O'Brien-Underhill Miriam

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Biografie:
geboren in Forest Glen, Maryland (USA)
gestorben in Lancaster, New Hampshire (USA)

geborene O'Brien

MIRIAM O’BRIEN UNDERHILL
1899–1976
It was on a Boston-Maine sleeping car back in the 1920s that I first met Miriam O’Brien. We were on our way to the Glen House, at the foot of Mount Washington, for a week of winter climbing with the “Bemis Crew, an Appalachian Mountain Club group. This was the beginning of a long and happy friendship, of companionship among the hills of New England and Europe and gatherings at home.
Miriam was born in Lisbon, New Hampshire in 1899, was graduated from Bryn Mawr in 1920, studied at Johns Hopkins, and when we met, was working at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. But neither job nor finances kept her from constant summers in Europe from 1926 on. As a child with her mother, she had already made minor climbs in the Alps and was thoroughly at home on our New England hills and cliffs. Miriam s ability as a mountaineer was soon apparent; facile and graceful on rock, her speed on all types of terrain was outstanding. Perhaps her most notable guided climb was the first traverse, in 1928, of all five pinnacles of the Aiguilles du Diable with Robert L.M. Underhill and guides Armand Charlet and Georges Cachet.
Soon Miriam was not content to be a “touriste” and aspired to lead “manless” climbs. In preparation she frequently took the lead from a complaisant guide. In 1929, with Winifred Marples, she led the Peigne and later that summer, the Grépon with Alice Damesme. She started her 1930 season by leading me up an amusing route on Torre Grande in the Dolomites. Later that summer we romped (with guides) over the Leiter- spitz when higher Zermatt peaks were snowed in. There were other man- less climbs, and after several attempts, a successful ascent of the Matterhorn.
Miriam and Bob Underhill had been mountain companions for several years and in 1930 they became engaged, putting an end to her manless climbing, but not an end to her outstanding career in the Alps. With Bob, she continued a program of spectacular ascents. Her prowess was early recognized. Membership in the Groupe de Haute Montagne, the Ladies Alpine Club, the American Alpine Club came soon. Recognition particularly pleasing to her was the dedication of a new and difficult route on Torre Grande as “Via Miriam.” She wrote articles for the National Geographic and European and American alpine journals. As her reputation grew, the Ladies Alpine Club, the Appalachian Club and the American Alpine Club conferred on her honorary membership, and when the Ladies Alpine Club and the Alpine Club (London) merged, she became an honorary member of the latter, sadly when she was too ill to realize it.
Though the Alps were Miriam’s particular playground, starting in 1946 she and Bob did pioneering climbing in the ranges of Montana. For six summers they enjoyed this terrain, so different from Europe. She was a charter member of the AMC’s “Four-Thousand-Footer Club,” those who had climbed all of New Hampshire’s peaks of 4000 feet and over. She invented the game of “Four-Thousanders in Winter.” Indefatigable in her love for the hills, she was collecting New Hampshire’s “Hundred Highest” at the time of her collapse.
Though mountaineering was a vital part of her life, to view Miriam solely as a climber is to overlook many facets of this remarkable woman. She had a facile pen and authored the autobiographical Give Me The Hills, a book which, while sufficiently technical to satisfy her peers, is also enjoyed by the non-climber. For five years she was editor of Appalachia. Her photography, used to illustrate her writings and her witty lectures, was superb. The Appalachian Mountain Club’s Mountain Flowers of New England owes much to her color photos of the little mountain blossoms.
I like to remember Miriam as a hostess, first in her parents’ home in Dedham, then, after her marriage, in Concord, Massachusetts, and since 1960 in the attractive home the Underhills built in Randolph, New Hampshire, facing the Northern Peaks of the Presidential Range. It was always fun to be with her whether indoors, planning new ventures, reminiscing on past pleasures, just chatting; or out, scaling cliffs or tramping up snowy ridges.
After a long illness, Miriam Underhill died on January 7. She leaves her husband Robert L.M. Underhill and two sons, Robert of Del Mar, California and Brian of Boulder, Colorado.
Marjorie Hurd
Quelle: American Alpine Journal 1975/76, Seite 576 f

Miriam Underhill (1899-1976)
Miriam was one of those rare great mountaineers whose earliest recollection s were of mountains-the northern foothills of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Climbing throughout the year Miriam steadily amassed experience for, during the win ter months, conditions there are often almost arctic. In summer, rock-climbing was to be had on the Katahdin Cirques in Maine and on the cliffs of New Hampshire.
I met Miriam during my first season in Chamonix in 1926 when I was climbing with Winifred Marples, a fellow member of the Ladies' Alpine Club. On this occasion Miriam 'lent' us her guide, Alfred Couttet, for the Aiguilles Mummery and Ravanel-the first of many great kindnesses from this most generous of friends. We were staying at the then quiet little Montenvers Hotel and so, too, werc Miriam and her brother Lincoln with
their mother and Mrs Willard Helburn, already a member of the Ladies' Alpine Club. In 1926 Miriam, with a splendid list of climbs in the Dolomites, Chamonix and Zermatt, joined the LAC.In 1927 we were once again at the Montenvers. Miriam had come direct from the Dolomites where she and Margaret Helburn had made the first tourist ascen t of the 'Via Miriam' on the Torre Grande of the Cinque Torri-still today a classic grade V
route-with Angelo and Antonio Dimai and Angelo Dibona. It was this year with Alfred Couttet and Georges Cachat that Miriam made the first ascent of the Aiguille de Roc-Mummery's famous 'Crag on the Grepon'. A few days later Miriam and Margaret Helburn with Armand Charlet and Alfred Couttet climbed the Mer de Glace face of the Grepon-the first ascent of this route by women. The following year, 1928, Miriam and Robert Underhill with Armand Charlet and Georges Cachat made the magnificent first complete traverse of the Aiguilles du Diable-all 5 over 4000m.
The winter of 1928/29 Miriam spent in Paris ostensibly to study optics. Wealthy, independent, with her own Buick car which she had brought over with her from the States, this brilliant and colourful personality took the Paris members of the GHM completely by storm and many a susceptible Frenchman was utterly bowled over. In 1929 Miriam's partnership with the young Adolf Rubi of Grindelwald began and developed into a lifelong friendship. With him she made the first traverse of the Long SE ridge of the Dreieekhorn, much of which she led. In 1930 with Adolf and his
brother Fritz as porter Miriam climbed the magnificent NE face of the Finsteraarhornscene of Gertrude Bell's historic attempt in 1902 with Ulrich and Heinrich Fuhrer.
At this time Miriam was the chief innovator of feminine guideless parties in the Alps beginning with the ascent of the Peigne with Winifred Marples in 1929; there followed the traverse of the SW ridge of the Monch with Mieheline Morin, the Grepon, Matterhorn and Tour Carre de Roehe Meane with Alice Damesme. For practice Miriam also led both the traverse of the Meije and of the Grepon with Georges Caehat-still technically only a porter-as second. In 1932 Miriam and Robert Underhill climbed the Viereselsgrat of the Dent Blanche together, guideless, and back home that autumn they became engaged. It was 18 years before they were to see the Alps again, but Miriam and Robert climbed extensively in the States. Four chapters of Miriam 's delightful book Give me the Hills are devoted to climbing in these parts. Throughout the war years Miriam was a splendid and most generous friend to those from this country whom she had met on her visits to Europe. To uS all she sent marvellous
parcels of food and clothing-and other help beside. In 1951 Miriam brought her elder son Bobby over with her and Denise and I met
them in Paris. To celebrate this first reunion since the war wc were invited to a lunch Party by Henri and Miehelle de Segogne-champagne and all. Bobby had been brought up strictly teetotal, but on protest from the rest of us was allowed JUSt a sip. After a moment or two he made a wry face and then gave his verdict 'C'est du Perier gate'! From Paris we went to Grindelwald where we climbed together on the Engelhorner with
Adolf Rubi. Bobby did some skiing from Concordia and Denise and I climbed the Jungfrau and the Mönch. In 1952 and 1953 the whole family came over and toured the Alps and Dolomites. They now always travelled with Adolf who was guide, chauffeur and friend. In 1953 we were all in Zermatt. Adolf was to take Brian, Miriam's younger son, up the Hornli ridge of the Matterhorn, a climb on which [ was planning to take my son lan, and Adolf at once suggested we should follow him so that he could 'keep an eye' on us. Musing on her 50th birthday Miriam decided that those first 50 years had made up an outstandingly satisfactory life-and happily it continued so for many years to come. Hers was indeed a splendid life-full of activity and endeavour, happiness and kindness. Wild places, mountains, flowers, were her great joy and her magnificent pho'tography
pictured all of these. When she was 6 Miriam went to a fishing camp in the northern foothills of the White Mountains, and remembering wrote: 'How I loved the fragrance of the northern balsam firs, the sight of the deer stepping delicatcly into the Clearing to browse, the sound of the falls as [ lay in bed at night. And most particularly the knowledge that for miles and miles in every direction there was nothing but unbroken
forest. I got there my first taste of the wild, uncrowded places on the earth.
Nea Morin
Quelle: Alpine Journal 1977,Volume 82, Seite 272


Geboren am:
1898
Gestorben am:
1976