Jim was born and raised in Scappoose
Oregon and graduated with a degree in mathematics from the University of Oregon.
He worked for Boeing, Wharton Econometrics, and Weyerhaeuser before returning
to Boeing in 1987. In 1994 he retired from his career as an economist at the
Boeing Commercial Airplane Group marketing department to pursue his interests
in mountaineering, writing, and addiction recovery counseling.
Throughout his life Jimmy was a multitalented
athlete, sometimes playing two sports during the same season at Scappose High.
At the U of O he ran track (specializing in the 220 yard dash) under the legendary
Bill Bowerman during the early 1960s. He became interested in mountaineering
when he moved to Seattle, where he was a member of the Seattle Mountaineers,
eventually becoming an intermediate level climber and climb leader for the
group. He also was a member of Boeing Alpine Society (BOEALPS) and the American
Alpine Club. He summitted literally hundreds of mountains, primarily in the
Washington Cascades but also throughout the northwest, and in Mexico and South
America. He spent more Saturday nights in his sleeping bag and bivvy sack
in the mountains than in his apartment, and regularly logged his alpine exploits
on his computer, tracking the amount of elevation climbed which in some years
amounted to over 300,000 feet per year.
In 1990 Jim began combining his interests in
mountaineering and substance addiction recovery. For Jim, mountain climbing
was a metaphor for life, a metaphor for recovery from difficulties and personal
weaknesses, a metaphor for taking on goals that appear unachievable. He saw
many parallels between climbing and recovery, and began formulating the means
by which he could apply his interest in mountaineering to his commitment to
achieve as much as possible in following the direction of the twelfth step
of AA, to serve others. Jim, who was a smoker at the time, also bemoaned the
fact that many of the AA meetings he was familiar with took place in smoke-filled
rooms. Thus was born the idea of an AA group whose distinguishing characteristic
was twelve-step meetings in wilderness settings.
Jim
was unable to attain his goal of arranging an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting
atop Mt. Rainier in 1990, when the AA national convention was held in Seattle,
but the following year he organized a group of climbers who made an ascent
of the mountain for the first of many AA meetings conducted in high alpine
settings. The group included experienced mountaineers, but over half were
neophytes who spent the previous months in an alpine climbing training program
with Jim and his friends--all but two in the group were people recovering
from alcohol or drug dependencies.
In conjunction with the climb Jim established
One Step At A Time (OSAT)
In recalling a frightening climb of the Leuthold
Couloir on Mt. Hood, one friend observed that "Jim knew just how far behind
you to be: not too close, so you knew you were accomplishing it on your own;
but not so far back that you felt alone." A non- climbing friend whom Jim
saved from alcoholic suicide commented that the same characteristic made him
and invaluable friend to people striving to establish lives free from the
suffering of alcohol or drug dependency. His skill in knowing just how much
support was needed also was demonstrated in his easing away from running OSAT's
affairs after the first three years of getting it going. Although always active
in OSAT's activities, and ready to provide advice and counsel both to individuals
and the group, Jim was making certain that the organization could survive
even when he was not there.
Jimmy "Jim" Dean Hinkhouse died with climbing
companions (and fellow OSAT members) Scott Hall and Tom Downey during a storm
at Windy Corner on Denali May 23, 1995. The 1995 OSAT Denali Expedition was
retreating from the base camp at 14,200 feet together with other groups totaling
fifteen climbers, when all were caught by horrific conditions and forced to
bivouac near 13,300 feet. Circumstances led the three OSAT climbers to attempt
establishing a camp above Windy Corner while other parties took shelter below.
While specific circumstances of their deaths are unknown, it is possible they
were struck by the collapse of a snow bridge over the crevasse in which they
were setting up their tent. The other climbers described conditions as unbelievably
severe, with winds lifting fully loaded sleds three feet off the snow. In
May of 1995 barely 10% of registered climbers were successful on Denali, and
many spent days stuck in tents during the waves of bad weather described by
old-timers as the worst May weather in memory.
Jim died with over sixteen and a half years of sobriety. He was survived by his two children, two grandsons, and a multitude of climbing companions and others whom he inspired and taught about recovery, climbing, and enjoying a life of service to others.
"Keep climbing mountains and don't slip!"