Skagit Alpine

Skagit Alpine Club - November 2009 Newsletter

Skagit Alpine Club mission statement:  "To promote the use and prevent the abuse of outdoor recreation areas"....SAC Articles of Incorporation

Meeting:

We are back to meeting the first Wednesday of every month.  The November 4th meeting will be in Roberts Hall T-31 7pm. http://www.skagit.edu/images/color_mvCampus.pdf

Secretary‘s Report:

Old Business:

Lynn Postler: Easy pass trail work party was canceled and it was unclear whether or not there will be another one.

 

Food and Drink Schedule:

New Business:

Jason G. gave a big thanks to Corrina for doing such a great job on the Newsletter. You are much appreciated Corrina!

Steve Trent gave the club an update on the current status of our website. He says that it has not been updated for some time due to some technical difficulties, or perhaps the payment has not been made. Jason G. asked the members present at the meeting if we thought the website was important to have and most agreed that is. Steve will begin to seek out a new host for our clubs website.

The lookout committee is reporting that all is well at the Park Butte LO.

Treasure Report: We have about $5000.00 in the bank at this time. We also have about 61 paid members, not including lifetime members and family members

 

Chris Danilson talked about some recent Executive Committee business. CDD approached the EC earlier on the month with an opportunity to send and financially support a group of club members to take the MOFA course put on by the Washington Alpine Club in November. Four people will be attending this 3 day course and then become certified MOFA's. CDD stated that this will be an important certification for our climbing class instructors for insurance purposes.

CDD also reached out to the EC to start working on a solution to our insurance needs for next year’s class.

The Everett Mountaineers will offer an AIARE Level 1 Avalanche Course starting in December 2009. The course is oriented towards recreational backcountry users like skiers, snowboarders, climbers, scramblers and snowshoers. The course introduces the avalanche phenomena and is more than an avalanche awareness course. It covers planning and preparation for travelling in avalanche terrain, human factors, terrain recognition, “red flag” observations, terrain selection, and travel techniques. The overall goal is to improve decision making in avalanche terrain. The course teaches how to apply effective companion rescue. It is a basic hazard management course and uses rule based tools in combination with introductory knowledge based decision making tools. The course is a stand-alone course, but provides a great link to an AIARE Level 2 avalanche course.

 

Program:

This month’s program will feature club members’ trips.  Wade and Corrina have confirmed.  There’s rumor (maybe the Editor is starting and spreading) that JillY will talk about her progress on the “100 Highest in WA” list and JB will show his excellent slides.

Lookout:

Outings:

Lynn Postler:  Little Mountain Trail Work - THANK YOU to all the wonderful volunteers who worked on Fred and Ginny's trail in October.  We dug ditches, cleared brush, cut holly, spread gravel, and made lots of trail improvements.  The trail looks GREAT!  Special thanks to our SAC members Maggie, John, Marie, Ginny, Dave, Hal, and Lynn.  Plus we had Jim Taylor and his trail experts from the Little Mountain Trail Builders group.  They were awesome!

Ginny Darvill: Many thanks to the hard working crew who tackled the black mud and invasive holly to improve the Little Mountain Trail. This year we were joined by Mount Vernon Trail Builders who brought lots of expertise and muscle power which they have been using to build the new mountain bike trail near the north overlook at the top of Little Mountain Park. The Park Department provided a truck full of tools. After working on the lower trail, we hiked the upper loop and looked at potential connecting trails.

This co-operation between the park and user groups is one of the benefits of the recent park plan update process and is very welcome. The MV Trail Builders calls itself "an affiliate of Friends Of Little Mountain", a yet to be created organization. Mount Vernon Parks Foundation has been suggested as the umbrella for this group. SAC would be a natural "affiliate". It seems like a good idea to have all interested parties involved in the planning and work on park trails.

The Editor is under the impression that trail work has been completed for the season.  Stand by for a possible correction.

Conservation Report:

Special Announcement/Event:

Trip Report:

None!  Your prose is welcome and encouraged! –Ed.

Climbing Class:

Submitted by Chris Danilson

1) The climbing anchors and trad climbing basics clinic scheduled for Oct. 16-18 was cancelled due to weather and flagging interest. Thanks to Dave Salyer for taking a stab at putting this together anyway. Given the level of interest, I'm hoping we can try this again next year a little earlier in the season.

2) Club members Alex Korteum, Chris Noskof, Don Howard, and Chris Danilson will be attending a 2 1/2 day mountain oriented first aid training Nov. 13-15.

Officers:

President – Jason Griffith (360) 419-7480 jkgriffith@gmail.com

Vice President – Jonathan Frostad jonathanfrostad@hotmail.com

Treasurer – Ginny Darvill gdarvill@fidalgo.net

Secretary - Chris Noskoff cnoskoff@gmail.com

Newsletter - Corrina Marote corrina.marote@gmail.com

Webmaster - Steve Trent skagitalpineclub@comcast.net

Programs – Jason Griffith (360) 419-7480 jkgriffith@gmail.com

Lookout - John and Marie Erbstoeszer erbst@cnw.com

Outings - Lynn Postler sancho999@comcast.net

Conservation Com- Jenny Lee Frederick jennyleefrederick@gmail.com

Social Com- Wade Bessett bessettw@hotmail.com

Climbing Com - Chris Danilson