MTR.2025.5 Wolf Bauer Collection
Wolf G. Bauer was born on February 24, 1912, in the Bavarian Alps. He started skiing in 1919. In 1925, when he was 13 years old, Bauer, with his parents, Hubert and Elsbeth, and four siblings moved to Seattle, where he attended Lincoln High School and joined Boy Scout Troop 145. In 1929, Bauer was one of three scouts selected to receive a free membership in The Mountaineers. In 1934, he participated in the first Silver Skis Race on Mt Rainier, and in 1936 his three-man team won the Mountaineers annual Patrol Race, setting a record that was unbeaten during his lifetime. In 1935, he graduated from the University of Washington with a bachelor's degree in ceramic engineering and a minor in geology.
Bauer excelled not only as a skier and a mountaineer, but also as a teacher. Beginning in 1933, he taught basic mountaineering skills to local Explorer Boy Scouts. One year later, he began to teach a climbing course to the Mountaineer Climbers' Group. He continued to climb as he taught, and in 1935, Bauer and Jack Hossack were the first to reach the summit of Mount Rainier from its north side. In 1936, Bauer and four of his students were the first to climb Mount Goode, the tallest peak in what would later become North Cascades National Park.
Bauer began to work at Roche Harbor Lime & Cement Co. on San Juan Island in 1936. That same year, he married Harriet Woodward. Their son, Rocky, was born in 1937, and Larry was born in 1940. After many years of travel and relocation, in 1945 the family settled in Seattle, where Bauer worked as an independent consulting engineer.
In 1948, after visiting a client in Holland, Wolf spent time in Bavaria, where he learned about the Bergwacht (“mountain watch”), a volunteer rescue group much like the National Ski Patrol in the United States. Wolf concluded that a similar organization was needed in the Northwest and he was instrumental in founding the Mountain Rescue Council. The national Mountain Rescue Association was formed in 1959, largely through the work of Seattle council members.
Bauer was also an avid kayaker, which led to his interest in and concern for conservation. He founded the Washington Foldboat Club, later renamed Washington Kayak Club, in 1948. He spearheaded a successful effort to save the 12-mile Green River Gorge in the mid-1960s before focusing more broadly on shorelines throughout Puget Sound. He was a founding member of the Washington Environmental Council in 1969. In 1975, he became a full-time shoreline resource consultant and helped restore parks and beaches in western Washington to a more natural state by replacing bulkheads and riprap with accretion beaches. In 1991, he received an award from the Washington State Department of Ecology in recognition of his dedication and commitment in protecting shore resources.
This collection was acquired by Lowell Skoog from Wolf’s daughter-in-law in July 2015. Bauer died on January 23, 2016, a month shy of his 104th birthday. [Note that the University of Washington (see “Archives West,” below) contains a large collection of Bauer’s papers. It seems (perhaps) that the current collection contains more personal materials while the UW collection contains more formal or professional materials.]
[Sources: UW Special Collections, Seattle Times Obituary]
See also:
http://www.alpenglow.org/nwmj/05/051_Bauer1.html
Seattle Times obituary, January 27, 2016
https://www.mountaineers.org/blog/retro-rewind-wolf-bauer-a-wonderful-life-1912-2016
https://www.historylink.org/File/9440
https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201213914/Wolf-Bauer-1912-2016
https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv82183?q=BauerWolfG1669.xml/
https://mountaineers.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ARCH/pages/2856976385
Documents
Folder “Biographical” including:
“Profile: Wolf Bauer, The Mountaineers' Renaissance Man,” The Mountaineer, Spr 2000, p. 18.
Hard-copies of Wolf Bauer obituaries (AAC, Mountaineers, Seattle Times)
Folder “Climbing” including:
Nov 17, 1933 letter from The Mountaineers to Wolf Bauer thanking him for his presentation of his “Mountaineers Ten Commandments” at their recent board meeting.
January 5, 1936 letter to Luis Trenker in Berlin, Germany, seeking information on climbing techniques, equipment, instruction, etc. (Also included is a translation of the letter from German by Lowell Skoog, using Google Translate.) On the original letter (returned by Trenker?) Bauer wrote: “After this letter, Trenker sent me climbing/skiing literature.” [See “Books in German,” below.]
Mountaineers Climbers' Group certificates of completion by Wolf Bauer of the Elementary Climbing Course in 1935 and Intermediate Climbing Course in 1936. Also a certificate of completion of the Elementary Climbing course in 1936 for Harriet Woodward.
Nov 11, 1936 letter from Jack Hossack to Wolf Bauer regarding the 1936 first ascent of Mt Challenger in the North Cascades (by Hossack with O. Phil Dickert and George MacGowan), with reference to climb of Mt Goode with Bauer and others earlier that summer.
Wolf Bauer critique of Rainier Mountaineering Inc. comments on guide concession policies in Rainier National Park (undated).
Clippings regarding early climbs on Mt Rainier by Wolf Bauer.
Folder: “Skiing, Bauer” including:
Correspondence between Wolf Bauer and Harvey/Betty Manning re: The Mountaineer, 1963 (Special Ski Issue).
Folder: “Skiing, Misc” including:
Newsletters of the Ancient Skiers club (founded on 50th anniversary of 1934 Silver Skis race):
Sep 22, 1984: Reunion at Bellevue Red Lion Inn
May-Jun 1985: Otto Lang 50th Anniversary
List of 400+ “early skiers” with contact info
Ski song lyrics:
The Arlberg Ski School
Two Boards Upon Cold Powder Snow
Underneath the Takeoff
Ballad of Oola
List of 400+ “early skiers” with contact info
Seattle Magazine, December 1964 [includes special 30-page skiing section].
Barnett, Steve, “Grand Touring,” Pacific Northwest Magazine, Nov 1980, pp 24-27 [backcountry skiing].
“Early Winters Fact Sheet,” Methow Recreation Inc. Sept 1982, 4pp.
Hooper, David, “Feeling the Chill of Early Winters,” Pacific Northwest Magazine, March 1983, pp. 61-63 [Methow Valley ski area proposal].
Meyer, Jane, “Rhyme of an Ancient Skier: Remembering 50 years of skiing in the Northwest,” Mercer Island Reporter, Jan 4, 1984 [re: Irv Pratt and the Ancient Skiers, incomplete clipping].
Garibaldi, John, “Silver Skis,” free snow magazine, Spring 1993, pp. 6-7, 10.
Folder: “Mountain Rescue” containing about 100 mostly loose pages on a variety of safety-related topics, including:
Bauer, Wolf G., “Can You Handle an Emergency,” pamphlet distributed by Mountain Rescue Council, 1953, 8pp (2 copies).
Excerpts from Modern Techniques of Mountain Rescue by Wastl Mariner (1949) translated by Allen P. Steck for the Sierra Club.
Mountaineers Ski Mountaineering loose-leaf (stapled) textbook, 1949. (This appears to be significantly different from the 1941-42 textbook, noted above.)
Clippings, correspondence, and accident report regarding Arthur Jessett fatality on Mt St Helens in 1952.
Mountain Safety Research (MSR) newsletters from 1971 and 1972.
Mountain Rescue Council newsletters from 1972.
Brochures related to mountain safety, circa 1950s-60s.
Bauer, Wolf, “The Case for Single Guide Service on the Muir Route,” hand-written [undated].
Early photograph of Wolf Bauer demonstrating rappelling.
Connelly, Dolly, “Mountain safety for 23 cents,” Seattle P-I, Oct 3, 1971, Magazine p. 5 [story about Eugene Fear and development of the Storm Kit by Tacoma Mountain Rescue].
Two short letters in German (untranslated).
3/24/2016 email from Jim Whittaker to Ingrid Fabianson (Wolf’s daughter-in-law) recounting memorable experiences with Wolf.
Books
In German:
Some of these titles may be books sent by Luis Trenker to Wolf Bauer in response to Bauer’s 1936 letter to Trenker.
Fanck, Arnold, Der Kampf mit dem Berge, (“The battle with the mountain,” German text and photographs by a pioneering mountain filmmaker, c1930s.)
Hofere, Dr. Erwin, Skilauf im Hochgebirge (“Skiing in the high mountains”), Bergverlag Rudolf Rother, Munchen, circa 1930.
Kohlhaupt, Paula, Alpenblumen Farbige Wunder (“Alpine flowers, wonders of color”), Belser Bucher, 1964.
Maduschka, Dr. Leo, Die Technik schwerster Eisfahrten, Bergverlag Rudolf Rother, Munchen, 1942. (“Technique of difficult ice climbing,” two copies, one with English font, the other with Germanic font.)
Morgenstern, Christian, Galgenlieder (“Gallows Songs”), Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., New York. (German lyrics)
Rometsch, Fritz, Rettung aus Bergnot, (“Mountain Rescue”), Bayerisches Roteskreuz Bergwacht, 1948.
Salvisberg, Werner, Slalom und Abfahrtslauf, (“Slalom and Downhill Skiing”), Bergverlag Rudolf Rother, Munchen, 1931 (in German, with photos).
Schmitt, Fritz, Bergsteiger Biwat, (“Mountaineer bivouac,” Germanic font).
Taschenbuch fur Bergsteiger, (“Pocketbook for mountaineers,” Germanic font).
In English:
Albouy, Robert, Ski: Allais Technique, The Craftsman Press, Seattle, c1950.
Mariner, Wastl, Mountain Rescue Techniques (1st English-Language Edition), 1963. (Title page is inscribed: “To Wolf Bauer, the founder of American Mountain Rescue.”)
Molenaar, Dee, High and Wide With Sketchpad: Memoirs and Images of a Dinosaur Mountaineer, 2005. (This is an 8.5x11” pre-publication version of Memoirs of a Dinosaur Mountaineer, which was self-published by Dee around 2007.)
Seattle Mountain Rescue Council Training Handbook, Mountain Rescue Council, Seattle, c1978 (an 8.5x11” photo-copied booklet).
Mountaineers ski mountaineering course textbook, launched in 1941-42 (in blue binder).
Photographs
8.5x10” memorial card with two Wolf Bauer poems and a large B&W photo of Bauer in climbing gear.
Four 35mm slide pages (80 slides) with images from Mt Rainier, Mt Baker, Glacier Peak, Mt St Helens (post-eruption), Mt Pilchuck, Goat Rocks, a few shorelines (Point Grey, Lincoln Park).
4” x 6” color photo of Dee Molenaar, Wolf Bauer, Mike Swayne and Austin Post, Jan 10, 2006.
Four 8x10” B&W photos of Wolf Bauer skiing powder snow near Mt Baker ski area.
Four 8x10” B&W photos of Wolf Bauer skiing powder snow near the ridgeline at Ski Acres, Snoqualmie Pass. Also one 11x14” photo of Wolf jumping a stump on skis.
“Snow: Others prefer high, dry powder,” Seattle Times, Jan 31, 1960, p. 6 [photo of Wolf Bauer schussing powder snow at Ski Acres, Snoqualmie Pass.
3x5” envelope contains several dozen B&W photos and negatives of subjects including: Mt St Helens, Colonial Glacier area, Snoqualmie Pass area, Mt Rainier, Mt Shuksan, and 1935 “pre-piton” rock climbing practice demonstrated by Wolf Bauer and Jack Hossack.
Miscellany
VHS videotape, “Berge in Flammen [Mountains on Fire]” by Luis Trenker. This 1931 film presents the story of two friends, an Italian and Austrian, who find themselves fighting on different sides in World War I. (I haven’t tried watching the videotape. The film can be viewed online here: Berge in Flammen 1931 HD See also: Mountains on Fire )
1948 USFS map of Olympic National Forest.
Undated (but old) “Olympic Map Guide” by Kroll Map Company, Seattle, WA.
Envelope with about 30 B&W negatives, probably of hikes with wife Harriet (Woodward) Bauer.