FIFTY YEARS OF SAWTOOTH CLIMBING 1934-1984 By Dave Bingham

The Elephants Perch from Braxon Peak

When Robert and Miriam Underhill first gazed from the top of Galena Summit in Idaho’s Sawtooth Wilderness, before them stretched a wild mountain panorama never before seen by mountaineers. It was 1934 and in those days the road past the future site of Sun Valley to the summit was little more than a rutted sheep wagon track. Approaching the remote … Continue reading

Fred, Pete and Jack’s Big Sawtooth Adventure by Ray Brooks

The South-East-face of Fishhook Spire, at top center.  Becky route follows line of weakness to notch, at right of hook, then goes behind the spire. Ray Brooks Photo

The Summer of 1949: Fred Beckey, Pete Schoening and Jack Schwabland went into Idaho’s Sawtooth Range to finish “some business” with two peaks that had repulsed their climbing attempts the previous Summer. They also had a shopping list of other unclimbed peaks in the Sawtooths. Their “Idaho adventure” may well be the most exciting epic in Idaho’s climbing history. Fred … Continue reading

An Overview of the Lookouts in the Salmon National Forest by Bing Young (1982)

The Blue Nose lookout is unlocked and in need of some serious repair work.

According to A History of the Salmon National Forest, by 1916 there were two lookouts in the Salmon National Forest, at Blue Nose and Salmon City Peak (later given the name “Baldy“). It was assumed that most of the forest could be seen from these two points. Cathedral Rock, in the Bighorn Crags, was also used at times to see … Continue reading

A 1949 Climb Up Borah

The Northwest Ridge is in the center of the photo. This ridge branches into two separate ridges lower down on the mountain, one into the Rock Creek drainage and the other forms the edge of the West Face. The Southwest (Chicken-Out) Ridge is on the right skyline. Photo by John Platt

This article was published in the Aberdeen Times on August 18, 1949.Since 1940, only 62 people have climbed Mount Borah, Idaho’s tallest mountain. Among these are 4 amateur mountain climbers from Aberdeen who scaled the 12,655-foot peak last Monday morning. Stanley and Horace Nealey, Howard Morton and Norman Brown put on a good pair of shoes last Saturday afternoon and drove to … Continue reading

1948 Idaho Statesman Article: Here’s a Club for You to Join But It’s A Rough Organization

[Editor’s Note: This September 13, 1948 article was referenced on Page 18 of the book in the Mountaineering History Section. The name “Thatuna Hills” appears in the article. This name, which was not adopted by later map makers, refers to a western extension of the Bitterroot Mountains that now is considered the Northern Clearwater Mountains.] By Jack Anderson  Wanna join … Continue reading

Where Do Mountain Names Come From?

The history, evolution and process of naming mountains is discussed on Pages 32-33 of the book. However, the specific origin of official (and unofficial) mountain names is often not documented. The public can submit proposed names for peaks via the U.S. Geological Survey’s U.S. Board on Geographic Names website. But often, and especially before the Internet, names that were not officially designated … Continue reading