Mazamas Basic Climbing Education Program 2011

Between late April and early May most of my spare time has been focused on leading a group of 10 students through the Mazamas Basic Climbing Education Program (BCEP). It has been 10 days since our final lecture and since then I have been digesting the events of this endeavor. Leading a BCEP group was a very positive thing for me last year. It was such a great experience that in the back of my mind I was wondering if this year would live up to the previous year. I am pleased to report that this was indeed the case.


One of the assistant instructors suggested that we have a team nickname. I thought that was a brilliant idea. After tossing around a variety of ideas our team selected the "Glissade Brigade".


BCEP is an intense and time demanding experience. In a period of seven weeks there are six lectures, six conditioning hikes, an Introduction to Rock Climbing, a snow climbing field session and a rock climbing field session. In addition the Glissade Brigade spent an evening learning knots, another practicing navigation at Portland's Mount Tabor Park, and spent one evening hanging out at the rock gym. We had three weekends where there was a BCEP activity both Saturday and Sunday. I must have packed my backpack countless times.

Basically I followed the same format from the previous year. The biggest change was that we had the Introduction to Rock Climbing at the brand new instructional climbing wall at the Mazamas Mountaineering Center. Our snow climbing field session took place early in the class in the White River Canyon. We could not practice at Timberline as in past years due to avalanche conditions, but we made the best of the situation.


The bulk of the time is spent on conditioning hikes. The aim of these hikes is not just to get into shape for scaling the heights of the mountain peaks but to practice skills related to alpine climbing. As much as possible we would pull out our maps and compass to practice navigation skills. For one hike I put in a fixed line so everyone could practice using their prusik friction knot. We even worked in a rappel on this hike. While hiking the Glissade Brigade learned how to measure snow slopes to appraise avalanche conditions, adjust their gear for the demanding weather, and make decisions on when to continue hiking or turn back. We even followed the Easter Bunny up Dog Mountain!


Speaking of weather, the Glissade Brigade weathered the elements in good fashion. Our first conditioning hike started out with strong rain. We had two weekends where we saw radical shifts in the weather. For our Snow Field Session it was overcast, snowy and windy only to be followed by a beautiful blue sky hiking up the Palmer snow field the next day. Another weekend we had a gorgeous day climbing on rock at Horsethief Butte followed by overcast skies and light rain on Dog and Augsperger Mountains.



Just like last year, I was blessed with a stellar group of assistant instructors. They gave me new ideas that improved the program. It was very rewarding to me to have four of the graduates from last year's BCEP group join me. They provided valuable insights of their experience last year, which was helpful to me. It was also a joy to watch them step up and apply the skills that they learned last year. I also had some experienced assistants that added so much to the program that we offered.


I am very grateful to the assistants and students (now graduates) of the Glissade Brigade. I appreciated the laughs, fellowship, and experiences that we shared. I am thankful for all that we accomplished together. Climb on!

Hal the Horse

My housemate and I had a some friends over for vegetarian brunch. There was a nice spread of food, including German Apple Pancake. However, the biggest hit seemed to be our neighbor Hal the horse. Here are some photos of Hal getting some rock star attention...

First Peoples Gallery

As part of our Victoria BC tour we stopped at the Royal British Columbia Museum. I enjoyed the partial HMS Discovery replica in the Modern History gallery and the forests in the Natural History section. I was not prepared for the impact that the First Peoples Galley would have upon me.

Part of my apprecation of this art stems from my time in the Boy Scouts.


But there was something deeper that I cannot explain.


I just know that I need to return someday and marvel at this place.


To let it soak in even deeper.

High Tea on Vancouver Island

Legend has it it that Anna Marie Russell, the Duchess of Bedford, was looking for a light meal to make the long stretch between lunch and dinner bearable. Her solution was a combination of tea, small sandwiches, and desserts. While High Tea is not as popular in Canada as in the United Kingdom, Victoria is an exception. We were visiting the Provincial Capital of British Columbia and decided to check this tradition out.

We passed on having High Tea at the Fairmont Empress Hotel, instead we partook in this tradition at the Gatsby Mansion. While more than a third of the cost than the Empress, it still had fine offerings with a touch of elegance. The meal consisted of four courses.

A Fruit Plate....

followed by a Scone Plate...

then a variety of Sandwiches...


and then, last but not least, the dessert plate.

As you can see, this was not a light meal. While the practice here is to advertise this as High Tea, careful reading of teatime traditions would discover that this is actually Afternoon Tea. Whatever it was called, it was enough to fill us up for a walk touring the night lights of Victoria and several hands of UNO.

Easter Eggs at Christmas?

This year my parents decorated their Christmas Tree with eggs. You should note that these are not ordinary eggs, but egg shells decorated by my relatives in the Czech Republic. Here are a couple of examples.

Double Trailhead Tour

Saturday I joined the Adventurous Young Mazamas for a Cross Country Ski trip at Old Man Pass. We crossed the Bridge of the Gods and passed through Carson on our way to the trailhead. At this point there was snow on the road, but not enough to hold us back. That changed with the Wind River Road started to head upwards, as the road had not been plowed and to continue farther did not seem prudent. So we parked the cars and found another place to ski. First we toured Government Mineral Springs, then we skied to the Trapper Creek Wilderness Trailhead and then on to the Falls Creek Trailhead. Our mileage was somewhere between 8 to 11.5 miles, depending whether or not you believed Keith's GPS.

As started the drive back home a hear of Elk crossed our paths.

To relax our muscles and our spirits we stopped at the Carsons Mineral Hot Springs Spa for a hot soak in their mineral waters. The facility dates from the 1930s and could be described as funky or rustic, depending on your point of view. I enjoyed sliding into a bath that I could fit my long legs into without having to fold them like a pretzel. After the bath they cocooned you in a swaddling wrap. It reminded me of the hibernation capsules from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyessy. Unlike those poor murdered scientists from the film I emerged from my wrap to finish off with a sauna. Very relaxing.

Green Tomatoes

This year I built a new garden bed in my front yard. Since my front yard faces south I thought it would be a great place to grow tomatoes. And it was, the plants in the front yard did noticiable better than the ones in the back yard. However, with the odd weather this summer I was left with plenty of green tomatoes. Now, I have not seen the movie Fried Green Tomatoes and did not have the desire to cook in that style, so I sought out another recipe. After awhile I came across this one for Curried Green Tomato Casserole. Here is how it turned out.

I made my own breadcrumbs from three slices of bread and added a very generous amount of curry powder. I also had a little extra mozzarella cheese that I needed to finish off, so I added that as well. Guten Appetit!