From: Clint Cummins <clint AT stanford.edu>
To: climbing AT lists.Stanford.EDU,
     Stanford Alpine Club <alpine-club AT lists.Stanford.EDU>,
Subject: Yosemite informal climbing trip - April 28-29

I'm organizing an informal climbing trip to Yosemite next weekend
(April 28-29).  It's early in the quarter, the weather *should*
be friendly, and we even have 3 campsites reserved, so it should
be a good time to go.

Note:  an *informal* trip means that there is no formal instruction,
although you will probably learn some crack climbing skills if
you don't already have them.  It also means that there might not
be anyone who is first aid certified on the trip, although there
is a clinic right in Yosemite.  Finally, if something really bad
happens, you can sue me, but not Stanford.  Let's hope that does
not happen, and you can be assured that I will be very careful in
setting anchors, and watching for safety problems as usual!

I know, the weather at the moment is not our usual sunny skies!
So if the weather looks bad for next weekend, we can reroute to
Pinnacles for a day trip if that looks better.  If this happens,
I'll schedule another informal trip to Yosemite for a weekend in May.

Some folks may pair up for lead/multipitch climbing; we will also
set up topropes, so you don't have to have much experience to join in.
You should already know how to belay; if you went on one of the
Intro trips to Castle/Goat Rock, you can handle Yosemite.

If you haven't filled in the SAC survey, please do so, since it is helpful
to have the info for organizing this and future trips:

http://alpineclub.stanford.edu/survey.htm
(copy the text to an email, fill in answers, and email it to me).

Here are the additional questions for this trip:

1. If you have a car, how many people (with their gear) does it fit
(including driver)?
2. Do you prefer to leave Friday night 7:30pm or so) or Saturday morning
(6am or so)?  If you prefer to climb just one day, that is also possible,
although it's a 4 hour drive each way - let me know which day.
3. Do you have a climbing partner for this trip?  If so, who?
4. Do you have a National Parks Pass?  (useful for setting up carpools)

Basic logistic info:
- you are responsible for bringing personal climbing gear, like shoes
  harness, and belay device.  These can be rented at the SAC gear hours
  on Wednesday April 25, 8:30-9pm.  Plus your sleeping gear; a sleeping
  bag can be rented from Redwood.
- the 3 SAC campsites have room for 18 people and 6 cars on Saturday
  night.  If you are not a paid SAC member, it will cost you $5 to
  help pay for the site.  SAC dues are $15 for the spring/summer,
  which would give you free access to campsites on other weekends.
  If you drive up on Friday night, we sleep outside the park for free.
- I plan to set up topropes on Saturday at Church Bowl, and probably
  at Manure Pile Buttress on Sunday.

To avoid excessive group emails, I will put the trip roster and logistics
on the SAC calendar page:

http://alpineclub.stanford.edu/info/calendar.html

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.  I will not
be around this weekend, since I'll be helping with the Lead Climbing
Class (though it looks like rain for Sunday  :-( ), so I won't be able to
respond to emails Saturday-Sunday.

Sincerely,

Clint