[pct-l] Re: Ice Axe self-arrest training?

[Carl Siechert" <carl@pct77.org (Carl Siechert)]

> 2. Where can I get the kind of self-arrest instruction recommended? I live
in
> a Los Angeles suburb. Any specific class recommendations would be highly
> appreciated.

You might check out Sierra Club Wilderness Travel Course
(http://angeles.sierraclub.org/wtc/). It's a descendent of the Basic
Mountaineering Training Course that Sierra Club Angeles Chapter used to put
on. I took BMTC about 30 years ago, and it was great. I know
that--supposedly due to insurance reasons--they no longer include rock
climbing instruction. I don't know if they still do ice axe training or not.

Btw, one of the best and most lasting lessons I received from BMTC: on our
winter camping trip (the culmination of the course) we climbed a peak near
Big Pine Creek. On the descent, one of the guys in our group slipped on a
steep slope, lost his axe partway down, and slid to his death right before
our eyes. I was in high school, and I gained a whole lot of respect for the
mountains that day.

:: Carl Siechert
:: ADZPCTKO Super Site (http://pct77.org/adz)