A. A. C., Cascade Section. Excellent weather during the summer of 1956 enabled many members to do some good climbing in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Among the more notable climbs was a second ascent, with a variation, of Mount Rainier’s Ptarmigan Ridge by Fred Beckey and party. Several section members went farther afield. Pete Schoening, Don Claunch, and Leon Blumer were in a party that attempted the Pioneer Ridge on Mount McKinley and were stopped at about 15,000 feet by a combination of bad snow conditions, weather, and lack of time. Dr. Otto Trott was in a party that reached about 12,000 feet on the East ridge of Mount McKinley, the route Dr. Cook claimed that he climbed. Fred Ayres climbed in Peru and later in Mexico. Dick McGowan ran the guide concession at Mount Rainier, and Willi Unsoeld guided in the Tetons. Several members participated in mountain rescue work in conjunction with the Mountain Rescue Council.

Two informal meetings were held when John Oberlin visited Seattle in July and Francis Farquhar in September. At the annual meeting on September 29 George Senner, who recently returned to this area after a five-year absence, was chosen chairman of the section. Following a short business meeting, an excellent illustrated talk on the Cordillera Blanca of South America was given by Dr. Walther Hofmann, a photo- grammetric engineer from Munich, Germany.

The section was saddened by the passing of Bill Degenhardt on November 15. Bill was an active climber and skier the year around, and he could be found in the mountains nearly every weekend.

Cornelius M. Molenaar