64 OregonStater.org OuR COMMuNIty PAUL HOSMER B A C K S T O R Y SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS THE PIONEERING SPIRIT OF THE OSC MOUNTAIN CLUB. By Siobhan Murray On May 22, 1963, Oregon State professorWilli Unsoeld, ’51, clawed his way up the sheer cliffs of Mt. Everest’s West Ridge, buffeted by the jet stream. He and his partner, Dr.Tom Hornbein, members of the first American expedition to Everest, were doing what experts considered the impossible, shunning the standard South Col route to pioneer a bold new path to the summit. When they reached the peak, nightfall was rapidly approaching, but Unsoeld had serious business to take care of. He reached into his pack, unfurled a large, triangular flag with the circular logo of the Oregon State College Mountain Club, and posed for a photo that would end up in National Geographic as well as the 1964 Beaver yearbook. Soon enveloped in darkness, the climbers spent the night at 28,000 feet without sleeping bags or tents. They prepared to die, but the winds slowed, and when the sun crested five hours later, they were alive. “I promise that this is my last big climb,” Unsoeld told his wife Jolene, ’53, by walkie-talkie as he descended with his team.“This time,” she replied, “I have a lot of witnesses.” The triumph came with a cost. John Breitenbach, ’61, part of the same expedition, was killed by icefall. Unsoeld lost nine frostbitten toes — he proudly kept them in a jar of formaldehyde. And despite his promise, it wouldn’t be his last expedition. In 1979, he died in an avalanche on Mt. Rainier. Willi and Jolene Unsoeld helped start the OSC Mountain Club student organization in 1947, even announcing their engagement at the top of Mt. Hood during an OSCMC outing. The club organized climbs and ski trips; offered classes to students; and more. “Several organizations, including the OSU Outdoor Program, the OSU Ski Club, Corvallis Mountain Rescue Unit, Santiam Pass Ski Patrol, the Adventure Leadership Institute and the Adventure Club, grew out of what was known as the OSC Mountain Club,” says OSU’s Adventure Leadership Institute (ALI) Operations Manager Emily Abram. In a 2021 survey, half of new students said outdoor activities are the most appealing aspect of OSU. The ranks of former Mountain Clubbers include many notable alumni, but it was Stacy Allison who cemented OSU’s storied history in mountaineering. During the 1976-77 academic year, Allison attended a talk by Unsoeld. He spoke about climbing Everest, and she was sold. “I learned how to rappel on the Douglas fir trees on campus at night,” she says. After climbing and cross-country skiing across Oregon with her OSU friends, she left school to pursue climbing seriously. On Sept. 29, 1988, she found herself near the summit of Mt. Everest. It was her second attempt at the mountain. Facing a shortage of oxygen tanks, members of her expedition drew lots to see who would go on. Allison’s luck held and she became the first U.S. woman to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. “There was nowhere else to climb,” she wrote in her book Beyond the Limits. “I was standing on the top of the world.” ↑ This photograph of Oregon State College Mountain Club members climbing Mt. Rainier appeared on the cover of the December 1950 Oregon Stater.
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