In an effort to capture the historic and humorous experiences of Depression Era alpinists on Oregon's Mount Hood before they were lost for good, Ric Conrad began interviewing members of the Wy'east Climbers. Hank Lewis, Lu Norene, Russ McJury, and Randall Kester shared their memories of historic first ascents and unusual tragedies. Conrad additionally interviewed alpinists who climbed beside club members: John Carter, Dr. Charles Loveland, Robert Labby, and Darrel Tarter. They provided insight into the region's most fascinating peak and the various outlaws who climbed alongside club members. The oral history gleaned from these interviews, coupled with extensive research in the archives of the Portland-based Mazamas, has yielded the most thorough picture of the Golden Age of exploration on Mount Hood. Members of the Wy'east Climbers, founded in December 1930, made the first ascents of the Leuthold Couloir Route, Sandy Glacier Headwall, and Eliot Glacier Headwall. They made the first ascent of an extremely difficult variation along the North Face and reopened several climbing routes: The Wy'east Trail, Cathedral Ridge, and the Newton-Clark Headwall Route. Club members were also responsible for forming the Mt. Hood Ski Patrol in 1938, and for their involvement in the rescue or recovery operations throughout the 1930s and 1940s. Working six days a week during the Great Depression, these young men nevertheless established new climbing routes, new rescue organizations, and provided the mountaineering community with inspiration for generations to come.

Mount Hood: Adventures of the Wy'east Climbers, 1930-1942

Ric Conrad

Kahuna Books

In May 1986, a private preparatory school's field trip made worldwide headlines. Twenty climbers began ascending what has arguably been called the second-most climbed mountain in the world--Oregon's Mount Hood.
Caught in one of the worst blizzards imaginable, they battled the elements while waiting for a rescue. The community responded by launching one of the largest mountain Search and Rescue (SAR) operations in the nation's history. 
Recognizing that no book concerning the highly controversial story existed, the author spent over four years researching and carefully assembling the heartbreaking pieces of the puzzle.
Ric Conrad conducted thirty-seven interviews with key witnesses. He presents the story from several unique perspectives: those in the command post, directing the operation; those on the individual SAR teams, battling time and the elements; and the friends and family members of the missing climbers, maintaining their multi-day vigil.
Representatives from the Clackamas County Sheriff's Department, Portland Mountain Rescue, Seattle Mountain Rescue, Corvallis Mountain Rescue Unit, the Crag Rats, Hillsboro Helicopters, Timberline Lodge, and the 304th Air Force Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron have all shared their memories in this compelling volume. Original strategy directives, team missions, and configurations--all are explored and explained. 
The oral history gleaned from these interviews, coupled with the author's extensive use of primary documentation, has yielded--at long last--the agonizing, yet heroic story of one of America's worst mountaineering tragedies.

Code 1244: The 1986 Mount Hood Tragedy

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