The Washington times., 1920-01-17
Nameless
Mountain
Found By
WOm an
By MADGE OLDRING.

"SSshSsb osoAhiot oiCSsb iSSS oha
chilly atmosphere.
To some II may seem as though
she might have found at least a
touch of those things by exploring
almost any section Of the arctic
Michigan avenue.
"But there weren't any northern
lights Oh Michigan avenue" says
this extraordinary woman, who is
Mrs. Laurie r. Frazeur.
And SO Mrs. Frazeur, who is a
member Of the American Alpine
Club and a veteran mountain
climber, set out to do what no
woman has before achieved. She
went over the pass Of Mount Rob-
son in the wild white winter
weather. Other women have
crossed the pass in the bland
summer time, but nobody ever
seemed to care for the trip in
winter.
Build Their Tepees.
Nevertheless, it was wonder
full" says Mrs. Frazeur. 1--WE built
our tepees in the pine forests on
old caribou trails. At night we
could hear the caribou switching in
the forest, and we found the dainty
tracks of unknown animals in the
snow. We saw the ptarmingan in
its white winter coat, and the
delicate water ousel, that fairy
bird, diving in the icy spray.
eve saw the northern lights
play upon the shining white noun
tains, and saw the banners, made
by the wind, flinging out the pow
derry snow, and watched them
glow rose in the sunset, then gold,
then a ghostly blue white in the
moonlight.
eve never met any living thing
but Indians, wolves and caribou.
We travelled on snowsnoes, and
wore five pairs Of socks, two pairs
Of moccasins three or four shirts
and the heavy suits of northern
woodsmen. Our beds were pine
boughs, piled on the snow, and
we wrapped up in Hudson Bay
blankets. Cold? Oh, no, just cool.
And the cheering thing about it
is that the climate is too cold for
germs, and there is not the slight
est danger Of catching colds or
pneumonia. You might freeze to
death, but you would never have
q cold.
"Mount Robson is 13,06S feet
high, the highest mountain in the
Canadian Rockies.
81 went over the pass for the
first time last summer, and was
SO charmed by Mount Robson
that / was bound to see it in win
ter. We got our outfit at Jasper.
The guide was Donald Philips,
who, with five other men, made
the first ascent of Mount Robson
in 1909.
"We went horseback up the
valley Of the 1000 falls, north over
the continental divide, up the
Great Smoky river, north from
the head waters of the divide, near
The Piece and ascended the
Short river. l am the first woman
who has gone up that river. We
crossed the Great Smoky twice
on snowshoes, and as the ice
twirled around l felt that Eliza's
excursion in bare feet must have
been a simple matter.
"Near Mount Robson was a
majestic, white, nameless peak,
10000 feet high. The guide and
I climbed to the summit and
built our cairn there. A cairn
is a rude pile of stones built by
the first explorer Of a mountain
to mark his work. We scratched
our names on a rock and put
it in the cairn. Some time l may
60 through the formality Of ap-
plying to the Government to have
the mountain named for me.
Likes Adventures.
"Why do / climb mountains?
Oh, to clear the cobwebs out Of
my brain, and keep from get
ting too bookish. AS teacher
Of Latin and Greek I hear all
about how Caesar crossed the
Rubicon and the Rhine, but !
like to get out myself into the
adventures Of crossing the Great
Smoky and seeing the marvels
of the present day.
T have climbed every summer
for the past twelve years, and
when the war broke out I was in
Italy, had ascended Vesuvi1s.
and was planning to climb in
the Alps. But this summer
don't expect to climb. I have
the endurance Of four women,
and I want to 20 to France when
achooI closes and helm with tb,