Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2007 13:05:23 -0700 From: Jared Brown To: alpine-club AT lists.Stanford.EDU, climbing AT lists.Stanford.EDU, soinstructors AT lists.stanford.edu Subject: Intro To Trad Leading BCW The Stanford Alpine Club is proud to announce the Intro To Traditional Leading Backcountry Workshop. Want to learn how to lead climb and get up amazing multipitch climbs in Yosemite and Tahoe?  Have you been climbing a bit outside, but want to go beyond toproping?  Well, then the lead workshop is for you! The course consists of both in-class lectures, and weekend long trips to practice the skills in the field. The lectures, which will be held Thursday April 19th and Thursday May 3rd from 7:00 - 9:00 pm (location TBA), are open to public and anyone interested is encouraged to come. Basic exposure to top-roping climbing is recommended for attendees as a lot of those basics will not be covered in the class. The weekend trips will be pure hands-on application of what is taught in the lectures - you'll get tons of experience placing gear, building trad anchors, mock leading, and possibly do some real leading.  The trips have a limited enrollment and anyone interested must apply via the application below. There will be two weekend-long trips, April 21-22 and May 5-6. Applications are due 5 pm, Thursday April 12th. The field component costs $45 for SAC members, and $60 for non-members, which will cover group equipment for the trips (non-refundable).  Gas and food are not included in this fee. Students may also join SAC for $15 for spring and summer (or $60 total for the class and membership). Students should own or rent their own harnesses, shoes, helmet and belay device (available to rent from SAC). LECTURE TOPICS The lecture topics will likely include: basics of multi-pitch climbing, including advanced belaying, rappelling, communication; traditional leading, including standard types of protection, multi-anchor belay stations, rope management, efficiency; survey of self-rescue. FIELD TOPICS Field topics to be chosen from: placement of protection, anchor analysis and design, mock leading, actual leading, efficiency drills, following instructors on multi-pitch routes, and basic self-rescue. FIELD PREREQUISITES Minimum prerequisites for the trips include: ability to follow unseen 5.7 climbs on first attempt, at least nominal experience with cleaning or placing trad climbing gear (i.e. cams, nuts, hexes), self-sufficiency for car camping, and experience with basic crack climbing. Beyond the minimum requirements, experience building toprope anchors with trees, rocks, and bolts is a plus, experience placing gear or building gear anchors is a plus, experience with sport climbing is a plus, and experience with multi-pitch following is also plus.  If you feel that you are underqualified, we strongly encourage you to apply anyway. For more information, please contact Jared Brown (jwbrown AT stanford.edu) or Chris Chan (cgchan AT stanford.edu). APPLICATION Application is due Thursday April 12th by 5pm. Please email completed application to Jared Brown (jwbrown AT stanford.edu). Name: Email: Phone number: Age: Gender: SAC Member?: Stanford affiliation: Time left at Stanford University: Can you commit to the following classes?     Thurs Apr 19th, 7-9pm  and Thurs May 3rd, 7-9pm Can you commit to the following weekend trips?     Apr 21st-22nd and May 5th-6th Do you own a car that you can drive on trips? How many does it seat with gear? If you were offered a position on the course, would you definitely accept? Why do you want to learn to lead climb? Note: we don't expect you to have done everything below - we just want to get an idea of what skill level people we'll be teaching. Explain your experience leading trad: Explain your experience leading sport: Explain your experience following trad: Explain your experience building anchors for topropes: Explain your experience placing nuts, cams, hexes, other gear: Explain your experience rappelling: List your three hardest outdoor routes that have you led or TR'ed. Include two crack climbs if you have done them. What climbing gear do you own (like harness, shoes, rope, cams, etc). Summarize your outdoor experience not already covered above: Tell us a funny joke or climbing story, or really anything funny (don't skip this part - if you don't put anything here, we're going to assume you're lame and not want to spend two of our weekends with you): Anything else you want to tell us? Again, if you have questions, e-mail Jared Brown (jwbrown AT stanford.edu) or Chris Chan (cgchan AT stanford.edu).