Something New at Moosilauke
PRESIDENT OF THE OUTING CLUB
BACK in 1927, when the only structure at Moosilauke was the Tip-Top (or Summit) House, used as a summer hotel, undergraduates called for a place to head for in winter. So a cabin was built a few yards from the 4810-foot summit and was called, quite naturally, the Winter Cabin. This cabin, though D.O.C. property, was left unlocked as emergency shelter for those who might be caught in a bad mood of the Mt. Washington-like weather above tree line. This cabin was used by lovers of the mountain continuously for many years. When the Summit House burned down in 1942, the Winter Cabin became the only building at the summit, and thus saw increasing use.
Well, after thirty years that Winter Cabin had given about all it had to give. In 1955 the D.O.C. Board of Directors appointed a committee of alumni to study the possibilities of the summit area, including a plan for a new Winter Cabin. Chairmanned by Bill Danforth '41, the committee included Bill Halsey '40 and Professor Harry Bond '42 of the English Department. Among the three undergraduates named to the committee was John Hobbie '57, then head of Cabin and Trail and manager of the Ravine Lodge, who helped greatly to make everyone realize that this was to be a cabin for undergraduates and as such was to fit their fancy.
In the fall of 1956, largely through the efforts of Halsey, his firm, Bastille-Halsey Associates of Boston, presented a detailed plan for a Winter Cabin. It was new with modern techniques of construction planned around contemporary undergraduate thought. The cabin was essentially to be two cabins in one. An inner portion would be locked for use by Club members or their guests, and an equivalent portion would be open at all times, stocked with bunks, stove, and the essentials for its function as refuge to anyone. Each portion was to be fourteen feet square. The cabin was being thought of as an outpost for education in addition to recreation. Climatic, botanical, zoological, geological, and geographical research would thrive on Moosilauke if there were only such an outpost. The undergraduates had added this consideration to their love of the outdoors.
Technologically, another change entered the picture. Halsey's plan involved pre-fabricated construction especially designed for an arctic-type climate. From outside in, the wall was to be corrugated aluminum panels, foamglass insulation, dead air space, and finally the wood inner wall. The plan proposed a fully insulated cabin - everything detailed for this purpose down to neoprene washers for bolts through the aluminum.
This plan was the ideal. It incorporated all the thoughts of those who wanted to have the best on Moosilauke's summit. As such, it was expensive. At this point, the Club, running on a budget, necessarily stumbled over a $26,000 figure. In March of 1957, Richard Olmsted '32, Business Manager of the College, contacted Halsey and together they looked for corners to cut to reduce the building's cost. At the same time, other types of construction were studied by the Club. Especially instrumental here, as he had been from the start, was John Rand '38, D.O.C. Executive Director. Concrete block construction, steel, Quonset huts — in short, all types we could think of were investigated and debated. And then it happened.
In the midst of this dilemma, Matt Rock '29, of the Clements Panels Company in Danbury, Conn., walked into the D.O.C. offices in May. He had heard that we were looking for a building that would withstand extremes of weather, and yet would be inexpensive to construct. He described his company's product for us and it looked good from the start. Here was practically the same construction Halsey had specified, yet with completely pre-fabricated, modular panels. The sequence of the panel sandwich, from outside in, is aluminum, plywood, fiberglas insulation, plywood, and aluminum again. The whole wall, being only 4" thick, is very light weight. This looked good in view of the problem of hauling materials to the summit.
The Club asked Clements Panels to submit preliminary drawings, based on the Halsey floor plan, and cost estimates. We learned that the panels had been used successfully in Greenland, Antarctica, Florida, Connecticut, Nantucket, in just about every climate. Revisions were proposed by the Club and by Mr. Olmsted, who was acting as the Club's agent in the matter. By the middle of June we thought we would want this type of building. After being assured that the building would withstand the extreme conditions of snow and wind load, and temperature, an order was placed for a 14' x 28' building, completely prefabricated in the Danbury shop.
Meanwhile, we tackled the question of location. The advantages of a site away from the summit, below tree-line, seemed great: more likely fuel supply, less exposure, etc. However, historical reasons blended with practical ones led us to locate the cabin near the summit spring, to the east of the main peak, about 100 vertical feet below it in the protection of Us ridge. Anyone familiar with the area will pinpoint it a few yards to the East Peak side of the Gorge Brook Trail, op- posite the spring. The practical factor is that the spring, besides being amazingly near the summit, is not only the most reliable spring anywhere near the summit area, but spouts the purest water of any spring on the Outing Club's 100 miles of trails.
For our contractor we were fortunate to retain Mark Landry, who had experience in the use of Clements panels and who, as a skier and outdoorsman, was interested in our problem. Connecticut skiers will remember him as last year's state downhill champion and an Eastern amateur instructor.
Red Ostrowski's skilled bulldozing had improved the Carriage Road back in June, and Dick Moulton of Tamworth consented to haul materials to the site by tractor and lumber scoot - and to stay on to help Mark and his partner with the cabin's erection.
On August 8, Mark and I climbed the mountain and set the four corner stakes for the cabin. The cabin's long dimension follows the contour lines and it has a spectacular broadside view down Gorge Ravine and out across New Hampshire. August 18 found the builders on the mountain setting up their camp at the summit, and work was begun on the foundation immediately. The panels and other materials arrived a week later. The two-foot-wide panels, by the way, are held together tightly, with caulked splines between, by two tie bars in each wall which are drawn up by tightening nuts at each end in special corner panels. It's almost a contractor's dream, except that it's on the rocky summit of a temperamental mountain.
The last chips were just being swept away when the first units of the Freshman Trip made their way to the summit on September 7. Since then, Cabins Director Dick Sanders '59 has been outfitting the cabin with two stoves, cooking gear and table settings, first aid equipment, and the like. As soon as there's enough snow on the Carriage Road, we'll haul eight or twelve bunks to the top by Sno-cat, and the cabin will be complete.
Here, then, is good modern architecture. The cabin's form truly follows its function as a refuge, recreation center, four-season educational outpost, and just plain "cabin." The old has been torn down and the new is in its place. It is a new concept in construction, the most attractive features of which are weathertightness and warmth. Dartmouth and the Outing Club have tried something new at Moosilauke. Let's hope for a lot of snow this winter - the skiing on that cone can be great.
CONSTRUCTION of the new Moosilauke cabin followed closely that of the new Holt's Ledge cabin at the Skiway, dedicated to the memory of "Jake" Nunnemacher '42, a former ski team captain. Other cabin news is that the State of New Hampshire has reclaimed the Smart's Mountain cabin for use in the reoccupation of their fire tower at the summit. It will still be open to use on a limited basis, with the warden's permission.
A group led by Sam Adams '59 has rebuilt the Beaver Brook shelter, bringing the Moosilauke area back to excellent shape for hikers and campers throughout the year.
The most extensive schedule of ski competitions in D.O.C. history is now being plotted by Bill Long '59, Competitions Director. He faces the Hanover Invitational Nordic meet in January, Winter Carnival, the Eastern Prep School meet, the N.C.A.A. meet, the Harvard-Dartmouth Slalom, and an intramural program all handled this year by the Winter Sports Division under Director Stu Clark '58.
The ski team this year will feel Chick Igaya's loss, but is greatly strengthened on the Nordic side by John Ceely's return from a year of study in France. Two years ago, John won the Carnival cross-country event as a sophomore. Coach Al Merrill will also count heavily on his Alpine anchor men and co-captains, Dave Harwood and Bill Smith, both seniors, for what looks like another successful season. With the addition of Olympian Bill Beck '53 as assistant ski coach, Dartmouth's coaching staff is perhaps the strongest in the country, and we're proud and happy to have Al and Bill aboard.
Speaking of being proud and happy, we recently learned that the Club's founder, Fred Harris '11, was elected to the National Skiing Hall of Fame. As such, he became the first Easterner to be so recognized. At a testimonial dinner in Brattleboro on November 2, John Rand '38, Club President Fred Hart '58, Bob Monahan '29, and Coach Al Merrill heard Mr. Harris honored by national and Eastern ski officials. Among the letters of congratulation read to Mr. Harris were two from President Dickey and Sherman Adams '20.
The new Winter Cabin at Mt. Moosilauke
