“... We congratulate Mr. Meissner on his fortitude and fitness. But don,t ask us of what value it is. Of what value is any record of the sort? You cannot appraise ,em, but nevertheless they attest much to the gallantry, and wonder, and glory of living.” FROM SKI TRACKS IN SNOW, THE OREGONIAN, APRIL 12, 1948 This original image appeared in the oregonian and in meissner's scrapbook, “This adventure Belongs to Jack meissner,” assembled by his mother. 40 1859 OregOn's OREGON'S magazIne MAGAZINE winter<strong>2010</strong>
Oregon’s Greatest Ski Adventure An unrepeated 300-mile push from Mt. Hood to Crater Lake belongs to Jack Meissner written by Annemarie Hamlin photos from Meissner's scrapbook CARRYING A TENT, A SLEEPING BAG and a heavy backpack, John Richard “Jack” Meissner strapped on his skis on a February afternoon in 1948 and began a 300-mile trek from Mt. Hood, in the northern part of the state, to Crater Lake in the south. He would be the first person to make the journey on cross-country skis. And no one has repeated the trip since, according to his daughter, Jane, a Central Oregon naturalist and retired ski and hiking instructor. Perhaps no one since then has been as equipped as Jack to take up the challenge. Meissner grew up among people who taught him carpentry and mechanics, skills that complemented his natural resourcefulness and love of the outdoors. When he was a young boy, Jack watched his father build the family’s first house in Portland, and later learned mechanical skills from his stepfather, a mechanical genius who could fix anything. Even before he started high school, Jack earned money during the summers by cutting wood. He was also an athlete, strong in football and any other sport he decided to take up, according to his best friend from high school. During World War II, Meissner served in the Air Force as an airplane mechanic in Europe and Northern Africa. Once home from the war, he and his parents bought the marina at Shelter Cove on Odell Lake. Jack spent his summers repairing boats and homes and his winters trapping and teaching himself to ski. He grew adept at building snow caves for shelter and fires for warmth, and he spent several weeks at a time trekking through the snowy backcountry near Odell Lake tending to his traps. Skiing had gained in popularity after the war, and Meissner discovered a particular talent for the sport and a yearning to explore. Once Meissner announced his trip, the newspapers followed his story closely. Reports by The Oregonian and the Bend Bulletin that year, quote Meissner as naming several different motivations for making the trip. He wanted to bring attention to the sport of cross-country skiing, he wanted to place markers along the Skyline trail for other skiers to follow, and he just simply wanted to prove to himself that he could do it. Sixty years later, Meissner’s memory of his motivation for making the trip was that he hoped to make some money. The financial goal didn’t work out, he said, shortly before his death November 15, 2008. “But I got a good wife out of it.” A Slow Start In 1948, a gallon of milk cost 86 cents. A ski parka cost $5. A Dodge DeLuxe cost $1,500, and a two-bedroom house in Portland, $9,500. “Every once in a while I’d pick up a squirrel some place, skin it and throw it in the pot and cook it for my dinner.” Lil Abner and Dick Tracy held top spots on the comics page of The Oregonian, even as the front page carried daily headlines about the “Reds” taking over Eastern Europe and China. President Harry S. Truman had witnessed the establishment of the United Nations three years earlier, and was guiding the country through recovery from World War II. On a much smaller stage—along a trail that snaked south along the backbone of the Cascade mountains in Oregon—a 28-year-old trapper set down tracks in another kind of history-making event. Meissner announced his trip in early February of 1948 with plans to start from Timberline Lodge on Friday, Feb. 13. Once the Forest Service heard of his plans, however, officials discouraged him from traveling alone. Regional Forester, H. J. Andrews, told The Oregonian that the Forest Service wouldn’t even allow its own men to make such a trip alone, and that he hoped Meissner’s excursion would not encourage others to do the same. Mt. Hood Ski Patrol also issued a written warning to Meissner, calling the trip “foolhardy in the extreme.” Meissner’s friends, however, knew he was up to the challenge. Longtime friend Bob Knoll recalled asking Meissner, just after he announced the trip, “Why would you want to do that?” But, Knoll admitted, “I also knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Jack would make it.” Knoll described Meissner as hardworking, smart and skillful enough to do anything he set out to do. The two men had conducted snow surveys together at the McKenzie Pass, and Knoll knew Meissner was in good shape and an excellent skier. The Forest Service, however, had other concerns. Storms and freezing temperatures in early February undoubtedly prompted their warnings, but so had a recent tragedy at Mt. Hood. On February 2, a 23-year-old newlywed died of exposure to the cold after wandering off the ski trail late that day. The man, Bert Suprenant, had removed his skis and taken shelter under a tree but was found dead the next morning. A February 3 editorial in The Oregonian characterized Suprenant as a novice skier and under-prepared for the cold. “The Cascades are merciless as they have always been to the overconfident and ill-prepared. Mr. Suprenant’s death is a grim warning to thousands of youngsters.” Suprenant, prepared only for a day of recreational skiing, wore light wool and cotton clothing with a leather jacket and gloves, and carried no survival equipment. The editorial writer lamented the skier’s “tragic disregard or ignorance of the rules for safe conduct in the snow.” 1859 oregon's magazine winter <strong>2010</strong> 41
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