Fresh after the return of a bunch of BCMC members from the slopes of Mt. Logan, we have another group of members on their way to Peru!

Club members Bill Maurer, Sabine Decamp,  and Andrei Smertin are departing for Lima just a few hours from now - on Sunday June 20.  They have a number of beautiful peaks planned for their journey of over a month.  That’s right - they’ll be gone until July 22!

You can view their plans, and keep up as Bill updates their journal here: http://everest.millsoft.ca/maurer/2010/Peru/

All the best to the whole group - we’re sure they’ll come back with some amazing memories, and we look forward to a great presentation at an upcoming social!

Isn’t it sometimes difficult to find a partner? Club member Werner Grzimek is putting together a Partner List for Climbers, Scramblers and Hikers - for BCMC members only!

Via his list you can find:

More about the list:

• Members will be advertising for what specific routes they are looking for partners.
• Last year participants of our Alpine Climber List advertised over 50 alpine routes they search partners for.
• Now this list is extended to find partners for all different above activities.

There is a section where Hikers/Scramblers/Climbers can look for partners for their climbing/hiking vacations e.g.; Rockies 2 weeks in August -or- 10 days Kayak/Climbing trip up Desolation Sound in early July -or- what ever you want to do as a private trip.

Werner currently puts the technicalities for the list together and plans to get the first list out in May….likely via Google Docs.

Keep in mind that while this list is for BCMC members to connect with one another, none of the trips are BCMC sanctioned or part of the Club’s schedule.

If you want to be on the Summer Partner List contact Werner now via his email  wernergr@shaw.ca

At the end of this month, community organizers in Pemberton are putting on a sports festival - multiple mountain sports assembled under one umbrella. The festival takes place from May 21-29, in (obviously!) Pemberton. The organizers are planning to include activities from paragliding, to kayaking, to bouldering and climbing, to mountaineering.

You can find more information here.

A group of 6 BCMC members is on their way to Whitehorse, to begin an adventure that will, hopefully culminate in a successful summit bid on Canada’s highest peak - 5959 m tall Mount Logan.

You can find out what’s happening, and follow the continuing adventures of Gerry, Radmila, Dave, Dan, Diana and Bob at: logan2010.com.  Mary Hearnden plans to update the blog there as often as she can (if she’s not getting updates from Dan by sat phone, she’ll make stuff up - sure to be entertaining.  You can also track their progress on the Spot page.  Enjoy it all vicariously from your armchair!!!

The Annual General Meeting of the Fed is coming up soon!

The meeting will be held Saturday, 5 June 2010, in Port Alberni.

This is a full weekend event to be hosted by our member club, the Alberni Valley Outdoor Club, who can provide various options for accomodation, such as billets, camping etc.  Usually we meet for a potluck social on Friday night and the actual AGM is all Saturday morning.   After lunch there are planning workshops followed by dinner and a presentation. There are options for various hikes on Sunday for those so inclined.

Rides can be arranged for those who are interested in attending.   Come to learn about the FMCBC’s projects relating to recreation and conservation matters and meet members from our 20 member clubs.

For more information, contact Brian Wood - bjwood [at] telus [dot] net

Hi all,

The Federation of Mountain Clubs of British Columbia (FMCBC, or “The Fed”) will soon be sending out the Spring/Summer issue of its newsletter “Cloudburst”. They are looking for submissions from members (all BCMC members are members of The Fed as well) as soon as possible - by May4 is the goal.

If you have anything you’d like to submit, please contact admin.manager@mountainclubs.org

You can start watching for the next edition of Cloudburst in your mailbox or your inbox around the end of May, or start of June.

As of Tuesday morning, March 30, the Essential Climbing program is full.  Only one spot remains in the Lead program, and 5 places are still open in the Basic Climbing program.

We will still be placing names on a wait list, in case people have to drop out, so make sure you contact us as soon as possible to get into a program, or on to the wait list.  Click here for program descriptions and contact information.

The BC Mountaineering Club is pleased to offer club-based, mentor-organized climbing programs for new and current members!  These programs are offered ONCE per year.

This year, we are offering three levels of instruction, beginning with Basic Top-roping, for those looking to get comfortable with climbing outdoors.

Next is Essential Rockclimbing, for those who have done a little bit of outdoor climbing, and want to familiarize themselves with setting up a top-rope anchor, rappelling, and following a lead climber.

Finally, we offer Lead Climbing, available to current club members only, for those who have solid outdoor top-roping skills plus a season’s experience.

Click here to view more information, including contact information for the organizers.

Longtime Honorary Club Member Anders Ourom started a discussion of early climbing in Squamish in the online forum SuperTopo a while back.

Climbing at Squamish in the 1970s: http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=668163

Anders posts under the name “Mighty Hiker”.   Others have added their own photos and stories to the thread.  Two are Tami Knight (”Tami”) and David Harris (”Ghost”), but a variety of others have contributed.

The thread is quite long now - over 450 posts - and has many photos.  It’s more story than history oriented, but there is definitely a historical aspect.  Anders thought it would be fun to get some stories and history out, see what interest there was, and get some feedback.

Please, have a look at the link above, and read up on some of the fascinating history of local climbing, and if you have anything to add, don’t hesitate to join in the discussion!

The Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival (VIMFF) is back again this year with its Fall Speaker Series, featuring Zoom on Pakistan on Tuesday, December 1 at the Centennial Theatre at 2300 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver. The presentation will explore this complex country from a variety of perspectives, each with a unique take on what makes it so unique.
Tickets are $13 advance and $15 at the door. Advance tickets are available on-line at www.vimff.org or through the Centennial theatre box office 604 984-4484. Doors open for a reception at 6:30pm with Pakistani food, drinks and music (sitar and tabla) and the show starts at 7:30pm. More information is available at www.vimff.org.

The show will feature multimedia presentations and films from Pakistan by world-class speakers. They will celebrate the natural beauties of the Northern Regions of Pakistan, the hospitality of the locals, climbing and other outdoor adventures, and the drive to bring peace to the other regions troubled by political unrest.