Los Alamos Mountaineers
Monthly Program:
Searching for David Roberts in Navajo Country
The June 24 Mountaineers meeting will feature a talk by Norbert Ensslin. Over many years, some members of the Mountaineers have been exploring the maze of sandstone domes and slot canyons surrounding Navajo Mountain. This rugged area does not get many visitors, except for backpackers on the trail to Rainbow Bridge. But it has a rich history of discovery, adventure, and prospecting. In 1863, the Navajo chief Hoskinini took his band into these canyons for 5 years to hide from US troops. In 2013, author David Roberts and his friend Greg Child set out to find Hoskinini’s hiding place, as described in one of his books on the Southwest. Roberts did not say exactly where they had gone, but gave some tantalizing clues. This inspired us to undertake a series of trips to see if we could locate where they had been. This turned out to be a fun, complex puzzle, with many missteps, but some successful discoveries. In this program, Norbert will describe this search and show photos of what we found, along with parts of the story that still elude us.
Norbert Ensslin joined the Mountaineers in 1973, and has been active in many Club activities since then. In 2008 and 2023, he gave programs on the history of the Mountaineers.
We welcome all to this Mountaineers’ meeting, held on the usual fourth Tuesday of the month. The social hour, with cookies, begins at 6:45 PM and the program at 7:00 PM. The presentation will be in-person at Los Alamos Nature Center; the slides will be live-streamed on Zoom. Registration is required to Zoom and recommended for in-person – we would love to see your smiling face. Registration details are at https://peecla.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/peecla/event.jsp?event=57039&.
Some of the rugged canyon country at the base of Navajo Mountain, which the Mountaineers searched for where David Roberts had been. How hard could it be?
Climbing School Update
Registration is Open for Los Alamos Mountaineers Climbing School
The Los Alamos Mountaineers are thrilled to announce that they will be offering a climbing school following last year’s successful revival of the school, in conjunction with Mountain Skills Rock Climbing Adventures of Taos. Details can be found on their climbing school page, here .
Mountain Skills, supported by Mountaineers volunteers, will teach rock climbing with a safety first attitude, including movement on rock, belaying, rappelling, cleaning protective gear, and removing anchors, with extensive on-rock practice. The course objective is such that successful students should develop the skills needed to participate in top roping, follow a leader in a multi-pitch trad climb, and be able to climb or descend moderate technical obstacles in unplanned backcountry situations using improvised gear (e.g. rope and carabiners). No previous rock climbing experience is required.
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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.
Now offering hybrid meetings with in-person and zoom options! Sign up for each talk at the Monthly Program page.
Social at 6:45. Reports of recent and upcoming trips at 7:05pm. Program to follow.
Visitors are always welcome! Free refreshments!Past presentations, and occasionally future, can be viewed here
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.
Borrow Equipment: We have a limited amount of mountaineering equipment for loan (e.g., avalanche transceivers). Contact our Equipment Manager listed on this page.
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