Los Alamos Mountaineers
Monthly Program:
Canadian Arctic Exploration
Please join us Tuesday, September 26 at the Los Alamos Nature Center for a presentation by Bill Priedhorsky and Melissa Bartlett, as they share their experience in the Canadian Arctic.
Having seen seals, penguins, icebergs, and eternal snow of the Antarctic and southern end of the world, Bill Priedhorsky and Melissa Bartlett headed in the opposite direction, due north from New Mexico, to explore the Canadian Arctic. They stayed at Bathurst Inlet Lodge, a historic if rustic facility at the northern end of mainland Canada, about 40 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Majority ownership in the lodge is held by the local Inuit, who took quiet pleasure in showing off their special corner of the world. A few weeks before arrival, the inlet was frozen shore to shore. But by the time we arrived, temperatures were peaking close to 80 F, and the permafrost tundra was in bloom.Called the barren lands, we explored the wealth of tiny tundra plants, and lush grasses that grow in the summer and battled the beastly mosquitoes. We saw the amazing geology of a Rift Valley - the inlet - that varied wildly from one island to the next. There were white wolves, muskox, moose. and caribou roaming the tundra, grizzly bears to be avoided, vast expanses of uninhabited space 300 miles from the nearest road, and the biggest fish that Bill had caught in his life That the Inuit could survive in this treeless landscape with only bone, hide, sinew, rocks and ice as resources spoke to their adaptability and sheer toughness. Bathurst is a special part of the world, one unlikely to remain the same as the gold and diamond wealth of Nunatuk, Canada’s newest territory, is opened up.
Social at 6:45, reports of recent and upcoming trips at 7:00pm. Program at 7:30pm.
Ongoing Events
Monthly Public Meeting and Presentation:
Normally held in the planetarium of the Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC)
on the fourth Tuesday of each month
Social at 6:45. Reports of recent and upcoming trips at 7:00pm. Program at 7:30pm.
Past presentations, and occasionally future, can be viewed here.
Visitors are always welcome! Free refreshments!
Future Club Speakers: In addition to frequent presentations by nationally known adventurers, we love to hear from our own members....not that some of you aren't in that group. A presentation gets you a free club membership and dinner at the restaurant of your choice in Los Alamos.
LAM Member Presentations Wanted! The LAM Board would like to encourage our members to provide more of our monthly presentations. We understand well that club members are an active lot, with a wealth of activities in their repertoire that can and have been inspiring to new and old members alike. We have often focused our monthly presentations on the elite of the outdoor adventure world, and perhaps created the undesired effect of squelching the voices of our own members who participate in frequent beautiful and exciting adventures of their own. Although our own activities are not always "world class", they are representative of what we "weekend" athletes can and do accomplish. We want many of our programs to inspire the "I can do that" attitude in our members, not merely entertain. Shock and awe may have their rightful place, but inspiration to participate and shine is our true goal.
Trip Leaders: Post your trip by logging in and then going here. If you do not have an account, contact the webmaster. For overnight trips, please ensure that membership waivers for participants are current and recorded by the club Membership Chairperson prior to your trip. Non-members may participate in day trips. All club sponsored trips require the trip waiver. After the trip, please scan and email a PDF of the waiver to the Trip Coordinator.
Trip Leader Awards: The club will recognize trip leaders as described here.
GMRS / FRS Radio Usage on Club Trips: The Los Alamos Mountaineers encourage you to carry portable "family" radios as a safety measure on appropriate LAM trips, and urge participants to agree on a contact channel at the beginning of the trip. As a default, if no channel has been selected, LAM suggests channel 3.14. These three first digits of "pi" might be easily remembered in this scientific community.
Borrow Equipment: We have a limited amount of mountaineering equipment for loan (e.g., avalanche transceivers). Contact our Equipment Manager listed on this page.
Climbing School Update
Registration is now open! Go to this page to register.
The climbing school is full!
(See Detailed Schedule for more information.)
The class fills quickly with only 25 seats, so early registration is recommended.
This includes 6 Thursday nights, and 6 Saturdays; some 36-40 hours of instruction. The Los Alamos Mountaineers Climbing School is a great way to learn about technical rock climbing and mountaineering. The school should offer a good experience to:
- beginning climbers with no climbing experience,
- new climbers who want to gain experience,
- climbers who need outdoor experience and instruction, and
- anyone wanting a chance to tap into the expertise of some of the area's most experienced climbers.
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