March Program
Tuesday, Mar. 16, 730 N. Tejon St., 7:30pm
Gerry Roach finds adventure on peaks near and far
By Lori Spaulding
With a climbing career spanning 50 years, world-class mountaineer and Colorado resident
Gerry Roach could be considered the ultimate peak-bagger.
He summitted Mt. Everest in 1983 and two years later became the second person to
climb the highest peak on each of the seven continents. He has traveled the world
over, participating in numerous expeditions in Alaska, the Andes and the Himalayas.
While in the Karakorum range of the Himalayas, he summitted 26,362-foot Gasherbrum
II, the 13th highest mountain on earth. He was the first to climb the 13 highest
peaks in North America. In his own home state of Colorado, he has climbed more than
1,500 peaks, including all of the 14ers.
Yet in Colorado, Gerry is probably best known as the author of the classic Colorado
Fourteeners guidebook. In addition to other Colorado guidebooks covering the 13ers,
Indian Peaks Wilderness, Lost Creek Wilderness, Rocky Mountain National Park and
Boulder’s Flatiron rock climbs, he’s the author of two autobiographies: Transcendent
Summits (which addresses how and why he started climbing) and Ride the Breath (covering
his classic climbs around the world).
Gerry will present a slideshow on his climbs of Turkey’s Mt. Ararat, Russia’s Mt.
Elbrus and Iran’s Mt. Damavand at the Tuesday, March 16, meeting of CMC’s Pikes
Peak Group. He’ll also discuss opportunities to join him in August on several adventures
he’s leading to Turkey’s Mt. Ararat and the surrounding region. The presentation
begins at 7:30 p.m. at All Souls Unitarian Church, 730 N. Tejon St.
Gerry believes he is better known for his guidebooks than his peak-bagging exploits
because he’s “been pretty successful at staying out of trouble. One of the reasons
I’m not as famous as other guys,” he says, “is because I haven’t had the disasters
others have had.”
When he reads about those mishaps, he thinks, “’Boy, did they screw up!’ I’m writing
success stories and that’s not selling,” he said. “Everything is about disasters.
I’m not into that. If I started writing disasters, I’d have to start writing fiction
because I don’t have enough of my own.”
Gerry attributes his climbing successes to adhering to “the fundamentals.” “People
will take the beginning schools through CMC and then want to jump on something hard,”
he said. “The typical course for a lot of up-and-comers is taking the CMC schools,
then doing Longs Peak, then Grand Tetons, Rainier, Denali and Everest. And they
don’t really put in the time it takes to become a master at something. You can’t
be a master without slaving at it.”
Gerry considers rock climbing “the basis of all mountaineering.” “I got well schooled
in that before I ever went to the mountains,” he said. “I’d practice the basics
– rock climbing, snow climbing, self arrest, setting anchors and belays, crevasse
rescue – and I kept those skills topped up.”
When Gerry started climbing as a youngster, “the goal was to conquer the peak and
jump up and down on the summit.” As he got older, he realized “the peak wasn’t really
climbed unless you went with a partner. The partner became important because it
offered a deeper awareness of the human-mountain interface,” he said. “It’s greater
than being all about you and jumping up and down on the summit.”
His approach then evolved into leading climbs. “From that, a great leap happened
and the peak wasn’t ‘climbed’ until I’d written a description about it,” he said.
He went “from leading a small group to leading via words to the larger community,”
and that launched his guidebook endeavors.
“What I most wanted to do when I started writing was to inspire people to climb,”
he said, and his popular Colorado Fourteeners guidebook has done just that. “I’m
better known as that guy who wrote the Fourteener book than the guy who climbed
this or that.”
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Telemark Ski Clinic – starting Tuesday, 9 Feb
The classroom session provides an introduction to the gear and technique specific
to telemark skiing. The first field session will be at a ski resort on 13 Feb and
requires gear and a pass. Rentals are available. The second field session will be
in the backcountry on 13 Mar and focused on technique for ungroomed trails. There
is a fee for this course. For class details, please contact Uwe Sartori at
uwesartori@mac.com.
To register, please go to, www.cmc.org, login, click
on schools, click on the course, and fill in the required info.
Avalanche Beacon Search Clinic – Saturday, 27 Feb
This is not intended as avalanche instruction, but just a chance to refresh your
skills with your beacon by practicing search techniques. There is no cost for this
one day course and we highly recommend this for people who have already completed
an avalanche course. We will emphasize team leadership as well as searching, probing
and shoveling techniques for single and multiple burials. For field details and
to signup, please contact Bill Brown at bill_brown_cmc@yahoo.com.
Winter Wilderness Survival Clinic – starting Wednesday, 3 Mar
We have once again expanded this course to improve what we offer to students. This
year we will have a classroom component to cover gear, safety awareness, staying
out of trouble, and impacts. We will then have an overnight on 6-7 Mar to cover
shelter construction. You will get the chance to stay the night in your own shelter!
This is again a free clinic. For class details and to signup, please contact Eric
Hunter at ehunter67@yahoo.com.
Pikes Peak Group Avalanche Awareness School
Starting Thursday, 18 Mar
This is the basic level of avalanche training and is a requirement for HAMS students.
The course will once again be taught by CAIC. The TENTATIVE dates are 18 and 19
Mar for classroom and 20 Mar for the field session. There is a course fee. Details
are currently being worked out. For class details, please contact Eric Hunter at
ehunter67@yahoo.com. To register, please go to,
www.cmc.org, login, click on schools, click on the course, and fill in the required
info.
Course Objectives:
· Identify avalanche terrain
· Identify snow types and layers (weak and strong)
· Perform field tests to determine snowpack stability/instability
· Recognize weather and terrain factors contributing to instability
· Perform rescue through fast and efficient transceiver use
· Apply safe travel techniques
Lecture Topics:
· Avalanche Phenomenon
· Terrain Analysis
· Weather
· Snowpack
· Stability Evaluation
· Human Factors and Risk Assessment
· Decision Making
· Rescue and Survival
Field Session Topics:
· Route Selection and Safe Travel
· Snow Pits and Stability Tests
· Beacon Demonstration and Practice
· Rescue Scenario
Hut to Hut Clinic – Wednesday, 17 Mar
So you have completed the snowshoe, backcountry ski or telemark ski course and now
you want to know what you can do with your new skills. Winter may be just a bit
more than what you want to camp out in. Well, how about a hut trip? Come to this
free class and learn the basics about planning, etiquette, gear, etc for going on
a Colorado Hut System trip. We are also attempting to schedule a hut trip for anyone
to signup for after the class. For class details and to signup, please contact Bill
Houghton at bill@anapraxis.com.
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HAMS starts in October
The annual Pikes Peak Group High Altitude Mountaineering School will start in October.
This is a course designed for those climbers who want to go beyond the 14ers to
take on high altitude (15,000' plus) and glaciated mountains. Classroom sessions
will take place and include such topics as equipment, medical concerns, nutrition
and menu planning, fitness and training, organizing an expedition, and group dynamics.
Field sessions will be with an overnight will cover such topics as roped travel,
crevasse rescue, climbing alpine ice, and winter camping. A graduation climb of
Mt. Rainier will take place at the end of the course. Completion of Basic Mountaineering
School (all modules) or equivalent experience is a prerequisite for the course.
Costs for all lectures and field sessions is $100. For information contact Greg
Long at 488-0353 or e-mail to at_90@yahoo.com. Register online at cmc.org.
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