Thursday, December 23, 2010

CMC's Winter Schools Include Snowshoeing, Ice Climbing and More

Winter Jump Snow
The CMC has winter schools coming up in all kinds of activities and locations around the state.  Check out some of these offerings and call our office (303-279-3080) to sign up.

01/03/2011
Pikes Peak Snowshoe Class
Sponsoring Group: Pikes Peak Pikes Peak Group Snowshoe Class

01/03/2011
Pikes Peak Backcountry Ski Class
Sponsoring Group: Pikes Peak Pikes Peak Group Backcountry Ski Class

01/06/2011
Ice Climbing School, Boulder Group
Sponsoring Group: Boulder an introduction to basic ice climbing safety and techniques. No ice experience required. Prerequisites: BMS or minimally BRS & Basic Snow Read More

01/09/2012
2012 PPG Basic Mountaineering School - Colorado Ice Climbing
Sponsoring Group: Pikes Peak This is a great course for the aspiring Colorado mountaineer who wants to bury sharp pointy things in ice. One of (6) BMS courses you take towards earning a BMS Alpine Mountaineering Certificate.

01/11/2011
Advanced Mountaineering School
Sponsoring Group: Boulder AMS teaches mountaineers to successfully plan and climb peaks in high altitude winter conditions all over the world. Topics include glacier travel, crevasse rescue, winter camping, snow structures, ice climbing, fixed lines, and expedition planning. Read More

01/11/2011
2011 PPG Basic Mountaineering School - Colorado Ice Climbing
Sponsoring Group: Pikes Peak This course introduces you into the world of ice climbing. This is a great program for the aspiring Colorado mountaineer who wants to bury sharp pointy things into ice.

01/11/2011
Avalanche Awareness School
Sponsoring Group: Denver This course will teach students how surface hoar differs from depth hoar, how to determine snow stability, how to use beacons and locate a “victim” caught in an avalanche, as well as terrain recognition features. Whether skiing or snowshoeing, this Read More
01/12/2011
Winter Camping, Boulder Group
Sponsoring Group: Boulder This clinic is geared toward those with minimal winter camping experience. Covers tent camping, building snow structurs such as kitches, walls and emergency shelters. Read More
01/19/2011
Tele/AT Backcountry Ski School
Sponsoring Group: Boulder The Tele/AT Backcountry Ski School is designed to provide basic back country /peak skiing safety skills for the Colorado backcountry, including survival skills, survival skiing and peak skiing/navigation . The school is open to Intermediate Telema Read More
01/19/2011
High Altitude Mountaineering School
Sponsoring Group: Denver The Next Step: The High Altitude Mountaineering School was created to address the needs of CMC members interested in preparing, planning, and gaining skills to safely climb and enjoy bigger mountains: Rainier, Denali, Aconcagua, the Mexican Volcanoes Read More
01/25/2011
Winter Camping School
Sponsoring Group: Denver This is a school for those who want to enjoy camping, while being comfortable in the mountains during winter conditions. Learn how to stay warm, not how to tolerate cold. You will have fun and learn skills that will open a fourth season for your camp

02/03/2011
Pikes Peak Telemark Ski Class
Sponsoring Group: Pikes Peak Pikes Peak Group Telemark Ski Class

02/17/2011
Pikes Peak Introduction to Avalanche
Sponsoring Group: Pikes Peak Pikes Peak Group and CAIC Introduction to Avalanche Class

03/10/2011
2011 PPG Basic Mountaineering School - Colorado Wilderness Fundamentals
Sponsoring Group: Pikes Peak This course covers the introductory information and skills needed for safe travel in the Colorado wilderness. This course is one of (3) you can take towards earning a PPG-CMC BMS Wilderness Trekking Certificate.

03/14/2011
Basic Mountaineering School
Sponsoring Group: Denver Please register for Trip #13262 in order to receive your application link (you must have your C Classification to register for this trip). Once your application has been reviewed you will receive an authorization code if accepted into the school.

04/04/2011
2011 PPG Basic Mountaineering School - Colorado Wilderness Land Navigation
Sponsoring Group: Pikes Peak Ever been lost in the woods? How about cloud cover or whiteouts? Working through these situations requires solid map & compass skills. This course is one of (3) you can take towards earning a PPG-CMC BMS Wilderness Trekking Certificate.

04/26/2011
2011 PPG Basic Mountaineering School - Colorado Alpine Snow Mountaineering
Sponsoring Group: Pikes Peak This course gives you specific knowledge and skill sets to help you safely tackle your Colorado winter mountaineering activities. One of (6) BMS courses you take towards earning a BMS Alpine Mountaineering Certificate.

05/10/2011
2011 PPG Basic Mountaineering School - Colorado Rock Climbing
Sponsoring Group: Pikes Peak This course will help you acquire the rock climbing fundamentals you need to efficiently and safely climb rock in a top rope environment. One of (6) BMS courses you take towards earning a BMS Alpine Mountaineering Certificate.

Visit www.cmc.org/schools for more info.

Backcountry Skiing in the News

Early season avalanche tragedies remind Colorado skiers to be careful in the backcountry.  Scott Kay, the Wolf Creek Ski Area Ski Patrol director, was killed in an avalanche in early December, while working to protect others from avalanches.  A man from Golden, Kyle Shellberg, was also killed around the same time, skiing in Dry Gulch near Georgetown. 

Any backcountry skier should carry safety equipment and have taken an avalanche safety course.  CMC offers an avalanche awareness school.  So does Friends of Berthoud Pass.  CAIC gives updated avalanche warnings on its site. You can find more general info on avalanche safety at CAIC's website.

According to Bob Berwyn's Summit County Citizens Voice article of October 10, recent storms may have an impact on avalanches in Colorado.  CMC will be hosting a talk on the impact of dust on snow as part of the Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering Museum's Speaker Series on March 2.  Stay tuned for more info or send us an email if you have questions. 

If you see something else in the news, send it to bsi@cmc.org for next month's newsletter.

Backcountry Ball a Success! Wooden Ski Rendezvous in the Works


Wooden Ski
Friends of the Routt Backcountry Group hosted their annual Backcountry Ball in early December.  The Steamboat Depot was packed with zanily dressed backcountry aficionados.  Money raised at the door and on silent auction items goes to support Friends of the Routt's work in the Steamboat Area. 

If you missed this event, fear not!  Friends of the Routt hosts two major annual events, and the second is just around the bend.  The Wooden Ski Rendezvous is a weekend-long event in early March that will include wooden ski racing, dancing, a potluck, a pine tar clinic, and maybe even a trip up Hahns Peak.  For more info on the event, email Leslie at frb@cmc.org.

Conservation Expo in Denver


hahn peak


This event has been put together via feedback from CMC consevation leaders across our state. 


Socializing with each other, building our skills together and comparing notes on campaigns are all important to keep us doing the work that we do.  These activities are also a great tool for recruitment to your local stewardship and advocacy work, so I encourage you to bring along anyone you can from your groups.  We would like to make this kind of event at least an annual occurrence, so let’s start out strong.  Anyone can come to learn more about the conservation work CMC does, whether or not they think they will soon be a volunteer. 

Since this date coincides with the state board and council meetings, we’ll have a chance to share some of our campaign work with those volunteer leaders… and you can probably carpool to Golden with them as well.   

If you have questions about the event, would like to arrange a carpool or if you’d like to RSVP, please email us or call 303-996-2759.