Los Alamos Mountaineers
Monthly Program:
Mountain Climbing in Mexico
The May 27 Mountaineers meeting will feature a talk by Paul Bradley. Paul writes: “After 30 years of climbing mountains, mostly in New Mexico and Colorado, I finally decided to climb some mountains significantly higher than the 14,440 feet of Mount Elbert in Colorado. I also knew that I was more interested in going with a group rather than making all the arrangements myself. I settled on climbing three of the big volcanoes in Mexico, as they are not that far away and not that difficult technically. In my talk, I describe the trip with an emphasis on the climbs of La Malinche (14,567 feet), Iztaccihuatl (17,160 feet) and Orizaba (at 18,491 feet, the highest peak in Mexico). Once I saw a relatively inexpensive trip with a reputable company, I signed up. The trip was thoroughly enjoyable and it was a delight not to have to worry much about logistics except for my personal gear. I highly recommend this approach to climbing in other countries.”
Paul Bradley grew up in Texas, earning a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and M.S. in Physics from Texas A&M University and then a Ph.D. in Astronomy from the University of Texas. On his first trip to Colorado in 1987, he knew he wanted to live in the mountains, and when offered a postdoc at Los Alamos, that was “close enough”. He has lived in Los Alamos since 1993 and worked at the Lab until retiring in August 2024, 31 years to the day after starting. He has climbed 199 of the highest 200 peaks in Colorado and numerous peaks in New Mexico and other places. With more time in retirement, he plans to do more exotic mountain climbing, finally summit Peak Fifteen, finishing visiting the 50 states and taking various trips around the world with his wife, Cynthia.
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 will be posted once they are available.
Paul relaxing in Ruby Lake Basin after climbing Animas Mountain in August 2024. Peak Fifteen, Turret Peak and Pigeon Peak are in the background.
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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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