Sawtooth Mountaineering by Frank Florence

Frank Florence on the East Face of Borah.

Editor’s Note: Sawtooth Mountaineering was Boise’s first climbing shop. It was founded by Lou and Frank Florence. The shop was an important link between many of Idaho’s premier climbers and the development of Idaho’s technical climbing scene. Bob Boyles (quoted on Page 23 of the book) noted the shop’s importance as a hub for local climbers, stating “The thirty or … Continue reading

The First Winter Ascent of Mount Regan

The following newspaper article covers the first Winter ascent of Mount Regan. Joe Leonard has written an extensive account of this climb. See The Lost and Wandering to read Joe’s account which is an excerpt from his  2016 memoir The Son of Madam of the Mustang Ranch. Read more about Joe in the Contributors Section of this website. Click on the … Continue reading

Miriam Underhill (1899-1976)

Courtesy of the Adventure Journal.

Unquestionably the leading American female alpinist of her time, Miriam O’Brien Underhill and her husband Robert brought modern mountaineering techniques to the Sawtooths in 1934 and 1935. In the process, the couple made many first ascents and wrote the first mountaineering articles on the range. Miriam’s article is available at this link: Leading a Cat by Its Tail. You can … Continue reading

Andy Henning

Andy Henning was the author of the first Idaho backcountry ski guidebook, “Sun Valley Ski Guide,” which was published in 1948. Unfortunately, the guide is long out of print and is hard, if not impossible, to find. There is a preserved copy at the Ketchum library. Henning moved to Sun Valley prior to WWII to work as a guide for … Continue reading

Wayne Boyer

Wayne Boyer was a compatriot of Lyman Dye and one of the founders of the EE DA HOW Mountaineers, an Eastern Idaho climbing club. Boyer, along with Dye and Art Barnes, climbed many difficult routes in Eastern Idaho including his first ascent of the East Face of Mount Borah in 1962. … Continue reading

THE LOST AND WANDERING by Joe Leonard

[Editor’s Note: Joe Leonard is a man who spent his first 5 years living in the Idaho backcountry in his grandparents’ cabin. From that point, his life just got more interesting each year. He was behind many “first” accomplishments in Idaho, including the first Winter ascent of Mount Regan, the first backcountry skiing guide service in the United States, the … Continue reading