The Mazamas. The many and varied activities of The Mazamas, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, are developed and coordinated by six committees. The Climbing Committee, chaired by Charlene Degener, selects climb leaders, schedules climbs, sets standards, and conducts several levels of training. The Ski Mountaineering Committee, chaired by Wim Arts, encountered strong winds and sleet, which impaired the basic class day at Timberline Lodge and the ski tour planned for the following day. The Trail Trips Committee continued its pattern of expansion with 598 hikes, which attracted 6,217 hikers. The Tuesday and Thursday Street Rambles, which start at the Mazama clubrooms, have become a very popular and important segment of the club’s hiking program. The Nordic Committee was hampered by low snow levels at Mt. Hood in January. The Outing Committee, chaired by Kim McClear, fielded nine domestic outings: hiking in Alaska, the Olympic Peninsula, and the North Santiam and Crater Lake areas; rafting in the Grand Canyon, a Lewis and Clark float on the Missouri River; land improvement at the Hart Mountain Antelope Reserve; and kayaking around the San Juan Islands. Foreign outings went to Peru, Switzerland, the Australian Outback, and Pico Aconcagua in Argentina.

The Expedition Committee made six grants totaling $6,700. The projects included climbing in the Zanskar Mountains of India (D. Anderson, A. Chapin, A. Chapman); climbs of Denali’s West Buttress (R. & R. Lee, Nancy Miller), Nevado Ulta (T. Josephson, C. Buhler), Huascaran (E. Hoem, B. Wilson, V. Dunn), the North Face of Kalanka (C. Geisler, C. Buhler, R. Slawinski); and a search for the northernmost land on Earth (Lloyd Athearn and eight others).

The new Facility Task Force spent months of fruitless search for a new site for the Mazama clubrooms and offices. The club’s rented building at SW 19th and Lovejoy Streets since 1957 will no longer be available after 2005. There is a surprising lack of suitable existing buildings or available land for building. So the search goes diligently onward into 2004. Gary Beck, Flarold Crawford, and Eugene Lewins were elected to the nine-person Executive Council. John Youngman was elected President of The Mazamas.

Jack Grauer, Historian