F205-12.100 - "B.C.M.C. Camp: Cook Tent and Dining Fly, Men's Tent in Background, 1924"

There were no ultralight and snug tents for the early mountaineers, as this photo from a BC Mountaineering Club camp in August 1924 shows. Today, tents for mountaineers may only hold a couple of people. In this photo though, the "men's tent" in the background would have slept a bigger group than is normal today.

Materials have also changed over the years. Whereas today, synthetic materials are lightweight and waterproof, it was probably a type of waxed canvas that mountaineers slept under. This kind of fabric would have been fairly heavy to transport. Did the mountaineers perhaps yearn for something lighter?

What is similar though is the communal eating area. The "cook tent and dining fly" seen here in the foreground is similar to expeditions today where mountaineers establish camp for a week or more.

• Camping

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Fonds 205

Untitled album containing various collections of unrelated pictures, mostly of B.C.M.C. trips