Hi folks,
As many of you know was roped into heading up this year's rendezvous. I have some wonderful news I can finally announce:
2012 Rendezvous will be held at Mount Hermon Camp and Conference Center in Felton, CA from Oct 12-14.
Folks will have access to the site starting Thursday (10/11) afternoon (and maybe earlier - I'll let you know).
Closest airport major airport is San Jose International, about 40 minutes away. I am working on establishing some set shuttle times with large passenger vans, so folks can organize their flights around this. Otherwise I strongly encourage folks to look for rideshares through this message board, the facebook climbing groups, and personal contacts.
The camp has many redwoods about 100 years old - excellent starter redwoods for those new to this interesting but brittle trees. SRT skills are highly desirable and will let you climb many more of the trees - so polish those skills! There are also a few (smallish) Valley Oaks and California Bays which have a broader canopy and more DRT friendly.
The camp also has a redwood zipline canopy tour, and we're looking at setting up a special price for rendezvous attendees, if folks are interested. (check out
redwoodcanopytours.com
for photos)
I will update this post when registration is up (and/or I get the shuttles arranged), but I wanted to get the dates out so folks can get planning. Early bird registration should be under $200 including lodging and all meals.
I hope to reconnect with many of you, and meet some new folks as well!
Questions? Ask away!
Update (5/11/2012):
Facebook Event Page
Information Central for the Event, although I will be trying to up date here as well:
https://www.facebook.com/events/294010004016273/
Shuttles:
Here is the Shuttle Schedule. When you register, there will be an option for the van shuttle FROM the SJC airport. Shuttle will be $10 and only be one way (traditionally folks can bum return rides, but we can also organize some van shuttles). This is the intended departure time so please plan accordingly for the luggage, etc.
Shuttle Schedule:
Thursday Afternoon (4pm)
Thursday Evening (9pm)
Friday Morning (11am)
Friday Afternoon (4 pm)
Friday Evening (9pm)
Pricing and Registration:
Early bird price will be $185 and include food and lodging Thursday night - Sunday morning.
Registration should be up in the next week or two.
SRT and Redwood Climbing:
SRT is not strictly necessary but STRONGLY encouraged to take advantage of the climbs available. Many of the trees are second growth (~100-120 year old) redwoods and Douglas-firs. It is often helpful to use a ground-tied SRT anchor when entering these trees in order to help mitigate the risk of smaller, downward sloping limbs.
It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that if you will be climbing SRT you can perform a changeover to rappel blindfolded while free hanging with your system of choice.
I (or someone else) will be conducting a quick introduction to climbing these sorts of trees Friday Morning, as well as an SRT refresher course. We will also have some sort of SRT mentor board at the 'vous for folks experience in SRT climbing to pair up with folks newer to SRT.
Gear:
Almost all of the trees at this site have lowest climbable limbs at 120 ft or lower, and many 60 ft or lower. Therefore there isn't much need to purchase a longer rope if you can climb SRT and partner up with another climber to tie two ropes together for a ground anchor.
There will be some SRT available to borrow - I have 5-7 yoyo rigs, and some other climbers have volunteered to bring additional SRT equipment as well. However, if you choose to use this as an opportunity to purchase some more equipment, go for it!
That's it for now!
-Oak
