Hi :-)

I am new to the area, and I want to brush up on my anchors and protection placement skills. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good class?

Thank you in advance!!

Cheers,
Sarah

Check out CMS too. www.totalclimbing.com/page.php

Thank you both for your posts! I will definitely look into both of them.

Safe climbing,
Sarah

Find Bob D'Antonio in the users. He's a guide, very familiar w/ the area, lot and lots and lots of experience!!! Also a cool guy in general.

I'll be one of the Colorado Mountain Club plugg-er'ers.

This season, Dvr Group runs a prelim program during spring & summer, then going into class & field leads Aug to Sept. We do four trips from anchors to mock leads to 3 pitch plus leads with multiple raps. This year, we have a few of us going into a low grade technical alpine route with a bivy.

Orientation is typically early spring, we had ours in late April this year. This Dvr Group Program is called TLCS (Trad Lead Climbing School).

Boulder Group offers modules into various disciplines as a part of their BMS program (Basic Mountaineering School). The module addressing your intended aspect is called RLS (Rock Leading School). Which they offer in the Spring (June, I believe is more precise).

(Denver Group also has a BMS program, which involves itself into much more than technical climbing, that starts in spring -- this year, late March to June, and/or into the summer depending on how group schedules & possibly how route conditions work out.)

I believe both of our groups look closely at text from the Mountaineers Books. With Craig Luebben's work as a main focus & John Long's anchor material as also a perspective reference for technical applications.

I believe there is also participation in the Ft Collins & Pikes Peak Groups dealing with your interest.

If anyone from these CMC Groups could chime-in as to their program's timing, so much the better.

To be quite clear, this is all volunteer work from a charitable & educational organization, this is not any comparison to professional guiding. We only look to help each other in recreational basics with other CMC members.

If these formats suit your needs, joining up with the CMC is not a bad deal at all. But the timing & demand of these programs, and availability of volunteers all make these seminars limited.

In dealing with more advanced methods, routes, frequent program availability, &/or use of certified instructors; the guiding community is the absolute best bet.

I have climbed with and learned from Bob Chase, Eli Helmuth and Dale Remsberg at the Colorado Mountain School, and would give any/all of these guys (guides) my highest recommendation.

Thank you all so much! I think that I will probably go the guide route at this point, but I will look into the other options too.

Cheers,
Sarah

Yeah Jared, it's a pretty fair assessment.

But, the programs with more of a focus on climbing in Dvr are within what is called the Technical Section which is somewhat separate from mountaineering. The Tech Section is just an informal member group that likes to get out and have a climb. The BMS program, I believe is not aimed at total beginners who have never gone out on a hike, but works basic skill sets necessary for mountaineering.

As I said before in my previous post, we try to volunteer only with the basics, the more advanced skill sets are left up to the guiding community.

In other respects, I believe we have gotten away from any "tests" and tried to extend more of a practice session & trip format to allow someone to see if technical climbing with the group members is something that a person wants to participate in.

One great aspect of the CMC is the education level & experience variety of our lead volunteers. In any one seminar/program, we may have engineers, doctors, lawyers, teachers, servicemen/women, civil servants, & persons who have traveled all over the world; all volunteering to offer their perspective on recreation and promoting conservation & safety. It would be great to see more interaction between certified guides and volunteer organizations in this country; I believe both have much to offer.

From CMS I have climbed with Steve Johnson, and Kieth Garvey taught my RIC. Garvey is dialed beyond all belief, and a really fun guy to climb with. I would recommend either of these guys.

Just to add my two-cents to the mix, I was a Boulder group CMC member for a year with the idea that it would improve my rock leading and teach me snow and ice climbing. My wife and I did a one-day technical ice workshop which ran about $90 (for both of us, I believe), and was fantastic. The people were extremely friendly and top-quality.

Unfortunately, this is the only thing we ever used our membership for. I discovered Summitpost.org about the same time and hooked up with a number of people there. With them, I learned all sorts of mountaineering skills, largely self-taught from books and peer experience. While this may not be as applicable to technical rock skills or as good for a rank beginner, I found the schedule (or lack thereof) much more to my liking.

Hey Charles! Long time no see. I have started ice climbing as well and even got my first lead in last season. I still have your number. Glad you got something out of that CMC class. From the last I heard, it took one quite a long time to be even able to get on the ice. Sounds like they sped up the time a little now.

I have taken the Denver CMC Wilderness Trekking School and the Boulder CMC Basic Mountain School, where I learned to rock climb. Had a terrific time in both. If you are interested you can find out more at:

www.cmc.org/denver/schools.aspx
www.cmcboulder.org/welcome.html

AlanC

Sarah,
Check out Outdoor Divas classes. Excellent training and great resources for women climbers. Also, SheClimbs is a great women's climbing group in Boulder/Denver. Great chance to meet others.
Have fun!
Diana

Thank you all again! This is great information :-)

Best,
Sarah