Mount Baker Club -
the founding fathers of the Ski to Sea Race
100 Years - A
Centennial Celebration Centennial News is updated often - Leading to 2011
Club's Records Held in Trust
February 2010-Read the origins of
the Mount Baker Club whose records are held at the Center for Pacific
Northwest Studies. Click
Here >>>
Historic 1911 Mt Baker Marathon on YouTube
December
2008-The
Mount Baker Club was responsible for the Mt. Baker Marathon
held in 1911. View the short YouTube video of the 1911 race by
clicking here.
Chamber Moves to historic spot in 2008
October
2008-The
Mount Baker Club partnered with the Bellingham Chamber of
Commerce in 1911 to stage the first of three Mt. Baker Marathons.
During the festivities in 1912, hot air balloon rides were provided to
the local citizens on the corner of Champion St. and Commercial
St. Almost 100 years later, the Chamber is planning to move to
the same corner, on the first floor of the Bellingham Towers.
1952 Photo Venton E. Groot & J.J.
"Count" Dolan
October
4,
2007 - Dated September 25, 1952, this photo shows Vinton E. Groot,
and J.J. "Count" Dolan, very active members of the club. Not
sure, but I think the photo was taken locally, in one of those years'
super-early snows. They are standing on a snowpile, up at Mt.
Baker way, I believe, in Glacier.
They were long time members, and pillars of the Club in those
days. Count was retired in his early 70's, and Vint was still
barbering at his shop in downtown Bellingham---as I recall it was near
"Frank's Place" on Railroad, perhaps the space now occupied by "Tommy
the Tailer" Click Here for Full
Photo>>>
Super
friends
and hiking companions from a kid on up...
June
2007 - Twin
Falls--named by the Mt. Baker Club committee, after the opening of
the Glacier-Mt. Baker Trail;, 500 ft. drop (estimated). On
Lookout Creek, dividing into two distinct falls, as if one were not
beauty enough, the trail passing close in to the foot of them.
Courtesy of
Whatcom Museum of History & Art
1911 ASCENT OF MT. BAKER IS HERCULANEAN
TASK
May
2007 - Read the typed account by Charles Easton taken from Bellingham
Daily Herald, August 6, 1911 regarding Mount Baker Marathon race
planning that year.
Well Known Local Authority Points Out Dangers and Trials of Journey
When Made in Attempt to Cut Down Time Limit -- Like Climbing Flight of
Stairs Two Miles in Height. More
>>>
1916 Club Proposes Mt. Baker National Park
April 2007 - Do you know who was a member of the Mount Baker Club in 1928?
Well, maybe you have a friend of a friend who was with us in
1928. The roster is one
image, it make take 1 minute to load on your computer. If you
want to print it, it's easier as one page.
The
Mt. Baker
Scrapbook was compiled by Charles F. Easton, club member and
historian of the Mount Baker Club and his wife Ada Hamilton Easton. In
1916, Charles Easton took this scrapbook to Washington D.C. to lobby
for the bill to establish the Mount Baker National Park in the State of
Washington. The proposed legislation died of neglect with the advent of
United States entry into the First World War.
October
14, 1932 Club Meeting Minutes - George Hipkoe,
editor of the Rambler, reported that Vol. 1 of the bulletin was now
ready to be bound. It was moved by Harrison McAdams, seconded by
Mary Hibner, that this volume be dedicated to the late Charles F.
Easton, and that a copy be placed in the Public Library in addition to
the official club copy. The motion was unanimously passed.
Mt.
Baker Scrapbook Click
Here for Full Story at Whatcom Museum
"Mt. Baker — Its Trails and Legends: A Chronology of the Discovery,
Exploration, Improvement, Study and Development of the Great Koma
Kulshan of the Lummis" is a scrapbook album, composed of materials
dated between 1868-1941. It is a large format scrapbook with 261 (19 x
24") pages of hand drawn maps, black & white and hand tinted
photographs, watercolor paintings, pen and ink line drawings,
illustrations, text and index. The information chronicles early ascents
and expeditions, the Mt. Baker Marathon, eruptions, and forest rangers
of the district. Illustrations document pristine views, specific
outings, wild life, glaciers, ice caves, lakes, trees, and mountains of
the area. The scrapbook contains historic, scientific, botanical,
geologic and other information about the mountain
1911 & 1966 - The Birth of the Ski to Sea Race
March 2007- The Mount Baker Club
initiated the Mount Baker Marathon Race in 1911. It was
reincarnated in the 1970's as the Ski to Sea Race. Read how the
Ski to Sea Race developed out of a
letter to the Bellingham Chamber of Commerce on December 12, 1966.
1911 Mount Baker Marathon Photos
Top-Hugh Diehl in automobile in 1911
Middle-North & South Routes to Mt. Baker
Bottom-Joe Galbraith running in woods.
1st Centennial Celebration a Success at Museum
Day Dedicated to Gary Haufle
Led Effort to Restore Winchester Lookout
February
2007 - View
archived photos of Winchester Lookout Restoration in 1982, by
Center for Pacific Northwest Studies.
A large crowd estimated between seventy
and eighty attended the February 11th presentation of the Mount Baker
Club at the Whatcom Museum. This was the first Centennial
Celebration event for the club. Chris Engelhardt, President,
dedicated the day to Gary Haufle, who led the effort to restore the
Winchester Lookout. Gary suddenly passed away last
November. He had been planning to be at the event. The
presentation focused on club history, and how the club helped to
establish some of Whatcom County's most treasured and scenic areas.
The club will be holding community events over the next four years, to
celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the club and the Mount Baker
Marathon. Come back for more stories about how the club was
formed, and why the Mount Baker Marathon was considered the biggest
race on the west coast.
HISTORY
MOUNT
BAKER CLUB DEEDS HISTORICAL PAPERS TO WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
Archived Photos
Ski to
Sea Race started with the Mount Baker Marathon in 1911 Sponsored by the
Mount Baker Club -
Bellingham Herald Article
Earl
joined the club in the 1940's and is still a member today. - Read his story
Winchester Lookout
In addition to our busy schedule of outings, the club maintains the
historic Winchester fire-watch lookout on Winchester Mtn. More >>> Click for Enlargement
Twice a year
we carry up supplies, clean, paint, and do what ever general
maintenance needs doing to keep the lookout in tip-top condition. The
lookout is open for public use on a first come first serve basis,
however, the club reserves the use of the lookout for the lookout work
parties. We try to give as much notice as we can. Call the USFS Glacier
Information Center or contact Mel at 360-392-1015.
WINCHESTER DONATIONS
The Board thanks the following individuals for their generous donations
to the Mount Baker Club’s Winchester Fund:
WINCHESTER DONATIONS
The Board thanks the following individuals for their generous donations
to the Mount Baker Club's Winchester Fund. Donations to
Winchester Lookout Fund made in Memory of Gary Haufle:
Anita McCullough, $25
David and Christina LaBelle, $15
Virginia and Jerry Lowe, $15
Carl and Ruth Hoth, $10
Leanne Farkas, $20
Shawn Robins Family-$13
Fritz and Illse Weimann, $20
Duane and Ann Sammons, $100
Ben
Strom, B'ham $20
The Young's, Seattle $10
Erin Donahue, B'ham $3
The Erbotoeszer's, Mt Vernon $10
Neal Jacques, Seahurst $10
Bill Atkinson, Stanwood $20
Jeff Ries, Lynden $25
Robert Deimel, Maple Falls $25
The Hutchersons, N. Carolina $50
Each will receive a complimentary copy of our club newsletter, the
Rambler.
Thank You!
Join the Club!
Help us maintain the lookout by sending donations to:
Winchester Lookout Fund
C/O Mount Baker Club
P.O. Box 73
Bellingham WA 98227
On September 26, 2001, the Mount Baker Club conveyed, by deed of gift,
its significant papers, club documents, photo and news scrapbooks,
Ramblers and minutes of its meetings from 1928 to present to Western
Washington University for use at the Center for Pacific Northwest
Studies. Archivist Elizabeth Joffrion (Ruth Steele is present
Archivist), in accepting the material for Western, stated that much of
the collection has local historical significance and would greatly
enhance the University'’ research and studies of the region.
From the inception of the Mount Baker Club in 1911 out of an idea by
Charles F. Easton, a Bellingham jeweler, to promote the Mount Baker
area as a national resource, and for formally since 1928, the club has
maintained and kept complete and accurate records of its activities in
documents, pictures, minutes of meetings, Rambler newsletters (first
published in August 1928), books and periodicals.
For more than 90 years the Mount Baker Club has actively and
continuously explored, hiked, and skied, maintained trails and
lookouts, camped, biked and canoed the Great Koma Kulshan of the
Lummi’s (steep white mountain) area. Thanks to the foresight and
efforts of Easton and the initial organizers of the club, the Mount
Baker area is today one of the premier recreation landmarks in the
Cascade Range.
The Center for Pacific Northwest Studies is located in the Washington
State Archives Building
Ruth Steele, Acting Archivist
Contact for All Reference Requests
Phone: (360) 650-7747 Fax: (360)650-3323
Email: Ruth.Steele@wwu.edu
(25th and Bill McDonald Parkway in Bellingham 360-650-7747)
The Center for Pacific Northwest Studies encourages club members,
students, and the general public to examine the collection at any time.
Weekday hours are 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. An inventory of the collection
will soon be accessible on the Center’s web page http://www.acadweb.wwu.edu/cpnws/mbclub/mbclubtitle.htm
Club members who have club material (old Ramblers, letters, pictures,
newspaper articles, artifacts or documents they believe would add
significantly to the collection), please contact club Trustee Larry
Ripes at 360-715-3303.
