A few weeks ago I guided a trip up Mt. Shuksan. I have said for a while now that photography and guiding go hand in hand, and this trip really reminded me that this is true. I don't like being out in the rain, but guides in the Pacific Northwest spend a lot of their time putting on a happy face and pretending to have fun in the rain. Its often cold, miserable, and not really that much fun. So what does that have to do with photography? Often times the most dramatic skys and the best views are not found in sunny warm weather, in my experience they are found just after really crappy weather, as the clouds start to break and sun peaks through. Photography is all about lighting, and this trip made for some interesting photo opportunities. Below are some photos from the weekend.
The North Cascades at dusk.
Mt. Baker at sunrise.
The thing that made this three day trip really great was the fact that we did have one day of good weather. So on the second day we made a break for the summit of Mt. Shuksan. Its almost winter up there, and the conditions were more like a spring climb then a early fall climb.
Mt. Baker with a perfect cloud cap on top.
Interesting clouds over the summit pyramid of Mt. Shuksan.
Approaching the summit pyramid.
Ruth climbing into the belay.
Looking down the route at the group below.
This really feels like winter climbing. Ruth midway up the route.
Half way up the route.
Looking down the summit ridge with Mt. Baker in the background.
Ruth on the summit ridge with the summit behind her. She is sitting down because of high winds.
Mitchel and Matt making the last few steps to the top.
Summit shot.
Heading down from the summit pyramid.
Ruth back at camp after the summit.
We all woke up some time after midnight with high winds and lots of rain. I packed the camera deep in my pack surrounded by two garbage bags for the very wet hike out. Summer in the Cascades is over!
Not every film I review for this blog is completely connected to the mountains. Occasionally, I post reviews of books and films that are only marginally linked to mountain culture. Usually these are connected to our mission of bringing you the most interesting mountain content by some small thread. The 2003 film, The Snow Walker is one of these. No, it's not about climbing or skiing, but it is about indigenous culture and adventure, two things that we at the American Alpine Institute care about a great deal.
The Snow Walker is an interesting study of cultural understanding. The story takes place in the fifties in a world where there is little tolerance for individuals who are not white and male. Charlie Halliday (Barry Pepper) is a brash young pilot in Canada's Northern Territories who is enlisted to fly a sick Inuit woman (Annabella Piugattuk) who speaks very little English to a hospital in Yellowknife. In the process of bringing her to safety across the barren tundra, Halliday crashes his plane. The arrogant pilot must learn modesty, trust and understanding as the only way to stay alive in the barren arctic wastes is to put his faith in Inuit survival techniques.
Most of the stranger-in-a-strange-land culture-clash films have two elements to "make them exciting." First, they tend to take place in a violent setting. In other words, there is some kind of war or conflict, often between the cultures portrayed. And second, there is usually a romance. Sometimes the romance is between members of the same culture and sometimes it's cross-cultural. Some excellent examples of these types of films include Kevin Costner's Dances with Wolves, Tom Cruise's The Last Samurai, last year's ubber-blockbuster Avatar, and even Disney's Pocahontas. The Snow Walker breaks away from these cliche models and does something completely different. There is no war between cultures and there is no romance between the two lead characters. Instead, the film documents a story of trust and friendship deep in the wilderness and in many ways, the simplicity of the story creates a far more powerful message than some of the other films that have dealt with this theme.
Barry Pepper -- the film's lead -- is one of those actors you know you've seen before, but often can't place. He's the guy that's in every movie, but when it comes right down to it, you can't name a single one. Well, let me do it for you. Pepper has been in big Hollywood productions like Seven Pounds, Flags of Our Fathers, 25th Hour, We Were Soldiers, Knockaround Guys, The Green Mile, Enemy of the State, and Saving Private Ryan. He has also played leading and secondary roles in a variety of television shows and lesser known Hollywood and independent films. The actor has even performed a feature role in a "live action" video game.
Pepper's performance in The Snow Walker makes me wonder why this particular actor has been typed as a supporting character in most of the work that he has done. The actor has a breadth of range that has been ignored by big Hollywood directors and producers. As most of us only have the slightest knowledge of Inuit culture, we first empathize with Pepper's character, lost in the wilderness. And then as he begins to connect with his Inuit companion, so too do we.
The Snow Walker is not a film that will blow you away with its originality. You've seen this story before. Maybe you haven't seen it with this particular culture being explored, but you've likely seen it with everything from aliens to Samurai. However, it is unlikely that you've seen this type of cultural-understanding story done before in such a tender and "un-Hollywood" way.
-- Oct 23-24 -- Las Vegas, NV -- 2010 National Climbing Management Summit: This fall the Access Fund will host the 2010 National Climbing Management Summit in partnership with the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and US Forest Service in Las Vegas, NV on October 23rd and 24th. The summit will bring land managers and field-level personnel who are involved in recreation policy and climbing management together to discuss best practices for
One of our brave and incredibly hardcore guides, Chantel Astorga, is currently soloing Mescalito on El Capitan in Yosemite. In honor of this impressive endeavor I decided to feature this route in the Weekend Warrior blog. If any of you would like to see some pictures of Chantel's progress on the route check out this website (you may have to scroll through a few other reports to find her climb): www.elcapreport.com
Well, without further delay here are a couple videos of two other hardcore climbers, Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgenson, attempting to free climb Mescalito. There is great footage of the climbing and exposure encountered on this route. It's wild to imagine Chantel up there soloing all of this!
Pat and I recently spent two days in the lesser traveled parts of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area. Our cross country journey covered more that 20 miles and some of the most amazing terrain on what may have been one of the most perfect days of weather in Washington this summer.
A perfect lake with perfect colors.
Maybe we should just camp here.
My shadow on the fall larches.
I think this may be my new favorite spot in all of the cascades!
Our tour took us through a well traveled part of the Alpine Lakes which is the only place we saw any people.
The Lost World?
Pat on a summit.
The Enchantments from up high.
So you may have noticed that I did not really go into depth on where this trip took us. We had no real plan on this trip. It was just a trip into the mountains. It was an adventure to cover some ground we had not seen before. We did that. You should too. Go out and adventure in the mountains and see somewhere you have not seen before.
