Historic Hood River
Crag Rats Prehistory
Notes
I’ve been doing some research into the early Crag Rats history in preparation for my talk at tomorrow’s celebration of their 100th anniversary. Consider this image a teaser.
Before there were Crag Rats, there were Hood River Guides who worked with the American Legion to host the earliest of the July Mt. Hood flash mobs, um, climbs– and the Hood River Guides Ski Club served as climbing guides.
This image from 1925 shows the event was quite a bit smaller than later years, and you see none of the black and white checked shirts of later climbs. While they may not have been as organized, these were largely the same guys leading their neighbors to the top of Mt. Hood.
The anniversary celebration starts at 4PM tomorrow (Saturday) at the Ruins. My history talk will be shortly after 6, followed by Christopher Van Tilburg giving the more modern perspective. I look forward to seeing you there. It’s free, and open to the entire community.
Thorn
Between the greased faces and seemingly odd looking leaning on this steep snowy slope, the photo has an eerie affect–like crazy clown chimney sweeps on a walk–but it actually indicates the extreme environment they’re in.
L.E.
I hope you have a big turnout of people wanting to learn Crag Rat History. It is such a huge part of Hood River history.
I personally find it so interesting that there was a community of working people, living at the base of a tall white mountain, who found time to gather together and climb the mountain. Their love of climbing the mountain developed into a plaid shirt organization with a sturdy, reliable reputation throughout the PNW.