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| Colorado Mountain Club's book celebrates Rockies, explorers | |||
| Saturday, October 22, 2011 12:36 |
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BY R. SCOTT RAPPOLD That was before a handful of alpinists got together in 1912 to form the Colorado Mountain Club. They were decades ahead of their time in urging that the high country be treasured and protected. “Climbing a difficult peak ‘just for fun’ was definitely the exception,” write the authors of a new book, “100 Years Up High,” a history of the 9,000-member club and mountaineering in Colorado. The Pikes Peak chapter, formed in 1919, has 700 members. Published this fall to commemorate the club’s centennial anniversary, the book is a detailed story of how the Rocky Mountains were conquered, then protected, then glorified in art and photography — and the people who made it happen. Authored by five CMC members, the book traces the early exploration of the Rockies and settlement by pioneers and miners, acknowledging that many first ascents of the peaks probably were made by American Indians long before. The most interesting stories are those of the early mountaineers, who ventured into the peaks with gear that would be considered medieval today. Many came from Colorado Springs. There was Albert Ellingwood, a Colorado College professor who in the 1910s and 1920s summited many peaks thought unclimbable. There was Betsy Strong Cowles Partridge, who excelled in the male-dominated sport of climbing. There was CC professor Robert Ormes, whose guide books and descriptions in the early 1950s became the gold standard of mountain guides. There was Layton Kor, a local who played a key role in development of big-wall climbing in the mid-20th century. The book also details the role local artists played in showing the Rockies to the world. From artist Hebert Bayer’s avante-garde Ski Broadmoor posters to the many images from students at the nationally known Broadmoor Art Academy, Colorado Springs artists helped cement the Rockies in the country’s imagination. The book is most interesting in telling these personal stories. Readers who aren’t conservationists may be less enthralled with the detailed, self-congratulatory chapters on the CMC’s environmental advocacy, from helping create Rocky Mountain National Park in 1915 to supporting Colorado’s wilderness areas. Authors acknowledge it has been a mixed bag. When a CMC member went to a national convention for environmentalists in 1961, he was snubbed by others who thought the club powerless against Colorado congressman Wayne Aspinall, who was busy helping to dam much of the West. Overall, the book is a history sure to appeal to mountain geeks and peak-baggers, to let them know what was done by those who first ascended to such heights, and what has been done to ensure that future generations may also climb so high.
“100 Years Up High: Colorado Mountains and Mountaineers” |
