My desk these days…

“On Belay?”

On this day in 1908, legendary mountaineer and wilderness outdoor education pioneer Paul Petzoldt was born in Creston, Iowa. He developed several specialized climbing practices that are now considered standard. Examples include the ‘call and reply’ voice commands that are practiced all over the world (note the title of this article). And the ‘Sliding Middleman’ is a climbing practice that allows larger expedition teams to more safely traverse snow and ice fields.

Petzoldt, late 1920s

In 1930, he formed Exum Mountain Guides (later known as Exum School of American Mountaineering), and in 1934, Paul led the first single-day double traverse of the Matterhorn (on the Swiss/Italian border). He was also a member of the First American Karakoram Expedition (also known as K2) in 1938.

 

10th Mountain Division

By World War 2, most of the major combatants had specialized mountaineer units. The Americans were lagging behind in mountain warfare expertise, so in 1943, the US Army developed the elite 10th Mountain Division. Paul entered the unit as a sergeant (at age 36) bringing years of hard-earned mountaineering and survival skills. He was then deployed with the unit on the Italian Front in 1944.

 

He was Colorado Outward Bound’s first Chief Climbing Instructor in 1963. In 1965, Petzoldt founded NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School). His work in adventure education raised the training bar to new heights (yes, that was intentional). In the mid 1970s he (along with Dr. Frank Lupton, Robert Christie and Charles Gregory) formed the Wilderness Education Association.

I am very fortunate to have met Paul on 2 different occasions. He spoke as a guest lecturer in several of my classes in the Recreation and Park Administration department at Western Illinois University. The anecdotes were filled with wisdom and wit that will stay with me forever. I also got to buy him breakfast at my residence hall cafeteria in 1988. As a 1987 graduate of the Environmental Conservation and Outdoor Education Expedition (ECOEE), I was certified as an Outdoor Leader in Paul’s curriculum. I have read and re-read his New Wilderness Handbook and Teton Trails many times over.

In 1994, several prominent mountaineers organized a Grand Teton climb in honor of the 70th anniversary of Paul’s first ascent. Just short of the summit, inclement weather began to roll in. Paul then announced that being 86 years old, and nearly blind, he ought to exercise some of that judgment he’d been teaching all these years, and turn around now. As they say, “There are old mountaineers, and there are bold mountaineers. But there are no old, bold mountaineers.”

The INSIIDE cover of my copy of Teton Trails

Paul died on October 16, 1999 at the age of 91, leaving a legacy that continues to shape the experiences of climbers, adventurers, and experiential educators alike.

“On belay?” “Belay on, Paul!”

-Toph

A National Day to Celebrate

I was listening to the radio yesterday morning, and the program host mentioned that it was National Coatimundi Day. When I investigated further, I read that it was actually on Dec. 3rd but I’m not holding that against the disc jockey. Are they even called disc jockeys anymore? I mean, most of what they do now comes from digital files, but “audio file jockey” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. I’ll stick with radio host, just to be safe.

Anyway, they were celebrating National Coatimundi Day. For those unfamiliar, a coatimundi (‘coati’ for short) is a medium-sized animal that is related to the raccoon (‘coon’ for short. Fair is fair, right?). They look a lot like raccoons, but have longer snouts and tails, and tend to be a little bigger. They eat like raccoons, too. Pretty much anything. In more secluded places, they stick to plants, bugs, tarantulas and mice. I have no first-hand experience, but I suspect that, like their Midwestern cousins, they are not above eating out of garbage cans if given the opportunity.

Cute little feller, right?

I didn’t know anything about them until I moved to Arizona, so it was cool to learn about these unusual guys. I’ve never seen one in the great outdoors. They are on the shy side, and generally avoid the limelight. I once saw one at the Desert Museum, and it was pretty cool.

Still. I was wondering about them having a ‘national day.’ Do they celebrate it? I seriously doubt they even pay attention to such things. Hell, they probably aren’t even sure of the area code they live in, so let’s not give them more credit than they deserve. Actually, it’s on the calendar to help promote conservation and awareness of them. So I’m cool with that.

Wondering what other special days we have set aside, I set forth into a deeper dive (focusing on the fauna of the southwest U.S.) August 8th is National Tarantula Day. Spiders are scary to a lot of people, so it’s easy to think of them as just bigger, more evil spiders. I’ve come to appreciate spiders as a whole a lot more than I used to. I still don’t want them in my cupboards (and setting up shop there will likely get them evicted with extreme prejudice) but in the yard or under my workshop is fine by me.

 

Big date tonight – wish me luck!

Tarantulas hold an even higher place on my ‘good guys to have around’ list. They usually aren’t very aggressive at all. In the 1950s, sci-fi movies cast them as fearsome villains, but they are quite the opposite. They typically live underground. They hunt at night, and mostly eat bugs, scorpions, and other spiders. Sometimes when they mate, the female eats the male, but the girls live 3-4 times as long as the boys – some up to 30 years – so they have a richer life to look forward to anyway. Their venom is not medically significant to people, and they make pretty good, low-maintenance pets.

Sticking to the desert dweller theme, July 1st is National Roadrunner Day. They came next on my countdown because they eat tarantulas. Roadrunners also eat lizards, mice, and just about anything else they come across, and are considered omnivores. They are really more like the cartoon coyote in that regard. Are you seeing a trend here? In this dry, less hospitable region, animals aren’t picky eaters.

What’s on the menu? Wait…it’s THAT – RIGHT THERE!

Despite the name, they really don’t seem to “run” in the traditional sense. It’s more of a really fast, straight-legged walk. When they do stop, their tail does this weird ‘lift then lower’ move. And their heads turn and twitch in a quirky, amphetamine-fueled fashion. They also don’t much resemble their Saturday morning cartoon avatar. In fact, if that version hadn’t first shown up in the late 1940s, I’d swear it was created with AI input.

Yeah. The resemblance is uncanny. Whatever.

 

 

 

 

 

Which winds me around to my forth and final southwest animal day – July 28th is Rattlesnake Roundup Day. It was established as such in Texas in 1958, and it was focused on reducing the pit viper population. Fortunately, most of our national celebration days are more positive and ‘feel good.’

Try to imagine the potential horror of Mothers’ Day… Yikes!

In any case, Rattlesnake Roundup is now a fun, family focused educational event. I’ve really found a soft place in my heart for the rattlesnake, and I’m glad they went back on Santa’s nice list.

So there it is – my bite-sized review of some of the nations’ most uniquely arid-loving denizens. I’ll now start lobbying for a National ‘50-something model building, action figure collecting, history nerd who likes trivia and classic rock’ day. Contact your congressman, and help get the word out!

And thank you for your support.

-Toph