Wildflower Answers

Ultimately, we’ll have to take a look at the effects the permits have after this season. Next year the Forest Service plans to implement a fee structure beyond the current processing fee. That’s yet another impact to running climbs in the Central Cascades.

Q: With no Intermediate Climbing School (ICS) grads for two straight years, what’s the pipeline like for new climb leaders? How many active climb leaders do we have now, and how does that compare with past years?

A: We did complete an ICS class in the spring of 2020. Those students only missed out on their Basic Climbing Education Program (BCEP) assist. But, the lack of ICS has certainly impacted the movement of Leadership Development (LD) participants through the program and has reduced the number of participants entering into it. We’ve had some people re-engage with their LD commitment and new participants have joined the program, so that’s promising. The Climbing Committee worked with the BCEP Committee to prioritize LD participants as assistants in order to satisfy their LD eval requirements and we’ve been encouraging climb leaders to help LD participants with assists and provisional leaders with their climbs. Unfortunately, LD progress will be hindered until more ICS teaching opportunities become available. The skill builders put on by the ICS Committee have helped.

We currently have 90 climb leaders and 21 provisional leaders. Some of those climb leaders are more focused on teaching and some aren’t actively leading. I believe the number of climb leaders has been fairly stable for the past few years. It’s the demand from the climbing community that we strive to meet and, of course, new leaders help with that tremendously. Leader Development is a major focus of the Climbing Committee. Q: Here’s a topic hotly debated recently on social media: BCEP grads have trouble getting on climbs, feel that leaders are only choosing their friends or the highly experienced, and as a result leave the club. Whether or not this is true, are leaders discussing guidelines for choosing a team?

A: I truly believe climb leaders are fairly objective when selecting their teams. Qualifications for participation on a climb are obviously paramount. Leaders also seek to diversify their teams because it enriches the whole experience and has a positive impact on the community. Many leaders look out for people who aren’t getting on climbs. There are climbs that sometimes come together more organically through discussions among leaders and climbers, especially for climbs where specific skills are critical to executing the climb. But, I’d say that’s fairly rare.

It wasn’t that long ago that I was a BCEP grad so I certainly understand how people feel about the difficulty of getting on climbs. I think our website has made the process more equitable and flexible, but it really comes down to supply and demand. Hood is usually at the top of the list for most BCEP grads, but we’re unlikely to ever fully meet that demand.

Climbing Committee recently sent an email to climb leaders asking them to consider making space for BCEP grads on their climbs. It was simply a reminder that there will be new climbers looking for opportunities to climb with the Mazamas. We aren’t issuing any guidelines to climb leaders though. Choosing a team is one of the hardest parts of being a climb leader but it’s also a role we expect them to fulfill. We trust them to use their best judgement.

I will add that it’s important for BCEP grads and anyone applying for a climb to have a resume available either through their climb history on their profile for mazamas.org or via a shared document. That’s extremely important. Also, apply for less popular climbs to build out your experience. There are so many wonderful climbs that don’t get a lot of interest but can make a big difference for getting on Hood in a year or two. Q: Has the differential pricing of climbs introduced last year made any difference?

A: It’s hard to say at this point. It sort of depends on what kind of difference you’re talking about. I can’t say how much it has deterred climb applicants. There’s too much COVID impact wrapped up in last year’s numbers so we’ll have to wait and see. What I do know is that we now know how much it costs us to run our climbs and overall climbing program. Now that the climb prices reflect the costs of the climbs, we can make better and more informed decisions about the program. It was unreasonable to continue with climb prices that had no grounding in the actual costs. I see demand for our climbs remaining high and I believe people will continue to see the tremendous value of climbing with the Mazamas.

Q: Any big non-COVID topics come up in Climb Committee meetings lately? Any new initiatives or pressing concerns?

A: We’re looking at ways to enhance the Leadership Development program and make it more efficient. We’ll likely be spinning up a project around that. We’re always focused on safety and ensuring our policies reflect the best practices. We’re making some updates to the climb leader manual. We’re also making sure we have enough equipment like ropes and that those resources are managed properly so climb leaders have what they need to lead climbs.

The Climbing Committee is mostly about the business of running the climbing program during a pandemic right now. As always, our goal is to support the climbing community through the support and empowerment of our climb leaders. The more we can do to get leaders in the mountains with their teams, the happier everyone will be.

ANSWERS TO HOW WELL TO YOU KNOW YOUR WILDFLOWERS? (PAGE 13)

Flower name and photographer 1. Lupine, Ali Gray 2. Cutleaf balsamroot, Teri Smith 3. Lewisia columbiana, Darrin Gunkel 4. Arrowleaf balsamroot, Lexi Stickel 5. Edible thistle, Darrin Gunkel 6. Aster, Jorge Reyes 7. Crocus, Teri Smith

8. Subalpine mariposa lily, Michael Smiek 9. Agoseris and paintbrush, Darrin Gunkel 10. Daffodil, Jorge Reyes 11. Crocus tommasinianus (Early Crocus), Roberta Zouain 12. Western anemone, Darrin Gunkel 13. Tiger lily, Michael Smiek 14. Yellow Avalanche-lily, Marlynn Rust