Winter 2010

The meissner Legacy
Jack’s wife, Virginia Meissner, has a
sno-park named for her along the
Cascade Lakes Highway between
Bend and Mt. Bachelor. Virginia, an
outdoors-woman since childhood,
spent much of her childhood around
Salem, fishing and exploring the
outdoors with her father. Virginia
met Jack at willamette Pass Ski Area
during his trek, and they discovered
a common love of outdoor life. After
they married, they continued to ski
and hike together in the Cascades.
in the '70s, Virginia began teaching
Meissner's trek was
covered closely in the
oregonian, which took
a paternally dim view of
the journey, and in the
bend bulletin. a massive
flood in vanport, oregon
in May 1948 wiped out
Meissner's diary and
photos leaving the newspapers'
accounts as the
remaining records.
cross-country skiing and hiking at
Central Oregon Community College.
in the '80s, she wrote three
books on skiing and hiking in Central
Oregon: Cross Country Ski Tours in
Central Oregon, Day Hikes in Central
Oregon, and Hiking Central
Oregon and Beyond.
Virginia also spent many
years lobbying local
officials on behalf of
cross-country skiers
and marking trails for
a sno-park that would
be closed to motorized
vehicles.
Unlike Suprenant, Meissner knew how to survive alone
in the cold and snow. Although he learned to ski only since
returning from the war, his experience as a trapper in the
Cascades backcountry during snowy winters prepared him
well for the weather as well as the terrain. Nevertheless,
once warned against traveling alone, Meissner cast about
for a traveling partner.
Accounts differ as to how he found one. The Oregonian
reported that he signed up Ernst Pentheny, a ski instructor
at Timberline Lodge. A few days later, however, Pentheny
withdrew from the trip. Meissner’s own version of the story
held that he and a friend, Stan Tonkin, devised the plan for
the trip together, and when Stan couldn’t make the trip,
Jack recruited Emery “Woody” Woodall, 21, a college student
from Virginia doing odd-jobs in Government Camp.
“He was a better skier,” Meissner said of Woodall, “but I had
more experience.”
Meissner and Woodall skied away from Timberline Lodge
around 1 p.m. on February 18, wearing bright red parkas and
carrying 45-pound packs with a tent, sleeping bags, food and
emergency supplies. Guided by contour maps, a compass,
and Meissner’s knowledge of the Cascades, they pulled their
jackets tight as they headed south in bracing winter cold to
Skyline Trail, now known as the Pacific Crest Trail.
Government Camp to Santiam Pass
The two men traveled about 60 miles in six days, past Ollalie Lake
and into the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness. Meissner had pre-arranged
with the Eugene civil air patrol to fly over and drop supplies periodically
during the trip, and The Oregonian records the first sighting of
the two on Feb. 24 on the north slope of Mt. Jefferson. Pilots saw no
signs of distress and dropped food and two carrier pigeons, which
would deliver messages from the travelers to Eugene. On the ground,
though, Meissner and Woodall had been experiencing heavy storms
and icy conditions that required frequent stops to scrape their skis.
Weather reports during February in Portland and Bend indicated
lower temperatures and greater snowfall in the Cascades than
the averages over the past four decades. By the time Meissner and
Woodall left Government Camp, snow had blanketed the mountain
passes, making travel hazardous. Meteorologists expected even
colder weather to follow at high altitude, but for a few days, the lower
elevations were deluged with rain.
The day after the Civil Air Patrol drop, Meissner and Woodall
skied along the western slope of Mt. Jefferson, but near
Russell Glacier, runoff and an impassable canyon forced
them to take off their skis and climb lower. For several
days, they tramped through swampy underbrush, skis
strapped to their backs, hoping to find a stream crossing.
Woodall developed painful blisters on his feet, so the men
found a road, flagged down a car and got Woodall a ride
into town. Eight days into the trip and now alone, Meissner
didn’t hesitate to continue the journey. “He’s a glutton for
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