Spokane Mountaineers. Growing interest in skiing activity and active recruiting of climbing school students swelled club membership to 90 in 1957. A well-planned series of evening classes and field practice sessions was conducted by the climbing committee. Safety, proper equipment and its use, dynamic belay, and climbing rhythm were stressed. At the final session, Fred Beckey presented his Lhotse “Himalayan Adventure”—scenes of sublime Nepal were a superb contrast to the mundane bowline practice.

During the summer the fine safety record of the club was maintained in numerous sorties. A second attempt was needed on September 1 to complete a fine ice climb on volcanic Glacier Peak (10,436 feet). Don Bergman and Jack Miller used the southeast cleaver above Chocolate Glacier after the long eastern approach.

An official club climb of Rainier via Gibraltar succeeded on August 17 after several years of weather setbacks. In their first excursion to the Cashmere Crags, members’ eyes were opened to the fine rock and fancy pinnacles of “Beckey-land.” This time we climbed Razorback and Comet spires on the 8000-foot Temple Ridge.

For the fifth successive year, members successfully stormed Chimney Rock (7136 feet), above Priest Lake, Idaho. In the Inland Empire region, Chimney Rock has as fierce a reputation as Devil’s Tower and Shiprock have nationally. It is spectacular to the lake dwellers, and offers, so far, only one route leading through a series of slabs and chimneys—nearly two hours of class “4½” enjoyment. The surrounding area strikingly resembles the Yosemite region. The accompanying picture shows the unrelenting sweep of slab. (Plate 26.)

Intensive interest and development on Mount Spokane this year have shown the value of the mountaineer ski cabin and slope. The Bavarian Ski School, with two fine instructors from Garmisch, leased partial use of our facilities for the season.

William C. Fix, President