A true American Hero

“Henry Paris, a lifeline to Tuckerman Ravine skiers

By Tom Long, Globe Staff | March 15, 2005

Henry G. ''Swampy" Paris was a rugged man who participated in hundreds of rescues during the 50 years he was a member of the Mount Washington Volunteer Ski Patrol.

''He was a legend on the mountain," said Chris Joosen, the lead snow ranger for the US Forest Service in White Mountain National Forest.

Mr. Paris, 90, who died Friday at Woburn Nursing Center, did not patrol a modern ski area with chair lifts, restaurants, and medical facilities. When he was not welding jet engines for General Electric, he patrolled Tuckerman Ravine, a backcountry ski run near the summit of Mount Washington many hours from the nearest road and medical facility. Skiers reach the slope by hiking 2½ miles up the mountain from Pinkham Notch and climbing 1,300 feet up a headwall before beginning the descent.

It's a descent Mr. Paris never made. ''It takes more nerve than skill," he said in a story published in The Boston Phoenix in 1983. ''I had neither of them."

He said he once stood at the edge of the headwall with his skis on but didn't make the run. ''I don't know how long it took me to sidestep down," he said in 1983. ''I never was a crackerjack skier."

Mr. Paris was not the only one to change his mind -- he and his colleagues often had to climb the headwall to belay a balky skier down.

Others should have. In the decades before high-tech boots and bindings and steel-edged skis, every Tuckerman Ravine run was fraught with peril. It was not unusual for three skiers to break an arm or leg in one day. Mr. Paris and his colleagues often used their skis as a splint before slipping the injured person on a toboggan or improvised sled, then recruiting volunteers to pull the victim down via the trail.

In the years since he first volunteered on the mountain in the 1930s, Mr. Paris took courses and became expert at first aid and predicting avalanche threats.

''He was a real outdoorsman," said his wife, Martha C. (Carle), who met him when hiking the mountain on Labor Day weekend about 45 years ago.

Mrs. Paris often accompanied him on his trips to the mountain, where he stayed in a tent or shelter. ''I did the cooking," she said.

Mr. Paris was a familiar figure around Tuckerman, patrolling the headwall with a bullhorn in hand for bellowing warnings to skiers.

''He didn't want anyone to get hurt -- that was his whole life," former snow ranger Brad Ray said. ''I don't know how many accidents he might have handled, but he volunteered up there for more than 3,500 days."

Ray said it was always obvious when Mr. Paris was on the mountain because the first thing he did was run the US flag up the pole at the shelter at the base of the ravine. And taking it down was the last thing he did before leaving.

Mr. Paris was already a fixture on the mountain when the National Ski Patrol was organized in 1938. He became an early member and, in 1948, was an organizer of the Mount Washington Volunteer Ski Patrol.

A welder by trade, the lifelong Woburn resident worked for General Electric, retiring about 25 years ago. At GE he worked on the first American jet engine.

''He was very proud of his work on the engine," his wife said. The couple once went to Washington to visit the National Air and Space Museum, where the engine is on display. ''He wanted to sneak behind it, because he had put his initial on it when it was built," his wife said. ''But we couldn't find anyone to give us permission, so he didn't."

In addition to his wife, Mr. Paris leaves several nieces and nephews.

A funeral will be held today at 10 a.m. in McLaughlin-Dello Russo Funeral Home in Woburn. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery in Woburn.”

“Now that's a life well-lived.”

“Not by how long a life they've lived, but by how they lived their life! (and this man had both!)
last edited: 3/15/05 9:46:02 AM”

“Kewl story. Thanks for posting it.”

“There should be a monument built in his honor/memory - perhaps a statue of him raising the flag ala the Iwo Jima monument.

This is a fitting story for me today. I just returned from Savannah - a city full of monuments... every square, park, and cemetery has a myriad of stories.”

“rest in peace”

“Dear "Swampy" Paris

I can't help it... I don't even know this guy and I've been thinking about him all day! Definately RIP. I'm sure his Spirit Lives on Mt. Washington! I may just change all my plans for this weekend and go up there to pay him respects. Maybe leave a little something in his memory.... hmmmmm... what to do.”

“He's the MAN.”

“I wish I had known him. He sounds like a great man. RIP”