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- Section Chair - Lil Lezarre
Vice Chair - Craig Hartmetz
Secretary - David Kymlicka
Treasurer - Bernie Jess
Events Director - Vacant
Winter Programs Director - Eric Coulthard
Summer Programs Director - Barry Anderson
Leadership Programs Director – Foster Karcha
Climbing Wall Programs Director - Kathy Hendren
Safety Director - Rob Denson
Access & Environment Manager - Dana Harper
Director of Communications Webmaster - Rick Checkland
Breeze & Communications - Steven Rockarts
Membership Director - Grant Benevides
Chair Climbing & Safety Committee - Duncan McColl
Centennial Committee Chair - Neil Bosch
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The Breeze is the newsletter of the Edmonton Section of the Alpine Club of Canada and is e-mailed to all section members. This newsletter is published monthly, and serves as a vehicle to inform section members of upcoming events and issues of concern. Submissions of trip reports, photos, technical articles, opinion pieces and announcements are highly encouraged!
The Breeze accepts commercial advertising. A variety of ad sizes are available. Rates vary depending on size and number of insertions. We run personal advertising and notices for section members free of charge.
Inquiries and submissions can be e-mailed to stevenrockarts@gmail.com. We reserve the right to edit material submitted for publication. The opinions presented in published articles are solely those of their authors.
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Chair's Message – [“Lil Speak”]
Welcome back, mother nature is already giving us teasers so we can start preparing for the next season. I’ve enjoyed my summer as always & got my fair share of ‘soul food’ from our rockies but really excited for winter as that’s my favorite season. Join us at this Tuesday’s General Meeting for ‘What Did You Do Last Summer’. Everyone bring your pictures on a stick and tell us about your adventures from this summer. The audience will vote on the best story and you can win a prize. Did you know we also have beer and chips at our GM’s? Beer is a $2 donation to the club and I always try to have your favorite.
We’ve already had our first BoD meeting for this season and a couple changes happening on the exec level:
- Welcome Barry Anderson as ‘Summer Program Director’.
- Dave Kymlicka is stepping down so the ‘secretary’ position is available for November, our new fiscal year. This position entails preparing the minutes from our four meetings/year. Please contact me if you’d like to join our board and this is a great introductory position as it isn’t a huge time commitment. Thank you Dave for your years of volunteering to the club, from trip leader, instructor on courses to board member. ‘Pub Night’ was Dave’s idea and he’ll continue to host it.
- Also thank you to Rick Checkland for stepping up to the position of ‘chair’ which will leave ‘Webmaster and Public Relations’ position vacant. Again everyone let me know if you’re interested in joining our board.
- I will be changing seats from chair to ‘Events Director’. I’m looking forward to focussing on improving our monthly general meetings and of course I’ll still be having fun with organizing all our other regular events. I am also looking for help with organizing WIM, WOI & SIM. Duties for these courses are taking attendance at class & updating the spreadsheet with who paid & how. I’ve attended these classes for the past 5 years & I take away something from every session so great opportunity for you to learn more about these activities. Let me know if you’re interested.
Trip Leaders have you heard of ‘The North Face Course’? It’s an excellent opportunity for you to advance your skills and it’s subsidized. Application dead line is November 1 so send in your application now.
Also looking for judges for our photo contest in November, contact me for more information.
Start planning your winter trips and attend the Trip Planning Meeting October 7. Are you interested in leading trips but don’t know where to start? This is a great place to meet trip leaders and join them as ‘helpers’ and start on your leadership road. Trips are the core of this club and we offer a variety of incentives for leaders to continually improve their skills.
Well I think that’s it for my blurb for this month. Looking forward to seeing you at Tuesday’s GM and seeing ‘what you did last summer’.
Lil Lezarre
Section Chair
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Introductory Scrambles Leadership Course
By: Jay Wende
On June 7-8, Edmonton put on an introductory scrambles leadership course for six members with ACMG/IFMGA Guide Cyril Shokopoles. This course was done in the field. The first day had us summiting two sub peaks of Earnest Ross Peak in David Thompson Country ("the twins"), and on the second day we summited Tangle Peak, in the Columbia Icefields.
While this course certainly didn't gloss over scrambling skills, the emphasis was on leadership. Cyril was an experienced and capable mentor in this regard, and for all of us, began to pave the way towards the long road of learning the art of group leadership. Leadership skills like pacing, assessing risk, rescue procedures, and what a leader should carry were all covered fairly in depth. Interestingly, the course did not really use maps at all (although we did have maps), but rather showed us how to read the terrain, look for landmarks, commit the landscape to memory, and assess the local flora to help determine the best ascent and descent routes. Both days had us going down unpopular descent routes, so we could practice and develop our route finding skills. We took a serious look at why a leader should bring ropes on a scrambling trip, and how techniques such as short roping and belaying could help mitigate risk. Even on this trip, while "the Twins" would normally have been dry this time of year, when we came to the second sub peak, we found it covered in snow, which turned the second peak more into a mountaineering objective than a scrambling one, requiring a belay.
All of us had a great time. The course had us out climbing peaks, learning scrambling specific skills that will enhance our enjoyment of our own trips, and gave us all a new perspective on leadership. When the course comes around again I would highly recommend it.
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General Meeting - Tuesday, September 16 at 7:30PM
'WHAT I DID LAST SUMMER'
Bring your pictures on a stick & tell your story - win a prize for the best story as voted by the audience
There's no better way to spend a Tuesday night
enjoying beer & chips & talking about our mountain adventures
Old Strathcona Performing Arts Centre
7:30-9:00
8426 - Gateway Boulevard NW
Google Maps Link: https://goo.gl/maps/8QhB7
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Winter Trip Planning Meeting
Tuesday, October 7 at 6:30pm - 9:00pm
It's time to start planning our winter adventures: come and join us for a trip-planning meeting. Want to lead a trip? Bring your ideas, or brainstorm with others. We supply the munchies and bevies.
Open to:
All ACC-Edmonton Section trip leaders (old and new) wanting to brainstorm/submit trips, and past trip leaders.
Boston Pizza Calgary Trail
4804 Calgary Trail NW,
Edmonton, Alberta
T6H5H5
Google Maps Link: https://goo.gl/maps/zv9EL
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Thanksgiving in Tonquin Valley
October 11th-13th
The Annual work party is on after a few problems with the Edith Cavell road. Come help clean the Wates-Gibson hut (http://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/huts/wates-gibson-hut) in return for a turkey dinner, the company of fellow Edmonton ACC members and time to hike around the beautiful Tonquin Valley.
Itinerary:
- Saturday walk in 16 km.
- Sunday morning clean the cabin, Sunday afternoon hike in the area. Turkey dinner Sunday evening.
- Monday walk out and drive home.
Food except for lunches supplied (you cover costs and help carry)
Contact Rick Checkland for details at: rick.checkland@gmail.com or 780 721 8702
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The North Face Winter Leadership Course - January 16th-24th
The Edmonton Section is currently accepting applications for The North Face Winter Leadership held out of the Lake Louise Alpine Centre January 16th-24. In next month's breeze we will have a trip report from last year's TNF Winter participant. Here is a brief description of the TNF from the National website:
Volunteers are an integral component of Alpine Club of Canada programs – organizing a variety of safe, fun and educational activities for ACC members across Canada.
Twice annually (winter and summer), The North Face and the Alpine Club of Canada offer courses for activity organizers from all ACC Sections, in recognition of the leadership training needs of these tireless and invaluable volunteers. The principle objective of these courses is to empower ACC volunteers by enhancing their ‘soft’ leadership skill sets. Through alpine environments and technical travel, TNF leadership courses emphasize the ‘human-factor’ in leaders’ decision-making, applicable to ACC activities across Canada.
Participant fees are subsidized by The North Face and the Alpine Club of Canada and a commitment to organize Section activities is expected of all participants.
The focus of this course will be to identify and exercise key leadership skills in a winter environment. Through adventure, planning, and practice, the objective is to develop each individual’s capabilities, covering a broad range of leadership skills, with emphasis on the following*:
- group dynamics, interaction and management;
- route planning, selection and finding (including assessing avalanche terrain);
- improvised rescue systems and emergency situation management.
For more information please visit: http://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/adventures/leadership-training/
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Mark Your Calendars
Pub Night - October 1st, 2014
A chance to meet your fellow ACC members, plan trips, discuss adventures, techniques, and gear. Great opportunity for beginners to ask any questions about our club, and for experienced members to plan new adventures. At least one member from our club executive will be present from 7:00 - 9:00pm, to answer any questions you may have about the club, and to reserve a bar stool (or two) for the occasion.
Location
The Pourhouse Bier Bistro
10354 82 Avenue NW
Edmonton, Alberta
http://www.pourhouseonwhyte.com
Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/a0LbV
Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival (VIMFF) Best of Fest - September 26th and 27th
There will be two awesome evenings (same shows both nights) of 8 to 12 films about mountain sports, culture, and adventure! Highlighting climbing, cycling, kayaking and skiing, these films will blow you away with their riveting content and beautiful visuals! Tickets are $20 in advance and are available at Track 'N Trail. The shows start at 7:30 p.m. at the Royal Alberta Museum (12845-102 Ave).
Mountain Guides Ball - October 25th
The 25th annual Mountain Guides Ball will take place on Saturday, October 25 at the Rimrock Resort Hotel in Banff. Patrons Mike and Heather Mortimer invite you to celebrate an evening of mountain culture with old and new friends. Meet the new Mountain Guides, buy mountain gear and art at the auction, enjoy a delicious multi-course meal and dance into the wee hours to TR3. Tickets are now on sale—buy yours at alpineclubofcanada.ca
Reel Rock 9 - October 28th, 7:00pm
In its ninth year, the REEL ROCK Film Tour features a special presentation of the highly-anticipated feature-length film “Valley Uprising.”The greatest untold story of American counterculture is that of the Yosemite Valley rock climbers. For the past fifty years, Yosemite’s massive cliffs have drawn explorers and madmen to leave materialism behind and venture onto the high, lonesome granite.The larger-than-life characters of Yosemite carved out an “extreme bohemian” lifestyle in the Valley, living on red wine and boiled potatoes, clashing with National Park authorities, and pioneering the boldest climbs on Earth. The torch has been passed down across three generations of climbers; through rivalries, tragedies and triumphs, the art of Yosemite climbing has advanced beyond anyone’s imagination. Tickets available at Track 'N Trail. The shows start at 7:00 p.m. at Metro Cinema (8712 109 Street).
Banff Mountain Festival - November 1st-9th
Tickets are on sale for the 2014 Banff Mountain Festival. See amazing films and check out the latest books on mountain adventure, culture and the environment. Hear what the likes of Yvon Chouinard, David Lama, Will Gadd, Raphael Slawinski, Jen Olson and many others have to say! ACC members get discounts on certain tickets.
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