April 1 – Vegar Abelsnes: Exploring Antartica – Photo Guide and Voyage Photographer

Location: Victory House, Club 300 Room at the Epicenter, 3215 Coffey Lane, Santa Rosa

Date & Time: Tuesday, April 1, 2025 @ 7:30 PM (Social hour at 6:30)

In December of last year, Vegar Abelsnes embarked on his first journey from Ushuaia to Antarctica, where he had the privilege of working as a photo guide and voyage photographer on three separate trips across the Antarctic Peninsula over the course of a month. From close encounters with whales, penguins, seals, and albatrosses, to rare sightings of moss, grass, and even a fossilized leaf millions of years old, it was an unforgettable adventure. Through the lens, Vegar captured not just the stunning landscapes, but also the raw beauty of a continent that few have the opportunity to experience. It’s an incredibly beautiful yet very harsh environment, with an overwhelming expanse of snow and ice that has accumulated over millions of years in this white desert called the 7th continent. Join Vegar as he shares the sights, stories, and challenges of photographing and filming the experience of visiting the most remote place on Earth.

Vegar Abelsnes is a Norwegian born professional photographer based in Petaluma, CA who has travelled the world to experience the vastness and beauty of our planet.  He developed his craft at the San Francisco Art Institute and in 2024 he joined Polar Latitudes as a photo guide and voyage photographer and has made three trips to the Antarctic peninsula.
 

March 4: Ken Yager – The Life of a Gibbon

Location: Victory House, Club 300 Room at the Epicenter, 3215 Coffey Lane, Santa Rosa

Date & Time: Tuesday, March 4, 2025 @ 7:30 PM (Social hour at 6:30)

54 years of rock climbing, Founder of the Yosemite Climbing Association, the Yosemite Facelift, and the Ask A Climber program. Against all odds, Ken Yager was able to realize a 30+ year dream of a permanent climbing history museum/exhibit in Yosemite Valley. Currently living in town and working on the Yosemite Climbing Museum by the 4-way stop in Mariposa.

Ken started climbing at the age of 12 as an equal with the UC Davis professors in the Physics and Engineering Departments in 1971. He saw El Capitan during his first climbing trip to Yosemite at 13 years old and immediately knew he had to climb it. Fresh out of High School, his father dropped him off in Camp 4 to pursue that goal in December of 1976. Join Ken for many colorful stories about his unorthodox Yosemite life which is somewhat Forrest Gump-like. Join us to hear about the infamous Airplane Crash, or what it was like to switch eggs out of a Peregrine nest on El Capitan, or perhaps you want to learn some Yosemite climbing history. Ken loves hecklers.

Tahoe Adventure Film Festival Road Tour 2025
March 7, 2025
Mystic Theatre, Petaluma
Tickets – $20 All Ages Welcome
Doors @ 6:30 Show @ 7:30

Tickets are available at Sonoma Outfitters in Santa Rosa and at McNears Restaurant in Petaluma.
On-line tickets are available through the Mystic Theatre website.

February 4: Hans Florine – Hans Sharing Stories

Location: Victory House, Club 300 Room at the Epicenter, 3215 Coffey Lane, Santa Rosa

Date & Time: Tuesday, February 4, 2025 @ 7:30 PM (Social hour at 6:30)

Hans will be sharing some brief stories of travels from 2024, short and medium length stories from years past in Yosemite, Africa, Papa New Guinea, Canada and perhaps elsewhere.

Hans won the first International Speed Climbing Championships in 1991, and has held the US National title eleven times. Hans has won the ESPN X Games three years in a row. Hans has broken the speed record on The Nose Route on El Capitan in Yosemite 8 times over the past 23 years. Hans has climbed El Capitan 185 times with over 120 different people. Hans has produced, spoken, directed, rigged, modeled, edited, photographed, filmed, written, competed, and acted in projects with National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, Outside, ESPN, and a very long list of others. Hans is a proud father to Marianna (24) and Pierce (21).

Hans wrote THE book “Speed Climbing,” currently in it’s second edition. Hans will have his book “On The Nose” for sale at the meeting. He will also have a limited amount of the out of print “Speed Climbing” and “Climb On”. See more about Hans at www.hansflorine.com.

January 7: Tom Turner – Moroccan Adventures

Location: Victory House, Club 300 Room at the Epicenter, 3215 Coffey Lane, Santa Rosa

Date & Time: Tuesday, January 7, 2025 @ 7:30 PM (Social hour at 6:30)

Tom Turner is a travel photographer and is professor emeritus at Pacific Union College after working there for many years as a visual arts professor. Tom will share photographs and stories from his Morocco trip travelling from Rabat to Casablanca.

December 3: Mark Howe and Seth Dilles – Our Beautiful Backyard – The Sonoma Coast

Location: Victory House, Club 300 Room at the Epicenter, 3215 Coffey Lane, Santa Rosa

Date & Time: Tuesday, December 3, 2024 @ 7:30 PM (Social hour at 6:30)

Mark Howe and Seth Dilles, longtime Rock Ice & Mountain Club members, will let you in on some of their climbing exploits on the Sonoma coast. This dynamic duo are interested in coastal adventure climbing and the Sonoma coast is one of the best places to do it. They are not put off by putting in a lot of hard work to accomplish these climbs and probably getting a bit wet as they do it.

November 16: Mt. St. Helena Adopt-A-Crag Event at Robert Louis Stevenson State Park in Calistoga, CA.

We have re-scheduled the Adopt-A-Crag event for November 16.

We are excited to once again host this cleanup event with the Bay Area Climbers Coalition. We are doing the cleanup on October 5, then plan to hang out and camp out at Bothe State Park. Then have a full day of climbing on October 6.

Mt Saint Helena Adopt-a-Crag
Date: Saturday November 16th
Time: 9am to 1pm
Location: Mt Saint Helena, Calistoga CA
Parking Directions: main parking lot for Robert Louis Stevenson State Park – https://maps.app.goo.gl/95WTTwKyqzV8ieni7?g_st=ic

Thanks for volunteering with the BACC and RIM Club! We’re excited to partner with Napa County Parks for a day of stewardship at Mt Saint Helena. The event will focus on trail work and trash pickup Saturday, November 16th. If folks want to stay overnight at a walk in camp site, please join us!

NOTE: The maximum group size for overnight camping is 24 people. We’ll make a wait list if sign-ups exceed this limit.

Use the QR Code below or this link to sign up.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfgOiy0abIObGJK-gJA9Tr_2y91Ne9xQCQ383yGsKnxyzlxOQ/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0&pli=1

November 5: Chris Jones Tribute: “Mountain of Storms” Movie

Location: Victory House, Club 300 Room at the Epicenter, 3215 Coffey Lane, Santa Rosa

Date & Time: Tuesday, November 5, 2024 @ 7:30 PM (Social hour at 6:30)

We are mourning the recent loss of Chris Jones. Chris was a British alpinist, climber and author. But to us, he was our friend and our local hero who lived in Glen Ellen. Chris established incredibly bold alpine routes, most notably, the 1974 first ascent of the north face of North Twin in the Canadian Rockies with George Lowe. In 1968, Jones, with Yvon Chouinard, Doug Tompkins, Dick Dorworth and Lito Tejada-Flores travelled from California down to Patagonia to climb Cerro Fitz Roy. They filmed their expedition and put their footage into a film called “Mountain of Storms”. Chris also authored the famous climbing book “Climbing in North America”.

We will be showing the film “Mountain of Storms” and give a tribute to Chris at our November meeting.

photo credits: George Lowe

October 1: Darren Wiemeyer: Mainland Greece Climbing – From the Sea to the Mountain of the Gods

Location: Victory House, Club 300 Room at the Epicenter, 3215 Coffey Lane, Santa Rosa

Date & Time: Tuesday, October 1, 2024 @ 7:30 PM (Social hour at 6:30)

Rock Ice & Mountain Club president, Darren Wiemeyer and his wife Natalie, went on an epic trip to mainland Greece in 2023. They got to sample a variety of climbing locations and rock types. The biggest surprise was how nice and welcoming the Greek people were and how stunning the water is in the Ionian and Aegean Seas.

POSTPONED – THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED BECAUSE OF FORECASTED HIGH TEMPERATURES – POSTPONED

October 5: Mt. St. Helena Adopt-A-Crag Event at Robert Louis Stevenson State Park in Calistoga, CA.
We are excited to once again host this cleanup event with the Bay Area Climbers Coalition. We are doing the cleanup on October 5, then plan to hang out and camp out at Bothe State Park. Then have a full day of climbing on October 6.

Mt Saint Helena Adopt-a-Crag
Date: Saturday October 5th
Time: 9am to 1pm
Location: Mt Saint Helena, Calistoga CA
Parking Directions: main parking lot for Robert Louis Stevenson State Park – https://maps.app.goo.gl/95WTTwKyqzV8ieni7?g_st=ic

Thanks for volunteering with the BACC and RIM Club! We’re excited to partner with Napa County Parks for a day of stewardship at Mt Saint Helena. The event will focus on trail work and trash pickup Saturday, October 5th. If folks want to stay overnight at a walk in camp site, please join us!

NOTE: The maximum group size for overnight camping is 24 people. We’ll make a wait list if sign-ups exceed this limit.

Use the QR Code below or this link to sign up.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfgOiy0abIObGJK-gJA9Tr_2y91Ne9xQCQ383yGsKnxyzlxOQ/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0&pli=1