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Scree for November, 1999
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This is the EScree - the Electronic version of the Scree newsletter from
the Peak Climbing Section of the Loma Prieta Chapter of the Sierra Club.
It should be viewed or printed with a fixed-pitch font such as Courier.
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This publication may not be posted on any public news group.
November, 1999 Vol. 33 No. 11
Deadline for submissions to the next Scree is Sunday 11/28/99
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This issue of Scree will be on the Official PCS Website at
http://lomaprieta.sierraclub.org/pcs/scree
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Next general meeting (PCS meetings are the second tuesday of each month)
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Date: Tuesday, November 9
Time: 8:00 PM
Program: Climbing in Israel by Ron Karpel
This show is a collection of climbing, hiking, and
rappelling trips from the 70s and 80s in Israel and the
Sinai Desert. Come see local climbing crags, hiking
trails, scenery, and people. I promise it will be like no
other show of Israel. There will be no old buildings,
no synagogues, churches, mosques or graves.
Location: Western Mountaineering, Santa Clara
(PDF version has a drawn map here)
Directions: 2344 El Camino Real, Santa
Clara (between San Thomas and Los Padres),
parking in the rear.
From 101: Exit at San Thomas Expressway, Go
South to El Camino Real. Turn left and the Western
Mountaineering will be immediately to your right.
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Vote For PCS Officers
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The PCS nominating committee offers the following slate of
candidates for this year's election.
Chair: To be nominated from the floor.
Vice Chair/Scheduler: Dee Booth
Treasurer: Bill Kirkpatrick.
You need to be present at the meeting to vote. Nominations will
also be taken from the floor. We'll announce the new officers
following the vote and they'll start immediately!
-- PCS Nominating Committee (Nancy Fitzsimmons, Bob Suzuki, Arun Mahajan)
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Congratulations Steve Eckert!
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On Sunday, October 3, 1999, Steve Eckert and 29 other climbers
ascended Kern Peak. This completed Steve's quest to climb all
247 peaks recognized by the Sierra Peaks Section of the Sierra
Club's Angeles Chapter. To climb all 247 of these summits is a
monumental accomplishment. Steve worked continuously for
years on this project, and its completion was really a rite of
passage for him.
-- Bob Bynum and Aaron Schuman
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Farewell George Sinclair
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Long time member of the PCS moves on. George Sinclair, after
being involved, off and on, with the PCS for over 25 years, is
moving out of the area. He lead his last trip for the PCS in late
September to Mt. Clark. George is a past PCS chairperson, and
past chairperson of the Mountaineering Committee.
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Bob and Gretchen
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On Saturday October 2, 1999, Bob Bynum and Gretchen Luepke
were married in her hometown of Tucson, Arizona. Bob has
served the PCS for the past two years as the Scree editor. Due to
wedding planning and the actual wedding, we have not made it
out on any official PCS trips this year, but hope this will change
in the future. However on the way home, we stopped in Lone
Pine where I photographed Gretchen in her wedding dress with
Mt Whitney in the background!
-- Bob Bynum, Scree Editor
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Bill Oliver New Chair of the Mountaineering Oversight Committee
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I am pleased to announce that Bill Oliver is the new chair of the
Mountaineering Oversight Committee. He has been acting in
that role for some time without the benefit of an official
announcement. This is the official announcement.
Bill has already been working on new policies and procedures to
help promote mountaineering outings in the Club while at the
same time ensuring that our trips are safe and that our leaders are
qualified.
To introduce Bill to you, I attach below a short resume that Bill
wrote about himself.
I hope that you will all welcome Bill into his position and work
with him to make the Sierra Club mountaineering programs
strong.
-- David Simon, Chair, Outdoor Activities Governance Committee
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Bill Oliver Resume
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Bill took the Angeles Chapter's (AC) ten-week Basic
Mountaineering Training Course in 1984 - and he got hooked!
He followed with the Advanced Course, and the next year he
became an assistant leader and later an instructor.
He's been most active with the AC climbing sections and has
earned his "emblem" in all three: Sierra Peaks Section (SPS),
Desert Peaks Section and Hundred Peaks Section. He's also
twice served as chair of the SPS - 1989 and 1991.
Bill has climbed the 14 California 14ers, as well as challenging
summits throughout the West and high volcanoes in Mexico and
Ecuador. He eschews the term peak-bagger, however, preferring
instead to repeat the gnarly ascents. He has written many stories
on the history of high Sierra mountaineering and of the Club's
once prominent role in this activity. Over the past few years, he
has shifted his focus somewhat from the high Sierra to the grand,
narrow and slot canyons of the Colorado Plateau country.
He is vice-chair of the AC Leadership Training Program, which
currently has about 1500 "rated" leaders in the Chapter; he serves
on the AC Safety Committee; and he is a group instructor and
lecturer in the ten-week Wilderness Travel Course. Bill also
chairs the chapter's Outings Management Committee, which has
oversight over all the AC outings and training. He was also a
member of the nine-person chapter Executive Committee - 1992-97.
Bill has represented the AC in the area of mountaineering
oversight ever since the "insurance restoration" in 1994. This
past spring ('99) he succeeded
Cal French as chair of the Mountaineering Oversight Committee
(MOC), a subcommittee of the Outdoor Activities Governance
Committee. He had also served in 1992 on the National ad hoc
committee that helped develop the Group & Chapter Outings
Committee.
The MOC is focused on continuing the Club's record of safe
mountaineering and mountaineering leadership training. The
committee is also strongly motivated to promote and expand this
traditional Club activity more widely - a tradition that follows in
the bootsteps of our founder, John Muir.
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Letters to the Editor: Trip Attendance
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The Scree is printing two letters to the editor. One is from George
Sinclair and the other has comments from Debbie Benham. They
are both long-term active leaders in the PCS. George's letter was
originally sent to the e-mail broadcast list and Debbie's letter is
in response. Before publishing George's letter, I sought advice
from the other PCS officers and several former PCS officers. I
was concerned that a letter like this would be divisive to our
membership yet I didn't want to censor discussion on important
issues. The general consensus was to publish.
I would also like to add my own comments. I have been active
with the PCS since 1995 and I have been on a number of trips.
On every trip that I have participated, the leaders and all of the
participants have been very congenial. From my perspective, the
PCS is a great organization with many fine leaders and
knowledgeable climbers.
-- Bob Bynum, Scree Editor
As a long time member of the PCS, and as someone who has lead
a number of trips for the group in recent years, I wish to make the
following observations:
1. Except for those trips that are lead by popular PCS leaders,
most trips are poorly attended.
2. In many cases private, un-advertised trips are more heavily
attended than those listed in Scree.
3. At times there are multiple trips listed for the same month to
the same mountain, which can cause one trip to be poorly
attended.
4. Sometimes a leader will initially encounter a great deal of
interest for his/her trip, only to have most everyone drop out at
the last minute.
5. With permit costs going up, it can begin to become financially
burdensome for a leader to plan a trip where the level of
participation is unknown.
The PCS exists because of volunteer leaders. If there is little, or
no interest in the trips a leader attempts to lead, then that leader
will most likely cease leading trips and in the end the PCS will
lose. To improve things perhaps the PCS should have a leaner
schedule, or perhaps people who only go with their friends should
try doing a trip with others.
-- George Sinclair
Debbie Benham Adds:
I read George's letter with interest and would like to comment:
1) I have been leading and/or coleading trips for PCS for about 10
years, and, with the exception of one trip, all trips have been full,
and, usually have had a waiting list, whether an official Sierra
Club trip, or, a privately listed trip in the 'Scree'. For official
trips, I have made a habit of leading trips for newcomers, and, on
these trips specifically, I have welcomed those who are new to
peak climbing with proper screening. For private trips, I have
kept the group small, as these are generally a higher class of
climb. With that reduced number (say 4 or 5), the trip number
has been complete.
With an unadvertised, private trip, I believe it is not really within
the province of the Sierra Club to monitor these excursions. One
of the benefits of belonging to the PCS is meeting others of like
ability and character with the free will to go where you like,
together, and climb. More to the point, however, would be to ask
each leader, whether private or public trip, to support each others'
efforts rather than to undermine.
2) The one time I encountered a great deal of interest, then
nothing, was to Mt Agassiz, four to five years ago. The trip was
full with a waiting list of four or five people, then, two days
before the start of the trip, most everyone dropped out. I learned
through that experience to ask for a deposit to secure a
participants' spot on the climb with a full refund at the trailhead.
Now, those who cancel, forfeit the deposit, and, I donate their
share to the Sierra Club, Loma Prieta Chapter. It's worked out
very well.
3) I think more care should be taken to pace trips throughout the
year, especially during the summer months. I'd like to see the
PCS Trip Planning meetings better organized with more direction
from the PCS Trip Scheduler.
4) Permit costs are on the rise and this is something I now take
into consideration when advertising a trip in the 'Scree' , ie: how
many to ask for on permit; am I willing to lose x amount of
money if I don't get signups; should I use their deposit $ if they
cancel to pay for the permit? et cetera.
5) Good competent leaders are hard to find. I agree with George
that a more concerted effort is needed to encourage leaders to stay
and to keep on leading. While climbing and backpacking in the
wilderness is wonderful, leading a group of people into that
wilderness does involve some organization, coordination, and
judgement. I'd like to see discussed: what goes into leading a trip;
a query as to why some have stopped leading; leader concerns on
a trip; and participants' views of what they think leading is all
about, specific to PCS and Sierra Club.
6) For the first time, this year, I had someone ask to be on a trip,
then, in conversation, she mentioned that she had signed up for
several other trips that same weekend. She hadn't yet made up
her mind!! Some beginning climbers do not know what is
involved in organizing a trip and they do not fully realize that
PCS is not a commercially run venture. We're all volunteers.
-- Debbie Benham
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Wilderness First Aid
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To help trip leaders and would-be leaders get the required First
Aid certificate, the Chapter sponsors a First Aid class each
quarter, based on a nationally recognized first aid text, but with
added material and emphasis on wilderness situations with no
phone to dial 911. The next First Aid classes will be Saturday,
November 20 and Sunday, November 21 at the Peninsula
Conservation Center in Palo Alto (from Bayshore/Hwy. 101 at
San Antonio, turn toward the Bay; turn left at 1st stoplight, then
right at Corporation Way to park behind PCC). Class is 8:30 a.m.
to 5:30 p.m. (1 hour for your bag lunch) and is limited to 12
people. To sign up, send choice of day, and a check for $38 with a
stamped, self-addressed business-sized envelope to: Health
Education Services, 200 Waverly, Menlo Park, CA 94025.
Cancellations get partial refund if a substitute attends (you get to
keep the Wilderness First Aid book). For more information, call
650-321-6500.
-- Marg Ottenberg
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Tumpline Article
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R. J. Secor has requested that I make a note in this month's Scree
that his article, which appeared in the October Scree, on The
Tumpline first appeared in the Angeles Chapter's June 1999 issue
of the Southern Sierran.
-- Bob Bynum, Scree Editor
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Trip Planning 2000
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We had a very enjoyable trip planing meeting for the winter
season. Thanks to Bob Bynum and Aaron Schuman for
participating. Thanks to Arun Mahajan for an impeccable
hospitality. See if you can spot Arun PC's Y2K bug
If you like to propose additional trips, please email them to me.
The web version of this message is in the PCS web page under
"other trips"
Trips for Winter/Spring 1999 and 1900 planned at the trip
planning meeting on the 26th of October 1999.
Nov 6/799 Crag (3), Smith (1),
Jan 16, 1900, Junipero Serra, Arun Mahajan, Ron Karpel
Jan 22, 1900, Full Moon hike to the Pinnacles, Aaron Schuman
February 6, Cone Peak, Ron Karpel, Arun Mahajan
March 12, 1900, Sunday, Tinker Knob, Winter, Aaron Schuman
March 25, Sunday, 1900, Roundtop, George , Arun
April 8-9, Sat, Sun, Spanish Needle (3) Sawtooth (2), Aaron
April 15/16, Saturday/Sunday, Training Trip, Ron Karpel
-- Ron Karpel, Vice-Chair and Scheduler
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Jeri and John Flinn
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In long term PCS member John Flinn's column in the San
Francisco Examiner last week, he wrote that his wife requires a
kidney transplant, and that he has volunteered to give her one of
his. Apparently, Jeri has been quite ill for sometime now. The
operation will be performed between now and the end of the year.
-- George Sinclair
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Inyo Reservation System
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Inyo National Forest has announced the new reservation system
for next year. Price increased to $5 per person, reflecting actual
costs. Mt Whitney zone permits will be $15 per person, to help
with enhanced services that area. The phone number for
Wilderness Reservation Service is (888) 374-3773 or (760) 938-
1136. From April 1 - Sept 15th, they will be open seven days a
week from 8 am to 4:30 pm.
Only 60% of the quota will be available by reservation, 40% will
be available on day of entry (except Whitney Portal). All permits
must be picked up in person. Mt Whitney permit applications
should be submitted in February, other areas on March 1st.
Reservations are available six months in advance until two days
in advance. The Forest Service Region Five/Inyo National
Forest/Virtual Visitor Center web site and Ranger Stations will
have complete information and application form on November
1st.
Inyo What's New Page, see Permits and Permit System 2000:
http://www.r5.fs.fed.us/inyo/whatsnew.htm
Year 2000 permit information :
http://www.r5.fs.fed.us/inyo/vvc/permits.htm
Mt. Whitney trail
http://www.r5.fs.fed.us/inyo/vvc/mtwhtny/whtnytrl.htm
-- Neal Robbins
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PCS Trips
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PCS trips must be submitted through the Scheduler (see back
cover for details). Trips not received from the Scheduler will be
listed as PRIVATE, without recourse.
*** Death Valley/Telescope Peak
Peak: Telescope Peak, Class 2 or 3D (DHS)
Date: Nov 11-14
Leader: Jeff Fisher, 408-739-1702, han1cannae@aol.com
Co-Leader Needed for Mahogany
Two separate hikes one leaving from the floor of Death Valley at
250 below sea level is a one way hike coming out at Mahogany
flats. The second leaving from Mahogany Flats at approx. 8,000
ft. both going to the summit of Telescope Peak at 11,300 ft. Those
hiking from Mahogany flats, will help in shuttling those doing the
longer hike. The hike from the valley floor is long and very
strenuous, and those participating should be in excellent
condition. E-Mail for more information or phone if no E-mail.
Leader; Jeff Fisher 408-739-1702
*** Avalanche Transceiver Practice
Dates: Sat, Nov 20
Leader: Butch Suits 408-616-0085, butch.suits@lmco.com>
Avalanche transceivers can potentially save the life of a skier
buried in an avalanche. To use them effectively in an emergency,,
you need to practice. Come and locate buried transceivers at San
Gregorio Beach .
Peninsula. We will meet in the parking lot at the corner nearest the
path to the beach at 10:00 a.m. and practice for 2-3 hours. Please
let leader know you are coming--and bring your beacons if you
have any.
*** Junipero Serra Peak, 5862 ft, Class 1,
Date: Sunday, January 16, 2000.
Maps: Junipero Serra 7.5'
Leaders: Arun V. Mahajan