Acting Executive Director’s Report
REDISCOVERING WHAT MAKES US STRONG
I
n January of 2002, I found an application for the Mazama Basic Climbing School (it was yet to be called the Basic Climbing Education Program, and went by “Basic” instead of “BCEP”) on my desk at work. I learned that my co-workers were concerned that I was spending every weekend hiking alone. They thought I could find “my people” at the Mazamas and learn a few climbing skills at the same time.
That action by my co-worker, and my subsequent action to sign up for Basic, changed the course of my life. I spent six weeks hiking and learning from engaged and excited volunteers alongside my fellow students. I still remember the hike list—Hamilton, Table, Ruckel, Larch, Defiance—along with the big blue buses that we rode out to Horsethief Butte and up to Timberline Lodge. When it came time to do my first rappel at Horsethief, despite the fact that I had rappelled several years earlier at the Shawangunks in Upstate New York, I panicked. Fear locked my body in place and I was unable to step off the ledge. I remember looking into the reassuring eyes of my Basic School leader, Harold Crawford, who had me on a backup belay. We locked eyes—mine must have been wide as I was in full panic mode—and he reassuringly looked at me and said, “I’ve got nowhere else I need to be today, you just take your time. You CAN do this.”
With a few deep breaths, his calmness transferred to me, and I weighted the line. I think about that moment often as I look back on my time with the Mazamas. During moments of panic, teachers can make or break the spirits of their students. Harold gave me the gift of convincing me that I was capable. On that bus ride home, before I had even completed Basic, I knew I wanted to become a part of the Mazamas, and to give someone the same gift that I had just been given. And that kicked off my time at the Mazamas—First Aid Committee, BCEP Coordinator, Climb Leader, Education Committee, Bulletin Editor, and more, before moving into a full staff position. I relished my volunteer time at the Mazamas. Nothing could beat the look of a new climber as they reached a summit, or a hiker who tackled a new trail, or a mountaineering first aid student who found their groove with the patient assessment system. It didn’t take me long at the Mazamas to realize my co-workers had been right in directing me to this organization. I had found my people. I lucked into finding my partner of 18 years in Basic School, and some of my closest friends are those that I have shared a trail, tent, or rope with. I recount my beginnings with the Mazamas to you because I know I am not alone. You may come to the Mazamas for the classes, the opportunity to climb a mountain, or to tend a trail. But what we stay for is the community. A community of individuals who are all working in concert to achieve our mission of
“inspiring everyone to love and protect the mountains.” We all have our own part to play in achieving this mission. There are those who dedicate themselves to joining committees and running our wellrespected and regularly oversubscribed programs to educate the next generation of climbers. There are those who commit themselves to the time and training of becoming a climb leader to learn how to effectively lead new and experienced climbers to the summit of snow-capped peaks and jagged rock formations. There are intrepid hikers and ramble leaders who get people of all ages and abilities out on trails and neighborhood streets for adventure and camaraderie. And this is just a short list of the ways our members engage with the Mazamas.
WHAT WE ACCOMPLISHED DURING THE SUMMER OF COVID-19 Mazama Wild, our kid’s summer camp program, operated in a modified manner under the summer camp guidelines serving approximately 280 kids over the course of eight weeks, and employed 8 seasonal camp staff.
4 MAZAMAS
Mazama Climb Leaders took 110 people on 16 successful climbs on 11 different peaks since our climbs restarted on July 15. Three days of Trail Tending on Mazama Trail in the Mt. Hood National Forest, with 17 volunteers helping out over the course of three days.
We have hosted 22 events with 27 presenters in our Virtual Series, serving 1,300+ individuals who have tuned in for topics ranging from Mt. Hood: South Side 101 to Navigation to Anchor Basics. Our Conservation Committee even hosted a 4-part Melting Mountains Conference online! Our highest attended event was Mt. Hood Circumnavigation with Yassine Diboun which pulled in 268 viewers.
