Alejandra Rodriguez: Women’s Lead Club – The Power in Connection

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

Date & Time: Tuesday, July 2, 2024 @ 7:30 PM (Social hour at 6:30)

Alejandra (Alé) formed the Women’s Lead Club in January 2023. While working at the desk and instructing the Learn to Lead class at Session Climbing, she began seeing the gaps in access and experiences among women in our community. Alé started climbing 12 years ago but lost the sport for a number of years after an injury. Since being back these last 2 years, Alé’s objective has been to provide a container.
This club is a unique space for those who identify as women to learn from other women, feel emboldened to try new things, get stronger, and feel really proud. Women’s Lead Club aims to elevate the voices of many women while creating experiences and exposure. Come learn about the women who are benefiting from this collective, where the organization is headed and share the stoke.

Spring Lake Regional Park BBQ Picnic

Location: Lower Jackrabbit Group Picnic Area, Spring Lake Regional Park, 5585 Newanga Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA

Date & Time: Tuesday, June 4, 2024 @ 5:30 PM to Sunset

The Rock Ice & Mountain Club has reserved the Lower Jackrabbit Group Picnic Area at Spring Lake Regional Park for a BBQ picnic. The weather has just been too good to be couped up inside. This will be a nice evening of socializing, eating, as well as bouldering on some of the fun rocks right around the lake. There are also opportunities to hike, bike, paddleboard and bird watch. There is a $7 entry into the park. We will provide the charcoal and some Guayaki drinks. You will need to bring your own food and drinks. We are hoping to get a good bouldering session in before eating and we can stay there until sunset, which is around 8:30pm. If you’re interested in bouldering, we plan to leave the picnic area just after 5:30. If you can’t make it until later, the boulders are easy to find.

Mike Dahlquist – Patagonia Ski Traverse

Location: Victory House, Club 300 Room at the Epicenter, 3125 Coffey Lane, Santa Rosa

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

In October 2022, Mike Dahlquist went down to Patagonia Chile and did a 10 day ski traverse across the Campo de Hielo Sur. With only two days of total whiteouts, they got very lucky with weather, and were able to make the first ascent of a prominent peak and the first ski descent of another. Come listen to Mike tell the story and show pictures of his adventure to this very remote part of the world!

Brian Astell – Fun, Fast, Safe, Smooth

Location: Victory House, Club 300 Room at the Epicenter, 3125 Coffey Lane, Santa Rosa

Date & Time: Tuesday, April 2, 2024 @ 7:30 PM (Social hour at 6:30)

Brian Astell is a professional cyclist and Specialized ambassador who runs mountain biking camps and skills clinics through his business, TrailWorks. Brian has 18 years of experience competing in the disciplines of cross country, enduro, cyclocross and Xterra. He partners with Oregon and Northern California high school and middle school mountain bike teams, organizes women’s and kids mountain bike skills clinic events, and travels to beautiful locations throughout the country to mountain bike and help riders elevate their skills.

Brian’s biggest passion is working within the mountain biking community to promote growth and equity by providing many fun mountain biking skills events as well as in partnership with some of the amazing organizations we have here in the Northern California area.

EC Joe: Rites of Passage – The Legacy of Adventure Climbing in the Sierra Nevada

Location: Victory House, Club 300 Room at the Epicenter, 3125 Coffey Lane, Santa Rosa

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

Rock climbing throughout the Southern Sierra Nevada Mountains of California has been going about quietly for well over a century. The exploits of its pioneers into this beautiful mountain range have been infrequently documented in a few books, alpine journals, and magazines. The tales of these climbers in this area remain elusive in comparison to more mainstream places like Yosemite. Rites of Passage is a collection of those experiences written by a few aficionados of the Southern Sierra who have graciously shared their adventures for this book. Come join the campfire, kick back and indulge in the legacy of exploration, discovery, and adventure.

Eddie, “E.C.” Joe, a native of Bakersfield started climbing in the Southern Sierra in 1974, and spent most of his free time exploring new climbing opportunities in the scattered locations in and around the Kern Canyon and beyond. He has established many first ascents and authored the Stonemasher Rock Climbing Guide to Kern Slabs (1981-82), and co-authored the Stonemasher Rock Climbing Guide to the Kern River Canyon and Environs (1983) with Richard Leversee. Back in the day, Eddie was generally regarded as the single most person for climbing information in the area. In the ’90s, he assisted in the research of Southern Sierra peregrine falcons and was a founding member of the Southern Sierra Climbers’ Association. Randy Powers, who is a contributor to the book, will be there to share his story as well.

Conner Jeffress – The Pursuit of Vertigo

Location: Victory House, Club 300 Room at the Epicenter, 3125 Coffey Lane, Santa Rosa

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

Conner Jeffress is a local climber who, for the last several years with a crew of climbers, have been extensively searching the north San Francisco Bay Area for new boulders and routes to develop. This presentation will be an inside look at the process of boulder and route development from the new climbers on the bloc, and the massive amount of time exploring new areas and establishing new routes and highball boulder problems. He will also discuss how his job as a rope access technician compliments his rock climbing development.

There will be no general meeting on January 2, 2024 as it is the day after New Years Day. We hope you enjoy the holidays and will see you on February 6, 2024.

Kimbrough Moore – Sandbagged: Climbing Grades, Gender and the Myth of Consensus

Location: Victory House, Club 300 Room at the Epicenter, 3125 Coffey Lane, Santa Rosa

Date & Time: Tuesday, December 5, 2023 @ 7:30 PM (Social hour at 6:30)

Most people are told that climbing grades are the result of a community consensus around difficulty, and although they aren’t perfect, grades are a decent measure of the effort or skill required by a climb. Kimbrough Moore’s presentation will explore the process that leads to climbing grades, and as we will see, consensus is never reached and seldom even attempted. Original research on the authorship of climbing guides and first ascents in California shows that men are responsible for the overwhelming majority of grading. This leads to a gender bias in climbing grades, making grades more accurate for men than women. There are no villains in this story, but there are simple things that climbers, first ascensionists, and guidebook authors can do to make climbing grades more accurate for everyone. These changes will be incorporated into the next edition of Yosemite Bouldering and Golden State Bouldering, which Kimbrough has authored.

Kimbrough Moore has been climbing for 30 years and is the author of three climbing guides, including Yosemite Bouldering and Golden State Bouldering. He has made many contributions to the climbing community, including hundreds of first ascents in California, China, and Colombia. In addition to climbing 5.14 routes and double-digit boulder problems, he is equally capable of falling on 5.9. Kimbrough has a PhD in Philosophy, and when not at the rocks, he teaches at San Francisco State University.

photo credit: Ryan Moon

The Rock Ice & Mountain Club is once again teaming up with the Bay Area Climbers Coalition for an Adopt-A-Crag event at Mount Saint Helena on November 5, 2023. To volunteer, go to the link below to sign up or use the QR code on the flyer below.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mount-saint-helena-adopt-a-crag-on-november-5th-tickets-722273829467?aff=oddtdtcreator