| Steve Dougherty ~ Apr 10, 2002 |
| This was my first year as "Climb School Coordinator". Thirty-one students paid $118/nonmembers or $90/members to participate in two evening classroom sessions at the Chemekeden and a weekend field session at Horsethief Butte and Timberline Ski Area. I was unable to attend the field session as I was recovering from a virus that had me in bed from Thursday thru Monday before the field session. I was impressed with the number of leaders and assistants who took part in the climb school. I understood from Keith Garlinghouse that he expected 27 leaders to participate in the field session. As climb school coordinator I did a few things differently this year. I took the liberty of converting the Chemeketan Climb School handbook from its hard copy form to an electronic version. This required the time consuming task of scanning and "cleaning" the art work as well as typing the text into a Word document. These changes will allow the handbook to be revised easily in the future. Mike Newby had handled registration for the climb school for many years. His change in employment from Anderson Sporting Goods to Portland's Oregon Mountain Community made it difficult for him to continue in this capacity. I chose to use my "Cascade Adventures" website, which I was already using for managing my trip signups, as the tool for registering climb school students. I found myself handling only a few phone calls and got several positive comments about the on-line signup. A few things were done differently during the class room sessions. Paul McClellan used Powerpoint to show his pictures of many NW peaks instead of the traditional slide show. I used images sent to me by leaders in a Powerpoint presentation to introduce them to the students. Juice and cookies were served during a ten minute break each evening. The climb committee chose not to show the hypothermia video "Land of One Season" and replaced it with a longer but more encompassing video "Basic Technique: Alpine Mountaineering on Mt. Rainier". The video was shown with a PC projector borrowed from my wife ... thanks Shelley! I made arrangements with Spookies Pizza in The Dalles to provide a $10 buffet in the party room called "Lucky's". Students paid their $10 as part of their climb school registration and leaders were expected to pay for their buffet at the door. I am anxious to hear comments on the meal and on the field sessions which I was unable to attend. |
| Drew Anderson ~ Apr 10, 2002 |
| Wow, what a weekend!!! Kudos to all involved, I had a GREAT time and learned lots!! I think it's safe to say I've been bitten by the climbing bug, I can't wait to try out all the things we learned. I was in group 1 and want to say a special thanks to Stephan, Kris, Tom and Jerry, you guys were awesome and did a great job of helping and teaching. I look forward to seeing you all on climbs in the future!!! Drew |
| Matt VanCampen ~ Apr 10, 2002 |
| Thanks to all who volunteered their time this past weekend. Very informative and practical field sessions. It was a pleasure to be a part of Group 1 and I throughly enjoyed getting to know Kris, Tom, Jerry, and Stephan - what a load of experience to draw from. I am looking forward to walking through some of the doors that this club and climb school has opened. Keep in touch Drew - see you at the Smith Rock session in a couple of weekends. Thanks again to all the leaders for spending the weekend working with all of us. |
| Sue Nelson ~ Apr 11, 2002 |
| I appreciated the work that Mike Rudy, Herb and Sally, and Alan Philips did by going over and setting up the ropes ahead of time. Because of having 6 ropes to prussik up, we never got back-logged until the afternoon. Do we not have enough ropes to set up the chimney earlier? It seemed that there were plenty of people to handle the morning teaching, so perhaps a few leaders could have been released to go do that? (My team didn't get to do it.) My students were a fun mix and very teachable, even though 5 of them have had previous experience! |
| Edwin Thompson ~ Apr 12, 2002 |
| I would like to personally thank you and all of the leaders, assistants, and support personnel that helped with this year's climb school. I would give a additional thanks to Scott Phillips and Paul McCellan for the extra encouragement I needed while navigating the exposed raverse. Having a GREAT FEAR of heights, this was an accomplishment in its self. While at the snow portion, Bill Sauer, Mike Rudy (aka Drill Instructor), Sue Nelson, Dave (Windy Tent) Widmer, and again Scott Phillips for one of the best learning experiences on an outdoor activity. The skills that I learned from all of them will be used hopefully in the near future. Also tell the DI that I've figured out that the like in life, you walk with you adz forward, to keep from getting to keep form getting stuck once and a while. Vince Dunn also did a remarkable job keeping things running smooth and on time. I have recommended this course to my backpacking and mountaineering friends. Again thanks for a great time. |
| Tom Weimer ~ Apr 14, 2002 |
| Climb school went very smoothly thanks to so many leaders and assistants. Even the weather cooperated. Spookies' buffet was great. Thanks for all your planning and leadership Steve. |
| Chuck Messer ~ Apr 15, 2002 |
| I'd like to thank all the field session leaders and assistants for volunteering their valuable time to coach myself and the rest of group 4 through the many climbing disciplines. You are a very organized, professional, talented, friendly, and fun group to be associated with. I found the entire experience to be informative and practical and hope to apply all of it in future outings. I especially appreciated some of the details you all provided such as the treats and presentations at the class room sessions, Steve's web page, dinner at Spookies, the van rides, and certificates. Special thanks to Vincent Dunn and Steve Dougherty for their extra efforts! |
| Jennifer Truax ~ Apr 18, 2002 |
| Climb school buddies, I have some pictures I could email to you of Horsethief Butte if you are interested. --Jenn |
| Jennifer Truax ~ Apr 18, 2002 |
| It is amazing to think of all the wonderful people involved with this group, both instructors and students. Thanks to Matt, Julie, Drew, Jeff, and Sherrill for the fun and crazy conversations. Hopefully Group one didn't frighten or offend (unless JP is involved). I would also like to thank Tom, Jerry, Kris, and Stephan for being so helpful and fun. You are all very talented instructors. It shows that you really have a passion for climbing, and it is contagious! This surpassed all of my expectations. See you at Smith Rock! --Jenn PS I have forgiven JP for all the bad things he said about the Yankees:) It is a touchy subject right now, so watch yourself on Sunday... |
| Jeff Kundert ~ Apr 19, 2002 |
| Had a great weekend! Just wanted to thank all the leaders, especially those involved with group #1 (Jerry, Tom, Stephan, and Kris). Thanks again and see you all soon. Jeff Kundert |