing popularity of outdoor recreation, specifically mountain climbing. As demand increased, local chapters of the Mountain Rescue Council were established outside of Seattle. Between 1952 and 1953 the organization was involved in 15 full-scale rescue operations involving incidents from avalanches to plane crashes. They gained recognition and began fundraising to obtain the proper equipment to meet the needs of a large rescue organization. In 1959, the National Mountain Rescue Association was formed including groups from Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Arizona and California. In 1960, Mountain Rescue Council Members Pete Schoening and Lou and Jim Whittaker along with their companion John Day were involved in an accident on Mount McKinley. Members of the Rescue Council from Washington and Oregon responded and were able to evacuate the most seriously injured of the men via helicopter at an elevation of 17,200. This was the first rescue of that kind at such a high elevation. Other members of the party were helped down from the mountain in the face of serious storms which temporarily stranded them for ten days. The Mountain Rescue Council has since been renamed Seattle Mountain Rescue and currently performs about 30 rescue missions every year.