Dave Chantler, seen here on Lundin Peak in the Cascades in 1962, was a devoted mountaineer and Nordic skier.
Early promoter of Nordic snowboarding was artist, gourmand
Valley locals who reward cross-country snowboarding, mountain cycling, premium cheese and chamber music owe much appreciation to Dave Chantler, whose comprehensive enthusiasms left a long-lasting tradition in the Methow– and beyond– when he passed away at the age of 84 last month.
Chantler had a long-lasting love for the mountains, for experiences of all kinds, and for commemorating those experiences with excellent food and white wine. He initially began treking, backpacking and mountaineering with a Seattle Scout troop when he remained in intermediate school.
His expeditions took him to the Methow for the very first time in 1959 on a journey to Harts Pass, according to his veteran good friend Ben Johns, who put together a history of Chantler’s life and memories from discussions with him this previous year.
To attire his mountain expeditions, Chantler had actually ended up being a routine consumer of the REI Co- op– still a little operation at the time– and learnt more about personnel at the shop. In 1962, he turned into one of REI’s very first staff members. He wound up costs nearly 4 years with REI, mostly as a purchaser of imported outside devices.
It remained in his function at REI that Chantler was very first presented to Nordic snowboarding. On the tip of REI’s creators, he purchased a lots skis fromFinland They all immediately offered that very first season.
Chantler attempted cross-country snowboarding himself and was instantly connected, making him a a lot more zealous supporter. Over the next numerous years, he expanded REI’s stock, importing skis from numerous Scandinavian producers.
Although Nordic snowboarding has actually become part of the Winter Olympics because the 1920s, the sport was bit understood in the United States in the 1970s. To construct interest for the sport, Chantler arranged totally free ski lessons nearSnoqualmie Pass He likewise brought busloads of individuals from Seattle to the Methow Valley to attempt snowboarding at Sun Mountain Lodge, which was then still a little operation open just in the warmer months.
The weekend ski journeys showed so effective that Sun Mountain quickly started remaining open year-round, according to Jay Lucas, Chantler’s good friend and the very first executive director of the valley’s ski path company understood today as Methow Trails.
Even Don Portman, among the main figures in cross-country snowboarding in the Methow Valley, got his very first intro to the sport when he took among those lessons near Snoqualmie Pass in the early 1970s and had Chantler as his trainer. Within a couple of years, Portman had actually ended up being a licensed Nordic trainer. Sun Mountain required an expert to teach snowboarding, and Chantler recommended the lodge hire Portman.
Portman began teaching at Sun Mountain in 1976. He went on to introduce the Methow Valley Ski School, with stores at Sun Mountain and Mazama, where he was owner and director for more than 40 years.
Skiing chances broadened as Chantler, Portman and others established brand-new ski tracks at Sun Mountain and Chantler arranged the very first ski races there.
Chantler served on the board of Methow Trails and, when the association released its life time pass program, Chantler was bestowed the very first pass, stated Portman, who was president of the board for more than 3 years.
Chantler constantly had an eager sense for activities individuals would take pleasure in and quickly contaminated others with his enthusiasms, Johns stated. He added to the appeal of mountain cycling in the valley, establishing tracks and bringing big groups of bicyclists from REI to take part in biking occasions. While biking was currently popular, producers could not stay up to date with need. So Chantler and a partner developed some bikes and organized to have them produced abroad, releasing REI’s Novara bike line.
Food and white wine
Many individuals keep in mind Chantler enthusiastically commanding tastings of premium cheeses and specialized meats, crackers and protects at Hank’s Harvest Foods in Twisp.
It was Chantler who approached the shop about supplying unique items, Hank’s Assistant Manager Carlan Nielsen stated. Initially, Chantler made journeys to wholesale markets in Seattle to choose foods himself. He eventually established a purchasing system and shared his understanding with the personnel at Hank’s to keep the program going, Nielsen stated.
Although he ‘d retired, Chantler was still drawn to retailing and enjoyed to discover sources for unique active ingredients, veteran good friend and REI colleague Lisa Beaudreau stated. People began entering the shop to request unique cheeses, she stated.
“He was such a food lover. He enjoyed to prepare and consume excellent food,” Nielsen stated. He made the label Freddy Fromage, and the personnel of the meat department in some cases called him the Cheese Whiz, she stated.
Chantler had actually constantly enjoyed premium cooking and great white wine, Lucas stated. “It was a reward to get welcomed to supper– he was a remarkable cook, and you never ever lacked white wine,” he stated.
Chantler took food and cooking so seriously that, if he discovered your cooking area was missing out on a crucial tool, the next time he stopped by, he ‘d bring you a much better veggie peeler or an elegant white wine opener, Beaudreau stated.
Music
Chantler was likewise an accomplished pianist from an early age. Drafted into the U.S. Army in 1963, he examined package on the Army’s documentation that asked if he played a musical instrument. He was designated to the Army band and ended up being accompanist for the chorus.
Chantler bet military bands, at the NCO club, and at theater productions. When based in Texas, he ended up being the accompanist for regional operas and for Metropolitan Opera tryouts. His piano solos were transmitted live on Texas Public Radio.
Chantler later on made use of his love of music to support the Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival, where he served on the board and composed program notes about the music and artists.
Birds and around the world travel
Chantler signed up with good friends on a birding journey to Trinidad and Tobago in the 1980s, which released among the dominant enthusiasms of his life. He eventually took a trip to 60 nations on every continent other than Antarctica, and saw 6,764 special types of birds.
Chantler was a long-lasting student and had an encyclopedic understanding of the locations he ‘d taken a trip. Even in his last days, Chantler might call a types of bird and where and when he ‘d seen it, Lucas stated. “One of the important things that’s so remarkable about Dave’s mind is that something entered– and never ever came out. I was constantly stunned about the clearness he had,” Johns stated. He kept in mind every mountain, gorge and valley from his journeys, Beaudreau stated.
An accomplished professional photographer, Chantler recorded birds, other wildlife, landscapes and individuals on these journeys. He likewise took images of his exploits in the mountains, consisting of a ski trip in the Pasayten in 1975. “He did some quite adventurous things” in the mountains in the ’50s and ’60s, Johns stated.
Thousands of Chantler’s images can be seen on Flickr, thoroughly classified and identified. In addition to images of mountain cycling, snowboarding, good friends and wildlife in the Methow, the site showcases his images from distant places consisting of Ecuador, Cameroon, Sulawesi, Thailand, China, and Nepal.
Chantler constructed a cabin in Pine Forest in 1979 and transferred to the Methow full-time after he retired in 2000. He invested his last 4 years at Jamie’sPlace Although he might no longer trek or ski, he stayed active, making a day-to-day journey– in some cases 2– in his electrical wheelchair to check out with good friends at the Rocking Horse Bakery in Winthrop.
And he continued to pursue his enthusiasm for birds. Friends selected him up at Jamie’s Place to take him to view and photo nesting owls. Shortly prior to he passed away, with assistance from volunteers at Aero Methow Rescue Service, Chantler went to Thompson Ridge, just to be outdoors as the snow was falling, Johns stated.
” I will never ever have the ability to different Dave from the valley, or the valley fromDave It was simply his character– a match of the appeal of the valley and the appeal of Dave,” Johns stated.
“The valley lost someone incredible. There’s a great deal of tradition that’s going to reside on since of him,” he stated.
Dave Chantler’s images can be seen on Flickr at flickr.com/photos/pinebird.
