The
Iowa Mountaineers has always prided itself in drawing the finest young
climbing leaders from around North America and from around the world to
assist with the mountain guiding on Iowa Mountaineer trips.
The following are some of the great climbing leaders that have helped the
Iowa Mountaineers pioneer many climbing regions around the world. Most of these climbing leaders were amateurs at the time that
they guided for the Iowa Mountaineers.
1.
1940 – Northern Wind River Range, Wyoming.
[First American Mountaineering
Camp Into This Area] S.
John Ebert, leader. 6 Iowa
Mountaineer Members. Six
peaks were ascended.
2.
1941 – Northern Wind
River Range, Wyoming. [Five people, six peaks climbed, all climbed Gannett, Wyoming’s highest peak.]
John Ebert, Bruce Adams, Joe Stettner.
3.
1942
– Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.
[18 people participated, Longs
Peak and 6 other peaks ascended.] John
Ebert, Bruce Adams.
4. 1943
– Devil’s Lake State Park, Wisconsin [First
mountaineering camp held
at
Devil’s Lake, 32 people participated, 76 new routes were made.]
S. John Ebert, Paul Stettner, Joe Stettner, Bruce Adams, Mark Meier
5.
1945
– Teton National Park, Wyoming [38
people participated, A New Route on
Nez Perrce, up the nose of the peak, 6 other peaks climbed] S. John
Ebert, John Speck, Joe Stettner, Allen Styles
6.
1946 – Northern Selkirks, B.C., Canada
[42 people participated, First American Mountaineering Club to hold an
camp in this area, First Grand Traverse of Mount Sir Donald, and by a woman [Ede
Ebert], 8 peaks ascended.] S.
John Ebert, Ken Jones, Bruno Engler
7.
1947 – Sawtooth Mountain Range, Idaho [First major
pioneering mountaineering camp ever held in this area, 64 people participated,
15 mountains ascended, 11 First Ascents, 11 mountains named, 2 mountains
ascended for the second time.] S.
John Ebert, Paul Petzoldt, John Speck, Ken Jones, Robert Merriam
8.
1948 – Northern Wind Rivers, Wyoming [48 people
participated, 13 peaks ascended, 38 people to summit of Gannett Peak,
Wyoming’s highest.] S. John
Ebert, Erich Farber, Paul Petzoldt, John Speck, Joe Stettner
9.
1948 – Historic Devil’s Tower Group Ascent,
Wyoming [17 people ascended
Devil’s Tower, the second woman, only 5 other people had climbed Devil’s
Tower prior to this group ascent.] S.
John Ebert, Ken Jones, Paul Petzoldt, Joe Stettner (led the first rope), John
Speck.
10.
1948 – Mexican Volcanic Peaks
[11 people participated, group ascended Popocatepetl (17,894 feet and
Orizaba (18,700 feet0]. John Ebert, Bruce Adams, Earl Carter.
11.
1949 – Washington State Volcanic Peaks [36 people
participated, five volcanoes were ascended.]
S. John Ebert, Fred Beckey.
12.
1950 – Lake O’Hara Area, Alberta, Canada
[45 people participated, First American Climbing Camp Into This Area,
five peaks were ascended.] S. John Ebert, Ken Jones, Ernest Feuz, Bruce Adams,
Bob Merriam
13.
1951 – Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
[All major peaks climbed, two new routes]
S. John Ebert, Bruce Adams, Norman Clyde
14.
1951 – Alaska
[First Mountaineering Club [17 Members] to drive the Alaska Highway to
hold a mountaineering Camp in Mount McKinley Park, Alaska. A first ascent was
made.]
15.
1952 – Mexican Volcanic Peaks
[12 members, all three peaks ascended]
John Ebert, Earl Carter, Bruce Adams.
16.
1952 – Grand Teton National Park [42 people
participated, 5 peaks ascended.] John Ebert, Bruce Adams, Norman Clyde.
17.
1953 – Bugaboo Mountain Range of British Columbia,
Canada [57 people participated,
First American Climbing Camp ever held in this area, earliest recorded American
ascents, bridges had to be built, the road had to be repaired and Grizzly Bears
had to be chased away, 9 peaks ascended.]
S. John Ebert, Jack Fralick, Freddy Fuchs, Garry Driggs, Nick Clinch, Joe
Stettner, Dick Grunebaum.
18.
1954 – European Alpine Climbing Outing [Europe’s
Eleven Highest Peaks Ascended In Six Alpine Countries]. S. John Ebert, Werner
Becktold, Kurt Hofer, Arnold Glatthart, Walter Luchs
19.
1954 – Sawtooth Mountain Range, Idaho
[86 participants, the Second Consecutive Iowa Mountaineer Mountaineering
Camp to pioneer this mountain range, 18 peaks ascended, 8 First Ascents, 3
Second Ascents.] [The first Iowa
Mountaineer group to pioneer this area was in 1947 when they ascended 15
mountains, had 11 first ascents, named eleven mountains and had 2 second
ascents.] S. John Ebert, Joe
Stettner, Earl Carter, Paul Stettner, Harold Walton, James Osburn, Wallace
Adams, Harvey T. Carter, Herb and Jan Conn.
20.
1955 – Eastern Alaska Range
[36 participants drove the Alaska Highway, First Mountaineering Camp Held
In Eastern Alaska Range- 2 First Ascents.] S. John Ebert, Joe Stettner, Earl
Carter, Hans Gsellman, Hans Schlapschi, Harold Swartz.
21.
1955 – Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
[36 participants, 6 peaks ascended, second ascent of the East Ridge of
Disappointment Peak] S. John Ebert, Bill Primak, Harvey T. Carter, Warren Pagel.
22.
1956 – Mount Assiniboine Park, B.C. Canada [First
American Mountaineering Club held in this area, 56 people participated, 16 peaks
ascended, 23 people ascended Mount Assiniboine.]
S. John Ebert, Hans Gmoser, Ken Jones, Allen Auten, Bruno Matteotti, Bill
Primak, John Paup, Wally Adams, Whitney Borland, Douglas Norris, Warren Pagel.
23.
1957 – Maligne Lake, Alberta, Canada
[First American mountaineering club into this area, 75 people
participated, 14 peaks were ascended.] S.
John Ebert, Allen Auten, Whitney Borland, Dan Doody, Hans Gmoser, Ken Jones,
Tony Messner, Bruno Matteotti, Willy Phisterer, William Primak, John Paup,
Harold Walton.
24.
1958 – European Alpine Climbing Outing
[32 people participated, 15 of the highest and most famous peaks were
ascended in six Alpine countries.] S. John Ebert, Harold Walton, Kurt Hofer,
Hubert and Hans Schlapschi.
25.
1958 – Southern Wind Rivers, Wyoming
[First American Mountaineering Club into this area, 52 people
participated, 18 peaks were ascended, including three first ascents and 2 second
ascents. William Primak, Whitney
Borland, Dan Doody, Rodney Harris, Swen Olaf Swartling, Ron Wiesner
26.
1959 – Bugaboo Range, B.C. Canada [63 people
participated, 9 peaks were ascended.] S.
John Ebert, Allen Auten, Whitney Borland, Harvey T. Carter, Bill Echo, Hans
Gmoser, Rod Harris, Felix Hagerman, Art Spaulding, Bruno Matteotti, Ron Wiesner.
27.
1960 – Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho [76 people
participated, 11 peaks were ascended] Whitney
Borland, Hans Heuer, Wally Joura, Bill Echo, Felix Hagerman, Rod Harris, Hans
Gmoser, Harvey T. Carter.
28.
1961 – Quebrada Yanganuco, Cordillera Blanca, Peru
[First American Mountaineering Camp held in this area, 42 people
participated.] Nevado Pisco (19,000 feet) was climbed by 24 men and the first
and second woman ascents; Nevado Chopicalqui (21,000 feet) was climbed by 10 men
and the first and second woman ascents; and Crispano (19,100 feet was a first
ascent). S. John Ebert, Harold
Walton, Lothar Kolbig, Hans and Hubert Schlapschi, David Bernays, Harold Goodro,
Douglas Kerr, Dr. Ija Korner.
29.
1961 – Needles of South Dakota
[44 people participated, this was the first mountaineering club to hold a
major climbing camp in this region, many new routes were made.]
15 people ascended Devil’s Tower, Wyoming.
Jim Osburn, Hans Gmoser, Harvey T. Carter, Clair Brown, Earl Carter, Herb
and Jann Conn, John Evans.
30.
1962 – Tonquin Valley, Alberta, Canada
[77 participants, the second American Club to hold a climbing camp in
this region, 9 peaks were ascended.] S.
John Ebert, Whitney Borland, Harvey T. Carter, Dan Doody, Bill Echo, John Evans,
Hans Gmoser, Wally Joura, Paul Stettner, Charles Walsmith.
31.
1963 – Pikes Peak Crags, Colorado
[First Mountaineering Camp to be held in this area, 72 people
participated, 21 first ascents, 12 seconds ascents, and ascents on 80 different
climbs involving over 264 person ascents.]
Harvey T. Carter, Hans Gmoser, John Evans, Harold Goodro, Bill Echo, Art
Spaulding, Pete Croft, Steve Strafford, Charles Walsmith, Rick Tidrick, Dick
Long, Annie Carter.
32.
1964 – European Alpine Climbing Outing
[35 people participated, 18 peaks were ascended in six Alpine countries.]
S. John Ebert, Hubert and Carl Schlapschi, John Evans, David Maier,
Rudolph Stornig, Kurt Hofer, Father Joseph Braig.
33.
1964 – Canadian Alpine Camp/Corral Creek/ Alberta
Canada [41 people participated, 19
peaks were ascended.] Hans Gmoser,
Harvey T. Carter, Clair Brown, Kevin Branner, Harold Goodro, Paul Stettner, Sven
Olaf Swartling, Stuart Turner, Christopher Wren, Annie Carter.
34.
1965 – Quebrada Ishinca, Cordillera Blanca, Peru
[First Mountaineering Group to visit this area, 44 people, 8 porters,
participated.] Urus Oeste (17,881 feet) was climbed by 34 members; Urus
Central (18,028 feet) a first ascent; Urus Este (17,782 feet) was climbed by 32
members; a new route up the Northwest Ridge of Urus Este by three members; Urus
Este from the Lower Summit a First Ascent by 2 members; Nevado Ishinca (18,143
feet) was climbed by 32 members; Nevado Ishinca by a new route up the Northeast
Ridge from the Ishinca-Palcaraju Col by 5 members; Tocllaraju (19,790 feet) by
24 members; Ranrapalca by 15 members; Palcaraju Oeste (20,046 feet) by 3
members. S. John Ebert, Chuck
Satterfield, Stuart Turner, John Filsinger, Father Joseph Braig, William
Bassett.
35.
1965 – Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho [55 people
participated, 13 major peaks were climbed.]
Wilbur Davis, Harvey T. Carter, Dick Irwin, Kevan Branner, Jim Mason,
James Kolocatronis, Doug Norris, Clair Brown.
36.
1966 – Canadian Rockies and Northwest States
Kurt Hofer, Hubert Schlapschi, Father Joseph Braig.
37.
1966 – Beartooth Mountain Camp, Montana [First
major mountaineering camp held in Beartooth Range, 80 members participated, 12
mountains were ascended, two first and second ascents of Harvey’s Spire
(11,300 feet) and Scotch Peak (11,500 feet) and a second ascent of Beartooth
Spire.] Harvey T. Carter,
Kurt Hofer, Hubert Schlapschi, Wilbur Davis, Harold Goodro, Gary Larson, Chuck
Satterfield, Dallas Kloke, Kevin Branner.
38.
1967 – East African Expedition, Uganda, Tanzania,
Kenya S. John Ebert, Father Joseph
Braig, Lothar Kolbig.
39.
1967 – Canadian Maligne Lake Mountaineering Camp
Harvey T. Carter, Harold Goodro, Gary Larsen, Richard Saville, Dale
Green.
40.
1968 – European Alpine Climbing Outing
S. John Ebert, Jim Ebert, Hans, Carl, and Hubert Schlapschi, Kurt Hofer,
Willie Riess, Rudi Federspieler, Zeller Ziebald, Father Joseph Braig, Jim Craig.
41.
1968 – Maroon Bell Snowmass Outing, Colorado
Max Townsend, Harvey T. Carter, Dick Saville, Clair Brown, Gary Larsen,
Wilbur Davis.
42.
1969 – Quebrada Quilcayhuampa Valley, Cordillera
Blanca, Peru S. John Ebert, Jim
Ebert, Dr. Harold Walton, Warren Blesser, Steve Anderson, Gene White, Bill
Isherwood, Mark Bostwick, Ray Jardin, Joseph Braig, Olle Swartling, Roger
Wiegand, Chuck Armstrong, Ed Johann, Harold Goodro, Jim Moore.
43.
1969 – Southern Wind River Range, Wyoming.
Jim Ebert, Harvey T. Carter, Hans Schwarz, Gary Larsen.
44.
1970 – Big Horn Mountains, Wyoming
Jim Ebert, Chuck and Pat Armstrong, Harvey T. Carter, Pete Cleveland,
Harold Goodro, Dave Smith, Frank Knight, Tony Peeters, Bill Widule, Roger
Weigand.
45.
1971 – Northern Selkirks British Columbia Canada John
F. Ebert, Hans Schwarz, James Moore, Harvey T. Carter, Harold Goodro, Dave
Allen, Roger Weigand, Gary Larsen, Max Townsend
46.
1972 – Sawtooth Mountain Camp, Idaho
John F. Ebert, Harvey T. Carter, Hans Schwartz, Norman Dye.
47.
1972 – Quebrada Santa Cruz/ Quebrada Ulta
Cordillera Blanca Peru S.
John Ebert, Jim Ebert, Sven Olle Swartling, Ron Fear, Harold Walton.
48.
1973 – Mount Robson Berg Lake Camp, B.C., Canada
Jim Ebert, Harold Walton, Herman Frank
49.
1973 – Mount Assiniboine B.C. Canada Camp
Jim Ebert, Harvey T. Carter, Harold Goodro, Hans Schwarz
50.
1976 - Lake of the Hanging Glaciers, B.C. Canada
Jim Ebert, John Filsinger, Donnie Black, Wayne Bruce, Mike Bogart, Harold
Goodro [First American Mountaineering Camp to climb in this area.]
51.
1977 – Lake City-Uncompahgre Camp, Colorado
Jim Ebert, Harvey T. Carter, John Filsinger, Harold Goodro
52.
1978 – Quebrada Honda, Cordillera Blanca, Peru
S. John Ebert, Jim Ebert, Jerry Roach, Sven Olle Swartling, John
Filsinger, Robert Wilson, Hans Steyskal
53.
1978 – Beartooth Mountains, Montana
Jim Ebert, Harvey T. Carter, Harold Goodro, Mike Bogart, Jenny Hall,
Dennis Turville, Donnie Black
54.
1979 – Commander Glacier Mountaineering Camp, B.C.
Canada Jim Ebert, John Filsinger,
Franz Mohling, Mike Bogart, Dennis Turville
55.
1979 – Chimney Rock Camp, Colorado
Jim Ebert, Harvey T. Carter, Harold Goodro, Harold Walton, Wilbur Davis,
Wayne Bruce.
56.
1980 – Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho
Jim Ebert, Harold Goodro, Mike Bogart, Jenny Hall, Dennis Turville,
Donnie Black.
57.
1981 – Quebrada Rurec, Cordillera Blanca, Peru
S. John Ebert, Jim Ebert, Jock Glidden, Harold Goodro, Franz Mohling,
Richard Soaper, Hans Steyskal, Sven Olle Swartling, Larry Swanson, Robert
Wilson.
58.
1981 – Commander Glacier Camp, B.C. Canada
Jim Ebert, Harold Goodro, Jenny Hall, Mike Bogart, Wayne Bruce, Aarnor
Larson, Jim Prichard.
59.
1982 – Castle Meadows, Alberta, Canada
Jim Ebert, Hans Schwarz, Bernie Schiesser, Jim Bock, Franz Mohling, Ken
Nolan, Carl Henrichs, Harold Goodro, Mike Bogart, Jenny Hall, Dennis Turville.
60.
1982 -
Colorado Cross-Country Skiing Mountain Camp
Jim Ebert, Jenny Hall, Dennis Turville, Mike Bogart, Tepa Haronoja, Jim
Bock, Phil Cloud, Harold Goodro, Franz Mohling.
61.
1984 – European Alps Mountaineering Outing
S. John Ebert, Jim Ebert, Robert Wilson, Jock Glidden, Hans Steyskal, Dr.
Milos Turek, Kurt Hofer.
62.
1984 – Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho
Jim Ebert, Mike Bogart, Dennis Turville, Harold Goodro, Carl Hinrichs,
Jenny Hall, Pat Lambrose, Jim Prichard, Mike Stoll.
63.
1985 – Devil’s Tower, Wyoming
Jim Ebert, Mike Bogart, Jenny Hall, Dennis Turville, Al Svoboda, Mike
Stoll.
64.
1985 – Canadian Mountaineering Camp
Jim Ebert, John Filsinger, Don Liska, Mike Bogart, Dennis Turville, Jenny
Hall, Hans Schwarz, Bernie Schiesser.
65.
1986 to Present:
David Penney, Frank Coffey, Jeff Stattler, John Preussner, Glen Michel,
Andy Petefish, Phil Steele, Kurt Nickols.
This gives just a quick sampling of some
of the many hundreds of superb
amateur climbing leaders that the Iowa Mountaineers, Inc. were able to
attract from all parts of North America and Europe to help with the
climbing leadership for Iowa Mountaineer's mountaineering trips and foreign
expeditions. Many hundreds of excellent amateur mountaineers and rock
climbing leaders have joined the Iowa Mountaineers throughout the history
of the Club on 2546 different outings, courses and foreign expeditions to
seventeen Alpine countries. With the help of these superb climbing leaders,
under S. John and Jim Ebert's leadership and direction, have resulted in a
perfect 56 year Iowa Mountaineer safety record.
The Iowa Mountaineers, Inc. has always realized that it was
not just a
climbing leader's technical abilities that were the most important, but
also their ability to guide people safely up and back down a mountain,
using good judgement, knowing and utilizing proper hiking and climbing
pacing skills, having knowledge of proper route selection and being able to
stay on a route, knowing when to rope up and how to quickly belay members
over tricky terrain, managing a roped climbing party on all types of
mountain terrain and under all weather conditions, finding safe rappell
routes, knowing when and what time to turn back and then doing it, and how
to stay within a group's margin of safety.
Asking how many people a guide has safely guided up a
particular mountain
route is just as important as knowing about their technical guiding skills
certifications. Many guides list mountain climbs or routes that they have
done while on their own or while with a few select and very qualified
friends. Ask what routes they have guided with just average climbers with
average skills. The climbs and routes that climbing leaders or guides may
list as having climbed, may have been climbed on their own and really does
not necessarily correlate to being able to safely guide inexperienced
people safely up and back down an average mountain or route.
The previously mentioned mountaineers and rock climbers were
at the time,
some of the finest amateur climbing leaders in North America and Europe and
they were superb at working with inexperienced people while negotiating
rugged and very dangerous mountain terrain. The Iowa Mountaineers will
always be thankful to these wonderful climbing leaders because they not
only gave up their personal time, but they also put on hold their personal
climbing ambitions in order to help the Iowa Mountaineers safely guide over
20,500 members to the summits of 1305 famous mountain summits in seventeen
Alpine countries around the world and with a perfect safety record. Every
climbing leader that the Iowa Mountaineers has ever used, guided with us
out of the joy of being in the mountains with incredibly wonderful people,
it was never about their egos.
Most of the mountaineers and climbing leaders that the Iowa
Mountaineers,
Inc. have used, grew up having been in some sort of tutor program. Some
were tutored by various mountaineering clubs who taught them how to guide
wisely and safely with other club members of lesser skills, or perhaps they
were tutored by an excellent and knowledgeable group of experienced
mountaineering friends. When you got recommendations to use one of these
climbers, you had someone with a lot of experience working with people with
little experience. They always knew how to anticipate troublesome mountain
situations and how to quickly safe guard most every possible scenario.
Today, there is much less time being given to teaching and developing
proper and safe guiding skills. Many people think that they can
automatically guide others by having made a few spectacular ascents, or by
mastering many technical skills. This is a very dangerous assumption.
Search carefully. Find out specifically what a guide has actually guided
and with how many clients, on what mountains, by what routes, and with how
many average skilled people? Have they ever had any serious client injuries
or fatalities?
Remember also, just because you may want to use one of the
many excellent
mountain guide services that claim to have certified mountain guides, make
sure that if you are climbing a mountain, or a rock route, with an
accredited guiding service that you are not instead climbing with some
inexperienced assistant leader. You do not want inexperienced leaders
learning the guiding trade at your expense. Ask only for certified or
experienced guides. Know who you are getting.
The Iowa Mountaineers have had a lot of fun climbing
mountains all over the
world with each of these superb climbing leaders. Everyone was always
laughing, singing, enjoying each and everyone on each and every mountain
trip. Some of the finest mountaineers kept coming back again and again,
trip after trip. Mountain fellowship bonds friendships for a life time.
Every single person that has ever participated with the Iowa Mountaineers,
over 78,000 people, always found new strength in the mountains. Each
friendship made, and all of the mountain fellowship shared, will always
live in each participant's heart and mind forever. This was a gift of a
lifetime, an experience seldom repeated, that S. John and Ede Ebert, the
club's founders, were able to share with all of the wonderful people that
have participated with them over the past 56 years.