The annual winter mountaineering trip is ON!

For those of you not familiar with it, we've been taking large club 
trips to hardcore winter destinations for the past 3 years.  We 
generally take some practice trips to Baldy to go over snow climbing 
technique and gear, then everyone trains on their own (see 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8xHjC27YvM for training techniques) to 
get in good shape, and in March, we attempt one or two big peaks, like 
Mt Whitney or Mt Shasta.  The successful Pico de Orizaba climbers from 
last week are all veterans of last year's trips.

Prior technical experience is not necessary, nor is being extremely fit 
(which is good, because I saw how much pizza was consumed at the Banff 
preview).  But you need to have good outdoor sense, be a quick learner, 
and be willing to suffer (especially true if you are out-of-shape). 
Backpacking experience is a big plus; so is having lived in a cold climate.

Why should you come this year?  It may be the last year we have it 
(despite my best efforts, I may actually graduate).  And Sean Tulin, the 
club's "Emperor for Life" and the trips 2008 head leader, is living up 
to his title and coming back to Pasadena for the month of March, after 
graduating here last year and moving to Canada.  And Justus Brevik, the 
club's 2009 head leader, will join us in March when he comes back from 
being stationed at the South pole.


The organizational meeting for the trip is next Thursday, Feb 4th at 8 
PM at the Caltech Y.  No food or drink, sorry.  No need to RSVP

You MUST come to this meeting, unless you have a valid excuse 
(out-of-town, sick with H1N1) or have been on the trip in years past.

Also, if you want to join the trip, you MUST join the special google 
groups email list.  We have created this so as not to bother the main 
list.  After perhaps one more reminder email to the alpineclub list, all 
further emails will be on this google group list.
Sign up:
http://groups.google.com/group/AlpineClubTrip2010

More information is here too:
http://www.its.caltech.edu/~alpine/sierra10.shtml

At the meeting, we will go over what the trips are about, pick a time 
for the Baldy practice trip(s), go over some preliminary information 
needed for the Baldy trips, and answer any questions.  We will probably 
discuss the main objectives (e.g. Whitney), though it's unlikely that 
we'll settle on a date.

Typically, we see 20 to 40 people on the Baldy trip, and of those, about 
15 to 20 come on the more serious trip.

Email me if you have questions.

-Stephen

PS  If you're interested in what we did in year's past, check out this 
year's website mentioned above, and follow its links to previous year's 
trip pages.  Highlights from last year*:
   - Not one, but two bear attacks
   - A 1000' fall down an icy couloir on Mt Shasta
   - Snowcaves
   - Altitude sickness at Iceberg Lake camp
   - Compound femur fracture

* at least 50% of these statements are true


And some stats of the 2007 and 2008 trips:

2007:
- Feb 27-28, overnight "practice trip" to Mt. Baldy.
- March 11th, summit Mt. Whitney.  We divided into two groups:
    one group took one night, and one group took two nights.
    Stats:
	# Climbers: 	15
	# Climbers at summit:	11 or so
	# Fatalities:	0
	# Whiners: 	1 or 2
	# of ropes damaged by crampons: 1
	Highest pack mass to body mass ratio: .7

2008:
- Feb 9-10, overnight "practice trip" to Mt. Baldy.  22 people!
- Feb 15-16, alternate overnight "practice trip to Mt. Baldy.  15 people!
- March 7-9, summit Mt. Whitney. Divided into two groups again.
	# Climbers: 14
	# of climbers who slept in a single snow cave: 7
	# Climbers at summit: 9 or so
	# Fatalities: 0
	# Near Fatalities: very few

- March 21-23, trip to Palisades, divided into two groups.  We summited
Mt. Sill, and the trip was designed to be a bit harder than the Whitney
trip.  Maybe it was a bit too hard:
	# Climbers: 11
	# Climbers at summit, excluding the leaders: 1
	# emergency bivouacs in snow cave by climbers separated from the group: 1
	# Fatalities: low to zero
	# of undergrads who wore a t-shirt when everyone else had on
down-jackets: 1

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