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Scree for November, 1998
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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, 1998 Vol. 32, No. 11
Deadline for submissions to the next Scree is Sunday 11/22/98.
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Next general meeting (PCS meetings are the second tuesday of each month)
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Date: Tuesday, November 10, 1998
Time: 8:00 PM
Program: Everest '98 Environmental Expedition
Mt. Everest is 29,028 FT. In the Spring of 1998,
Bob Hoffman returned to Mt. Everest for the 3rd
time as organizer and team leader of the Everest
"98 Environmental Expedition. The expedition
brought down hundreds of pounds of oxygen
bottles, fuel canisters and other. It was a
successful ascent of Mt Everest South Col.
Location: Western Mountaineering, Santa Clara
((PDF version of EScree has a drawn map here))
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. We go on record saying that we
did not have to resort to threats like showing embarrassing
pictures of them having meals at Niceley's and enjoying it (gaak!),
nor bribes, like permits for the Whitney Region in the middle of
summer, to have them agree to run for office.
Chair: George Van Gorden / David Ress
Vice Chair/Scheduler: Ron Karpel
Treasurer: Dee Booth.
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
(Bob Suzuki, Jim Ramaker, Arun Mahajan)
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*****Action Alert! *****
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Draft Wilderness Plan
The U.S. Forest Service has released a draft management plan for
the John Muir, Ansel Adams, Monarch, and Dinkey Lakes
wilderness areas. Once adopted, the plan will guide the
management of these areas for decades.
Commercial outfits and livestock interests are aggressively
campaigning to gain greater access to these High Sierra wilderness
areas. The draft plan allows for large increases in stock animal
(horse, mule) use, while adopting stringent restrictions on hikers.
For example, the plan would allow 10 stock groups with up to 25
animals per group (250 total). At the same time hiking groups
would be restricted to 15 persons with a limit of 50 people per day
at most trailheads.
The forest service needs to hear us by November 2. On page two,
is my letter that you can use as a sample. Even if you will receive
the printed copy of the Scree after November 2, send a letter
anyway. They may allow some leeway. If you are receiving the
EScree, be sure to send a letter to the forest service immediately.
You can cut and past my sample and edit it with your own text.
More information can be found at the High Sierra Hikers
Association website or the Inyo National Forest website
http://www.highsierrahikers.org/hiker_alerts.html
http://www.r5.pswfs.gov/inyo/managmnt/wildplan.htm
-- Bob Bynum, Scree Editor
Robert F. Bynum
761 Towhee Court
Fremont, CA 94539
October 26, 1998
Mr. James L. Boynton
Forest Supervisor
Sierra National Forest
1600 Tollhouse Road
Clovis, CA 93611
RE: Draft Wilderness Plan for the John Muir, Ansel Adams, Monarch,
and Dinkey Lakes wilderness areas
Dear Mr. Boynton:
I want to comment on the "draft wilderness plan for
the John Muir, Ansel Adams, Monarch, and Dinkey
Lakes wilderness areas." This plan should include the
following:
1. Upper Limits on all Commercial uses: No increases
should be granted to commercial pack outfits
until the Forest Service studies the impacts of
current stock use, and enforces measures to protect
wilderness resources.
2. Needs Assessment for Commercial uses: To my
knowledge, the Forest Service has never conducted
such an assessment for these four wilderness areas.
Instead, commercial pack outfits are allowed to
increase in size while hiker quotas have been
steadily reduced. A well-conducted "Needs Assessment"
could more fairly allocate use between commercial
outfits and the public-at-large.
3. "Opening Dates" for Grazing in Meadows: Opening
dates are needed to prevent damage to high-
elevation meadows and lakeshores in the early season
when soils remain saturated due to snowmelt.
Stock users who wish to visit an area prior to the
opening date must carry packed-in feed for their
animals.
4. Keep Stock Animals on Designated Trails: Numerous
scientific studies have documented the
potential for severe erosion when stock animals
leave maintained trails. Scientists recommend that
off-trail travel with stock animals be avoided.
"Cross-country" travel with stock animals should not be
allowed unless the agency can prove that a route can
be opened without damaging wilderness resources.
5. More Fair Plan for Issuing Permits: Commercial
Pack outfits should be required to compete with
the general public for wilderness permits. Allowing
pack outfits to write their own wilderness permits is
biased and unfair. It results in overcrowding at
wilderness destinations and overuse of the trail system.
6. Prohibit Campfires in Certain Subalpine Areas:
The draft plan should restrict campfires at high
elevations, as is done in Yosemite and Sequoia-Kings
Canyon national parks.
7. Noise Standards: The draft plan needs to include
quantifiable noise standards to protect the natural
quiet. Military training flights intrude on the
quietude of the wilderness experience. This is not
an "us" vs. "them" issue because military personnel
also enjoy the wilderness. The Forest Service should
work with the military on this issue to achieve the
important goals of protecting the natural quiet and
meeting America's defense needs.
Sincerely Yours,
Robert F. Bynum
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Vote For Loma Prieta Chapter Excom
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It is important to have outings sections represented on the Loma
Prieta Chapter EXCOM. There are nine candidates running for
five open positions. Four of the candidates running are very active
in their respective sections. Here they are:
Steve Sterns, Backpacking Section
Jonathon Eros, Singles Chair
John Cordes, Ski Touring Section
Bob Bynum, PCS & Singles
To cast your vote, go to the ballot on page two of the November
issue of the Loma Prietan, our chapter level newspaper. Candidate
statements will be on pages 4-6 Typically only about 50 people
from the entire chapter vote. Your vote counts!
-- Roger Crawley, PCS Chair
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Official (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.
*** North Chalone Peak
Peaks: North Chalone Peak, 3304', Class 1
Date: Saturday, November 7th
Leader: Debbie Benham, h (650)964-0558, dmbenham@aol.com
CoLeader: Anouchka Gaillard, h (408)737-9770, anouchka@cup.hp.com
Come and enjoy a lovely, breezy day hiking the trails at
Pinnacles National Monument. We start from the west, walk
through canyons and caves, up the High Peaks trail, then follow
the Chalone Peak trail to our summit. Approximately 16 miles
round trip. Meet at Chaparral Ranger Station 9am, West
Entrance from Hwy 146. Please bring plenty of water, a
headlamp or flashlight for the tunnels, and food. Contact
leaders for carpooling information.
***Pilot Knob
Peak: Pilot Knob (S); class 2/3
Date: Nov 8 (Sunday)
Leader: Aaron Schuman H 650-968-9184
W 650-943-7532 aaron_schuman@yahoo.com
Details: http://sj.znet.com/~cynthiam/pilotknob.html
Day hike through the yuccas and the thistles from Onyx, a dusty
crossroads at 2000' on CA-178, to the 6200' summit of Pilot Knob (S).
***Mt. Diablo Conditioning Hike
Peak: Mt. Diablo (3,849'), class 1
Date: Saturday, November 14
Leader: David Harris, 650-725-8811, harrisd@stanford.edu
Come for a desperate ascent of the dread north face of Mt.
Diablo. This conditioning hike is a good, moderately paced trip
suitable for aspiring peak climbers as well as veterans. No ice
axe or crampons required! We'll meet at the end of Mitchell
Canyon Road on the north side at 9 am and hike a loop up
Michell Canyon, over the summit, and down Donner Canyon.
Expect about 14 miles and 3000' elevation gain. No host
carpool leaves McCarthy Ranch shopping center at 8 am. Go
east on 237, exit McCarthy Blvd. before 880. Turn left and go
over the freeway into the shopping center. Go toward the north
end and park by WalMart. Contact the leader for driving
directions from other directions.
***Henry Coe Red Fern Addition Hike
Date: Nov 21, Sat
Leaders: Landa Robillard, h: 408/378-5311, w: 408/496-5137
Bob Suzuki, h: 408/259-0772, w: 510/657-7555
Distance/gain: 4D+ (about 18 miles, over 4000' gain)
Carpool: 7:30am Cottle & 85 P&R. or meet 8:30am at Gilroy Hot
Springs Explore trails and cross-country terrain in the Red Fern
Addition of one of our largest state parks. This will be a
strenuous hike. Heavy Rain Cancels. Co-listed with the Day
Hiking Section.
*** Out In the Freel World
Peak: Freel Peak; class 2, winter conditions
Dates: Dec 12-13, (Sat, Sun)
Map: Freel Peak 15 min.
Leader: Kelly Maas H 408-279-2054
W 408-944-2078, maas@idt.com
CoLeader: Aaron Schuman H 650-968-9184
W 650-943-7532 aaron_schuman@yahoo.com
Details: http://sj.znet.com/~cynthiam/freel.html
Snowshoe from the outskirts of the town of South Lake Tahoe
to the 10881' summit of Freel Peak, the highest point in the
Tahoe Basin. Saturday we'll backpack close to the mountain
and set up our snow camp; Sunday we'll climb to the top for a
view of the lake and the forest painted white.
***Telescope Peak via Surprise Canyon
Peaks: Telescope Peak
Dates: November 13, 14, 15
Maps: Telescope Peak
Leaders: Bill Kirkpatrick, W (408) 279-3450;
H (408) 293-2447, Wmkirk@earthlink.net
Co-Leader: Nancy Fitzsimmons, h 408-957-0983,
w 408-495-1761, Nancy_Fitzsimmons@BayNetworks.COM.
In this trip we will experience the western side of the Panamints.
We will form up early on Friday, November 13, in Ballarat, motor
up to Chris Wicht Camp and park. Then we backpack up
Surprise Canyon on what's left of a miner's road to Panamint
City, which is what is left of a miner's camp. On Saturday we
will gain the ridge of the Panamints and hike to the top of
Telescope. Sunday we walk back to the cars.
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Mt Humphreys
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August 1, 1998.
Back in August, the four of us, Rick Booth, Dee Booth, Scott
Kreider and myself, Arun Mahajan, attempted Mt Humphreys
(13986), the peak that is easily noticeable from Bishop as one
looks towards the Sierra crest. It is the highest of the bumps you
see with a curious cap like dome on the top.
The walk upto Paiute Pass was pleasant and easy with a cool
breeze that kept the mosquitoes away and by late afternoon we had
found a place to camp at a small lake that is just due west of the
larger Humphreys Lake. The alpine glow lit up the sheer walls of
Humphreys as we cooked our meals and plotted our assault on this
magnificent mountain.
We got rolling at 6.30 am on Saturday, the first of August. After
climbing up to a small ridge above camp we came to another small
ridge from where we could see the large frozen Humphreys Lake
that is right at the base of the summit massif. We hiked down and
then traversed the bowl of this frozen lake till we were at the base
of a large snowfield that led directly into a couloir that creeps
almost stealthily into a cleft in the massif, like a break in it's
impregnable walls. There was a lot of snow here and it was very
hard in the morning but the angle comfortable to climb and the
snow pitted, so we cramponed upto the cleft and then into it till we
came to a snowbridge over some boulders. We all walked over it
with some trepidation but it held. Across from it, in the rock wall
were some slings and a 'biner where someone had used protection
at an earlier time to get across.
As we took crampons off, we pondered the next move that would
get us past a huge chockstone that was blocking our way.
Humphreys wasn't going to yield easily. Rick found a way over it
and effortlessly went up and then setup a belay. There is one tricky
move to get over, use the small protrusion for the right foot and
then you are up. Then begins the class-2 walk up over some
crummy and loose talus and we were glad that there was no party
above us. It is easy to knock down rocks here and care must be
taken to climb tightly and in small parties. Helmets are
recommended in this section.
Then we came upon a large snow field that we partly avoided by
staying on the rocks on the right but soon discovered that we
would have to traverse left to go behind the big peaklet that
blocked the way to the notch (we were attempting the 'standard'
northwest face route). Boldly, we went for the snow route. Here
the angle was much higher and the snow harder and devoid of
features unlike the pitted snow below. This is definitely the no-
fall-zone. We cautiously went up, using the pick of the axe to dig
in, sometimes even using the axe in an overhand swing to dig the
pick in and jug ourselves up. We had to move slowly here, but
finally, even this field was climbed and we hit loose scree once
again and breathed a little easy. How many more chinks in the
armor of this beast had we to find before it fell?
After some more slipping and slithering on scree, we were at the
notch. Rick walked over to look down at the steep north couloir.
That is one fast way to get to McGee Lakes, he remarked. Here,
Rick and Scott put on their Five-Tens. We left our crampons and
ice axes behind and climbed straight up the class-3 trough till we
came to a wall whereon the class-4 section begins. As usual, Rick
climbed up with ease setting up protection as he went. I followed,
and then Scott came up, towing the second rope and then Dee
came up on the second rope. Yet another defense felled.
Now for the next, as we stared at the arete above us. Yet again
Rick breezed up this route and we followed on the rope that he
had set up for us and the belay he gave. The top of this pitch is a
scenic setting indeed. We tower over the basin that is still so
snowbound that it looks like it is still in early spring. Only now it
seemed to us that we could achieve the summit, and a few short
class-3 moves later we stood at the summit, seven and half hours
after we had started from camp. Despite the clear skies, the mild
warmth of the sun, the splendor of the vista around us, our elation
at bagging the summit was muted as we still had to descend.
Nobody was going to hand us Humphreys on a platter.
We down climbed to the top of the arete and rappelled down this
pitch. Then we decided to down climb the first pitch instead of
rappelling as this is a diagonal route. Rick belayed as we down
climbed and then he free climbed down. As I came down to the
notch, I saw a marmot run away. I was amused to find a marmot so
high but soon that amusement turned to dismay at discovering that
the cuff of Rick's boot had been chewed away down to the foam.
One of Scott's boot was a few feet away from the other and it's
cuff too had been chewed out. Needless to say, Scott and Rick
were even less amused. If you see a marmot on Humphreys,
throwing up some pieces of leather, let them know. I think they
have a contract out on it!
More slithering and slipping later, we came back to the steep snow
field which was still hard. The poor runout had us convinced not
to down climb it and we choose to descend the rock on the right
instead. There is a lot of loose scree on the rock which makes
footing a little suspect but this too was finally over and so also the
loose class-2 stuff till we were back to the top of the chockstone.
Again, Rick set up for a rappel and very soon we were all down,
almost to the snowbridge. One final defense to be breached and
that would be it!
The snowbridge looked very unstable now. Scott, who was in the
front took a leap over it and landed safely on the other side. I too
did the same thing, the snow on the other side soft enough for a
safe but inelegant landing. Rick and Dee skirted the bridge,
stepped down and climbed over on the other side, a safer move. It
was only here that the snow was soft enough for us to loosen our
guard as we plunge-stepped down and then about half hour later
got back to camp, just as the alpine glow left the massive walls of
the mountain. It was 8.20, almost a fourteen hour day.
What an awesome peak, and such a hard and challenging climb!
There is nothing easy on this peak. It has everything that the Sierra
has to offer to mountain climbers, alpine rock climbing, steep
snow, sheer walls, terrifying salt-addicted marmots and even the
ugly and loose scree and talus that is the bane of all climbers.
Rick did a great job as the lead, setting up perfect anchors and
guiding us thru the hard parts.
Sunday, we hiked out to the cars in four hours, oblivious to the
mosquitoes and the heat and the almost endless stream of hikers
and backpackers that passed us by, with only one over-riding
thought in our minds, the Pizza Factory in downtown Bishop!
-- Arun Mahajan
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Mt. Russell, Fishhook Arete (III 5.8)
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Sunday, August 23, 1998
I'd gone in to climb this a couple years ago with David Ress, but
the weather played tricks on us. That first morning we awoke to
drizzle, so we decided to run up the East Face of Whitney. After
nearly being electrocuted at the summit, we hiked down through
ankle deep hailstones in the gully to hours of more rain at Iceberg
Lake. In uncharacteristic fashion, probably influenced by his wife
and friend who were both having no fun, Dave decided it was best
to bail the next morning. And so we did -- in perfect weather. I
had planned to return this year with Bruce Bousfield, but he had to
cancel at the last minute. Disappointment. My Sierra technical
alpine climbing score for 1998: Zero.
"What about me?" Dot Reilly was planning on joining us at
Iceberg Lake and surprised me with a request to climb the
Fishhook. I didn't think she wanted to do it. We looked over the
topo from Moynier's book. "Why does it say 5.9 when there are
no pitches marked harder than 5.8?" A good question.
Windy and cold as we crossed over the Whitney-Russell Col to
approach the climb. A beautiful "J" shaped arete, the Fishhook
has the look of a classic. Now we were going to see if it was.
"You might as well just toss that Moynier book away", someone
told us later. Well, I like John Moynier's book, if only because it
offers inspiration. Hey, it's another list to complete! But, the
directions and route topos, well, they aren't always too accurate.
Just get used to it.
The Fishhook starts off pretty tame with a rope length of easy stuff
that I could solo. That second pitch got us onto the arete proper
with some funky 5.8. It didn't help that we were shivering with
the damn wind. At this point, the Moynier topo directs you out
left onto the face for two pitches. But the party in front of us
stayed on the arete and seemed to be having fun. They called it
5.9, Dot called it 5.8 and I thought it might just be 5.7. Whatever.
It was fine climbing and certainly not something to avoid. The
only caveat was that we had to climb down into the notch (5.7?)
instead of traverse into it.
Pitch five was supposed to be the crux at 5.8+. Well, it wasn't that
hard, wasn't the crux, but was by far the most enjoyable pitch of
the climb. Too bad there weren't nine of those pitches stacked up
on top of each other. Excellent rock, good pro, exposure, fun
moves, the whole deal. And it was finally warming up and getting
less windy! The pitch above that also sported a few moves you
might want to call 5.8, but it was easier overall. It ended in an
awkward chimney (is that an oxymoron?) which you don't have to
chimney at all if you don't want to since it has a nice hand crack
there.
The last three pitches were listed as 5.5, 5.5 and 4th class on our
infamous little topo. Baloney. I couldn't find any way to stay on
the arete that wasn't at least 5.8. Maybe I missed something. We
waffled off to the right for some sandy walking and still had some
5.7/5.8 to get back up there. The last pitch included a short 5.6
hand crack, but variations were possible, both harder and easier.
Trumpets sounded as we pulled onto the summit and entered our
names into the hallowed book.
Fortunately, Dot had climbed the South Face of Russell before and
knew how to find the devious little class 3 descent. Slogging back
over the Col, I looked over my shoulder at our climb. Was it a
classic? Oh I don't know. It is very pretty looking, especially
from the top of Mt. Whitney. Sure, we'll call it a classic.
-- Jim Curl
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Temple of the Palisades
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August 21-23, 1998
Private trip listed with the PCS, 21-23 August 1998: Steve Eckert
(scribe), Rich Leiker (co-leader), Doug Ross, Eddie Sudol, Bob
Suzuki (leader). Temple Crag (12999), Gayley (13510), Palisade
Crest (13520), and Disappointment (13917).
One of the first climbs I did with the Sierra Club (back in the early
80's) was Temple Crag. I remember a pretty easy climb that ended
in an exposed traverse to a small summit area. We did it one at a
time, roped, and some people chose not to go at all (including one
lady who had seen a climber splatter too recently to get her nerve
up for the traverse). Fast forward 15 years, after a long break with
bad knees, and now I'm doing 40-50 list peaks per year (some
solo). How would the peak seem to me now? More importantly,
would I be excited about re-climbing Temple and Gayley en route
to Palisade Crest, or would I lose motivation and hang out in
camp? Would I turn back short of the summit on Disappointment
like I did last year? These were the thoughts going through my
head as we trudged up the South Fork trail (near Big Pine) in the
warm sun.
As we searched for a use trail west of Willow Lake, the flood of
old memories fell prey to the concentration of boulder hopping,
and I neglected to mention that we missed Elinore Lake on our
way to Gayley many years ago. Yep, you guessed it, we did the
same thing this time! Found a wonderful campsite just under the
face at 3412m, half a mile north of Elinore. This campsite (see
waypoint CAMP) is in a perfect position for Temple Crag, so we
bagged it the same day we packed in. Following the drainage that
leads to 100m elevation below Contact Pass, we went around a
corner into the chute that opens into the southeast face of Temple.
If you do this right, it is arguably second class with perhaps one or
two third class moves. The face is simple second class, leading
you to the dreaded knife edge ridge. Bob and Rich jumped over
the 3'-wide 10'-high notch in the ridge, while I edged over to it
and stemmed up the notch, and from there it's not very far or very
hard to the summit block. Time changes perceptions, and on the
way back I simply stepped over the notch that made me rope up so
many years ago.
With a late start and long (5400' gain) first day, we didn't start
early for Temple Crag the second day! Bob was convinced it was
mostly a walkup, with one long pitch of 4th class, so getting our
rest seemed the right thing to do. We headed up the drainage
toward Gayley, instead of crossing into the Elinore drainage,
which added some time but gave us a nice Tour de Bowl, crossing
below Sill and Jepson before attaining the ridge that leads to
Scimitar "Pass" (the ridge crossing is loosely called a pass, but it
is certainly not at the saddle). Now on route, headed south along
the ridge, we quickly found staying directly on the crest was more
than a simple walk-up.
If you like excitement, stay on the crest (we rappelled once on the
way UP). If you want the easier route, stay on the crest from
Scimitar Pass until you hit a slabby section about 6' wide with red
lichens. then note the location of an up- and-left-facing gap
between two slabs on the ridge 50m south of you, drop to the
west, and go back up 100' or so. Go through the gap and then
traverse the east side of the ridge to the big notch (see waypoint
NOTCH) separating the peak from the hump you've been
climbing. It really is easy third class all the way to the notch, if
you don't mind the exposure, so if it gets harder you're off route.
This notch has a huge chockstone to help you, following which
you come to the infamous "160 foot pitch" of 4th class: This
smooth slab is criss-crossed with 3" deep cracks that make
climbing easy but protecting the climb impossible. Send someone
confident up first (like Bob!) and you'll enjoy the climb with
regular boots and a top rope belay.
Once again we must ask "what's the difference between 3rd and
4th class?" If it's just exposure, or risk of death, the slab is 4th. If
it's the difficulty of climbing, the slab is 3rd. (Bob asked me to
note in the report that the approach to the slab was harder than he
expected, but the slab itself was easier than expected.) Pal Crest
was indeed harder than most expected, and we returned to camp
after dark: 12.5 hours for a mere 3500' of gain, with almost no
time on top. The good news was that the mosquitoes had gone to
bed before we started dinner. The bad news was two late nights in
a row.
Sunday morning Rich and I headed down to Willow Lake with our
packs while Bob, Doug, and Eddie headed for Gayley. They did
fine, except Eddie missed the last Bart train to San Francisco and
had to spend the night at the station. Rich and I should have added
another day to our schedule! From Willow Lake we made good
time after dropping our full packs. even though we were weighed
down by a 50m rope, climbing helmets, some pro, ice axes, and
crampons. The whole area was strangely devoid of people, but we
bumped into several around Finger Lake.
Pressing on, the crampons came into use for the eastern flank of
the Palisade Glacier. A major rockslide was the first obstacle - a
single rock had made an 8 foot deep trench, and debris was
everywhere. We took pictures and congratulated ourselves on
being somewhere else when it all came down. Then we hit the
bergschrund, passed easily on the right if you don't mind 50+
degree slopes, and started up the 40 degree chute that leads to the
ridge east of Balcony. As I found last year, the snow near the top
had turned to water ice from melt/freeze cycles. Rich balked and
we took to the horribly loose rock to our left.
At the saddle (waypoint SNOTOP), we knew it was going to get
late. We talked about a turnaround time, but didn't set one.
Traversing over to Balcony I was fighting the demons from last
year when I turned back because I had only half a rope and no
partner. We quickly found the chute south of Balcony, as described
by Secor, and Rich told me later he was hoping I would suggest
turning around. It's narrow, it's loose, and it's vertical. There are
two chockstones (not one, as Secor says) the upper of which can
be climbed around on the right (facing down) and the lower of
which is best stemmed. A full length (50m) rope tied off to a sling
near the top will get you past all the 4th class, but there is no good
place to set protection in the middle of the descent. Near the top is
an oddball white stone formation (quartzite?) that takes a sling
well, and I had a small ascender for a self-belay on the way back.
We rapped down, leaving the rope tied to a sling.
The chute joins a much larger chute, where you turn toward
Disappointment on 2nd class footing. There are a surprising
number of constructed bivy sites on the 3rd class ledges that make
up the southeast face, indicating the few people who climb this
thing don't always make it down on time! We worked up to the
notch between Balcony and Disappointment, then traversed over
to the southwest ridge, and finally ran the ridge to the summit. Not
sure if that's the best way, but we wasted no time thinking about it.
Just a few feet below 14k at 6pm is nice, but we had a lot of real
climbing left to do. We didn't admire the sunset too long.
The 4th class chute is not one for a large group of people. It's hard
to take cover, and your rope will knock rocks down on you just
from rappelling. There are tempting detours on one side, but they
mostly lead you to 5th class dead ends. On the way back, Rich got
impatient and forced one of the dead ends to go, passing me, but
cries of "oh Schick shaving cream" and worse echoed down the
chute, along with some rocks. I felt safe using the ascender for
self-belay on a fixed line, and while Rich saved some time
climbing unroped I'm sure that waiting for a top belay would have
been safer. At that altitude, with no food or water and a cold wind,
a simple broken leg could have been fatal. (The web version of
this report will have some pictures after I shoot the rest of the
roll.)
I thought we should admit the day was too long, and head down
the 2nd class (south) side of the ridge where we could get to lower
elevation more quickly. We would not be as cold as a forced bivy
on the ridge at 13k, and we would have water, but we would have
to climb back out the next day. Rich had his sights set on camp or
bust, and believed we could sit out the night at the top of the snow
chute (which was at least out of the wind). Rich won, but 15
minutes after we sat down he started to shiver and we decided to
attempt the glacier in the dark. It was now 930 pm, and there was
no moon. I taped my flashlight to my climbing helmet (OK, I
should have had a headlamp, but that's what duct tape is FOR!)
and we did battle with the loose rock, the steep snow, the
bergschrund, the moraine, and finally stopped to wonder where we
were when it warmed up enough to remove a layer. My GPS said
our gear cache (ski poles, water filter, etc) was not in the direction
we were traveling. Without it, we would have walked on down the
drainage with no hope of finding the cache.
We tried to bivy at Finger Lake, but even below 11k it was too
cold to sleep for more than an hour. Back on our feet, after
midnight, we stayed on the use trail and then the real trail until
reaching our packs at 3am. Again, the GPS proved its worth by
leading us to within 50m of our gear. even though the area did not
"look right" and we almost chose not to believe it. 20 hours of
climbing ended with hot chocolate and the softest bed of pine
cones I've ever had. Bliss is easy when you abuse yourself first!
-- Steve Eckert
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The guitar of the noisy teenager at the
next campsite makes excellent kindling.
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A two-man pup tent does not include two
men or a pup.
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English Mountain
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October 5, 1998
English Mountain is an 8357' high point on a rocky ridge rising
above the dense fir forest near Jackson Reservoir, just north of
Truckee. I climbed it from Catfish Lake, gaining about 2000 feet
over 2 miles, 2-1/2 hours up and 2 hours down. If I had searched
harder, I might have been able to find a starting point closer to the
peak and higher up, but the labyrinth of logging roads got a little
confusing. Neither the cross country route finding nor the rock
scramble on the ridge presented any great obstacles. The summit
view took in the jagged Sierra Buttes and some other northern
Sierra peaks, like small dark islands in an ocean of green woods.
-- Aaron Schuman
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Counting Sheep
(or how I climbed Cotter instead of Clarence King)
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October 9-12
Having a four-day weekend October 9-12 (I get Columbus Day
off) I took up Tony Cruz on his offer to climb Clarence King since
he had recruited John Zazzara to lead the 5th class summit.
I was excited by the prospect of my first autumn foray into the
High Sierra. I was not to be disappointed. When the weather is as
good it was this trip the Sierra is the place to be in the Fall.
Amazing colors, a deserted wilderness, no bugs, and comfortable
hiking weather more than made up for the cooler nights and
shorter days.
Our plan was to hike in to Rae Lakes Saturday, climb Clarence
King from Sixty-Lake Basin on Sunday, and hike out Monday.
The hike in and out of Rae Lakes requires hiking approximately
12 arduous trail miles over two passes:
Kearsarge out of Onion Valley and Glen Pass on the JMT. Tony
and I both chose to carry our boots and hike the trail in tennis
shoes. However, I chose to hike the icy north side of Glen pass in
my boots, Tony did not (our earlier trip to Boundry must have
made him cocky). Once over Glen pass on Saturday we did not
see a soul the rest of the weekend until descending Kearsarge pass
on our way out Monday afternoon..
We awoke Sunday morning to find our leader John had been sick
all night. Tony, spotting the contents of a little baggie quickly
pointed out that it probably had something to do with the cigar
that had been smoked the night before. John thought his cooking
had more to do with it. With our fearless leader humbled our
plans to do Clarence King that day disintegrated. As we relaxed
in camp drinking coffee and making alternate plans John began to
feel better. With Fin Dome looming enticingly nearby and a
description of a class 3 route in hand we set-off for Sixty-Lake
Basin and Fin Dome's west face.
Gazing upon the west face of Fin Dome a class 3 route looked as
improbable as our ability to find it. John, feeling much better at
this point, decided he wanted to do Cotter. We all agreed to
change plans once again and make the attempt, although I think
Tony would have preferred to have given Fin Dome a try.
A fine cross-country scramble across Sixty-Lake Basin from Fin
Dome brought John and I to a tarn at the base of the southeastern
slope of Cotter.
Unfortunately, we left Tony to follow us at his own pace and he
was never able to regain sight of us so he chose to return to camp
rather than make the summit attempt. John and I didn't even
consider a direct ascent up the sandy southeast slope. It did make
a great descent route though. We chose instead to swing south and
ascend talus up to the south ridge. Dropping just below the west
side of the ridge we continued to hop talus all the way to the
summit. A short class 3 crack put us on the summit block. From
the summit great views can be found of the of the surrounding
lake filled basins and nearby mountains including Gardiner, Fin
Dome, Dragon, Rixford, Gould, and of course Clarence King.
The summit register indicated very few ascents this year. I had but
to turn back one page to find David Harris' and Steve Eckert's
separate entries from August of '97. John found Eddie Sudol's
entry from 1996. Also of note was an entry from the members of
a researcher team taking a break from studying a species of frogs
found only at Rae lakes.
On our return hike to Rae Lakes coming down the pass from
Sixty Lakes Basin we came suddenly upon a group of four
bighorn sheep who quickly ascended a nearby slope. John and I
were ecstatic at our good fortune in sighting these rare animals.
We continued down the trail discussing the nice class 5 moves of
the sheep when to our utter disbelief we encountered two more
groups of 5-6 bighorn sheep on each side of the trail. We just sat
down and enjoyed the moment.
Back at camp we found our wayward partner relaxed, enjoying a
cup of soup and soaking up the ambiance of Rae Lakes. Painted
Lady in the light of the setting sun proved her namesake.
Although Tony had already come to terms with not bagging a
peak this weekend we were able to further torment him with our
tales of the bighorn sheep.
As I lay all bundled up and cozy in my sleeping bag I counted the
distant thuds of sheep butting heads, four I think , before I finally
drifted off to sleep.
-- Greg Johnson
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Lolling on Lola
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October 11, 1998
Trip report for the PCS trip to Mt Lola (9148 ft)and Mt Lola, North (8844) ft.
The old German movie, Der Blaue Engel (The Blue Angel talks
about the dancer Lola Lola who works at the bawdy club, The
Blue Angel, and who lures away the high school students of her
small town from their school work to see her dance.
So also, seven PCS'ers were lured away from the serious business
of watching Sunday morning football by the alpine wiles of Lola
Lola (north) on the 11th of October, 1998. (Interestingly enough,
Mt Lola is named after Lola Montez, a beauty of varied talents,
who had lived in California in the gold rush days).
We all gathered on the cold Sunday morning, about 2 miles from
the trailhead, stymied at the sight of the broken bridge that spans a
small stream that the dirt road crosses. Ron drove his Outback
through the stream and safely over the rocks, and then Kelly made
a bold dash with his Golf, making this look more like the
Landrover Camel Safari than a PCS trip. But his Golf did fine and
without any more incidents we reached the trailhead and started
hiking.
The trail gains elevation moderately as it passes thru the forest,
crosses a stream, winds by a meadow and then breaks out of the
forest on a ridge and a gentle rise from there on takes one to the
summit. We summitted in under three hours to a great view of the
Tahoe peaks like Rose, Freel, Tallac, Sierra Buttes, and English. A
short northward ridge walk took us to the surrogate summit of
Lola North. Ron took some GPS bearings and we decided to head
down cross country from the northern summit, and so, slipping
and slithering downhill over the tree shorn muddy slopes, we hit
the trail again and another hour of easy trail walking got us back
to the trailhead to make it a round trip time of 6 hours.
This was advertised as a beginner/new comer trip, and we got two
newcomers to the PCS on this one, Mike and Urvashi, and both
hiked very well. This was Urvashi's first Sierra peak.
Trip participants: Ron Karpel (leader), Urvashi Bhagat, Mike
McDermitt, George Sinclair, Landa Robillard, Kelly Mass and trip
report writer, co-leader, and purveyor of irrelevant and mostly
dubious information,
-- Arun Mahajan.
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"Flash !! Kathmandu, Nepal
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
October 1998
Mt Mera, 6437 meters, was no problem for Bruce and Sarah
Bousfield. They were accompanied by Martin Sirk, Dan Tupper,
Robert Carney, and Greg Hermansen. A more detailed report in
the coming Scree. "
-- Warren Storkman
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The Call of the Muezzin
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
October 17-18 1998
min-a-ret: n. 1. A tall, slender tower on a mosque, having one or
more projecting balconies from which a muezzin summons the
people to prayer.
clyde min-a-ret: n. 1. A tall, slender peak south of Ritter/Banner,
having steep 3rd to 5th class faces from which a register summons
the people to climb.
October is a dicey month for climbing. It can be crisp and
wonderful, or it can be snowy and cold. Last month (September)
we were snowed off Winchell, but there was an extended period of
dry weather that beckoned me back to the high country. Perhaps I
should have chosen a peak OTHER than Clyde Minaret, with its
northeast facing rock, but I wanted to cap a month of grunge peaks
with one last REAL climb.
Problem 1: Road Closed. It never occurred to me that the Devil's
Postpile road would be closed at Minaret Summit (just past
Mammoth Mtn Lodge) when there was no snow on the ground
and no threat of impending storms. It was. We had an extra 3 miles
to walk in each direction, and an extra 700' of climb-out at the
end. (The road closes mid-October need it or not.)
Problem 2: Short Days. The Winter Solstice draws near, daylight
"savings" draws near, and camp seems to drift farther away. We
actually had a very nice hike in, except we lost the use trail above
Ediza Lake and wound up looking down on Iceberg Lake instead
of going past the outlet. Yep, it has icebergs in it (at least this year)
and very large very icy snowfields on both sides. It also loses the
sun by 4pm. We found a great campsite under some small trees
and were in the sack shortly right about dark. It was actually
warmer here than at the trailhead, but still in the 20s overnight.
Problem 3: Old Snow vs. New Snow. We had to crampon around
Iceberg Lake, and we had to crampon up 45 degree ice at the base
of the 3rd class rock (or do a mixed moat/rock scramble with
crampons). I chose the open slopes, traversing into the center of
the ice field to avoid TWO FEET of fresh and poorly consolidated
sugar snow. The old snow is now completely iced, and an ice
hammer would have been more comforting than my ice axe
(despite recent sharpening). The others did a mixed bag of routes,
but we converged on the narrow point of the snowfield where we
planned to pick up the ledge to Secor's "Rock Route". (By the
way, climbing straight up from Cecile's outlet to the ledge is class
2-3 and solid - I see no reason to use the "red rock" area which has
been reported to be loose.)
Problem 4: I Want, Therefore I Will (damn the torpedoes, full
speed ahead). We were not climbing fast enough to get the peak,
return to camp, and pack out before dark. I should have turned
back all or part of the group at the top of the glacier. Jeff pointed
out that this was the wrong time of year to climb after looking at
his watch and the snow-littered third class above us, but David
and I wanted the peak badly and Patt was feeling strong. We went
up.
Problem 5: New Snow on Rock. The easy (Rock) route was
covered with snow from the end of "the ledge". The Starr route
had less snow, but it still obscured some of the moves. We got to
the "prominent gendarme" where the Starr and Rock routes
converge with two belays, but lost time trying to free the rope
from a freak snag: The end of the rope dropped into a one-inch
crack and would not come out. We cut off a couple of feet after
sending Patt
down to yank on it for a while. First time I've ever had to cut a
rope during a climb! Above the gendarme the snow got positively
deep, and we wished for gaiters.
Problem 6: The Sun. It was now mid afternoon, we were still
climbing, we had been in the shade since leaving the glacier, we
were mid-calf in snow on third class rock, and some people didn't
have warm gloves that were suitable for climbing. Looking at the
sunlit valley below didn't help, but no one was critically cold so
we pressed on.
The Reward: The summit ridge was warm, sunny, and short,
topping out at 3:30 pm. We signed in and headed right back down
after a bite to eat and some discussion of whether to downclimb or
rappel.
Problem 7: The Downclimb. A few moves down on snowy rock
with some loose stuff underneath convinced us we would mostly
rap the class 3-4 slope. Ugh. This was very slow, but we did make
use of old slings when we could. Even though we had limited the
group to four people, getting on and off the rope took too much
time and it was dusk. Somewhere above the gendarme I heard a
noise above me and watched in horror as an 8" rock came
spinning over the edge right at me, knocked loose from under the
snow by the rope. Being on rappel I had few choices - I tried to lift
my foot to block it, but was not fast enough to prevent a solid hit
on my shin. I twisted on the rope for a few minutes before I could
see/think/move again, and we continued down.
Problem 8: The Dark. We reached the top of the ice field just after
full darkness hit. Downclimbing loose 3rd class to the moat
without being able to see the holds seemed suicidal (a slip would
drop you onto the ice for a fast ride into a bergschrund).
Downclimbing 45 degree ice without being able to see the fresh
snow plates on top seemed suicidal (same runout). A bivy with the
possibility of single digit temperatures and no flat place to sit
seemed suicidal. We were out of water. We had only my single-cell
AAA mini-mag flashlight among us, having left our headlamps in
camp in the foolish confidence that we would be back early. Patt
and I chose the ice, Jeff and David did a mix of ice and rock. Both
Patt and David walked out of their crampons, but eventually we all
got into the moat and away from the exposure. Stemming between
rock and ice, we got above the soft snow and headed down.
Problem 9: Splitting up. Should we stick together, moving at less
than half the pace the faster people could, or should we try to get
someone out to the trailhead? Should the fast people go get
flashlights or sleeping bags and return? Several of us had
significant others in town with specific instructions on when to
call for a rescue. It was becoming mathematically impossible to
reach the trailhead before a search was started... but we were all
fine. We didn't need a search and rescue, we needed a cell phone
to call it off! Reluctantly we all agreed that Patt and I would hike
all the way to the cars while Jeff and David could spend another
night at Iceberg and hike out the next day. I pumped water for
everyone at Cecile Lake, then we split up. Patt and I reached camp
just after midnight, packing quickly and heading down, while Jeff
and David reached camp around 2am. No injuries, just lots of time
moving carefully over boulders by starlight alone. (Don't try this
at home, kids! Take a flashlight!)
Problem 10: Fatigue. Patt and I took only short breaks and tried to
move as fast as we could. We both felt that we should eat and
drink, but got cold quickly whenever we stopped. It was hard to
stay focused and alert following the bobbing light of a
headlamp down the trail, but we both felt surprisingly strong in
spite of being tired. Arriving at Agnew Meadow around 5am, we
allowed ourselves the luxury of a half hour nap before cruising up
the 3 miles of pavement in about 70 minutes.
The End: We called all the people who were worried about us
around 7am, averting any SAR false alarms, had breakfast at
Schatt's and took turns driving and sleeping on the way home. Jeff
and David got up late, hiking out from 11am to 7pm, and drove to
LA where Jeff caught a plane home to the Bay Area. An epic that
didn't have to be, but a memorable 23 hour day nonetheless. Many
thanks to Patt Callery, Jeff Fisher, and David Underwood for their
tenacity, their skills, and their companionship.
-- Steve Eckert
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Rockhouse Jail
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
October 17-18, 1998
Northern Californians rarely see the Domelands Wilderness, its
sparse pine forest interspersed with dry arroyos of yucca and
prickly pear, dotted with dozens of blocky granite domes. But it
was mid October, and threat early snowfall was already closing
northern passes through the high Sierra, so we set out to see some
more southerly country.
The sun broke through the horizon with a tinkling sound like
shattering ice. It was 18 F, or -8 C, at our camp at 7800 feet at Big
Meadow. I counted the party that had assembled during the night:
David Harris, Kelly Maas, John Hossack, Charles Schafer, Debbie
Bulger and myself. We warmed our bones with oatmeal and tea.
(I ate instant grits that I had brought back from a recent trip to
Georgia, much to the amusement of my Yankee companions.)
We set out on the trail to Manter Meadow, with Taylor Dome as
our morning's destination. With Steve E.'s help, I had prepared
maps of our route from the Wildflower Topo CDROM
cartographic database. Each map was zoomed in very close to the
area we would hike through, to show us the maximum level of
detail. This was my first experience using computerized mapping
for the backcountry. On every trip I strive to learn something new
about the mountains, and on this trip I can summarize the lesson
in a single phrase: Use Multiple Scales.
We quickly discovered that the terrain didn't match our maps very
well. We struggled to correlate this ridge we could see to that
region of contour lines on the printed page, but something was
awry. It didn't help us at all that neither of our destinations this
weekend are named on any map. We traveled off trail to where
our mountain ought to be, but there was no mountain. Maybe it
was down the next canyon and up the rise after that. To our
amazement, at the bottom of the canyon we found a well
maintained trail that shouldn't have been there at all.
The discovery of the trail was the turning point that finally forced
us to challenge our paradigm of where we were. David produced a
map of the Domelands, printed by the US Forest Service, and with
its considerably zoomed out view, we could see that there were
two parallel trails from Big Meadow to Manter Meadow, about
one and one half miles apart. All of the features that we couldn't
interpret made perfect sense when seen from the North Manter
trail; because our zoomed in maps showed only the South Manter
trail, we mistakenly thought that was where we were.
Properly oriented at last, we quickly reached the summit block, a
knob of two hundred feet of unbroken high quality granite slabs,
and scrambled to the 8802' top of Taylor Dome. Our return, down
the South Manter trail, went much more quickly than our entry.
We finished with a hike up the Big Meadow road from the south
trailhead to the north, and returned to our camp by 3:00 pm.
We had intended to finish our climb of Taylor Dome by midday,
and climb Sirretta Peak in the afternoon, but my routefinding
mistake set us back a few hours. It was too late to start another
mountain. We loafed, ate, and moved camp to the south trailhead
for Sunday's adventure.
We began our hike to Rockhouse Peak with a crew rotation.
Debbie returned home Sunday morning, and Greg Johnson arrived
to round out our group.
Peter Jenkins, in his book Self Propelled in the Southern Sierra,
recommends climbing Rockhouse Peak from the east side, with a
ford across the South Fork of the Kern River. Our route, from Big
Meadow, was longer than his, but involved no ford.
Although Sunday's walk was three times as long as Saturday's, we
did it in about the same amount of time. What a difference it
makes to have a correct concept of the lay of the land!
When we sat on top of the smooth granite slabs that form 8383'
Rockhouse Peak, the whole of the Domelands unfolded before us,
row after row of rounded rocky tops breaking through the dry
southern forest, from Lake Isabella all the way to Mineral King
and Mount Langley. It was there that we got the sweet taste of
California mountaineering as it is done far down south.
-- Aaron Schuman
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Unofficial (Private) Trips
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Private trips may be submitted directly to the Scree Editor, but
are not insured, sponsored, or supervised by the Sierra Club.
They are listed here because they may be of interest to PCS
members, not because they are endorsed by the PCS.
***Mount Whitney
Peak: Mount Whitney (14,494) Class 2-3, Ice Axe & crampons
Dates: December 20-23 (Sun-Wed)
Contact: George Van Gordon
This will be a three day trip up Mt. Whitney via Whitney Portal.
We will drive up as far as we can and then park. Call leader for
details.
***Tehipite Dome, Spanish Mtn
Peaks: Tehipite Dome, Spanish Mtn 3/2
Dates: Nov 14/15
Contacts: Tony Cruz, cruz@idt.com, Pat Ibbetson
***Wheeler Peak
Peaks: Wheeler Peak, Arc Dome, 1/2
Dates: Nov 21/22/23/24
Contacts: Tony Cruz, Pat Ibbetson
***Shasta
Peaks: Shasta (via Clear Creek), Class 3
Dates: Dec 5/6
Contact: Tony Cruz, Dennis Hiipakka
***Mt Baldy
Peaks: Mt. Baldy/Gorgonio
Dates: Jan 22, 23, 24
Contact: Tony Cruz
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE BACK PAGE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scree is the monthly journal of the Peak Climbing Section
of the Sierra Club, Loma Prieta Chapter.
http://www.sierraclub.org/chapters/lomaprieta/pcs/
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Elected Officials
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Chair:
Roger Crawley /rcrawl@earthlink.net
650-321-8602 home
761 Nash Avenue, Menlo Park, CA 94025
Vice Chair and Trip Scheduler:
Arun Mahajan / arun@tollbridgetech.com
650 327-8598 home
1745 Alma Street, Palo Alto, Ca 94301.
Treasurer and Membership Roster (address changes):
Nancy Fitzsimmons/Nancy_Fitzsimmons@BayNetworks.com
408-957-9683 home
1025 Abbott Avenue, Milpitas, CA 95035
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Appointed Positions
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Scree Editor:
Bob Bynum / rfbynum@aol.com
510-659-1413 home
761 Towhee Court, Fremont CA 94539-7421
PCS World Wide Web Publisher:
Aaron Schuman / aaron_schuman@yahoo.com
650-943-7532 http://www.sierraclub.org/chapters/lomaprieta/pcs/
223 Horizon Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94043-4718
Publicity Chair
Steve Eckert list_owner@juno.com 650-508-0500
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Subscriptions and Email List Info
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Hard copy subscriptions are $10. Subscription applications and checks
payable to "PCS" should be mailed to the Treasurer so they arrive before
the last Tuesday of the expiration month. If you are on the PCS email
list (discussion version or lower-volume news version), you have a free
EScree subscription. For broadcast info, send Email to
with the one-line message
INFO lomap-peak-climbing
or contact a human at . EScree subscribers
should send a subscription form to the Treasurer to become voting PCS
members at no charge. All subscribers are requested to send a donation
of $2/year to cover operating expenses other than printing the Scree.
The Scree is on the PCS web site (as both plain text and Adobe
Acrobat/PDF at:
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Rock Climbing Classifications
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The following trip classifications are to assist you in choosing trips for
which you are qualified. No simple rating system can anticipate all
possible conditions.
Class 1: Walking on a trail.
Class 2: Walking cross-country, using hands for balance.
Class 3: Requires use of hands for climbing, rope may be used.
Class 4: Requires rope belays.
Class 5: Technical rock climbing.
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Deadline for submissions to the next Scree is Sunday 11/22/98.
Meetings are the second Tuesday of each month.
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"Vy can't ve chust climb?" - John Salathe