Archives West Finding Aid

Roland Clarence Amundson was born on October 10, 1926 in Highwater Township, Cottonwood County, Minnesota. He graduated from Lamberton High School in 1944 and served in the Army Air Force and Air Force Reserve, earning an Aircraft Mechanic certificate at Dallas Aviation School. In 1957, Amundson began working in the Seattle area at Boeing, where he inspected airplanes until his retirement in 1984. Amundson was a member of the Boeing Employees Alpine Society (BOEALPS), as well as the Seattle and Tacoma branches of The Mountaineers. Among other numerous hobbies, Amundson was a skilled mountain climber, completing his first climb at Eagle Peak in Mount Rainier National Park in 1957 and continuing to hike in Washington into his late 60s. Amundson recorded solo and group trips in his photo journals, including numerous trips with BOEALPS and The Mountaineers, and he led many of the climbing expeditions documented in his journals. Hiking and climbing partners included John Pollock, Jeff Pollock, Frank Bannon, Al Stenson, Harmon Jones, John Titland, H.W. Smith, Ron Johnson, Bob Storaasli, and Bob Swenson.

Throughout his journals, Amundson documented trips to the following mountains and regions: Mount Rainier, Mount Rainier National Park, and the Tatoosh Range; the Wenatchee Mountains and Alpine Lakes Area; Mount Shuksan, Eldorado Peak, and North Cascades National Park; the Chilliwacks Peaks and the Whatcom Pass area; Mount Pilchuck, Del Campo Peak, and the Monte Cristo area; Glacier Peak and the Glacier Peak Wilderness; Mount Baker and the Mount Baker Wilderness; McClellan Butte, Mount Si, and the North Bend-Snoqualmie Pass area; Mount Constance and the Olympic Mountains; Mount Curtis Gilbert (now Gilbert Peak) and the Goat Rocks Wilderness; Mount Adams; Mount Saint Helens; Crater Lake National Park (Oregon); Mount Hood (Oregon); Mount Shasta (California); and Rogers Pass in the Selkirk Mountains (British Columbia, Canada).

In 1994, Amundson moved back to Minnesota to be closer to family, and on May 10, 2024, he passed away in New Brighton, Minnesota.

Sources: “Roland Clarence Amundson,” Epilogg.com. Accessed 29 January 2025.