Scott Fischer’s Packs Donated To Seattle Parks Outdoor Program

Moun­tain Mad­ness recent­ly dredged up some of Scott’s old packs. They had a cer­tain odor that comes from over 15 years in stor­age, but they nonethe­less have found a new home with the Seat­tle Park Pro­gram O2, which offers climb­ing trips free of charge for teenagers. Moun­tain Mad­ness is hap­py to con­tin­ue buidling a rela­tion­ship with this out­stand­ing and unique pro­gram and have sent guides out with kids on var­i­ous climb­ing adven­tures and avalanche train­ing seminars.

Most recent­ly O2 kicked off the sum­mer climb­ing sea­son at Camp Long with Mad­ness guide Dave Ahrens giv­ing a help­ing hand (see pho­tos below). Mark Gun­log­son, Pres­i­dent of Moun­tain Mad­ness, dropped in for a vis­it and shared some sto­ries about Scott Fis­ch­er and Chris­tine Boskoff, and how he began his long career in climbing. 

Sim­ple things can spark the inter­est of kids to get out­doors, like a few hours learn­ing to rock climb, or tak­ing pride in shoul­der­ing a pack worn by a moun­taineer­ing leg­end like Scott Fis­ch­er. Our hope is to con­tin­ue to inspire just as Scott did. Here is a let­ter of appre­ci­a­tion from O2;

“Dear Mark and the Extend­ed Moun­tain Mad­ness Family:

I want­ed to take a moment to send you a very heart-felt thank you for the gift of Scott Fischer’s back­packs. It is with tremen­dous grat­i­tude and hon­or that we accept this gift. For those of us that spend our lives in the moun­tains, old packs are like old friends. While a back is sim­ply an equip­ment item: these packs rep­re­sent far more. In some ways, I see them as an exten­sion of Scott Fischer’s lega­cy and spirit.

As you know, we ded­i­cate our lives to tak­ing young peo­ple into the moun­tains, rivers and wilds. Young peo­ple that would not have this expe­ri­ence oth­er­wise. I have wit­nessed on count­less occa­sions these expe­ri­ences change lives and per­cep­tions. We at the O2 pro­gram will be hon­ored to use Scott’s packs on our trips and to have our young peo­ple wear his packs. I am quite cer­tain that this will make a sig­nif­i­cant impact to those peo­ple that can share in this gift. 

Scott Fischer’s lega­cy con­tin­ues to be present in the out­door and climb­ing com­mu­ni­ty. I real­ize that this con­tin­u­ing gift extend­ed to the young peo­ple of Seat­tle will keep the lega­cy and spir­it of Scott alive in the moun­tains and wilds.

Sin­cere­ly,

Bob Warner/​O2 Coordinator”