www.RogerWendell.com
Roger J. Wendell
Defending 3.8 Billion Years of Organic Evolution^SM

CMC - Colorado Mountain Club

Although the Colorado Mountain Club (CMC) has its own website I'm proud to feature them here as well! I was first involved with the CMC in the early 80s but didn't become really active in the club until the mid '90s when my kids were almost grown and my career was finally calming down! Nevertheless, it's been a great experience with lots of learning in addition to contact with interesting and knowledgeable people. Below is a list of some of my CMC experiences along with trip photos as they become available:

A few of the CMC Outings I've been on:

Me climbing ice in Vail, Colorado

Orizaba (led by me!) - March 2017 Agrihan Island (26 Feet from a first ascent!) - June 2015 Mexican volcanoes (led by me!) - March 2014 Bolivia - June 2013 Dallas Peak - August 2012 Russia - September 2011 Italy (Via ferrata) September 2007 Ecuador - January 2006 Pikes Peak - New Year's Day 2005 Aconcagua - January 2004 Kilimanjaro and Mt Kenya - January 2003 Mt. Rainier - July 2000 Mt. Silverheels - May 2000 (13,822') Left to Right: Me, Michael Clapper, leader Keith Jensen, and JoAnne (Photo by Dick Yost) Ice Climbing - February 2000

Click Here for my main climbing page...

Click Here for a look at the CMC's Beginner Rock Climbing Seminar...

Click Here to listen to the CMC's phone greeting (Me!) that was used from 2013 to 2020!

Click Here to listen to a CMC history promo that they used for some of their films and other events!

(Click on any of this page's "thumbnail" images for a larger view)

AIARE	Basic Avalanche	HAMS	BRCS Instructor	MOFA	WFA
IRCS	Trip Leader School	BMS	Wilderness Trekking	XC Ski school	Tech Section Examiner

In August, 2022 the Colorado Mountain Club purchased and installed a new website (same domain name at cmc.org) that
incorporated "badges" as part of an award and record keeping system. These are the badges I was subsequently awarded:

Advanced Trad	AIARE	Alpine Leader	ATA	Navigation	Bike Leader	BMS	BNSS	COVID	HAMS	Difficult Trip	Difficult Trip
Inter. Rock	Inter. Snow	Ski Leader	Ski Mount.	Telemark	Tech Leader	Trip Leader	Trip Leader	WFA	WTS	WTS	RMOTHG

Mt. Rainier (Tahoma)
14,412 feet / 4,392.7 metres
 
HAMS Graduation Climb

Click Here for my YouTube video of Rainer from my plane window eight years later...

HAMS is the High Altitude Mountaineering Section of the Colorado Mountain Club and is an excellent course of training for anyone interested in serious mountaineering. Back when I was in class, Tom Urban was my immediate instructor and Ken Yarcho was the school's director. Below: Over the 2000 Independence Day holiday nine members of our HAMS group made the summit of Washington State's Mt. Rainier for our graduation climb. We were in three rope teams so it's somewhat difficult to display complete group photos here. At the time, summit conditions were clear, 15°F (Minus 9.4 Celsius), and extremely windy with continuous cloud cover at around the 10,000 foot (3,048 metres) level over the entire state...

From parking lot to summit!

Mt. Rainier Summit: July 02, 2000

Part of our summit party; left to right: Ray Meng, Denise Bingham, John Streeter, Kurt Wibbenmeyer and leader John Mill

Our team at White River Ranger Station

left to right: Me, John Streeter, Dave Ditchkus, Denise Bingham, John Shunk, Linda Johnson, assistant leader Steve Cleary, Ray Meng, leader John Mill, and Kurt Wibbenmeyer

Pix from our Rainier climb:

Me on top the windy summit Me going up in shorts... Passing a crevasse Crevasse swarm One ugly crevasse View from Glacier Camp View from above the clouds Looking down from the top Glacier Camp toilets

Mt. Rainier (14,412 feet), Washington State: On Sunday morning, July 2nd, CMC leader John Mill, and his assistant Steve Cleary, led 9 of our 11 member HAMS graduation team to the summit of Rainier. From camp Schurman (2,875 metres / 9,430+ feet) we departed around 03:00 am after waking to clear, starry skies at 01:30 am. Our route of travel was both the Inter and Emmons Glaciers, having started around 4,300 feet at the White River Ranger Station. (My GPS indicates that there are 1.79 line-of-sight miles between Schurman and the summit - we were delayed about an hour, mid route, due to a change in rope teams). Summit conditions were clear, extremely windy and cold with Kurt measuring the temperature at about 15 degrees F (Minus 9.4 Celsius). Visibility was good in all directions except for the continuous cloud layer covering the state at around the 10,000 foot (3,048 metres) level. The down climb was relatively quick until we reached the clouds and had to look around for wands until reaching Schurman. The next day, Monday, required more careful down climbing as a steady snow fell, at times reducing visibility to a rope length. Earlier that morning, between about midnight and 02:00 am, we listened to many teams abandon their plans for a summit attempt because of the weather. We reached the White River Ranger Station in the early afternoon - walking through snow or continuous drizzle the entire way. In SUMMARY I found the trip to be extremely enjoyable, educational, and inspirational. In some areas the glaciers were so bluish or green that it seemed "otherworldly." Also, our team, for a beginner like me, seemed efficient and cohesive under the expert guidance of both John Mill and Steve Cleary. And finally, no matter how difficult the hike it sure beats a day at the office...

John Mill - Leader, Steve Cleary - Assistant, Denise Bingham, Dave Ditchkus, Linda Johnson, Chris Long, Ray Meng, John Shunk, John Streeter, Bob Thompson, Me, Kurt Wibbenmeyer

Tom Urban's HAMS ice climbing class
above Vail, Colorado in February 2000
(photos by me):

In this one (above) Scott Nykerk is coming over the top...

My CMC Training and Awards:

• January 13/14, 2024 - Wilderness First Aid Maddison Smith and Michael Ciavatta (Alejandro Caicedo was an instructor-in-training)
• January 23, 2022 - Wilderness First Aid Hybrid (Instructor Rachel Sapp)
• December 07, 2019 - Wilderness First Aid Refresher (Instructor Jeff Flax)
• January 03, 2018 - Avalanche Terrain Avoidance (Instructors Linda Lawson and Brad Cotten)
• December 5, 2017 - Backcountry Ski Touring School (Blake Clark and Gary Luttman)
• December 3, 2017 - Denver Group Service Award
• August 27, 2016 - Wilderness First Aid Refresher (Instructor Jeff Flax)
• November 16, 2014 - Wilderness First Aid Refresher
• April 13, 2014 - Wilderness CPR
• March 4 & 11, 2012 - Wilderness First Aid
• March 3, 2012 - Advanced Leader Training Seminar
• January 22, 2012 - Completed AIARE Level 1 avalanche course [David Dellamora, AIARE Instructor]
• November 15, 2011 - Completed Trip Leader School [conducted by Martha Mustard, Marty Billings, and Thom Curtis]
• January 21, 2001 - Completed Cross Country Ski School [Instructors: Joan Rossiter, Rod VanderWall and Waide Biggs]
• July 2000 - Completed HAMS Mt Rainier graduation climb (photos above) [John Mill, Leader - Steve Cleary, Assistant]
• March 2000 - Completed High Altitude Mountaineering Section (HAMS) [Tom Urbran, Instructor]
• Summer 1999 - Completed Intermediate Rock Climbing School (IRCS) [Larry DeSaules, Instructor - Rich Pearce, Assistant]
• October 1998 - Earned D hiker Classification
• October 1998 - Completed Mountain Oriented First Aid (MOFA) [Dr. Doug Hill, Instructor]
• September 1998 - Completed Basic Mountaineering School (BMS) [Instructors: Rhonda Lew and Ginni Greer]
• April 1998 - Completed American Red Cross First Aid & CPR training
• March 1998 - Earned Moderate Ski Classification
• February 1998 - Completed Telemark Ski School [Instructors: Marilyn Choske, Rolph Asplund and Mike Gilespi]
• September 1997 - Earned C hiker Classification
• July 1997 - Earned B hiker Classification
• June 1997 - Completed Wilderness Survival School [School Director John Lindner and Instructor Papa Bear Whitmore]
• May 1997 - Completed Wilderness Trekking School (WTS) [Carol Neslund, Instructor]
• January 1997 - Earned Easy Ski Classification
• January 1997 - Completed Basic Avalanche Course [Instructors: Knox Williams and Craig Patterson]
• November 1996 - Completed Joint Leadership Seminar (Boulder/Denver)
• 05 November 1996 - Attended new member orientation

Giving Back:

• Denver Group Wilderness Trekking School nav field day assistant - Fall 2019
• Denver Group Annual Dinner Committee (with Carol Munch) - 2019
• Denver Group Annual Dinner Committee (with Carol Munch) - 2018
• Elected to a third, three year term on the Denver Group Council - November, 2018
• Denver Group Elections Committee (with Colleen Landy) - 2017
• Denver Group Wilderness Trekking School Associate Instructor - Fall 2017
• Denver Group Annual Dinner Committee - 2016
• Denver Group Wilderness Trekking School Assistant Instructor - Fall 2016
• Denver Group Annual Dinner Committee - 2015
• Elected to a second, three year term on the Denver Group Council - November, 2015
• Temporary appointment to the State Council for the nomination of board candidates - September/October, 2014
• Denver Group Annual Dinner Committee - 2014
• Assisted with Champ Camp - July, 2014
• Classification Committee chair - July 09, 2014 through January, 2020
• Assumed webmaster duties for the RERA subpages - January 15, 2013
• Accepted to the Denver Group Council's finance committee and also as the conservation committee liaison - December 12, 2012
• Elected to a three year term on the Denver Group Council - November, 2012
• Conservation Committee member - October 16, 2012 through January, 2020
• Assisted with Champ Camp - July, 2012
• Accepted as an Adventure Travel leader - March, 2012
• Accepted as a Denver Group "D" trip leader - March, 2012
• Assisted with Champ Camp - July, 2011
• Assisted with IRCS classroom instruction - March, 2003
• Assisted with BRCS at Maxwell Falls - June 8 and 9, 2002
• Wrote 'em this Sweet Syringe climbing piece for their January 2002 "Tech Section News"

Is it fourteener season yet in Colorado? Almost.
Experts warn traversing snowfields without proper gear is risky;
Colorado Mountain Club recommends waiting until July.
By John Meyer, The Denver Post Jun 19, 2021, 6:00 am

"'Somewhere along the line, the fourteeners went from being mountaineering objectives to being hiking destinations,' Athearn said [Lloyd Athearn, executive director of Colorado Fourteeners Initiative]. 'I think there is a big difference between those two terms. From year to year, the mountains can still be very much mountaineering objectives in June if they've got snow. It only takes one small patch of icy snow in the wrong place - you're trying to cross it, you slip and fall and end up in a talus field. Or worse.'"
 
"That's why the Colorado Mountain Club typically recommends casual hikers wait until July, and they're holding to that advice this year despite Colorado’s recent heat wave and rapid snowmelt."
 
"'Traveling through snow, especially on a steep slope, can be hazardous,' said CMC membership specialist Roger Wendell. 'Post-holing - punching your foot and your leg into the snow, sometimes up to your hip - can be exhausting. But if things froze over or were hard-packed, and you're not prepared - if you don't have crampons, or you don't know how to use an ice axe - you can slide. You could get seriously hurt, if not killed.'"

My job at the CMC!

(L to R) Graham, me, and Gabriel modeling new shirts- June 2024 (shirt design by Alec and Hannah)

I was employed by the CMC from May 3rd, 2013 through the end of 2025* - just under two years after I retired from the Postal Service.   My position was with Membership Services where I worked closely with members, staff, government (Parks, Forest Service, BLM, counties, etc.) and other nonprofits (American Alpine Club, Continental Divide Trail Coalition, Colorado Trail Foundation, Fourteeners Initiative, Colorado Mountain Club Foundation, etc.).   Most of what I did consisted of assisting folks by telephone and email for the creation and organization of outings, events, and various business transactions. I was also responsible for a big part of our "press" operation - fulfilling book orders, working with the Mountaineers on keeping our book inventory up-to-date, and coordinating larger shipments with our various book authors.   Working for the Colorado Mountain Club was a fun chapter in my life that afforded me the opportunity to interact with our members, volunteers, and numerous authors, photographers, and famous mountaineers and climbers. That being said, what was even more fun was simply being a longtime CMC member and participating in all kinds of hikes, climbs, ski trips, bike trips, and international trips. Plus, I gained a lot of new skills over the years through the dozens of courses I completed through the club. In summary, I am thankful for all of the great people and experiences throughout my volunteer and professional time with the club. Thank you!   * I believe I may have been the longest serving employee in the club's history...           Sent: Friday, August 16, 2024 3:05 PM To: Madeline Bachner [Ed. Note: CEO at that time] Subject: thanks   Hi Madeline- my wife and I are CMC members from Illinois and we manage to get out to Colorado a few times each year for recreation.   I’ve contacted CMC via phone on numerous occasions to ask various questions and it seems that I always get Roger on the telephone. I just wanted to pass on a compliment to him regarding the excellent service he has always provided. He’s super friendly and very helpful.   Sometimes people fail to get recognized in an organization, yet I assume that you probably are already aware of what an asset he is to your group. Thanks for the great service supporting your members- even us flatlanders :)   Pat Butler

 

Executive Director Keegan Young

Keegan Young was the Colorado Mountain Club's Executive Director from September, 2018 through October, 2023. Keegan succesfully navigated the club through some very difficult times - the pandemic, legal issues, the usual myriad financial problems associated with owning an old building, and doing it all during a questionable economy.   There's no doubt that the club wouldn't have survived without Keegan's leadership and guidance - he certainly has our thanks! In this photo, as is Keegan's custom, he's celebrating a member's (me!) personal achievement! A few days earlier I completed my 1,000th climb up nearby Mount Morrison. Thank you, Keegan!

 

Me, the CMC, and Media

Over the years, while a staff member, I was interviewed a number of times about the CMC. Admittedly, most of the interviews took place only because I happened to be an employee but, sometimes, because I was involved in an outdoor activity as either a volunteer or trip leader. This interview concerned my overall view of opportunities in the club and was published by Colorado Serenity Magazine in August, 2019 - p. 51

 

 

 

Links:

12ers 13ers 14ers Acongcagua - a 2004 Bonowski/CMC trip... Africa (Eastern) - Kenya, Tanzania, and my Kilimanjaro climb Africa (Southern) - Our trip through Botswana, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe AIARE - The American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education Alpine Resuce Team - Evergreen, Colorado American Avalanche Association Camping Colorado Avalanche Information Center Bear Safety BRCS - Beginner Rock Climbing School Climbing CMC - Colorado Mountain Club CORSAR - Colorado Outdoor Recreation Search and Rescue Card Ecuador with the Colorado Mountain Club

Gear - Stuff for the Backcountry... High Altitude Medicine Guide Hiking Knots for climbing (animated by Grog) Leave No Trace - Center for Outdoor Ethics Lightning Safety More climbing photos... Pikes Peak and Barr Camp Russia Sierra Club Skiing in the backcountry... Survival in the backcountry Ten Essentials - Don't leave home without 'em! Travel Travel Two Walking Softly in the backcountry Waypoints, Grid Squares and Navigation

 

Warning! Climbing, mountaineering, and backcountry skiing are dangerous and can seriously injure or kill you. By further exploring this web site you acknowledge that the information presented here may be out of date or incorrect, and you agree not to hold the author responsible for any damages, injuries, or death arising from any use of this resource. Please thoroughly investigate any mountain before attempting to climb it, and do not substitute this web site for experience, training, and recognizing your limitations!

 

 

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