Adirondack Peeks Summer 2025

in the back country whether a summit is involved or not”—he understood, and I felt much better. When my climbing partner, James, and I completed a winter ascent of the remote Mount Seymour, we thought we were the only ones out there, so on the descent we glissaded down the trail at full speed. While glissading around the bend, an upward hiker had to jump out of the way, lest be taken out like a bowling pin. We apologized, exchanged some backcountry small talk, and went on our way. Upon signing out at the trailhead, we noticed that the only one signing in after us was a Brian Hoody—my correspondent! I had never met him in person so didn’t recognize him. When I sent in my historian letter, I mentioned that it was me that almost took him out. He wrote back “It is a small world, and

I’m sure you noticed that, despite my advancing age, I was able to get out of the way in time! The winter butt-sliding on Seymour is second to none”—he understood, glissading is part of the high peak adventure reserved for winter ascents. The Adirondack 46ers correspondent program is a genuinely unique and special part of this mountain climbing club and brings camaraderie to the broader experience recognizing that every summit attempt has its own interesting story with reflections, lessons, and aspirations. We are all blessed with the beautiful Adirondacks, the majestic high peaks, the enduring 46ers, the wonderful correspondents’ program, and the freedom to hike and climb. Keep climbing, growing, and sharing.

John Borel, #4052 Adirondack Centuries: Meeting Grace Hudowalski, Jackrabbit Johanssen W hen I saw the notice of the one-hundredth anniversary celebration of the first 46ers in the Spring 2025 newsletter, it brought me back to my

at 10:25 a.m. (from Adirondack, New York, on the east side of Schroon Lake.) “I can see you are pretty much of a loner, but I do hope you find some congenial soul to take along when you start the trailless summits. While most of them are easy to climb, insofar as herd paths are concerned, still going alone is like tempting the gods, and it’s nice to

climb of Mount Gray on September 21, 1985. On that day, the Albany Chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club placed a member on each of the forty-six, 4,000+ foot peaks in the Adirondacks at approximately the same time (2:00 p.m.) as the Chapter’s salute to the Forest Preserve Centennial and its deceased members of that past year: Werner Baum, Nell Plum, Joe McGurn, Jim Scribner, Benjamin Friedman, Margaret Kenner, and Marjorie Jory Stall. I hiked Gray with my good friend Dan Golopentia of the Keene Valley Chapter of the ADK, who now lives in his native Romania. At age 88, I feel I’ve been a witness to history and yet somehow keep living and enjoying it. I’ve never climbed a mountain I didn’t like. I climbed solo on many of the 46 peaks, often hiking several days at a time. What really spurred me on was my running correspondence with Grace Hudowalski, the legendary historian of the Adirondack 46ers. Upon my

have . . . a friendly hand to hold at times . . . the sharing bit.” In awe of her, I wrote, “I will have to give you a phone call someday so I can say I called the only Hudowalski in the book.” Grace Hudowalski was the first woman to climb all 46 of the Adirondack High Peaks. She completed this feat in 1937, which happens to be the year I was born. I did, in fact, have some friends who climbed with me, including my wife, Phyllis, who summited four or five peaks including Marcy, Marshall, Iroquois, and Esther, my final summit, making me #4052. Also joining me on various climbs were Maurice Rivard, Bruce Goodale, Bill Hetzer, Dan Golopentia, and Roy Neville. I tended not to go on club outings, preferring to do the planning for myself. Sometimes, I have put Phyllis in hazardous situations. Such was the time in October 1996 when I took her with me to climb Marshall, a trailless peak. Originally listed as Mt. Clinton after a New York Governor, it was renamed after Robert Marshall, one of the original 46ers. It is 4,360 feet in

completing the Seward Range, Grace, who I had the great fortune to meet in person once at an Adirondack Mountain Club meeting, wrote me back, “The mountains look alluring today— sunshine, color, but it is cold out—exactly zero outside

SUMMER 2025 | 25