Written by Atessa Showrai
Featured photo: Karen climbing Nordic Rock, c. 1990s.
“Either go or fall” – Karen Kögler. Climbing, Mountaineering, Hiking, and Outdoor Adventures Log Book.
Karen Kögler was an avid rock climber and outdoorswoman, who documented her adventures through photographs, climbing log books, and self-reflections. The Karen Kögler Fonds consist of over 300 photographs of various outdoor adventures in the Sea-to-Sky region, which showcase Karen’s life as a snowboarder, mountaineer, and rock climber.
While the collection’s photography instantly caught my eye – climbing at Nordic Rock, hiking Mt. Fee, and beautiful photos of Whistler – what made the collection truly stick with me was Karen’s story and her approach to life. Her outdoor adventures log book included a page at the end, which we interpreted as a list of self-affirmations to mentally prepare for the next climb.
Throughout my experience as a summer student at the Whistler Museum, I’ve worked on several collections, most of which only contained photographs. Karen’s collection stood out because it shows us not only the beautiful places she visited, but also demonstrates the thought and effort put into each adventure.
The log books which accompany the photographs go into immense detail of her successes, small details and notes on what could be improved on for future climbs. Thanks to Kögler’s detailed note-taking, I was able to take a more personalized route when it came to processing and cataloging the collection into our archive.
Instead of going through Karen’s photo albums without any context besides captions, I was able to gain a deeper understanding of why certain decisions were made. Although the logs were helpful to fill certain surface-level knowledge gaps, such as climbing location and difficulty range, they also left me with even more questions. Why did she document her climbs? Did she often refer back to the logs for future climbs? Did the logs exist purely for her own reference?
Kögler loved being outdoors. She had seemingly found her calling, and attended the University College of the Cariboo to attain her Adventure Guide diploma in Kamloops. The program had a competitive acceptance rate, only admitting 24 students per year at the time. On top of that, students in the program were already expected to have a certain level of experience and knowledge in order to succeed in their studies. Unfortunately, Kögler was never able to complete the program due to a tragic accident which occurred while she was ice climbing at Banff National Park near Mount Wilson with two of her peers.
In January of 1999, Kögler was waiting her turn to safely climb up Ice 9, a waterfall ice climb, when a large piece of ice broke off of a frozen waterfall and fell on her. Although Kögler had years of experience as a climber and had ice climbed before, the incident was described as “bad luck” in the Calgary Herald. Kögler passed away at the age of twenty-two on January 24, 1999. Soon after her passing, Karen’s father, Hans Kögler, created the Karen Kögler Memorial Award. The scholarship is awarded to students in the Adventure Guide program who exhibit a passion for the outdoors.
Kögler’s collection serves as a reminder that the end-result might not always show how much thought or effort goes into reaching the summit. In the meantime, the power of self-reflection and committing action to written words is more powerful than most think.
“No hesitating, clear head and tell yourself you are capable of doing” – Karen Kögler. Climbing, Mountaineering, Hiking, and Outdoor Adventures Log Book.
Atessa Showrai is one of two Collections Coordinators at the Whistler Museum this summer, supported through the Young Canada Works Program.