Larger than Life
At the home of legendary mountainer Dee Molenaar with the mural he painted of Mt. Rainier
If you’re from the Northwest, you’ve got a connection with Mount Rainier. Everyone has a story about Mount Rainier- and no one more than the Northwest’s own legendary mountaineer Dee Molenaar.
On May 6th at Wesley Homes Lea Hill Campus in Auburn, Molenaar will share his life experiences as a mountain climber celebrated the world over for his “Brotherhood of the Rope” feats talked about even today in climbing circles.
He is best known as the author of The Challenge of Rainier, first published in 1971 and considered the definitive work on the climbing history of Mount Rainier. This is not a book-signing event, but Molenaar will sign books for those who bring copies.
His slide-show presentation is going to be about his early guiding days in 1940 on Mount Rainier and later in the 50’s when he was a Mount Rainier Park Ranger. He’s looking forward to meeting everyone and especially to reconnecting with his friend, Ken Walters, who is a resident of Wesley Homes.
At Home With the Molenaars
With the firm handshake of someone one-third his age, Molenaar and his wife Colleen greeted me at their country home in Burley, WA where they have lived for 43 years raising three children into adulthood.
As you walk out their door into a pastoral setting the first thing you see is a large mural of Mt. Rainier painted by Molenaar on the side of a 1 ½ story out-building. Molenaar painted it so that he’d always have a view of Mt Rainier.
What makes Molenaar’s presentation at Wesley Homes such a special event is that, at 91 years of age, he is still “larger than life” in terms of energy, and he can bring a story to life as if it were yesterday.
Brotherhood of the Rope
In 1953 Molenaar was a member of the Third American Karakoram Expedition’s attempt to ascend K2 the second highest mountain in the world which, according to climbers, is a harder climb even than Mount Everest. The team was trapped in a storm at 25,500 feet for 10 days which, at the time, was the longest period of time any human being had spent over 25,000 ft.
On that ascent, one of their team members came down with high-altitude sickness. Anything above 25,000 feet is considered the “death zone” meaning sick people are left to die. What is so significant about Molenaar and the team is that they tried to self-evacuate their sick team member.”
While trapped on the mountain Molenaar painted two pictures of K2 – remarkable for being rendered at the highest ever altitude. “I propped myself up on my elbow, and with the tent beating down on my head I painted a couple of pictures of our camp and the mountain from memory,” said Molenaar, “I had to drink the water after I finished using it for the paints because water was precious up there.”
These are just two of the stories that Molenaar will bring to life when he visits on May 6th.
In honor of the life-long friendship of Ken Walters and Dee Molenaar, Wesley Homes is hosting a luncheon earlier that day so that the friends can reconnect.
–ilene little for Wesley Homes
