The Schoening Axe

The famed Schoening Ice Axe. Courtesy of the Washington State Historical Society


Fred Poyner, of the Washington State Historical Society, inspects the axe after removing it from the shipping crate.


Next, Museum Director Niña Johnson has a look.


The installation team from Quatrefoil positions the axe within its secure case, as the director looks on.


The position is marked and the axe is ready to be installed.

On December 5, 2007, the Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering Museum took delivery of one of the most historic artifacts in the world of mountaineering – the Schoening ice axe. The axe was used to save the lives of five men, and has come to represent the pinnacle of mountaineering ethics. The axe will be on loan from the Washington State Historical Society.

The year 1953 was a great one for mountaineering. By its end, the summit of Mt. Everest was achieved after so many previous failures. Austrian Hermann Buhl climbed alone to the summit of Nanga Parbat in Pakistan to become the first person ever to complete a solo first ascent of an 8000 meter peak. On K2, the world’s second highest mountain, however, a saga unfolded that has forever remained etched in the annals of mountaineering. It was not to be a successful expedition—the summit would remain unclimbed until the following year. But the tenacity and strength displayed by the members of the expedition team remain legendary.

A storm on the Abruzzi Ridge—25,000 feet up on the slopes of K2—sent climbers led by Charles Houston, a doctor from Seattle, scrambling to save the life of a fellow mountaineer. Climbing alpine style without the aid of oxygen, team member Art Gilkey’s legs were filling with blood clots. With no other option than to get Gilkey to a lower elevation as fast as possible, the team began to maneuver him down the precariously steep and icy slope in the middle of a vicious storm, in his sleeping bag. That is until George Bell lost his footing and, in the ensuing entanglement of ropes and climbers, five men started plunging towards their deaths off the face of the mountain.

The youngest and strongest man on this expedition team, however, would keep this expedition from being remembered solely for its tragedies. Moments after Gilkey, still in his sleeping bag, and the other five men began sliding to their deaths, a chemist from Seattle, Pete Schoening, instinctually jammed his ice axe behind a boulder— an impromptu rope belay, with the rope wrapped around his hip and the wooden shaft of the axe—and instantaneously arrested five men from hurtling to their deaths.

Unfortunately, Gilkey would later be swept into the void by an avalanche. Still, Schoening’s simple yet life-altering act has since defined the expedition: “The Belay” is now recognized as one of the most heroic acts in all of mountaineering history.

The Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering Museum is now the home of this iconic piece of equipment and the story of Pete Schoening and his exemplary behavior in the thin air of the Karakoram Range.

The five lives that dangled from Schoening’s ice axe so far away in Pakistan have since blossomed into what has been described, by the daughter of a dangling expedition member, as “Children of the Belay.” Karen Molenaar Terrell, daughter of team member Dee Molenaar, was able to bring the children, grandchildren, and other relatives of those dangling souls together for a reunion—the photograph tells you there are more than 30 people alive today because of “The Belay”—because of Pete Schoening.

Schoening was not just a heroic mountaineer, however. He was a pioneering one as well. He led the first ascents of Mount Augusta and the East Ridge of King Peak in the Yukon in 1952. Along with Andy Kaufmann, he summited Gasherbrum I (Hidden Peak) in 1958, thus completing the only American first ascent of an 8,000-meter peak. In 1966, he made the first ascent of Antarctica’s highest summit, Vinson Massif.

But it was that day in August of 1953 that has become the classic mountaineering tale and a symbol for many of alpine ethics at its best: friendship between climbing partners had prevailed above all other considerations. As was later recounted in the book K2: The Savage Mountain, it was upon the cold, precipitous slopes of one of the world's wildest mountains, with hypoxia-challenged minds their only aid for survival, that these mountaineers felt as though they had reached "the core of life itself."

The new adventure shop of the museum, Base Camp, has officially opened. Our opening weekend was a great success. Read more about the store in this Rocky Mountain News story.



The store hours will be Tuesday-Thursday, 3-7 and Friday & Saturday 12-5, until the museum officially opens to the public on February 16, 2008, when its hours will be revised.

Please stop by and check it out. The store, located within the American Mountaineering Center, features exciting items from the museum and the world of mountaineering that can be found few other places in the country. Featuring official products from the partnering organizations of The Colorado Mountain Club, American Alpine Club, and National Geographic Society, including:

• National Geographic Society items, including topographic maps
• Photography prints from the museum exhibit
• CMC Press books
  
• Gift items such as calenders, note cards, and jewelry
• Unique holiday items including stocking stuffers
• Mountain art
  
• Books from culture to Colorado, from mountaineering to the world's mountains
  

To Build a Museum

The day has finally come. We say that a lot around here. But this time, it means that the museum is really being installed. The pieces have arrived from the East Coast, along with the crew to assemble it. And up it goes. Here are a few photos of the first stages of installation.

To Build a Crevasse: Part 2

A few more photos of the crevasse for you to enjoy. The process continues...

To Build a Crevasse

Frank Ayala and the others from Monolithic Sculpture, Inc. have really outdone themselves this time. The crevasse they were hired to make has been a much anticipated part of the construction of the museum, and it is finally under way. Not only that, it is a work of art, and a time consuming one at that. The same construction method was used for the crevasse as was earlier employed for the creation of the faux rock formations. This time, however, it was the shape and space that the styrofoam and concrete structure had to fit into that made it such a compelling piece to watch take form.

Here are some of the more intriguing photos from the process. Soon, we'll be able to show you the final piece. Then comes the installation of exhibits, as Quatrefoil has already begun to pack up the prefabricated pieces in its workshops in Maryland and drive them to Golden. The transformation from construction zone to museum hall will be fast, and amazing.

Two Grand Openings Announced

The Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering Museum has announced that it will open its doors to the public for its Grand Opening on February 16, 2008. Before then, however, the museum will open its new gift store, Base Camp, on November 23, 2007. The store, located within the American Mountaineering Center, will feature exciting items from the museum and the world of mountaineering that can be found few other places in the country. Featuring official products from the partnering organizations of The Colorado Mountain Club, American Alpine Club, and National Geographic Society, including:

• National Geographic Society items, including topographic maps
• Photography prints from the museum exhibit
• CMC Press books
  
• Gift items such as calenders, note cards, and jewelry
• Unique holiday items including stocking stuffers
• Mountain art
  
• Books from culture to Colorado, from mountaineering to the world's mountains

Today, we unveiled a new banner that hangs from the outside of the American Mountaineering Center. Phil Powers, Executive Director of the AAC, and Doug Skiba, Development Director of the CMC, rappelled down the face of the building to help unfurl the banner. Have a look...

We've Got Stairs!

If there's any indication that the museum is getting closer to opening, it just may be the completion of the grand staircase. When the museum opens, it will take visitors from the mezzanine to the level of the museum. Sweeping down to the center of the exhibit, visitors will then be able to choose what to see and experience first. The ornamentation of the staircase mimics that of the existing staircases throughout the American Mountaineering Center.

The images below take you through the transformation -- from piles of steel to finished staircase.









Before the staircase was pieced together, it had to be worked into the museum space on a boom, guided by hand.