slideshow 1 slideshow 2 slideshow 3

Monthly Program:

Attitude for Altitude: A Smorgasbord of Adventures Above 14,000 feet

published by bill on Sun, 2020-08-02 16:29
Date: 
Tue, 2020-08-25

The August Mountaineers meeting will feature a talk by Michael Altherr entitled “Attitude for Altitude: A Smorgasbord of Adventures Above 14,000 feet.”

The highest point in the contiguous 48 States is Mount Whitney standing at 14,500 feet. It is approximately 1/2 the altitude of the tallest peak on earth, Mt Everest. So, no big deal, right? Yet, there are only approximately 75 named points of prominence in the lower 48 above 14,000 feet: 58 in Colorado, 14 in California, and 2 in Washington State; and climbers are drawn to these prominences like Ulysses to the sirens.

The 14ers provide a plethora of entertainment for both the aspirant and experienced mountaineer under conditions of modest oxygen deprivation. One can enjoy all aspects of climbing from technical rock and snow couloirs, to modest walkups, and ski descents. This presentation will focus on considerations necessary to successfully climb a 14er, where success is defined not by tagging the summit benchmark but by safely returning to your favorite microbrewery to enjoy a fresh pour at the end of the day. The presentation will also feature the personal anecdotes of several Los Alamos Mountaineers’ on 14ers in the lower 48, illustrating the right attitude for the altitude.

Altherr, a former Mountaineers president, has been a club member since 1993. He summited my first 14er in 1974 at the age of 19 after hitch hiking from Chicago to Colorado Springs.

The Mountaineer's monthly meetings are held on the fourth Tuesday of every month. When held in person, that take place in the planetarium of the Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC), 2600 Canyon Rd, Los Alamos, NM 87544. Recent meetings have been held electronically. To register for this meeting, go to https://peecla.z2systems.com/np/clients/peecla/eventRegistration.jsp?eve....

Based on the success of recent electronic meetings, the Mountaineers are considering simulcasting future in-person meetings.

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 7:05pm.   Program to follow.

Past presentations, and occasionally future, can be viewed here.
Visitors are always welcome!  Free refreshments!

 


Get a 2020 Official Mountaineers T-Shirt

To support the Mountaineers spirit in these challenging times, we are pleased to offer our members the latest Mountaineers t-shirt, with a design based on our adventures around the world, shipped to your home anywhere in the US. The design comes in women’s and unisex versions, per the pictures below, in a wicking fabric The shirts cost $20 each. They may be picked up in Los Alamos, or shipped via USPS for $5 per shirt to any address in the US. Because of the circumstances, we cannot accept returns, so we’ve measured the shirts, and they are sized as follows:
      Circumference Height
dimensions in inches # in stock under arms midriff hips collar to waist
Women's
XS 6 28 27 1/2 32 23 1/2
S 6 31 30 34 24 1/2
M 4 32 31 35 24 1/2
L 1 35 34 38 25 1/2
XL 6 37 35 40 25 1/2
Unisex
S 5 34 35 28
M 4 38 1/2 39 28 1/2
L 5 42 42 29
XL 5 44 46 29 1/2

 

Size
Delivery Method

 

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.

 

 

Trip Leaders: Anyone can lead a trip! 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.

  • Half Peak Backpack and Climb

    published by Norbert Ensslin on Fri, 2020-06-26 13:57
    Leader: 
    Norbert Ensslin
    Telephone: 
    505-662-1408
    Date: 
    Fri, 2020-08-07
    Leader Email: 
    Norbert.ensslin@gmail.com
    Difficulty: 
    Moderate
    Technicality: 
    Intermediate
    Are dogs allowed?: 
    Not allowed

    This trip is a short backpack to climb Half Peak over the August 7-9 weekend.  Half Peak is a high Thirteener located in the San Juan mountains near Lake City, and is one of the top 100 peaks in Colorado.  Most of the route is on trails or grassy slopes.  However, the flat summit plateau has cliffs on three sides, and is accessed by scrambling along a narrow Class 2 ridge, with some exposure, on the South side.

  • San Pedro Parks Backpack (3 nights)

    published by bill on Sun, 2020-08-02 16:58
    Leader: 
    Bill Priedhorsky
    Telephone: 
    5054120376
    Date: 
    Fri, 2020-09-04
    Leader Email: 
    bill@priedhorsky.net
    Difficulty: 
    Moderate
    Technicality: 
    Beginner
    Are dogs allowed?: 
    Allowed

    San Pedro Parks is high (~9,500) meadow country at the northwestern edge of the Jemez, with relatively easy hiking, and not a great deal of altitude change once in the parks. I propose to lead a 3-night trip to the heart of this country, making camp along the Rio de las Vacas and exploring out from there. The hike to camp, along the Palomas Trail, should be about 4 miles and 1500 feet of total altitude gain. From there, we can explore along the Anastacio Trail and the Vacas Trail (part of the Continental Divide Trail) for day trips even deeper into the Parks.

  • Ladder Canyon, llama drop trip, October 10-October 18, 2020

    published by bill on Thu, 2020-06-11 20:47
    Leader: 
    Bill Priedhorsky
    Telephone: 
    5054120376
    Date: 
    Sat, 2020-10-10
    Leader Email: 
    bill@priedhorsky.net
    Difficulty: 
    Strenuous
    Technicality: 
    Intermediate
    Are dogs allowed?: 
    Not allowed

    In the wake of a successful spring 2020 llama Canyon trip, our fall 2020 trip will try again for the Ladder Canyon area, which was too dry for camping in fall 2019. We have not yet visited Ladder Canyon, which lies beyond the First and Main area and above the Escalante River. First and Main was our fall 2006 and fall 2011 destination.

  • Moab Bike/Hike/Explore November 7-15, 2020

    published by bill on Sun, 2020-02-23 20:57
    Leader: 
    Bill Priedhorsky
    Telephone: 
    (505) 412-0376
    Date: 
    Sat, 2020-11-07
    Leader Email: 
    bill@priedhorsky.net
    Difficulty: 
    Moderate
    Technicality: 
    Intermediate
    Are dogs allowed?: 
    Not allowed

    I would like to announce the twelfth edition of our successful hike/explore/bike trips to Moab. We have been going most Novembers since 2008, and every time has been a great success. The 2014 trip report can be found at http://lamountaineers.org/node/479#comment-57.

  • Selway River raft trip July 14-19, 2021

    published by bill on Sat, 2020-01-11 15:59
    Leader: 
    Bill Priedhorsky
    Telephone: 
    505 412 0376
    Date: 
    Wed, 2021-07-14
    Leader Email: 
    bill@priedhorsky.net
    Difficulty: 
    Moderate
    Technicality: 
    Advanced
    Are dogs allowed?: 
    Not allowed

    Planning ahead, I have booked the entire 11-person trip for a 5-night descent of the Selway River, a 47-mile outing that starts in southeastern Montana. We will travel with Hughes Expeditions, who have impressed us with the quality of their service on the Middle Fork of the Salmon, for example on our 2016 trip . Per Hughes' writeup, "The Selway River Trip is a premier mountain wilderness, whitewater, camping, and fly fishing trip that flows through beautiful forested canyons.

Theme by Danetsoft and Danang Probo Sayekti inspired by Maksimer