Mountaineering School
Explorers Club of Pittsburgh
2008-2009
2008-2009 Schedule
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Mountaineering School Schedule 2008-2009 PDF 83kb
Time Commitment
- School kicks off in early November and finishes with a graduation trip in early February.
- 1 class every 2 weeks; on a weeknight from 7:00-10:00 PM
- 1 stair challenge every 2 weeks on a weeknight at the Cathedral of Learning (Pitt Campus in Oakland)
- 4 day-long outings on weekend, either a Sat or Sun, usually lasting 8 hours
- 3 weekend-long outings (i.e. Sat thru Sun) typically entailing driving Fri evening, camping Fri/Sat, home Sun evening
- 4-day graduation trip (February)
Curriculum
- Intro Party
All potential new and past students and instructors are invited. Find out what the school is really about. Hear about past trips and trips being planned in the future. Come even if you're not sure you can take the school.
- Fitness and Climbing Checkout
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A 1-day fitness challenge day. Will involve physical fitness tests, climbing skills, and mental skills where team work will be vital to success.
All potential students must show top rope proficiency by demonstrating a proper top rope anchor, an explanation how the anchors work and what hazards to look for, tie basic knots and demonstrate proper belaying technique.
The basic knots you should know are: Figure-8 on a bight, Figure-8 follow-through, Bowline, Double Fisherman's, Water/Tape, Girth Hitch, Clove Hitch, Stopper (for Figure-8 tie-in & Bowline), Prussik (or other friction knot), Munter Hitch. Bring your harness, rappel device, prussik cords and 2 locking biners.
Mandatory attendance for all!
- Mountaineering 101 Class
- An overview of mountaineering gear and concepts.
- Gear and Clothing Class
- Discussion of mountaineering equipment and clothing and a sample look at some of the gear. We will also start planning for the equipment purchases the school will be making for the year to add to the extensive ECP equipment store available for borrowing/renting. Also planning for Backpacking Outing.
- Backpacking Outing
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Backpacking trip. Shake out rusty gear and legs. Leave Fri. evening. Hike into the backcountry Sat. morning and camp Sat. night. Hike out and return Sun. afternoon. Will include both fitness and skills challenges.
- Routefinding and Navigation Class
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Review of navigation skills. Practice map and compass skills. Practice planning navigation on mountain trips. Organization for Navigation Challenge Outing (mandatory attendance for outing participation).
- Backpacking and Navigation Outing
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Practice skills for navigating in different conditions. Will be Rogaine format challenge. A Rogaine is a long-distance version of orienteering in which teams of two or more visit as many checkpoints as possible within a set time. Championship events are twenty-four hours long, but there are many shorter variants of 4, 6, 8 or 12 hours. Teams select their own route and controls are assigned varying point values based on distance and difficulty. Significant time penalties are assigned to teams returning after time expires.
- Glacier Travel & Crevasse Rescue Class
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Roping up. Traveling across a glacier. Rescuing someone who has fallen into a crevasse. What to do when you're the one that has fallen in.
- Glacier Travel & Crevasse Rescue Outing
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Practice the techniques learned in class in the field. Instructors will go over roped travel and hauling system skills of all students.
- Mountain and Medical Emergency Class
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How to travel, dress, sleep and feed yourself in the outdoors when it's cold. Weather prediction. Cold weather medical topics (NOT a general first aid class) and effects of altitude and the mountain environment on your health. Also organization for the Cold Weather Camping Outing. Mandatory for the Cold Weather Camping Outing!
- Mountain and Medical Emergency Outing
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Dealing with cold weather injuries.
- Mountain Environment and Hazards Class
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Learn the fundamentals of traveling in the mountains. Unroped and roped travel, use of running belays, pitching it out, glacier travel and crevasse rescue. Footwork and breathing techniques. Assessing and handling objective hazards: glaciers, avalanches, etc.
- Climbing Techniques Outing
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TBD
- Christmas Party
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A chance to get together, talk shit, and drink beer!
- Expedition Planning Class
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Learn about the “mountain before the mountain” – how to take on the monumental task of planning an expedition to make the trip a success. Also includes planning for the Winter Climbing Outing. Discuss gear and clothing for the outing. Plan car pools, cook teams and climbing teams.
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BRING FULLY PACKED CLIMBING PACKS TO CLASS
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Mandatory for Graduation Trip
- Alpine Rock and Bivuac Outing
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Climb and camp atop Seneca Rocks. Can your fingers take the cold? Leave Friday night and camp at Indian Village Campground (Princess Snowbird) at Seneca Rocks. Saturday morning is the fitness challenge. Climb up Saturday and bivouac overnight on the summit ledge. Descend and return Sunday. Fitness challenge: North Fork Trail death march – muhahaha! Skills challenge: Climbing with boots and packs. Mandatory for Graduation Trip!
- Special Topics Seminar: Ice Climbing (Tentative)
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Introduction to ice climbing tools and techniques. This is an optional seminar for all students, but will be worthwhile for a great introduction to this topic, as well as lead into some great trips and outings that involve technical ice climbing!
- Special Topics: Ice Climbing outing (Tentative)
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Must have attended the ice climbing seminar to attend this. Apply techniques learned in the ice climbing seminar on steep angled ice. This is a great introduction to climbing on steeper ice, and attendance here will influence which routes you can do on the graduation trip.
- Graduation Trip Planning Class
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Review of school topics and organization for Mt. Washington graduation trip. Students will also be required to research mountain conditions, photos or any other information that they can gather. This is important for both future planning and safety of knowing the mountain before they get there!!! They will turn in packets of what they have found and details will be discussed at next class. This will be assigned in a class prior to this date.
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BRING FULLY PACKED PACKS TO CLASS & Mt. Washington reports
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Mandatory for Graduation Trip
- Graduation Trip Shakedown Outing
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To be used by teams to help prepare for the Grad Trip.
- Graduation Trip
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Four-day mountaineering graduation trip to Mt. Washington (highest point in Northeast) and surrounding area in New Hampshire. Likely to include climbing options in Huntington Ravine, summit attempts on Mt. Washington, and portions of the Presidential Traverse.