By Jason D. Martin
This article marks the sixth time that Mount Baker Experience has featured mountain trivia. I hear it all the time. When is the next mountain trivia issue coming out … ? Well, you asked. And so, you shall receive.
With that said, let’s get to it!
- In November of 1915, Washington state gained its very first state park. Charles Larrabee and Cyrus Gates donated the original land that made up Larrabee State Park. What was the park’s original name?
- a) Cyrus Gates State Park
- b) Chuckanut State Park
- c) Mud Bay State Park
- d) Clayton Beach State Park
- In June 1891, a party made a serious attempt to climb Mt. Baker. Though the mountain had been climbed in 1868, this team would still be one of the first to summit. But unfortunately, their trip ended with the mountain’s first known fatality. Richard Smith was buried on Bastille Ridge after this happened to him:
- a) He fell into a hidden crevasse.
- b) A boulder from the Chromatic Moraine fell and hit him.
- c) He succumbed to an infection he got after cutting himself several days earlier.
- d) He accidently shot himself while using his rifle as a walking stick.
- In 1979, the Fifty Classic Climbs of North America arrived. This iconic book was written by Steve Roper and Allen Steck. Though six routes were included in the Pacific Northwest, only one is located in Whatcom County. What local route was included?
- a) Slesse’s Northeast Buttress
- b) Baker’s North Ridge.
- c) Shuksan’s Fisher Chimneys
- d) Shuksan’s Price Glacier
- If you want to learn about mountain accidents on a monthly basis, you likely listen to this podcast hosted by Ashley Saupe.
- a) The Sharp End Podcast
- b) The Enormocast
- c) Accidents in North American Climbing Podcast
- d) Outside Alive
- Stephen King’s novel, The Shining, was adapted into a Stanley Kubrick film in 1980. The film about a haunted hotel features a shot of a car driving alongside Montana’s St. Mary’s Lake and exteriors from what Pacific Northwest ski destination?
- a) Crystal Mountain Ski Area
- b) Timberline Lodge at Mt. Hood
- c) Whistler Ski Resort
- d) Big White Ski Resort
- Although the Snurfer made its way onto the slopes first, this icon of snowboarding is credited with crafting and marketing the first modern snowboard.
- a) Sean White
- b) Jake Burton
- c) Travis Rice
- d) Jeremy Jones
- At 12,840-feet, this ski resort has the highest lift-served terrain in North America.
- a) Silverton Mountain, CO
- b) Arapahoe Basin, CO
- c) Telluride Ski Resort, CO
- d) Breckenridge Ski Resort, CO
- What A-list actor teamed up with A-list rock climber, Chris Sharma, to produce a reality-style TV show on HBO Max about rock climbing?
- a) Jason Momoa
- b) Jared Leto
- c) Tom Cruise
- d) Zac Efron
- Reinhold Messner is famous for being first to climb all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks. Recently his accomplishment was put into question by what organization?
- a) Guinness Book of World Records
- b) The American Alpine Club
- c) The UIAA (International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation)
- d) The International Federation of Sport Climbing
- British climbers use some different terminology than those in North America. When a British climber abseils, what are they doing?
- a) Successfully completing a rock climb without any hangs.
- b) Top-roping a rock climb
- c) Free-soloing a rock climb.
- d) Rappelling down a climb or steep slope.
- It is well known that Mt. Baker is Washington’s northernmost Cascade volcano. Which is the southernmost Cascade volcano in British Columbia?
- a) Silverthrone Caldera
- b) Garibaldi
- c) Meager
- d) Three Sisters
- Black Diamond Equipment has a versatile ski pole in its product line with a small steel picked ice axe integrated into the pole’s handle. What is this product called?
- a) Hand Axe
- b) The Hatchet
- c) Whippet
- d) Pocket Spike
ANSWERS BELOW
1) B – Chuckanut State Park. In February of 1923, the name was changed. In 1937, Larrabee’s widow, Francis, and her son, donated an additional 1,500 acres to the park, bringing the total acreage to nearly 2,000.
2) D – Smith was hunting mountain goats with others from his party. While moving up loose terrain he used his rifle as a walking stick. It discharged into his upper arm, he lost consciousness and fell down the slope, suffering additional injuries. He passed away shortly thereafter.
3) D – Mt. Shuksan’s Price Glacier is seldom climbed today. Climate change has made the hanging ice on the route extremely unstable. Mt. Slesse’s Northeast Buttress is on the list, and Slesse can easily be seen from Artist Point, but it is not in Whatcom County. The other local routes are Mt. Rainier’s Liberty Ridge, Mt. Stuart’s North Ridge, Forbidden Peak’s West Ridge, and Liberty Bell’s Liberty Crack.
4) A – The Sharp End Podcast breaks down mountain accidents every month. Outside Alive also explores accidents, but it is more eclectic. The Enormocast is a rock climbing only podcast. And there is no Accidents in North American Climbing podcast.
5) B – The exteriors to The Shining were done at Mt. Hood’s Timberline Lodge. Due to remodels, the exteriors for the 2019 sequel, Doctor Sleep, were not shot at the lodge, but were constructed for the movie.
6) B – Jake Burton founded Burton Snowboards in 1977. The biggest difference between his boards and the original boards on the slopes was the implementation of rigid bindings, which allowed for more functionality and control. Burton Snowboards is still thriving today.
7) D – The Imperial Express Chairlift in Breckenridge holds the title of highest chairlift in North America. If you want to hike up a bootpack from the chairlift, Silverton Mountain has the highest inbounds ski accessible terrain at 13,487-feet.
8) A – Though every actor listed is a rock climber, Jason Momoa was the inspiration behind HBO’s reality competition show, The Climb.
9) A – The Guinness Book of World Records has published research indicating it doesn’t believe the veracity of Messner’s claim to have reached the absolute summit of Annapurna (8,091m/26,545ft). The mountaineering world has ignored Guinness and continues to hold Messner as “the first.”
10) D – When Brits refer to rappelling, they call it abseiling, or even “abbing” down.
11) B – Mt. Garibaldi is the southernmost Cascade volcano in British Columbia. The northernmost volcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc is the Silverthrone Caldera.
12) C – The Whippet Ski Pole was designed for extreme ski and snowboard adventures in no fall terrain. In recent years, thru hikers have also used Whippets when their trails cross steep snow slopes instead of carrying an ice axe. X
