KaskadskyjKozak Posted May 3, 2006 Posted May 3, 2006 The Mounties Basic Course doesn't teach anything about rock anchors. They teach belay anchors, and from there you could graduate and take the crags course or the intermediate course, or just buy John Long's book, and learn with other, more experienced climbers
jfreeburg Posted May 3, 2006 Posted May 3, 2006 One more opinion on this. I'm in the Mounties intermediate class and took the basic class last year. I've liked learning in a structured setting and meeting new people but I feel like most of the instructors love to talk at you and not to you. They don't ask many questions about your previous climbing experience or why you did something, instead they just talk to you as if you don't know much. I don't know if this is the same for all branches but it's an area where Everett could use some improvement. Also, technique is not covered in much detail in the intermediate class. It's a lot about placing pro safely, not about becoming a better climber necessarily. Just a few thoughts there.
RuMR Posted May 3, 2006 Posted May 3, 2006 ...that's cuz they basically suck as pure technical rockclimbers, generally speaking...
catbirdseat Posted May 3, 2006 Posted May 3, 2006 Rudy, there are a few that are good rock climbers, but in the main you are correct. Seattle has some really good rock climbers like Steve Firebaugh and others.
Gary_Yngve Posted May 3, 2006 Posted May 3, 2006 They teach belay anchors, and from there you could graduate and take the crags course or the intermediate course, or just buy John Long's book, and learn with other, more experienced climbers As I said before, no rock anchors. It doesn't take a genius to girth-hitch a tree. A basic student isn't going to have a clue what SRENE means.
KaskadskyjKozak Posted May 3, 2006 Posted May 3, 2006 They teach belay anchors, and from there you could graduate and take the crags course or the intermediate course, or just buy John Long's book, and learn with other, more experienced climbers As I said before, no rock anchors. It doesn't take a genius to girth-hitch a tree. A basic student isn't going to have a clue what SRENE means. bullshit. they teach more than girth hitching a tree. and they teach SRENE
RuMR Posted May 3, 2006 Posted May 3, 2006 do they say "oooooooohm ooooooooohm" when they get all SeRENE like??
luwayo Posted May 3, 2006 Posted May 3, 2006 i heard mention that Seattle enrollment for 05/06 was down, significantly. ***why?***
KaskadskyjKozak Posted May 3, 2006 Posted May 3, 2006 i heard mention that Seattle enrollment for 05/06 was down, significantly. ***why?*** seems climbing is down in general... see other threads on Rainier attempts, etc.
catbirdseat Posted May 3, 2006 Posted May 3, 2006 With the Intermediate Course, the emphasis has always been on mountaineering and likely will remain so. This is why we recently created the Crag Course for people who are more interested in rock climbing. We spend about twice as much time on rock climbing in that course and that's all it covers.
AlpineK Posted May 3, 2006 Posted May 3, 2006 I don't even know what SERENE means. I think I used to, but it didn't seem important enough to remember.
KaskadskyjKozak Posted May 3, 2006 Posted May 3, 2006 I don't even know what SERENE means. I think I used to, but it didn't seem important enough to remember. It's in John Long's book. The kind of thing you learn by heart when you are beginning and then forget and do naturally. :-)
catbirdseat Posted May 3, 2006 Posted May 3, 2006 mnemonic devices are no replacement for actually knowing what you are doing.
Gary_Yngve Posted May 3, 2006 Posted May 3, 2006 KK, maybe Everett does it differently. In Seattle, the anchors are taught as primary and backup. There might be some mention of girthhitching chockstones or slinging boulders, but there is most certainly very little mention of physics, angles, etc., in the Basic Course. And absolutely no mention of gear anchors or cordalettes. They'll know how to build rudimentary snow anchors but won't be too knowledgable on the modes of failure and types of snow. It sounds like this guy has solid glacier skills and probably wants to learn some about rock gear. If this is true, the basic course is a waste of his time and he should try to test out of it.
DirtyHarry Posted May 3, 2006 Posted May 3, 2006 Or maybe he should just read a book and go climbing.
miller Posted May 3, 2006 Posted May 3, 2006 take a 6 day rock or mtneering w/AAI, AAI, or Mtn Madness Exactly.
KaskadskyjKozak Posted May 3, 2006 Posted May 3, 2006 Or maybe he should just read a book and go climbing. book knowledge is not enough... you have to at least hook up with some people who have experience that you can trust and who can impart it to you.
DirtyHarry Posted May 3, 2006 Posted May 3, 2006 That would be included in the climbing part. But not necessarily. If you went out with someone with equally little experience you could set toprope anchors off bolts and trees and practice setting gear and making anchors wherever. That's how I learned.
plark42 Posted May 3, 2006 Author Posted May 3, 2006 hmm.. I'll just have to wait until I get out there... I might just forgo spending money on instruction and just stick to what I already know (and meet people online to climb with and pick things up from). I had a friend from college who was part of the mountaineers from age 14 until 18- and he was a badass climber.. He learned ALL of his technical skills from the mountaineers, though he did climb with his pops all the time. It would be nice to have the mountaineer's courses going on the side, so that I am continually expanding and growing my skills as a climber. Hmm.. but would I rather keep my money to spend on climbing?? hmmm
DirtyHarry Posted May 3, 2006 Posted May 3, 2006 Also, technique is not covered in much detail in the intermediate class. It's a lot about placing pro safely, not about becoming a better climber necessarily. Just a few thoughts there. I beg to differ!!!!
RuMR Posted May 3, 2006 Posted May 3, 2006 honestly, the mounties will just hold you up once you've hit a certain level...and you'll have to put up with all of their dogma crap about thus and such... you are far better off taking DirtyHarry's suggestion and hooking up with skilled climbers to learn from...save your money, put it towards a gym membership and hook up with partners there...
KaskadskyjKozak Posted May 3, 2006 Posted May 3, 2006 If you went out with someone with equally little experience you could set toprope anchors off bolts and trees and practice setting gear and making anchors wherever. That's how I learned. wow. that would scare the crap out of me. I've read one too many S&R report on line or in Accidents in Mountaineering.
RuMR Posted May 3, 2006 Posted May 3, 2006 Also, technique is not covered in much detail in the intermediate class. It's a lot about placing pro safely, not about becoming a better climber necessarily. Just a few thoughts there. I beg to differ!!!! hey, who's that instructing???
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