Archive:Glacier School 2008

Date

September 20^th - 21^st, 2008

General Information

What is Glacier School?

Glacier School is a 2-day (weekend) course intended to teach safe and efficient means of travelling over glaciers. The school is divided into two courses:

1. Glacier 1 is designed for beginners to snow and glacier travel. It is expected that you have previous backpacking and camping experience.
   
2. Glacier 2 is for students with previous glacier experience that want to learn more advanced skills or to climb a peak.

What Do I Need?

Basic overnight gear: Sleeping bag Sleeping mat warm clothes etc. second pair of clothes waterproof pants and jacket sunglasses

Glacier gear: Ice axe Crampons Harness Helmet - (climbing helmet or bike helmet that covers the back of your head) prussiks (see below) 2 non-locking and 2 locking carabiners sunglasses snow-worthy crampon-worthy boots (will be explained at dry school)

The VOC has some of this stuff and will lend it out to students. If you borrow gear from the club, a $40 CASH ONLY per item deposit will be collected at DRY SCHOOL.

A tent and/or stove will be very useful. If you don’t have one you can arrange to share with others at the MANDATORY DRY SCHOOL.

If there’s not enough VOC rental gear to go around, some borrowing, or renting from MEC will have to fill the voids. Please reserve rental gear early to ensure the gear you need will be available for the weekend.

Last, you’ll need 2 “prussik” cords (Don’t worry if you have no idea what that is). We’ll be selling it for $5 per set at DRY SCHOOL.

How much does it cost? $5 for two prussik cords, unless you already have them. $15 for VOC expenses: Photocopying/booklet, beverages, poo bags, donation to the Flavelles, etc. $25 typical gas money, negotiated with your driver $40 typical gear rental deposit, refundable when the gear is returned.

Please bring CASH for all expenses (preferably small change). Your $5 pays for photocopying of useful information booklets that you’ll get at DRY SCHOOL. Also, we’ll have a little treat for everybody on Saturday night, as we camp below the glacier. The leaders are entirely volunteering. You will be expected to chip in $25 for gas to and from Vancouver. If you borrow gear from the club a $40 per item deposit will be collected at DRY SCHOOL gear rental. But you’ll get that money back.

Expectations

Students should expect to learn the following skills:

• Knots for mountaineering
• Traveling over snow and ice with crampons
• Self Arrest in snow
• Snow and ice anchors (picket, t-slot, snow and ice bollards, v-thread, etc)
• Crevasse rescue
• Crevasse self and team rescue
• Belaying techniques for mountaineering

The prerequisites for being a student at glacier school are minimal

Sign up early as group size will be limited to 32 participants in G1 and 16 participants in G2, (students + instructors) to ensure low student/instructor ratio and minimal environmental impact

Students must have overnight backpacking experience and a good attitude. Some rope skills (such as belaying, common climbing knots, etc) are desirable but not absolutely necessary.

Instructors for glacier school are club members who volunteer their time, and are not professional guides, nor are they certified by any recognized school or association. If you don't feel comfortable taking responsibility for your own life in the context of an informal course advised by VOC instructors, you should take a mountaineering course offered by a professional guiding service.

Locations

<googlemap lat="50" lon="-122.5" width="400" height="300" zoom="7" scale="yes" controls="large" type="terrain"> (A)50.343187, -122.41941, Anniversary Glacier (B)50.161065, -122.811227, Wedgemount Lake </googlemap>

Glacier 1

Anniversary Glacier / Cerise Creek.

Directions

UBC to Cerise Creek Parking lot (off Hwy 99). The pullout is located 7.5km (check your odometer) past the Joffre Lakes parking lot.

Glacier 2

Directions

UBC to Joffre Lakes parking lot

Dry School (Mandatory!)

When and Where?

Monday, September 15^th @ 7pm, Buchanan A-100

What Happens at Dry School?

There will be a brief introduction to glacier travel before we outline what’s to be expected for the weekend. Then, we’ll arrange transportation, stove and tent groups, collect your $5 fee, sell prussik cords, lend out VOC gear (max of 4 items each), and finally we’ll teach a few rope skills that will come in handy on the weekend.

What do I Need to Bring?

Glacier 1 students and other wishing to practice crevasse rescue, please bring your harnesses, biners and prussiks.

IMPORTANT: Bring your boots and crampons to ensure they are adjusted correctly if you have not done so previously or are unsure.

Glacier 1

This course is for glacier novices. Instructors will teach the basic glacier skills such as:

• Roped travel
• Self arrest
• Crevasse rescue
• Knots

Instructors

Please post your name here along with any skills you feel comfortable teaching. If you have not been to the instructor meeting, show up an hour ahead of the dry school. There is a limit on the number of instructors as well, to be determined.

1. Line (self arrest, crevasse rescue, bootaxe belay:-)
2. Roland Burton (ice axe, route finding, "mob" rescue.)

1. Madeleine (self arrest, bucket belay, bootaxe belay, walking with crampons/ice axe)
2. Matthew Carroll (everything except "mob" rescue)

1. Lara Thompson (self arrest, roped glacier travel/crampons, crevasse rescue, belays, etc)
2. Veenstra (ice axe/crampon use, ropes, knots, crevasse rescue, anchors, belays, whatever)

1. Chris P (routefinding, ropes & knots, crevasse rescue)
2. Ben

Participants

FULL, please add your name to the waiting list.

1. Allison Boothe
2. Cheryl Whiting
3. Colin Vincent
4. Christina Duff
5. Caleb Scott
6. Bob Lai (with Chris P)
7. Laura Morrison
8. Ignacio Rozada
9. Karolina Hanula (I have a 2 person tent and can share with someone)
10. Agathe
11. Alexandra K
12. Colin Pither
13. Lewis Kitchen
14. Craig Tomsett
15. Michael Duncan
16. Renee Bellefeuille
17. Sarah Long
18. Heike Blankermann
19. Ashlee Jollymore
20. Frances Sharpe
21. Eliza Boyce
22. Jeremy Sklad
23. Laura Catton
24. Reilly Wood
25. Martin Pajchel
26. Elissa Smith
27. Ryan Stroeder
28. Will Bowden
29. Bryant DeRoy
30. Allie Strell
31. Ernesto Elias-Nieland
32. Matt Osler

Limit set at 32 students for G1. FULL, please add your name to the waiting list.

Waiting List

Priority will be accorded to first people in the following list if any participants above drop. Please only put your name down once on this page, you can't sign up for both G1 and G2. If you are qualified for G2, you are not suitable for G1.

Come to Dry School!!! Waitlist people can usually be accomodated at Dry School.

1. Byron Taylor-Conboy
2. Ilia Slobodov
3. Ben Webb
4. Paul Lanfranchi
5. Mike Harrhy
6. Tamaryn Storm Hawker
7. Eric Deal
   
8. tif

Glacier 2 (Joffree lakes)

This course is for people who have taken Glacier 1 or have previous glacier skills, but aren't fully comfortable route finding on a glacier. This group will work on more advanced skills or climb a nearby peak with an experienced leader. WE WILL BE GOING TO A DIFFERENT LOCATION FROM G1

Instructors

Please post your name here along with any skills you feel comfortable teaching.

There will be an instructor meeting TBA. There is a limit on the number of instructors as well, to be determined.

1. Scott W
2. Matthieu Sturzenegger (I could help for G1 instead if more instructors are needed there!)
3. Tim B
4. Bram v.S.

Participants

FULL, please add your name to the waiting list.

1. Dan Eagen
2. Ran Z
3. Evan M
4. Anne W
5. Eric Escobar
6. Marcin
7. Gili Rosenberg
8. Jasmine Mc.. I have a car... Might that bump me up?  :)
9. Meghan Anderson
10. Anton B
11. Gordon Wetzstein
12. Lee Wasilenko
13. Greta Raymant
14. Conrad Koziol
15. Pawel

Limit is 16 for G2. FULL, please add your name to the waiting list.

Waiting List

Priority will be accorded to first people in the following list if any participants above drop. Please only put your name down once on this page, you can't sign up for both G1 and G2. If you are qualified for G2, you are not suitable for G1.

1. 
   
2. 
   
3. 
   
4. 
   
5. 
   

Glacier 1 Vehicles

Drivers please post your names here along with your vehicle capacity and departure info. If you have one, great. If not, no worries, rides will be arranged at DRY SCHOOL.

• Name (X spots) (Time of Departure from Vancouver - Time of Arrival to Vancouver)

1. 
   
2. 
   
3. 
   

Colin Vincent (4 passenger spots, 8.3 midget spots) (wang out/in time TBD)

1. Agathe L
2. Christina D
3. Caleb S
4. Alex K

Michael Duncan (4 passenger spots, tight fit though) (leaving time TBD)

1. Renee Bellefeuille
2. Jiyoon Koo
3. Colin Pither

Matt Osler (4 passenger spots, leaving time TBD, depending on interest will pick up and drop off either at Lonsdale Quay OR somwhere along either Granville or Oak St) (note: I'm currently wait listed, ride share subject to getting on the trip)

1. Will Bowden
2. Ryan Stroeder
3. 
   
4. (tight, riding middle back seat)

Roland, Trooper

1. Madeleine
2. Dan Eagen
3. Allison
4. Cheryl Whiting