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Pikes Peak Group
Pikes Peak Group Programs/Training

November Program

Saturday, Nov. 4 - Sign up on-line

Guidebook author’s program takes viewers scrambling beyond the beaten path

By Lori Spaulding

As Dave Cooper put the finishing touches on the second edition of his popular Colorado Scrambles guidebook, he sent a friend in CMC’s Denver group details of one of five new routes depicted in the updated version.

The friend used it for a CMC club trip, telling those accompanying him that “they were lucky to be on a route with no cairns and no evidence of prior passage,” Dave said.

But, with the publication of the updated Colorado Scrambles in August, that anonymity is sure to change.

The new routes will be among those featured in Dave’s presentation, “Beyond the Beaten Path – Exploring Colorado’s High Country”, at the Annual Dinner of CMC’s Pikes Peak Group on Saturday, Nov. 7. The evening begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Colorado Springs Senior Center, 1514 N. Hancock. Reservation information is available elsewhere in this newsletter.

The slideshow will draw from both of Dave’s guidebooks – Colorado Scrambles: Climbing Off the Beaten Path and Colorado Snow Climbs: A Guide for All Seasons. The guidebooks are known for their detailed route descriptions and photography.

“We used a lot of photographs to help with critical routefinding areas,” Dave said. “I heard from a couple of people that, on the Crestone traverse, they were able to look at the photos and figure out where they needed to go and it saved them from difficulty.”

Other climbers have told Dave that the Scrambles book “became their goal – to do all of its routes”. He believes the book has added to the popularity of scrambling. “It has always been around and a part of mountaineering,” he said, “but it has become more mainstream since the book came out.”

The five new routes join the many other high quality routes that were featured in the original Scrambles and replace five routes “that were adequately covered in 14er guidebooks,” Dave said. “Also, in one case, access issues required that the route be taken out.”

Dave has spent thirty-some years exploring Colorado’s mountains, as well as climbs farther afield in South America, the Himalayas, Alaska and the Canadian Rockies.

He didn’t always reach his goal on the first attempt. “Climbers have a lot of skeletons in our closets,” Dave said. Twice he attempted the Polar Circus, a big ice climb in Canada, and twice it avalanched. With intentions to try it again, he says, “the third time’s the charm, right?”

Some peaks in South America also took three attempts to complete. “One thing mountaineering teaches us is perseverance,” he says.

Dave hopes his slideshow and guidebooks will get others “excited about exploring new areas and new routes, and maybe talk about what is possible.” “It’s for experienced mountaineers,” he said. “Maybe you’ve done all the 14ers and are looking for new climbing.

“I’ve always stressed a progression in mountaineering,” he said. “In both books, I try to include a range of climbs -- from easier, less committing climbs to more serious ones – and (in his presentations) talk about the skills mountaineers need to develop. I’ve always been a teacher – that’s a big part of my motivation – so that others can experience the amazing locations,” he added. “You can discover a lot about yourself through climbing.”

Training

Pikes Peak Group Avalanche Awareness School

Class is complete for 2009.  Next offering will be in 2010

This course will help provide basic knowledge of avalanche awareness and safety. The course will consist of two classroom lectures and a field day to practice snow pack evaluation, hazard analysis, safe travel techniques, transceiver use, and avalanche rescue. Attendance at both lectures and the field day are mandatory for graduation.

There are no prerequisites for this course. A general level of fitness and equipment appropriate for the winter outdoors and terrain are necessary.A limited number of transceivers, shovels, and probes will be available for student use during the field session.

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

Safety and Leadership Class
Safety & Leadership Class
is the first of 2 required classes to obtain CMC trip leader certification. Completion of this class along with MOFA will allow you to plan and lead trips to your favorite hiking, backpacking, and rock climbing, areas. It is suggested that if you are currently a leader and it has been more than 5 years since you last attended this class that you take the class to refresh your leadership skills.

Instructor: Bill Houghton
Current class is complete. Stay tuned for future offerings.

Contact Bill Houghton at bill@anapraxis.com for additional information.
On line registration via member’s section of the CMC Website: http://www.cmc.org/.

Basic Mountaineering School (BMS)

The Education Department of the Pikes Peak Group (PPG) welcomes you to the Basic Mountaineering School (BMS). Click here for details on the BMS program, updated for 2009.
And thank you for your interest.

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.

Mountain Oriented First Aid (MOFA)

MOFA Class will teach you the skills necessary to administer emergency first aid in the backcountry when help is miles and/or hours away. This course is required for all those wanting to become trip leaders and for those trip leaders who last attended the course more than 5 years ago and also is a great class for hikers needing to brush up on their first aid skills or those of you who have never taken a first aid course.

Instructor: Steve Lang,
Current class is complete. Stay tuned for future offerings.
Contact Bill Houghton at bill@anapraxis.com for additional information.
On line registration via member’s section of the CMC Website: http://www.cmc.org/.

 

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