Agenda for Feb - Stanford...

Stanford Alpine ClubInstructor Handbook and Policies

March 2007v.1June 2010

alpineclub.stanford.edu

DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT

DO NOT COPY OR DISSEMINATE WITHOUT PERMISSION!

CONTENTS

Introduction ...................................................................................................3What is the Stanford Alpine Club? ................................................................3Formal Instructional Trips .............................................................................4Informal Trips ...............................................................................................5Instructor Policies .........................................................................................6Officers .........................................................................................................9Events and Meetings ....................................................................................9

Appendix A: Instruction Trip Preparation ....................................................10Appendix B: SAC Rock Climbing Curricula ................................................17Appendix C: Resources For Trip Planning .................................................28Appendix D: Guidelines for Teaching a Class ............................................28Appendix E: Risk Management and Safety Practices ...............................31Appendix F: Safety History, OEP ...............................................................38

Introduction ...............................................................................................................3What is the Stanford Alpine Club? ............................................................................3Instructor Policies ......................................................................................................4Events and Meetings ..................................................................................................8Risk Management ......................................................................................................8Safety .......................................................................................................................10Emergency and Medical Protocols ..........................................................................11Formal Instructional Trips .......................................................................................12Informal Trips ..........................................................................................................18

Appendix A: Emergency Evacuation Procedures ...................................................20Appendix B: Medical Protocols (.pdf) ....................................................................22Appendix C: Resources For Trip Planning .............................................................22Appendix D: Guidelines for Teaching a Class ........................................................23Appendix E: Safety History, OEP ...........................................................................26Appendix F: SAC Rock Climbing Curricula ...........................................................28Appendix G: SAC Ice and Snow Curricula .............................................................34


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Introduction

Welcome to the Stanford Alpine Club! We appreciate your interest in instructing for SAC. Every quarter our classes receive many more applications than we have spaces, so we hope that once you meet instructor qualifications and have assisted on some trips, you’ll be psyched to organize and lead your own trips!

This handbook is heavily adapted from the model of the Outdoor Education Program, SAC’s website and constitution. It’s intended to provide instructors with: an idea of how the organization works and how classes are run, a list of instructor qualifications and prerequisites, and an outline of the process for becoming an

instructor, and how to access the pro-deals for instructors access to resources to help with teaching/climbing the hard and fast rules and regulations in place to ensure safety information about the personal liability of instructors as well as Stanford’s awareness of potential emergencies during trips and what to do, including medical protocols procedures we have in place to ensure quality of classes and maintain an appropriate and similar

standard of teaching across classes and trips

While this handbook has much of the necessary information you’ll need about the Stanford Alpine Club, please remember that you should check for the most up-to-date information with current officers and instructors. More information can also be found in the Instructors section linked to on the website (alpineclub.stanford.edu).

What is the Stanford Alpine Club?

The Stanford Alpine Club (SAC) has a distinguished history of alpine excellence. Its inspirations lie in the steep granite of Yosemite Valley, but its members have contributed accomplishments around the globe. The Alpine Club went dormant during the 1980s and 1990s, but was resurrected in 2002 to promote alpine pursuits in the Stanford community.

The modern SAC perpetuates the original spirit of alpinism by providing a forum for planning excursions, and by introducing new members to the safe and responsible enjoyment of mountaineering, rock climbing, ice climbing, ski mountaineering, and other alpine pursuits.

To read of current SAC exploits, see trip reports and photos at http://alpineclub.stanford.edu/trip_reports. In addition, SAC publishes an annual Alpine Journal, in which club members write of their recent climbs and show their photography. The Journal was originally published in the 1960s; we do not have an exact list of past issues at present. Archived copies can be accessed at http://alpineclub.stanford.edu/info/journal.html, and are also available at Stanford’s libraries.

SAC is just one organization within Stanford Outdoors (outdoors.stanford.edu), the umbrella organization for Stanford’s outdoor groups. SAC is responsible for teaching climbing and anything else related to mountains and beyond; SAC often co-teaches backcountry workshops (BCWs) with the Outdoor Education Program (OEP). Aside from instructional classes, SAC organizes informal trips, more like “friends going climbing” than formal instruction. The official calendar of trips and events, as well as trip


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reports and photos, information about instructor policies, and a plethora of other information is available at alpineclub.stanford.edu.on the website.

Formal Instructional Trips

Formal instructional classes by SAC must be pre-announced, have a designated head instructor, be accompanied by at least one instructor with WFA or WFR certification, and typically have a course fee; by meeting these requirements, SAC enables Stanford to provide insurance and legal assistance. Non-Stanford affiliates may not attend outdoors instructional component of classes, because of risk management issues. Instructors can split up trip organization, so the head instructor need not be the one to coordinate the e-mails and logistics, or be the WFA/WFR-certified instructor.

Formal trips usually consist of a classroom or gym component during the week, followed by a weekend trip outdoors. Classroom sessions are usually held Thursday evenings in Clark Center, where we’ve had the most success reserving rooms. Reservations can be made here: http://biox.stanford.edu/room_scheduling.html Gym sessions for checking off skills and handling gear rentals for intro trips are usually during gear hours, or Friday late afternoons or evenings before the outdoor trip.

A quick outline of the general procedures for preparing for a trip, carrying it out, and following up are listed below. This is a summary of the process, with some important comments included. Please see Appendix ????? Outline for Trip Preparation for the full documentation.

1. Send out an announcement and applicationa. Template emails are included in Appendix ??????b. Trip size limited by number of instructors. Some trips require 2:1 student to instructor

ratio.c. Some classes have pre-requisites, such as Trad Leading. The application should clearly

distinguish whether someone is qualified or not.2. Classroom sessions

a. Slide templates can be found on the Instructors link on the website.b. Typically takes place Thursday evening prior to the weekend trip. Be sure to reserve a

room beforehand. Often these are held in the Clark Center.c. Work out trip logistics at the end of this meeting; drivers, carpools, class fees, waivers,

medforms, gear rentals, skills check off, ect.3. Trips

a. See Appendix ?????? for details of what is offered for each of the trips.b. Every trip must have a WFA/WFR cert present, with a first aid kit, and an Emergency

Action plan prepared ahead of time.c. Wear helmets! Instructors too. Besides rappelling this is the most easily preventable

risk. Don’t set a bad example for newbies.d. Have fun, and show it!

4. Post-Trip Dutiesa. Follow up with students to get student feedbackb. Write up a trip report, email this to the sac leaders list


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http://biox.stanford.edu/room_scheduling.html



c. Save one copy of the waivers, and one copy of the med forms. These should be locked up in the gear shed. Destroy the other copy of the med form.

d. Return geare. Give class fee money to Treasurer

Informal Trips

Informal trips are announced through the alpine-club-informal-trips lists and posted on the calendar at alpineclub.stanford.edu. There are no fees or applications for joining informal trips. Organizing the trip is usually just a matter of figuring out carpools, National Parks passes or permits, and climbing partners. Anyone can join these trips, whether Stanford or SAC-affiliated or not.

Thanksgiving Break @ Joshua TreeSAC has an annual trip to Joshua Tree during the Thanksgiving week off. It is an informal trip, with the “Joshua Tree trip coordinator” organizing details like carpools, climbing partners, etc. Coordinating the Joshua Tree trip gets you half-way to full instructor benefits including the pro-deals, so it’s a sweet job with minimal requirements!

Wednesday evenings @ Handley RockClint Cummins has founded a tradition of setting up top-ropes at Handley Rock on Wednesday evenings, spring through fall, when there’s enough daylight and the weather has been good (there’s no climbing within three days of rain, because of the weak nature of the sandstone rock). Handley Rock is a 35' sandstone rock in NW Redwood City, with several toprope routes in the 5.10 range, plus a few 5.6-5.9 and some 5.11s. It is about half an hour away from Palo Alto. Everyone usually meets at the pre-determined time (sometime around 5pm, but watch the climbing list and the calendar on-line for up-to-date details) at the Tresidder Bollards to carpool. It is best if new climbers learn how to belay at the climbing wall before going on a trip, but it is always possible to climb and not belay. Also, it is possible to get someone to show how to belay at Handley, but easier if everyone already knows how to belay. As with other trips, anyone climbing at Handley Rock accepts personal responsibility for any and all events, situations, hazards, and good times to be had by all.

Further clarification on types of trips and requirements for participants Personal trips – Not announced on the alpineclub.stanford.edu website, not announced as a SAC

trip; coordination takes place among friends but there is no formal instruction. No waiver required, participants assume all personal liability

SAC-sponsored trips – Announced over the alpineclub.stanford.edu website, even though there is no formal instruction. Includes any trips that make use of campsites sponsored by SAC. Participants must sign a waiver before they leave for the trip where these sites will be used.

Informal trips – Announced over alpineclub.stanford.edu and through the e-mail lists, organized as a SAC trip, may use SAC-sponsored campsites or participants climb on SAC-rented gear. Waiver must be signed. E.g. Thanksgiving Joshua Tree trip.

Formal trips – Announced over alpineclub.stanford.edu and through the e-mail lists, organized as a SAC trip, requires an application process and involves formal instruction. SAC-sponsored campsites or use of SAC gear. Health forms and waivers must be signed.


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NOTE: Any trip that has group instruction cannot be an informal trip! If you don’t have all the requisites (WFR instructor, enough instructors with qualifications, etc.) for a formal trip, don’t run the trip. While we try to run as many classes and trips as possible, we want to ensure an appropriate standard of safety and quality on our trips. If in question, err on the safer side. The Instructor Czar has the final say.

Trips Previously Offered

FALL WINTER SPRING

FORMAL INSTRUCTION Beginning (top-ropes) Intro cross-country skiing Beginning (top-ropes)

Anchors I (bolts, rocks, natural anchors)

Intro telemark skiing Anchors I

Anchors II (anchors using trad gear)

Avalanche awareness Anchors II

Self-rescue/belay escape Intro mountaineering Intro lead workshop

Crevasse rescue Intro to fastpacking*

Canyoneering* (?) Intro caving*

INFORMAL TRIPS Joshua Tree, Thanksgiving Indian Creek


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*BCW joint with OEP

SAC was created with the intention of fostering Stanford’s climbing community. Its weekly meetings and slideshows offer an opportunity for people to find climbing partners, share experiences and pass on beta, meet and make plans, and connect the aspiring with the experienced. SAC instructors are instrumental in building this community, by teaching on formal trips and also by bringing others outside so newer climbers can keep learning and developing their skills. Hopefully these new climbers, once they have experience, will also instruct and take novice climbers out. It is helpful for new instructors to get to know the community by climbing with existing officers/instructors. New instructors are expected to learn about how SAC operates by assisting on trips before becoming official instructors.

Instructor Policies

Instructor Benefits

1. Pro-deals as a Stanford Outdoors instructor

In order to be eligible for pro-deals, where instructors can buy gear at wholesale prices directly from the manufacturer, a SAC instructor needs to become an SO instructor through the process described below. This process is the same for all Stanford Outdoors groups.

Pro-deals can be set up by anyone, but should coordinate with Stanford Outdoor’s pro-deal coordinator. Examples of past pro-deals are Mountain Hardwear and Petzl; SAC currently has ongoing pro-deals with La Sportiva and backcountry.com.


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There are three ways to become an SO Instructor:

Serve as an OFFICER for a 1-year term

Serve as an INSTRUCTOR for a specified number of trips or duration of time (only applicable to certain organizations).

Serve as a TRIP COORDINATOR for a specified number of trips (only applicable to certain organizations).

These requirements can also be fulfilled in combination (serve as a Co-Officer AND lead trips, etc.), and can also be fulfilled through multiple groups (lead trips for both Redwood and Outing, for example).

Once the requirements are satisfied, the individual will send an e-mail to the SO President listing the trips they led/instructed, and/or the positions they held that made them eligible. The SO President will then add the individual to the SO Instructors’ list, where announcements for prodeals and other benefits will be sent. Instructors are added to the list as they become eligible (ie. upon their fourth day instructing a SAC trip, or upon committing to teach a class and lead a trip for their second quarter as an OEP instructor). Depending on the benefit, affiliation with the University or enrollment as a student may be required.


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At the end of every spring quarter, the SO instructor list will be cleared out completely and those who wish to be reinstated back onto the list (and hence be able to receive benefits) must e-mail the SO President with a list of posts they have held and/or trips they have instructed or coordinated that fulfill the eligibility requirements. Unless otherwise noted, once eligibility is obtained, it is good for 1 year (ie, end of winter quarter to the next end of winter quarter).

E-mail lists

Anyone who signed up to be on the climbing list can post messages about trips, gear for sale, climbing partners, etc. Alpine-club is a members-only list, and represents a more concentrated group of dedicated outdoors-people and mountain-folk. Because the locations of our meetings changes often, we recommend anyone interested in meetings/slideshows, classes and trips should subscribe to the climbing list.

climbing you signed up to be on the climbing listserv

alpine-club you paid dues

sacleaders you are involved in assisting or instructing on trips in any way (includes new instructors), or you are an officer

stanford-outdoors

you are a qualified instructor who has instructed on enough trips to qualify for the prodeals, or you are an officer who qualifies for the prodeals (you do not need to pay dues if you are an officer or qualified instructor)


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Instructor Policies

Requirements for SAC instructorsOfficer President, Treasurer, Gear Guru, Slideshow MC, Webmaster, Safety OfficerInstructor

Czar, Journal Editor

Instructor A. Serve as Head Instructor on two2 days of official instructional tripsB. Serve as an instructor on four days of official instructional tripsC. Serve one1 day as Head Instructor and two2 days as instructor

Trip Coordinator J-Tree Coordinator is equivalent to head instructing one1 day

Hard Skills RequirementsYears # of anchors

set (all types)# of bottom belay TR anchors set

# of trad leads (pitches)

# of multi-pitch trad leads (pitches)

Comfortable trad lead level

Knows self-rescue skills

Adequate teaching ability

Intro - 20+ 6+ - - - - yes

Anchors 1 - 30+ 15+ - - - - yes

Anchors 2 (ground)

- 50+ - 10+ - - - yes

Anchors 2 (leading followers)

>1 50+ - 30+ 10+ 5.6 yes yes

Lead wkshp >1 50+ - 50+ 15+ 5.7 yes yes

2. Certification subsidies

Wilderness First Aid (WFA)/Wilderness First Responder (WFR) certifications.1

Because all instructors are encouraged to obtain wilderness medicine certification, SAC will reimburse half of a WFA or WFR certification course after an instructor has been an instructor on two trips within one year.

1 WFA (16-24 hours) and WFR courses (80 hours) are often taught to Stanford students by Bobbie Foster (www.fostercalm.com). NOLS WMI also frequently offers classes near Stanford (www.nols.edu/wmi/courses). SPOT has historically taken the lead in organizing these classes, but we’re transitioning coordination of these classes all outdoor groups to Stanford Outdoors.


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AIARE I (American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education) certification.2 SAC has subsidized the Winter 2007 AIARE I certification course also sponsored by Redwood, Powderbound, and OEP, to encourage instructors go gain avalanche knowledge, making backcountry trips safer. If the course is offered again in the future, SAC will try to continue providing the subsidy for SAC instructors.

SAC Instructor Policy – Becoming an Instructor

Instructor Czar. The new position of Instructor Czar was created to help new and current instructors through the qualification process and any future instructor training classes. The Instructor Czar’s primary job is to certify SAC instructors by maintaining a checklist for each class of the requirements that instructors must meet in order to teach that class, and a checklist for each instructor of the requirements they have fulfilled. The Instructor Czar, in communication with the officers, has final authority to refuse certification to unqualified candidates. The Instructor Czar will also keep a record of trip reports and comments from class participants pertaining to the teaching and leading abilities of current and potential instructors. This will be done by soliciting voluntary comments from the participants of each SAC class. Instructors whose records show a history of questionable safety judgments or poor teaching can have their instructor status downgraded or revoked. The Instructor Czar is the person who will be handling any questions you may have about becoming an instructor or about the instructor qualification process.Instructor Requirements for ALL Instructional Trips [Revised 10/2005, 02/2007]There are three categories of SAC Instructors: head instructors, instructors, and assistants. Each trip must have at least one head instructor, and may have additional instructors or assistants to assist the head instructor.

Head instructor – Has hard skills plus trip leader soft skills (teaching, supervision), listed in requirements below. Has final authority over all trip decisions, regarding location of trip, weather, climbs to be led or top-roped, which instructors and assistants are on the trip (to be decided in conjunction with the Instructor Czar), who (whether instructors or assistants) is allowed to set up anchors, lead climbs, or belay; and any other technical or safety factors of the trip. Can delegate logistics and applications if needed. During the trip, head instructors must monitor and enforce the quality and safety of instruction, including instructors and assistants who are on the trip. Head instructors should also check to ensure an instructor that is medically trained (WFA or WFR) is on the trip. Head instructors must meet all hard skills be highly qualified and meet the requirements listed below.

Instructors –Checked off with all hard skills, listed in requirements below. Has discussed standards for check-offs with Head Instructor, or participated in a SAC lead information session. Teach technical skills along with the head instructor. Set up anchors and top-ropes or lead climbs. Contribute to decision-making processes. Discussion between instructors and the head instructor about technical and safety decisions is encouraged. In all decisions where instructor discretion is needed, the head instructor should gather input from the other instructors to make a final decision.

2 The certification was run by Mountain Adventure Seminars (MAS, http://www.mtadventure.com), a company up in the Sierras. The AIARE curriculum is renowned for being one of the most comprehensive avalanche awareness and preparedness in the industry. The Level I class is about 20 hrs and focuses mainly on Avalanche awareness and decision making (to read more, see http://www.avtraining.org/lvl1.htm). Normally, the 4 Part Lecture Series: (2 hours each) costs $70 for the series, or $20/lecture. The field portion consists of 1.5 days (12 hours) of training @ $125/person.


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Assistant instructors – People who are not official SAC instructors may help out on SAC trips at the discretion of the head instructor. They may not meet all the technical requirements listed below but may be qualified to monitor belay techniques and other safety factors. They may also be the ones who coordinate the logistics and gear for the trip.

Selection Process for New SAC instructors1. Interested instructors fill out a survey about past climbing/instructing experience.2. Instructors, whether new or current, are added to the sacleaders list. Instructors that are

qualified and have fulfilled the SO requirements listed above will be added to the soinstructors list to be eligible for pro-deals.

3. Before qualifying as an instructor, the following criteria should be met:i. Consensus with sufficient support of the current instructor pool and at the discretion

of the officers. New instructors should climb with at least 2 current instructors or officers who can verify technical skills, safety and decision-making abilities.

ii. Assist on at least two classes, at the discretion of officers. If an interested instructor has all the technical experience, he/she can lead and run a trip and make technical decisions as an assistant, with the head instructor watching and ensuring that everything is running safely. If the head instructor approves, the assistant can become a head instructor, subject to the discretion of officers.

iii. Hard skills and experience requirements listed below. [Please note that we are still formalizing requirements for mountaineering and other winter courses.]

4. Finally, for an instructor to become a head instructor, the individual must satisfy the following requirements:1) Has instructed a SAC trip before.2) Has instructed the curriculum to be taught on the trip before.3) Meets the hard skills instructor requirements for the trip.4) Approval of president instructor czar or president, with encouraged input of the instructor

pool.5) Current WFA certification strongly recommended. (If head instructor is not WFA

certified, it is their responsibility to make sure that at least one of the other instructors on the trip does have current WFA certification.)

ROCK CLIMBING – INSTRUCTOR HARD SKILLS REQUIREMENTS Years # of anchors

set (all types)# of bottom belay TR anchors set

# of trad leads (pitches)

# of multi-pitch trad leads (pitches)

Comfortable trad lead level

Knows self-rescue skills

Adequate teaching ability

Intro - 20+ 6+ - - - - yes

Anchors 1 - 30+ 15+ - - - - yes

Anchors 2 (ground)

- 50+ - 10+ - - - yes

Anchors 2 (leading followers)

>1 50+ - 30+ 10+ 5.6 yes yes

Lead wkshp >1 50+ - 50+ 15+ 5.7 yes yes

Instructor BenefitsPro-deals as a Stanford Outdoors instructor


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Pro-deals can be set up by anyone, but should coordinate with Stanford Outdoor’s pro-deal coordinator. Examples of past pro-deals are Mountain Hardwear and Petzl; SAC currently has ongoing pro-deals with Mountain Hardware and backcountry.com.

There are three ways to become an SO Instructor:A. Serve as an OFFICER for a 1-year termB. Serve as an INSTRUCTOR for a specified number of trips or duration of time (only applicable to

certain organizations).C. Serve as a TRIP COORDINATOR for a specified number of trips (only applicable to certain

organizations).

Once the requirements are satisfied, the individual will send an e-mail to the SO President listing the trips they led/instructed, and/or the positions they held that made them eligible. The SO President will then add the individual to the SO Instructors’ list, where announcements for prodeals and other benefits will be sent. Instructors are added to the list as they become eligible (ie. upon their fourth day instructing a SAC trip, or upon committing to teach a class and lead a trip for their second quarter as an OEP instructor). Depending on the benefit, affiliation with the University or enrollment as a student may be required.

At the end of every spring quarter, the SO instructor list will be cleared out completely and those who wish to be reinstated back onto the list (and hence be able to receive benefits) must e-mail the SO President with a list of posts they have held and/or trips they have instructed or coordinated that fulfill the eligibility requirements. Unless otherwise noted, once eligibility is obtained, it is good for 1 year (ie, end of winter quarter to the next end of winter quarter).

Certification subsidies Wilderness First Aid (WFA)/Wilderness First Responder (WFR) certifications.3

Because all instructors are encouraged to obtain wilderness medicine certification, SAC will reimburse half of a WFA or WFR certification course after an instructor has been an instructor on two trips within one year.

AIARE I (American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education) certification.4 SAC has subsidized the Winter 2007 AIARE I certification course also sponsored by Redwood, Powderbound, and OEP, to encourage instructors go gain avalanche knowledge, making backcountry trips safer. If the course is offered again in the future, SAC will try to continue providing the subsidy for SAC instructors.

Professional Climbing Guide Institute (PCGI) - Rescue Course certification. SAC has subsidized this course for instructors in the past. The level of subsidy generally depends on the remaining instructor training money in the account.

E-mail listAnyone who signed up to be on the climbing list can post messages about trips, gear for sale, climbing partners, etc. Alpine-club is a members-only list, and represents a more concentrated group of dedicated outdoors-people and mountain-folk. Sacleaders list is for instructors, and is used for planning trips and events or anything else that is confidential. 3 WFA (16-24 hours) and WFR courses (80 hours) are often taught to Stanford students by Bobbie Foster (www.fostercalm.com). NOLS WMI also frequently offers classes near Stanford (www.nols.edu/wmi/courses). SPOT has historically taken the lead in organizing these classes, but we’re transitioning coordination of these classes all outdoor groups to Stanford Outdoors.4 The certification was run by Mountain Adventure Seminars (MAS, http://www.mtadventure.com), a company up in the Sierras. The AIARE curriculum is renowned for being one of the most comprehensive avalanche awareness and preparedness in the industry. The Level I class is about 20 hrs and focuses mainly on Avalanche awareness and decision making (to read more, see http://www.avtraining.org/lvl1.htm). Normally, the 4 Part Lecture Series: (2 hours each) costs $70 for the series, or $20/lecture. The field portion consists of 1.5 days (12 hours) of training @ $125/person.


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climbing you signed up to be on the climbing listserv. Open list.

alpine-clubalpine-club-informal-trips

you paid dues. Restricted list.

sacleaders you are involved in assisting or instructing on trips in any way (includes new instructors), or you are an officer. Restricted list.

stanford-outdoors you are a qualified instructor who has instructed on enough trips to qualify for the prodeals, or you are an officer who qualifies for the prodeals (you do not need to pay dues if you are an officer or qualified instructor)

OfficersPresidentTreasurerGear GuruSlideshow MCWebsite MasterInstructor Czar

The new position of Instructor Czar was created to help new and current instructors through the qualification process and any future instructor training classes. The Instructor Czar’s primary job is to certify SAC instructors by maintaining a checklist for each class of the requirements that instructors must meet in order to teach that class, and a checklist for each instructor of the requirements they have fulfilled. The Instructor Czar, in communication with the officers, has final authority to refuse certification to unqualified candidates. The Instructor Czar will also keep a record of trip reports and comments from class participants pertaining to the teaching and leading abilities of current and potential instructors. This will be done by soliciting voluntary comments from the participants of each SAC class. Instructors whose records show a history of questionable safety judgments or poor teaching can have their instructor status downgraded or revoked. The Instructor Czar is the person who will be handling any questions you may have about becoming an instructor or about the instructor qualification process.

Basic Self/Partner Rescue Skills Check-offs for SAC InstructorsFor any instructional trip requiring leading

Knots MarinersMünter Mule

Ascending the rope (40’)(use one of these knots)

PrusikKlemheistBachmannMechanical

Rappel – changeover to prusikCrossing knots/gear

Rescue Belay escape (ability to release under load)

Partner rescue Fallen leaderRappel rescue


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Lowering past a knot

Events and Meetings

Subscribe to climbing and/or alpine-club lists to receive up-to-date information about these events. They are often posted on the Calendar at alpineclub.stanford.edu, but be sure to ask instructors or officers to confirm if you have any questions.

Monday 7p/7:30p MeetingsLocation announced weekly through the climbing and alpine-club listservs.7:00p Meeting – This is an informal time for people to catch up, see what trips are being planned for the next weekend, deal with any official club business, meet new or interested/potential members and answer questions, and of course set up the slideshow.

7:30p Slideshow – If you have ideas for slideshows or would like to present, please talk to the Slideshow Coordinator. Also, if you have ideas for guest speakers, feel free to set up the talk yourself, let the Slideshow Coordinator know, or talk to the officers. There may be a subsidy that SAC may be able to use toward guest speakers.

Quarterly Instructor MeetingsUsually the last week before finals week or the first week of the new quarter Monday before finals week, the instructors have a meeting in lieu of a slideshow to decide on the trip schedule for the next quarter. New instructors or anyone interested in instructing is encouraged to attend. Because OEP and SAC often use similar gear that may be in demand, especially in the winter, it is essential that OEP and SAC instructors communicate about trip schedules, gear rentals, and locations. For the scheduling meeting, the OEP trips should be noted to avoid possible conflicts. Also, it is helpful for any possible joint OEP-SAC backcountry workshops to be brought up at this meeting, so that trips don’t overlap as much as possible.

Risk Management

“Even if you know what you're doing, lots of thing can go wrongand you may be injured or die. It happens all the time.”

Standard disclaimer stuff is usually there for a reason: it’s true. So it’s repeated here:“CLIMBING IS AN INHERENTLY DANGEROUS ACTIVITY that may result in serious injury or death. You should always climb within your ability, after carefully judging the safety of the route. Failure for you to follow these conditions may result in injury or death. We are not responsible for your actions. You are, so be safe.

DO NOT participate in these activities unless you are an expert, have sought and obtained qualified professional instruction or guidance, are knowledgeable about the risks involved, or are willing to assume personal responsibility for all risks associated with these activities.”

Insurance


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Stanford University has agreed to provide liability insurance and legal assistance to cover OEP instructors (but not students) for alleged negligent acts associated with OEP activities. However, there are some restrictions: Vehicle accidents involving personal vehicles (not Stanford-owned vehicles) are not covered. Drivers

must have their own liability insurance. Intentional acts are not covered. (If you accidentally cause someone to die by doing something you

should have known was dangerous then you are negligent, and Stanford will help you out. But if you intentionally kill someone then you go to jail.)

Contractual obligations are not covered. Do not sign any agreements or contracts with outside organizations (such as a contract with an outfitter or guide service). Car rental contracts are acceptable if the rental agency provides insurance for every driver and the company agrees to the use of the vehicle.

If alcohol or drugs are involved, or you break the law, you will not be covered. OEP has no insurance for property loss or damage, or medical expenses. Students and instructors

should have their own health and accident insurance.

GuidelinesThe Office of Risk Management has suggested the following guidelines: Do not give the impression that OEP is a guide service or a commercial operation. Instructors cannot

be paid. (If we were paid our liability risk would increase.) Do not hire anyone or contract for services. Stanford will not permit “high-risk” activities, specifically including (but not limited to) hang gliding,

parachuting, bungee cord jumping, activities involving aircraft, hot air ballooning, survival training (naked camping), and extreme mountaineering. (Use your best judgment when deciding what is “extreme”; just remember that if you try to take the class up Denali and someone gets killed, you might have to find your own lawyer.)

OEP students must be members of the Stanford community (registered students, faculty, staff, and their families).

Drivers must be informed that they need a valid drivers license and at least the minimum vehicle insurance coverage required by California law.

If anything goes wrong on a trip, especially if there is a major accident, we must report it to the Office of Risk Management immediately so we can prepare for potential lawsuits. Do not wait until the court summons you to appear!

If a major lawsuit occurs Stanford could terminate OEP. Please make safety your primary concern!

Personal Instructor LiabilityThe bottom line is that you can get sued no matter what! Even with the waiver! The waiver doesn't actually do anything if it goes to court. Since the past agreement between Stanford and the Stanford Alpine Club has been somewhat vague – that as long as instructors behave “reasonably”, that Stanford will help with liability insurance and legal assistance, assume that in the case of an actual lawsuit or accident, anything could happen. You could still be liable for any loss or damages. Promoting personal responsibility among students can help, but even if you do this, the parents might still come after you if anything happens.

Personal ResponsibilityInstructors must stress that each individual in the backcountry must assume personal responsibility for his or her decisions. Participants are informed that rock climbing, and lead climbing in particular, involves risk. All trip participants must be willing to take personal responsibility for their own safety as well as that of their climbing partners.


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Further Note About Extreme/Advanced MountaineeringOSA explicitly lists “advanced mountaineering” as a high-risk activity which no student group at Stanford is permitted to sponsor. They state that “Permission for such activities has been consistently denied... Individuals wishing to organize such activities on their own may do so, but are not permitted to use the Stanford name in publicizing their events or when dealing with vendors, participants or others -- AND -- may not use program money or house dues to support such events. In organizing such an event, one is implicitly assuming responsibility for the safety of participants and could be held personally liable in case of accidents.”

Safety

“A whole rock formation might collapse on you and squash you like a bug.”

Safety on a university-run trip is crucial in order for us to be able to continue as an organization. On SAC trips you need to follow a much higher standard of safety than on trips you would take as an individual. As an instructor, you are responsible for the safety of the students, and the students look to you as an authority on how to travel safely in the backcountry, climb safely without taking unnecessary risks, make wise decisions about avalanche dangers, etc. Your risk of a lawsuit is much greater than if you were just out with your friends.

SAC and OEP Safety Commandments

I. Thou shalt not let judgment be overruled by desire. If it’s too dangerous, bag it.II. Thou shalt not let familiarity breed overconfidence. Just because you have been there before

doesn’t mean everything will be OK.III. Thou shalt not forget the abilities of the group. The students are less experienced than you.IV. Thou shalt not show off. Even if you can do jump-turns down an icy slope, free-solo Astroman,

or enjoy a 24 hour orgasm, don’t set a bad example! That means not running it out on leads or placing marginal anchors.

V. Thou shalt maintain a margin of safety. Never push a situation to the limit.VI. Thou shalt avoid situations for which you lack experience. If you feel uncomfortable, speak up

and change plans.

TransportationTo emphasize again, a lot of bad things can happen in accidents, besides physical injuries. Because Stanford does not cover vehicle accidents, anyone in your car or anyone who you get into an accident with can sue you for everything you have. In fact, OEP found that instructors’ liability is a serious enough concern that just recently acquired $6000/yr of funding from the Geo Department for rental cars for trips. Stanford students who are SAC instructors and are still on their parents' insurance are especially at risk, since anyone in an accident could potentially go after all their parents' assets. However, SAC doesn’t have the funding to be able to rent cars for all its trips, and passing on the costs of rental cars to students would probably make classes prohibitively expensive. See Appendix E for a Safety History for OEP (and SAC forthcoming). It’s there to give you an idea of some of the accidents that tend to happen – they have mostly taken place on the road. Driving is the most dangerous part of our trips!

Note that Stanford will NOT provide additional insurance in excess of your policy if: drive recklessly


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drive where alcohol and drugs are involved anyone in the car is breaking the law the vehicle is being used for illegal purposes

Two more commandments should be added to the list:


VII. DO NOT SPEED!VIII. Everyone in the car wears seatbelts at all time. No exceptions!

IX.

Emergency and Medical Protocols

To better assess risks and deal with emergencies in the backcountry, we strongly encourage every instructor to take the relevant classes that will improve their awareness and skills – whether medical emergencies or avalanche awareness, SAR or crevasse rescue. However, since anything can happen on a trip even with the most qualified instructors and students, it’s necessary that you review the emergency care and evacuation procedures in Appendix A, and the medical protocols in Appendix B.

If you have a WFA or a WFR, you operate under Dr. Joanne Feldman’s license. Dr. Feldman is our Medical Advisor. She has approved of the medical protocols in the appendix. Please note that Dr. Feldman requests that instructors not clear C-spines or administer epi-pens. If you do so, you no longer operate under her license. If you wish to be able to perform these protocols, Dr. Feldman wants to check off these skills with you in person.

If you do not have current certification, either WFA or WFR, these protocols do not apply to you, and emergency medical care should be provided by the WFA/WFR-certified instructor on your trip. We encourage you to obtain certification so that you know how to use these protocols and can assist in any emergency or incident that may occur on a trip.

Climbing-Specific DangersFor one of the more commonly read articles discussing climbing-related accidents, see “Staying Alive” by John Dill, NPS Search and Rescue, at http://www.friendsofyosar.org/safety/climbingSafety1.html, or at the front of the Falcon guide for free climbing in Yosemite. In Yosemite National Park,

“Fifty-one climbers died from traumatic injuries between 1970 and 1990. A dozen more, critically hurt, would have died without rapid transport and medical treatment. In addition, there were many serious but survivable injuries, from fractured skulls to broken legs (at least 50 fractures per year), and a much larger number of cuts, bruises, and sprains.

Not surprisingly, most injuries occurred during leader falls and involved feet, ankles, or lower legs; for many, these are the accepted risks of climbing. However, leader falls accounted for only 25% of the fatal and near-fatal traumatic injuries; roughly 10% were from rockfall, 25% from being deliberately unroped, and 40% from simple mistakes with gear. Many cases are not clear cut; several factors may share the credit, and it is sometimes hard to quantify the weird adventures climbers have... In case after case, ignorance, a casual attitude, and/or some form of distraction proved to be the most dangerous aspects of the sport.”

SAC can’t afford to make mistakes from negligence, ignorance, distraction, or any other factors. When instructing a trip, try to be especially aware of the more common climbing mistakes: rappelling – rapping off the ends of knots, both ends not on the ground, rope not in ATC correctly leader falls – not placing sufficient or adequate protection


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miscommunication – lowering leader from anchors, climbing without being on belay, etc. tying in incorrectly – using a wrong knot, tying into the wrong place inexperience, exceeding abilities

Formal Instructional Trips

Formal instructional classes by SAC must be pre-announced, have a designated head instructor, be accompanied by at least one instructor with WFA or WFR certification, and typically have a course fee; by meeting these requirements, SAC enables Stanford to provide insurance and legal assistance. Non-affiliates may not attend outdoors instructional component of classes, because of risk management issues. Instructors can split up trip organization, so the head instructor need not be the one to coordinate the e-mails and logistics, or be the WFA/WFR-certified instructor.

Formal trips usually consist of a weekend trip outdoors, preceded by one or two classroom or gym sessions during the week before the trip. Classroom sessions are usually held Thursday evenings in Clark Center, where we’ve had the most success reserving rooms (ask an officer, who will have a list of resources for room reservations). Gym sessions for checking off skills and handling gear rentals for intro trips are usually Friday late afternoons or evenings before the outdoors trip.

1. Send out an announcement and application

Our classes are typically oversubscribed, especially introductory rock climbing trips. Our limiting factor is instructor availability, so it’s great the more qualified instructors we can have teaching for SAC! Trips are usually decided at the instructors meeting at the end of the previous quarter, but you can decide to lead a trip any time you want. It is helpful to be cognizant of the other trips being run during your preferred weekend to avoid any gear/location/instructor availability conflicts, and at least talk to these instructors so they know what’s going on.

Whoever’s coordinating the trip sends an e-mail to relevant lists (climbing, alpine-club, redwood, oep-interest, etc.) and maybe an e-mail to sacleaders asking who might be available to help instruct on the weekend.

The announcement includes details about the trip, and application questions. Examples of announcements applications can be found at alpineclub.stanford.edu, under “Instructional Trips and Materials”. See the text links to e-mails below “Past Classes”. The announcement usually describes what the class is, when and where it will take place, course fees and requirements.

Typically applications inquire into level of commitment, previous experience, participation in SO (instructor, SAC member, etc.), ability to provide transportation or NP passes. Be sure that you see previous examples for details; blatant imitation of these examples is totally ok! The applications help instructors decide on a student pool with relatively similar abilities, which can make the outdoors instruction easier.

How do I choose which applicants to accept?The instructors have the discretion to choose who is admitted to the class, but we ask that priority be given in the following way: SAC instructors, OEP instructors, SAC members, Stanford Outdoors folks, everyone else. (Remember, for insurance purposes, we cannot accept applications from people who have no affiliation with Stanford. The furthest allowable “extension” of “affiliation” is a spouse of someone


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affiliated with Stanford.) The purpose of this is to increase the skills of the current instructor pool and teach people who are more likely to contribute back to SAC by becoming a much-needed instructor.

In addition, limitations on the student pool include the size of the class. There are two limitations: 1) group size in the area where you decide to go instruct, and 2) student:instructor ratio. While it is good to get as many people involved as possible, try to keep a student:instructor ratio of 4 students:1 instructor, and maybe even a lower ratio for classes like the lead workshop. Note on class size: If larger than typical sized trips, special provisions such as extra trip leaders and splitting the group to minimize impacts should be considered.

What if people bail?Sometimes people commit and then can’t or decide not to go, so it’s good to emphasize that their taking a spot should be a definite response – if they bail, they’re preventing other people from taking the class. So the sooner you collect course fees to reserve the spot (e.g. at the classroom session before the trip), the better. Fees are non-refundable except under extenuating circumstances. If a student doesn’t show up for the second weekend of a class, for example, there is no refund for missing the class. Exceptions can be granted by officers.

What if it the trip is rained out?If the trip rains out, as often happens with winter classes to Castle Rock, where the sandstone needs a few days to dry out before being climbed on, send an announcement to the entire climbing and alpine-club list about the rescheduled date. People who were scheduled to go the first weekend get priority, and any spaces that are available can be open to people who can go to the make-up date. Be sure to reconfirm places with people scheduled for the first trip, and have the Friday evening orientation before the Saturday/Sunday day trip for anyone who missed it the originally scheduled Friday. Anyone who already paid for a class that they do not attend because it is rained out and they cannot make the rescheduled date can be reimbursed.

What do I need to coordinate with other instructors? Delegate logistics – who will send e-mails, choose applicants, figure out trip location details, etc. Decide who will run the Thursday classroom session or Friday evening belay skills/gear rental

session. Gear rental – Make sure the person who is running the Friday evening belay skills/gear rental, or

handling SAC gear rental for the trip either a) meets the Gear Guru at the set gear hours to obtain necessary equipment, or b) arranges with the Gear Guru to be able to access the equipment at the Friday evening pre-trip session.

Decide on trip location – head instructor has the final say. Please scout locations beforehand, especially ify you’re not familiar of the anchor/top-rope situation. For more trip planning and resources/locations, see Appendix C.

Decide beforehand who will set up what top-ropes Discuss safety of location, and check weather and avalanche reports before you go, especially if your

area (like Castle Rock) is heavily influenced by rain in the preceding three days.

2a. Classroom sessions

Class Preparation


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New instructors are encouraged to attend classroom sessions for both SAC and OEP to get an idea of how much information is covered in a session, ways to teach the class and involve students, and develop ideas for improving classes.

Allow lots of preparation time before teaching a class, especially if you haven’t done much teaching before. Preparing a class always takes much longer than you think.

Take a look at previous trip reports and class hashes, slides and handouts. CTL for teaching resources. If you want any ideas or suggestions, ask previous instructors. If you have the opportunity and desire, ask students after the class what they thought, so that you have

an idea of how to improve classes that you teach in the future. Archive of previous instructional materials – slides, handouts, syllabi, trip hashes. Until we develop

an electronic archive, we are keeping hard copies of this material in a binder in the filing drawer of the climbing wall’s desk. For electronic copies of powerpoint presentations, for example, contact the officers who will be able to provide you with a copy.

See Appendix D below for additional information about teaching that you might find useful.

Class Logistics Room reservation: Check with the slideshow coordinator. He/she can probably book a room in Clark

Center, which is convenient because they have digital projectors there, whiteboards, and lots of space. Re-announce classroom session to SO community – classroom sessions are free and open to the

public. Check the day before to make sure the equipment you need is working (digital projector, etc.) and

that you have all the adaptors/cables you need (especially for Macs). If you need a slide projector, SAC has one, as well as a screen. See the current slideshow coordinator about this equipment.

Arrive 15 minutes before to make sure that your computer works with the digital projector (we’ve had issues in the past).

Start and end on time!

After the Class: Hash. Instructors who are teaching and who are present at the classroom session should stay for 5-10

minutes after the class to give constructive feedback about how the class went. This is known as the class “hash”. First, the person who taught the class gets an opportunity to evaluate their own performance, and discuss what they might choose to change if they were to get another chance to teach the class. Next, other people who attended the class get a chance to give feedback. It helps if someone takes a few notes.

E-mail the hash to the sacleaders list by the following day.

Please don’t forget the hash! This is the most important way we can maintain a standard for our classes, and create a record to help future instructors know how to do teach safely and well.

2b. Trip preparation, gym sessions

Pre-Trip Duties, Trip Organization, and Course Logistics:

Some of this can also be done at the classroom session as well.


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Documentation – Obtain forms at http://alpineclub.stanford.edu/info/forms.html and return them after the trip to the officer archiving these. When having students sign the waiver, remind them that they take personal responsibility for their actions. There are no guarantees outdoors, and participants must be aware of the risks, do their part to manage it and take all safety precautions. “Nature is unpredictable and unsafe. Even if you know what you're doing, lots of things can go wrong and you may be injured or die. It happens all the time.”

_____ WAIVER_____ HEALTH FORMS (2)

– give 1 copy to Medical Officer on trip with WFR/WFA– leave 1 copy with campus contact before you go on the trip

_____ DRIVERS’ RELEASE AND WAIVER OF LIABILITY_____ EAP_____ CAMPUS CONTACT (has EAP and health forms)_____ MEDICAL OFFICER: INSTRUCTOR WITH WFR/WFA ON TRIP _____ FIRST AID KIT/MEDICAL PROTOCOLS

_____ HEALTH FORMS _____ EAP

Course Fees (Checks should be made to Stanford Alpine Club)

Fee structure (SAC member/non-member)

Intro rock climbing $10/15

Anchors I $15/20

Anchors II $35/45

Trad lead workshop (2 weekends) $45/60

Cross-country skiing $10/15

Telemark skiing $15/30

Mountaineering (1 weekend) $35/45

Avalanche workshop TBD

Caving/canyoneering $40/50


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If you are faced with questions by students about paying the fees, do not make up an answer! Ask an officer what the official policy is. We have had problems in the past (on multiple occasions) where instructors who didn’t enforce the correct policy or waived certain fees helped to create a situation in which there was confusion and some tensions about the fee structure. To avoid this, instructors need to give a standard policy that applies to ALL students so that all students feel that they are being treated fairly. In addition, these fees can help reimburse you as the instructor. For example, if you are teaching the telemark workshop and don’t have a season pass to a resort, you can get reimbursed for half your lift ticket. AS AN INSTRUCTOR YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ENFORCING THE CORRECT FEES!

Organizing Transportation and Permits– Drivers on formal trips are reimbursed $10 for wear on their vehicles. SAC also provides $10 per

instructor for long weekend trips to places such as Yosemite, and the remaining gas costs are split evenly between all students on the trips. (Instructors do not pay for gas.)

– The trip coordinator should obtain National Parks passes, Sno-park passes, backcountry permits, and/or other permits required. Because certain areas have group size limits, the trip coordinator should check for these limits and ensure the class size is within the limit.

NOTE: The “split up and meet back later” idea – splitting the class and obtaining two permits with the intention of reconvening later – violates permit restrictions. “As Stanford Outdoor/ SAC leaders, we are teaching folks how to explore the outdoors safely and respectfully. If we want to keep the wilderness in good shape, we must do our best to follow minimum impact guidelines. Large groups have a greater impact on the places they travel, which is why group sizes are restricted in popular areas.” Head instructors are strongly encouraged to consider places where the number of students and instructors is within the permitted group size.

Gear Rental and Skills Check-off– Check equipment ahead of time to ensure it works and is in good condition, especially ropes.– On Friday evening, instructors MUST review everyone’s belay technique before going to the

crag! In addition to belay technique, check belay signals to make sure communication isn’t sloppy. Emphasize that sometimes it’s hard to hear when climbing outdoors, especially when it’s windy.

Wall staff can help check off the following skills (but instructors should know what to check off because they will be doing it/helping at least). Since instructors and staff from the Climbing Wall, SAC, and SO are in the process of formalizing belay protocols this spring, we will be incorporating the procedures here, once they have been finalized. This will help standardize our instruction across all of Stanford Outdoors.

Campus Contact. Designate a campus contact, preferably another SAC instructor, who knows what your trip plans and destination(s) are, and who you can contact in case of an emergency. Keep their name and number with you on the trip. Also, exchange phone numbers between students/instructors. The campus contact should keep the second copy of the health forms and a copy of the EAP.

3. Trips5

Safety Briefing

5 Note: If on your trip, anyone comes up to your group and asks what you all are doing, you are “just friends going climbing”. That’s what you the instructors and your students say, because it’s true.


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Belay technique/signals should be checked before climbing begins, if for some reason they weren’t at the wall session before

Mention any unusual location-specific features to discuss (e.g. untying, not using certain features) Check each other’s knots, harness, belay device if using, mental readiness, before climbing Keep the rope extra tight at the start of the climb (because of rope stretch) What to yell if they drop something, specifically what to do when someone yells "Rock!" or

"Rope!" Maybe point out poison oak for anyone who wants to know Perhaps some parameters for the top of the cliff (like "don't get up on the rock"), etc.


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Trip SafetyInstructional trip standards are different from personal ones! On instructional trips, knowing that students will cut corners and don’t absorb 100% of everything you say, remember that you should always teach “by the book”. Don’t apply the same standards when you’re on your own personal climbing trip to classes – they have to be at a much higher standard on instructional trips.

The trip leader is responsible for making sure that the following precautions are taken: Every student and instructor has turned in waiver and medical forms. Instructors bring medical forms on trips and know where they are in case of an emergency. Every overnight trip has a “campus contact.” The head instructor is responsible for ensuring that every trip is accompanied by at least one

instructor with a Wilderness First Aid (WFA) or Wilderness First Responder (WFR) certification. Every trip must have a first aid kit. Instructors should discuss anticipated safety hazards and contingency plans for severe hazards. It

can be useful to set a turn-back policy: a time or a set of conditions at which point the destination will be modified or abandoned.

Instructors should be aware of local authorities and location of phones or other ways to get in contact with emergency help, especially if in remote areas. Every instructor should be aware of this information, and have emergency phone numbers (including campus contact number) and locations on hand.

As a group, the instructors should have extra gear for emergencies. Everyone, students AND instructors, should wear helmets during any climbing activities. It is

important that instructors set an example for students by using helmets. Any bouldering should be spotted. No alcohol and drugs during trip. Post-trip, instructors should discuss lapses or potential lapses in safety. Instructors have the final authority during a trip to prohibit students exhibiting overly risky

behaviors from climbing, participating, or continuing to participate on trips.

4. Post-Trip Duties:1. Trip report

Write up a brief trip report, emphasizing anything unusual that happened or can be improved. These don’t need to be incredibly detailed, but just present a brief picture of how things went. Red flag situations that could be anticipated or prevented for future trips. Any safety concerns or problems are especially important to record for future instructors’ use.

Send out the TR and hash (described below) to the other instructors on the trip and give them one or two days to respond with any additions, corrections, and their own suggestions for the hash.

2. Hash The instructors who attended the trip should talk about how the trip went. The instructors discuss

what went well (think, what advice would you give to a future instructor of the kind of trip you led), and what they would have done differently if they had another chance to teach the class. The hash can be done over e-mail, with one person beginning the hash and others adding to it, or in person after the trip. The hash doesn’t have to take a lot of time, but if there are serious concerns or issues, it can help the officers recognize any problems that they can decide how to resolve/prevent in the future. After the hash, take-aways in bullet points (what went well, what didn’t) should be written down.


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3. Student Feedback Within 24 hours of your trip, e-mail the students asking them for brief feedback. It can be as basic

as what went well and what they thought could be improved for the class next time. Set a deadline (e.g. one week) to improve your chances of getting responses back. After the deadline, compile the responses or summarize them to e-mail out.

4. E-mail the sacleaders list. E-mail the TR, summary of the hash (bullet points of take-aways is fine), and summary of student

feedback to the sacleaders list.

PLEASE NOTE: The trip report and hash should only take 5-10 min for one of the leaders to write down, and a few minutes for each leaders to respond. We don’t need extensive reports, just a guide for future instructors and also a way we can learn cumulatively what to do and what not to do! It’s important that instructors participate in this process so that we can keep improving the quality of our classes and our safety procedures, and help protect our (and your!) liability.

5. Documentation_____ WAIVERS – file at climbing wall desk_____ HEALTH FORMS – destroy/shred one copy, file one copy to be locked in cabinet in

storage – contact Gear Guru or show up at gear hours to submit these_____ EAP – add to the resources binder at the climbing wall desk (so the next group that

goes out can copy some of the information from the EAP or use your suggestions)_____ INSTRUCTORS TRIP HASH – e-mail to sacleaders list, file in binder wall_____ STUDENT FEEDBACK – compile/incorporate in hash, file in binder at wall_____ CLASS PRESENTATION/HANDOUTS – file in binder at wall

6. Checks/cash for course fees – return to SAC Treasurer.

7. Return any gear to the Gear Guru

Informal Trips

Informal trips are usually announced through the climbing and alpine-club lists and posted on the calendar at alpineclub.stanford.edu. There are no fees or applications for joining informal trips. Organizing the trip is usually just a matter of figuring out carpools, National Parks passes or permits, and climbing partners. Anyone can join these trips, whether Stanford or SAC-affiliated or not.

Thanksgiving Break @ Joshua TreeSAC has an annual trip to Joshua Tree during the Thanksgiving week off. It is an informal trip, with the “Joshua Tree trip coordinator” organizing details like carpools, climbing partners, etc. Coordinating the Joshua Tree trip gets you half-way to full instructor benefits including the pro-deals, so it’s a sweet job with minimal requirements!

Wednesday evenings @ Handley RockClint Cummins has founded a tradition of setting up top-ropes at Handley Rock on Wednesday evenings, spring through fall, when there’s enough daylight and the weather has been good (there’s no climbing within three days of rain, because of the weak nature of the sandstone rock). Handley Rock is a 35' sandstone rock in NW Redwood City, with several toprope routes in the 5.10 range, plus a few 5.6-5.9


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and some 5.11s. It is about half an hour away from Palo Alto. Everyone usually meets at the pre-determined time (sometime around 5pm, but watch the climbing list and the calendar on-line for up-to-date details) at the Tresidder Bollards to carpool. It is best if new climbers learn how to belay at the climbing wall before going on a trip, but it is always possible to climb and not belay. Also, it is possible to get someone to show how to belay at Handley, but easier if everyone already knows how to belay. As with other trips, anyone climbing at Handley Rock accepts personal responsibility for any and all events, situations, hazards, and good times to be had by all.

Further clarification on types of trips and requirements for participants Personal trips – Not announced on the alpineclub.stanford.edu website, not announced as a SAC

trip; coordination takes place among friends but there is no formal instruction. No waiver required, participants assume all personal liability

SAC-sponsored trips – Announced over the alpineclub.stanford.edu website, even though there is no formal instruction. Includes any trips that make use of campsites sponsored by SAC. Participants must sign a waiver before they leave for the trip where these sites will be used.

Informal trips – Announced over alpineclub.stanford.edu and through the e-mail lists, organized as a SAC trip, may use SAC-sponsored campsites or participants climb on SAC-rented gear. Waiver must be signed. E.g. Thanksgiving Joshua Tree trip.

Formal trips – Announced over alpineclub.stanford.edu and through the e-mail lists, organized as a SAC trip, requires an application process and involves formal instruction. SAC-sponsored campsites or use of SAC gear. Health forms and waivers must be signed.

NOTE: Any trip that has group instruction cannot be an informal trip! If you don’t have all the requisites (WFR instructor, enough instructors with qualifications, etc.) for a formal trip, don’t run the trip. While we try to run as many classes and trips as possible, we want to ensure an appropriate standard of safety and quality on our trips. If in question, err on the safer side. The Instructor Czar has the final say.

Clint brought up that we need to somehow incentivize experienced leaders to take new climbers/leaders out, build links between different levels of rock climbing classes, build skills learned in intro classes. How can we structure informal classes to do this?


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AppendicesAppendix A: Instructional Trip Preparation

1. Send out an announcement and application

Our classes are typically oversubscribed, especially introductory rock climbing trips. Our limiting factor is instructor availability, so it’s great the more qualified instructors we can have teaching for SAC! Trips are usually decided at the instructors meeting at the end of the previous quarter, but you can decide to lead a trip any time you want. It is helpful to be cognizant of the other trips being run during your preferred weekend to avoid any gear/location/instructor availability conflicts, and at least talk to these instructors so they know what’s going on.

Whoever’s coordinating the trip sends an e-mail to relevant lists (climbing, alpine-club, redwood, oep-interest, etc.) and maybe an e-mail to sacleaders asking who might be available to help instruct on the weekend.

The announcement includes details about the trip, and application questions. Examples of announcements applications can be found at alpineclub.stanford.edu, under “Instructional Trips and Materials”. See the text links to e-mails below “Past Classes”. The announcement usually describes what the class is, when and where it will take place, course fees and requirements.

Typically applications inquire into level of commitment, previous experience, participation in SO (instructor, SAC member, etc.), ability to provide transportation or NP passes. Be sure that you see previous examples for details; blatant imitation of these examples is totally ok! The applications help instructors decide on a student pool with relatively similar abilities, which can make the outdoors instruction easier.

How do I choose which applicants to accept?The instructors have the discretion to choose who is admitted to the class, but we ask that priority be given in the following way: SAC instructors, OEP instructors, SAC members, Stanford Outdoors folks, everyone else. (Remember, for insurance purposes, we cannot accept applications from people who have no affiliation with Stanford. The furthest allowable “extension” of “affiliation” is a spouse of someone affiliated with Stanford.) The purpose of this is to increase the skills of the current instructor pool and teach people who are more likely to contribute back to SAC by becoming a much-needed instructor.

In addition, limitations on the student pool include the size of the class. There are two limitations: 1) group size in the area where you decide to go instruct, and 2) student:instructor ratio. While it is good to get as many people involved as possible, try to keep a student:instructor ratio of 4 students:1 instructor, and maybe even a lower ratio for classes like the lead workshop. Note on class size: If larger than typical sized trips, special provisions such as extra trip leaders and splitting the group to minimize impacts should be considered.

What if people bail?Sometimes people commit and then can’t or decide not to go, so it’s good to emphasize that their taking a spot should be a definite response – if they bail, they’re preventing other people from taking the class. So the sooner you collect course fees to reserve the spot (e.g. at the classroom session before the trip), the better. Fees are non-refundable except under extenuating circumstances. If a student doesn’t show up for


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the second weekend of a class, for example, there is no refund for missing the class. Exceptions can be granted by officers.

What if it the trip is rained out?If the trip rains out, as often happens with winter classes to Castle Rock, where the sandstone needs a few days to dry out before being climbed on, send an announcement to the entire climbing and alpine-club list about the rescheduled date. People who were scheduled to go the first weekend get priority, and any spaces that are available can be open to people who can go to the make-up date. Be sure to reconfirm places with people scheduled for the first trip, and have the Friday evening orientation before the Saturday/Sunday day trip for anyone who missed it the originally scheduled Friday. Anyone who already paid for a class that they do not attend because it is rained out and they cannot make the rescheduled date can be reimbursed.

What do I need to coordinate with other instructors? Delegate logistics – who will send e-mails, choose applicants, figure out trip location details, etc. Decide who will run the Thursday classroom session or Friday evening belay skills/gear rental

session. Gear rental – Make sure the person who is running the Friday evening belay skills/gear rental, or

handling SAC gear rental for the trip either a) meets the Gear Guru at the set gear hours to obtain necessary equipment, or b) arranges with the Gear Guru to be able to access the equipment at the Friday evening pre-trip session.

Decide on trip location – head instructor has the final say. Please scout locations beforehand, especially ify you’re not familiar of the anchor/top-rope situation. For more trip planning and resources/locations, see Appendix C.

Decide beforehand who will set up what top-ropes Discuss safety of location, and check weather and avalanche reports before you go, especially if your

area (like Castle Rock) is heavily influenced by rain in the preceding three days.

2a. Classroom sessions

Class Preparation New instructors are encouraged to attend classroom sessions for both SAC and OEP to get an idea of

how much information is covered in a session, ways to teach the class and involve students, and develop ideas for improving classes.

Allow lots of preparation time before teaching a class, especially if you haven’t done much teaching before. Preparing a class always takes much longer than you think.

Take a look at previous trip reports and class hashes, slides and handouts. CTL for teaching resources. If you want any ideas or suggestions, ask previous instructors. If you have the opportunity and desire, ask students after the class what they thought, so that you have

an idea of how to improve classes that you teach in the future. Archive of previous instructional materials – slides, handouts, syllabi, trip hashes. Until we develop

an electronic archive, we are keeping hard copies of this material in a binder in the filing drawer of the climbing wall’s desk. For electronic copies of powerpoint presentations, for example, contact the officers who will be able to provide you with a copy.

See Appendix D below for additional information about teaching that you might find useful.

Class Logistics


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Room reservation: Check with the slideshow coordinator. He/she can probably book a room in Clark Center, which is convenient because they have digital projectors there, whiteboards, and lots of space.

Re-announce classroom session to SO community – classroom sessions are free and open to the public.

Check the day before to make sure the equipment you need is working (digital projector, etc.) and that you have all the adaptors/cables you need (especially for Macs). If you need a slide projector, SAC has one, as well as a screen. See the current slideshow coordinator about this equipment.

Arrive 15 minutes before to make sure that your computer works with the digital projector (we’ve had issues in the past).

Start and end on time!

After the Class: Hash. Instructors who are teaching and who are present at the classroom session should stay for 5-10

minutes after the class to give constructive feedback about how the class went. This is known as the class “hash”. First, the person who taught the class gets an opportunity to evaluate their own performance, and discuss what they might choose to change if they were to get another chance to teach the class. Next, other people who attended the class get a chance to give feedback. It helps if someone takes a few notes.

E-mail the hash to the sacleaders list by the following day.

Please don’t forget the hash! This is the most important way we can maintain a standard for our classes, and create a record to help future instructors know how to do teach safely and well.

2b. Trip preparation, gym sessions

Pre-Trip Duties, Trip Organization, and Course Logistics:Some of this can also be done at the classroom session as well.

Documentation – Obtain forms at http://alpineclub.stanford.edu/info/forms.html and return them after the trip to the officer archiving these. When having students sign the waiver, remind them that they take personal responsibility for their actions. There are no guarantees outdoors, and participants must be aware of the risks, do their part to manage it and take all safety precautions. “Nature is unpredictable and unsafe. Even if you know what you're doing, lots of things can go wrong and you may be injured or die. It happens all the time.”

_____ WAIVER_____ HEALTH FORMS (2)

– give 1 copy to Medical Officer on trip with WFR/WFA– leave 1 copy with campus contact before you go on the trip

_____ DRIVERS’ RELEASE AND WAIVER OF LIABILITY_____ EAP_____ CAMPUS CONTACT (has EAP and health forms)_____ MEDICAL OFFICER: INSTRUCTOR WITH WFR/WFA ON TRIP _____ FIRST AID KIT/MEDICAL PROTOCOLS

_____ HEALTH FORMS _____ EAP

Course Fees (Checks should be made to Stanford Alpine Club)

Fee structure (SAC member/non-member)


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Intro rock climbing $10/15

Anchors I $15/20

Anchors II $35/45

Trad lead workshop (2 weekends) $45/60

Cross-country skiing $10/15

Telemark skiing $15/30

Mountaineering (1 weekend) $35/45

Avalanche workshop TBD

Caving/canyoneering $40/50

If you are faced with questions by students about paying the fees, do not make up an answer! Ask an officer what the official policy is. We have had problems in the past (on multiple occasions) where instructors who didn’t enforce the correct policy or waived certain fees helped to create a situation in which there was confusion and some tensions about the fee structure. To avoid this, instructors need to give a standard policy that applies to ALL students so that all students feel that they are being treated fairly. In addition, these fees can help reimburse you as the instructor. For example, if you are teaching the telemark workshop and don’t have a season pass to a resort, you can get reimbursed for half your lift ticket. AS AN INSTRUCTOR YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ENFORCING THE CORRECT FEES!

Organizing Transportation and Permits– Drivers on formal trips are reimbursed $10 for wear on their vehicles. SAC also provides $10 per

instructor for long weekend trips to places such as Yosemite, and the remaining gas costs are split evenly between all students on the trips. (Instructors do not pay for gas.)

– The trip coordinator should obtain National Parks passes, Sno-park passes, backcountry permits, and/or other permits required. Because certain areas have group size limits, the trip coordinator should check for these limits and ensure the class size is within the limit.

NOTE: The “split up and meet back later” idea – splitting the class and obtaining two permits with the intention of reconvening later – violates permit restrictions. “As Stanford Outdoor/ SAC leaders, we are teaching folks how to explore the outdoors safely and respectfully. If we want to keep the wilderness in good shape, we must do our best to follow minimum impact guidelines. Large groups have a greater impact on the places they travel, which is why group sizes are restricted in popular areas.” Head instructors are strongly encouraged to consider places where the number of students and instructors is within the permitted group size.

Gear Rental and Skills Check-off– Check equipment ahead of time to ensure it works and is in good condition, especially ropes.– On Friday evening, instructors MUST review everyone’s belay technique before going to the

crag! In addition to belay technique, check belay signals to make sure communication isn’t sloppy. Emphasize that sometimes it’s hard to hear when climbing outdoors, especially when it’s windy.

Wall staff can help check off the following skills (but instructors should know what to check off because they will be doing it/helping at least). Since instructors and staff from the Climbing Wall, SAC, and SO are in the process of formalizing belay protocols this spring, we will be


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incorporating the procedures here, once they have been finalized. This will help standardize our instruction across all of Stanford Outdoors.

Campus Contact. Designate a campus contact, preferably another SAC instructor, who knows what your trip plans and destination(s) are, and who you can contact in case of an emergency. Keep their name and number with you on the trip. Also, exchange phone numbers between students/instructors. The campus contact should keep the second copy of the health forms and a copy of the EAP.

3. Trips

Safety Briefing Belay technique/signals should be checked before climbing begins, if for some reason they

weren’t at the wall session before Mention any unusual location-specific features to discuss (e.g. untying, not using certain features) Check each other’s knots, harness, belay device if using, mental readiness, before climbing Keep the rope extra tight at the start of the climb (because of rope stretch) What to yell if they drop something, specifically what to do when someone yells "Rock!" or

"Rope!" Maybe point out poison oak for anyone who wants to know Perhaps some parameters for the top of the cliff (like "don't get up on the rock"), etc.

Trip SafetyInstructional trip standards are different from personal ones! On instructional trips, knowing that students will cut corners and don’t absorb 100% of everything you say, remember that you should always teach “by the book”. Don’t apply the same standards when you’re on your own personal climbing trip to classes – they have to be at a much higher standard on instructional trips.

The trip leader is responsible for making sure that the following precautions are taken: Every student and instructor has turned in waiver and medical forms. Instructors bring medical forms on trips and know where they are in case of an emergency. Every overnight trip has a “campus contact.” The head instructor is responsible for ensuring that every trip is accompanied by at least one

instructor with a Wilderness First Aid (WFA) or Wilderness First Responder (WFR) certification. Every trip must have a first aid kit. Instructors should discuss anticipated safety hazards and contingency plans for severe hazards. It

can be useful to set a turn-back policy: a time or a set of conditions at which point the destination will be modified or abandoned.

Instructors should be aware of local authorities and location of phones or other ways to get in contact with emergency help, especially if in remote areas. Every instructor should be aware of this information, and have emergency phone numbers (including campus contact number) and locations on hand.

As a group, the instructors should have extra gear for emergencies. Everyone, students AND instructors, should wear helmets during any climbing activities. It is

important that instructors set an example for students by using helmets. Any bouldering should be spotted. No alcohol and drugs during trip. Post-trip, instructors should discuss lapses or potential lapses in safety. Instructors have the final authority during a trip to prohibit students exhibiting overly risky

behaviors from climbing, participating, or continuing to participate on trips.


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4. Post-Trip Duties:8. Trip report

Write up a brief trip report, emphasizing anything unusual that happened or can be improved. These don’t need to be incredibly detailed, but just present a brief picture of how things went. Red flag situations that could be anticipated or prevented for future trips. Any safety concerns or problems are especially important to record for future instructors’ use.

Send out the TR and hash (described below) to the other instructors on the trip and give them one or two days to respond with any additions, corrections, and their own suggestions for the hash.

9. Hash The instructors who attended the trip should talk about how the trip went. The instructors discuss

what went well (think, what advice would you give to a future instructor of the kind of trip you led), and what they would have done differently if they had another chance to teach the class. The hash can be done over e-mail, with one person beginning the hash and others adding to it, or in person after the trip. The hash doesn’t have to take a lot of time, but if there are serious concerns or issues, it can help the officers recognize any problems that they can decide how to resolve/prevent in the future. After the hash, take-aways in bullet points (what went well, what didn’t) should be written down.

10. Student Feedback Within 24 hours of your trip, e-mail the students asking them for brief feedback. It can be as basic

as what went well and what they thought could be improved for the class next time. Set a deadline (e.g. one week) to improve your chances of getting responses back. After the deadline, compile the responses or summarize them to e-mail out.

11. E-mail the sacleaders list. E-mail the TR, summary of the hash (bullet points of take-aways is fine), and summary of student

feedback to the sacleaders list.

PLEASE NOTE: The trip report and hash should only take 5-10 min for one of the leaders to write down, and a few minutes for each leaders to respond. We don’t need extensive reports, just a guide for future instructors and also a way we can learn cumulatively what to do and what not to do! It’s important that instructors participate in this process so that we can keep improving the quality of our classes and our safety procedures, and help protect our (and your!) liability.

12. Documentation_____ WAIVERS – file at climbing wall desk_____ HEALTH FORMS – destroy/shred one copy, file one copy to be locked in cabinet in

storage – contact Gear Guru or show up at gear hours to submit these_____ EAP – add to the resources binder at the climbing wall desk (so the next group that

goes out can copy some of the information from the EAP or use your suggestions)_____ INSTRUCTORS TRIP HASH – e-mail to sacleaders list, file in binder wall_____ STUDENT FEEDBACK – compile/incorporate in hash, file in binder at wall_____ CLASS PRESENTATION/HANDOUTS – file in binder at wall

13. Checks/cash for course fees – return to SAC Treasurer.

14. Return any gear to the Gear Guru


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Appendix B: SAC Rock Climbing Curricula

Beginning Class1 evening (optional), 1 day

See Instructor Requirements for All Instructional TripsTL = Trip LeaderRev. 10/24/05

Goals: People with pre-experience checked off with basic skills (belay, rappel) if they are safeExposure for everyone to TR climbing, belaying, and rappelling. HelmetsHarnessesFig-8 with fisherman’s backupCarabinersATCBelaying (BUS belay)CommandsBelay positionBackup belayingGear Care Intro (don’t drop or step)Intro to rappelling (w/ fireman’s belay and discussion clipping-in to anchor)Introduction to movement on RockWhere to go (and not to go) from here

Teaching Expectations: All non-checked off belayers have a backup until proficiency is shown to TL or instructor (at TL discretion) Those unable to get checked off for basic skills at the start of the class must return on another trip (formal or informal) for check-off

Typical size: 10-12 studentsInstructor: student =1:6 max


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Anchors I: Rocks, Trees, Bolts1 (or 2) evening classes, 1 day trip


Prerequisites: Be checked-off for basic skills (exceptions at TL discretion)Comfort with belay skillsSuggested: a few TR climbing trips (personal or club)

Goals:Understand Anchor concepts and analysisStudents get as much hands on anchor practice as possibleStudents climb on anchors they set

Discuss Approaches and DescentsIntro to Ratings, Topos, and GuidebooksKnots:

– Overhand series (in webbing). Series = knot, knot-in-a-bight, follow-through, and “bend” (in this case water knot)

– Fig-8 series (in cord/rope)– Girth Hitch– Double&Triple-Fishermans

Equipment Strengths, WeaknessEquipment Care and InspectionLocking vs Non-locking biner typesOpposite and opposed binersWhat makes a good anchor (SERENE)Coiling a ropeWebbing managementAnchor Points types and evaluation

- Trees & shrubbery- Horns & Chickenheads- Chalkstones- Boulders- Pinches- Bolts- Fixed Gear (pitons, slings, etc)- Chains (clip UNDER)

Anchor Practice and Instruction:- SERENE- Angles- single strand webbing (use and extension)- double strand webbing (use and extension)- cordellettes- sewn sling usage, pros, and cons- sliding-X pros and cons- equalization tricks


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Throwing ropesAnchor types: (bottom belay, top belay, tying ropes together, rappels)Edge awareness and management: concepts, discussion, practiceWhere to go (and not to go) from here

Teaching Expectations: All knots should have twice the length of the knot worth of tailSERENE anchors, with special care on redundancy of gearMinimum 1 locker and 1 non-locker OR 3 non-lockers at turn-around pointStudents are clipped in to an anchor when near the edgeBeing tied in while throwing ropes off for rappel

Typical size: 8-10 studentsInstructor:student =1:5 max

Anchors II: Gear anchors and trad following1 (or 2) evenings, weekend (2day) trip


Goals:Understand Gear placement concepts and analysisUnderstanding Gear anchors for top ropesUnderstand gear cleaning and rope management for multi-pitchStudents practice lead belayStudents get as much hands on practice placing protection and building anchors as possibleStudents follow a trad protected climbDiscussion of Risks, Retreat, and Safety issues of multi-pitch climbingPractice rappel with auto-block backup (check-off if student is ready)Discussion of Approaches and DescentsWorking knowledge of Ratings, Topos, and GuidebooksStudents are prepared to second a more experienced leader on traditional climbs

Prerequisites:Checked off for Basic & Anchors I skillsCompetence with BelayingPrevious rappelling experienceCompetence with setting-up top rope anchors using trees rocks and boltsFamiliarity with anchor theory (angles, SERENE, etc)Suggested: significant experience setting anchors using trees rocks and bolts

Knots:- review previous knots- Auto-block

Gear introduction (Strengths, things to watch out for)


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- General Good Anchors: Rock quality, Surface Area, Direction of Pull, ease of cleaning- Hexes- Nuts- Tricams- Cams- Mention others

Practice placing all types of gearReview of webbing, cordelletes, & natural anchorsPractice equalizing gear placements into anchors

Intro to multi-pitch climb concept.- Safety on approaches and descents- Multi-pitch sequence- What it takes to bail

Lead belay (position)Leader-Follower Communication (names, verbal and non-verbal)Bottom Anchors (when required, other thoughts)Clipping in to multi-pitch anchorsDiscussion of ratings, topos, guidebooksBasic non-climbing gear to bring on a multi-pitch

- headlamp- Small pack (optional)- water- food- shell- warm layers (wool or synthetic)- knife (Safety of knifes around taut rope)

Time and rope management Cleaning and Re-racking

Discuss Rappelling - Device types- Tying ropes together- Retrieving ropes- Knots in end- Backups

Students demonstrate comfort with managing themselves on rappels with attention to:- tethers, anchors, clipping-in- rigging rappel device- proper use of auto-block third-hand- practice leg-wraps

Where to go (and not to go) from here

Teaching Expectations:Typical class size: 8-10Instructor:Student Ratio = 1:5max (1:4 preferred)


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Trad Lead Workshop2-3 evenings, 2 weekend (2days/ea) trips


Goals:Demonstrate solid Gear placements and analysis abilitiesStudents get as much hands on practice placing protection and building anchors as possibleStudents spend time mock leading a trad protected climbIf students demonstrate competence on mock leads, they may lead a trad climb with instructorStudents can describe Risks, Retreat, and Safety issues of multi-pitch climbingPractice rappel with auto-block backup (check-off if student is ready)Approaches and DescentsWorking knowledge of Ratings, Topos, and GuidebooksStudents are prepared to second a more experienced leader on traditional climbs

Prerequisites: Checked off for Basic & Anchors I & Seconding & Anchors II skillsExperience following a multi-pitch climbCompetence with setting-up anchorsCompetence with anchor theory (angles, SERENE, etc)Competence lead belaying

TheoryConnecting ropes for rappelRunnering, Rope DragSingle, Double, TwinUnderstanding anchors for multi-pitchesUnderstanding Sport vs. Trad leadingClipping in Properly (not Back-clipping, not Z-clipping)EfficiencyFallingFall-FactorsMulti-pitch rappel theorymid-climb rope organizationRacks and rackingPicking routes, ratingsRetreating and BailingThings to think about in the backcountryWhere to go (and not to go) from here

PracticeOptionally spending time sport leading (see Lead climbing by students, below)Review and more practice with gear placements and assessmentPractice setting multi-directional anchorsStudents Follow an experienced leader on a multi-pitch climbMock LeadsIf appropriate lead climbing (see Lead climbing by students, below)


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Rigging a rappel stationKnots: clove hitch, munter, munter-mule, prusik, kleimheist

Feedback from InstructorsAt end of Mock Leading day, Instructors decide which students are qualified for trad leading the next day.At end of class, Instructors emphasize that students are not automatically qualified to trad lead; following/mentoring with an experienced trad leader is the usual next step.

Teaching Expectations:Typical class size: 8-9Instructor: Student Ratio = 1:4max (1:3max while leading)

Revisions 10/18/05 (SAC Safety Committee)See above under Feedback from InstructorsLead climbing by students

on approval of TL only lead climbs must have been climbed by one of the instructors (to guard against errors in the

guidebook) no “runout” lead climbs difficulty level at least one grade less than student’s (confirmed) toprope ability for sport routes

and at least 2 grades less for trad routes. No harder than 5.8 sport and 5.7 trad. SAC will create and maintain a list of specific climbs at different areas (Tollhouse, Lover’s Leap,

etc.) which are approved (and not approved) for student leads (conditional on their ability). For example, Tollhouse Traverse (5.7, Tollhouse Rock) is approved for students who can toprope 5.9 or harder and have demonstrated proper gear placement on their mock leads.

Intro to Self-Rescue: Belay Escape Practice1 evening at the climbing wall

A Belay Escape is the first step if something goes wrong while you are belaying someone when climbing. And the pieces of a belay escape are fantastic tools in their own right to have in your bag of tricks for both emergency and non-emergency climbing situations. Escaping a belay involves tying off a loaded rope in a releasable way and then getting out of the system so that you can go for help (or start a self-rescue).

Part I: Instructors demonstrate once how to escape from a loaded belay. (Gives context to knots)Review knots

Double fisherman's knot used to tie cordelette (emphasize length of tail) Clove hitch, Munter hitch Mariner, Mule knot, Munter mule Prusik, Klemheist, Autoblock

Part II: Demonstrate escaping a loaded belay. Go through steps with students, then let them practice on their own. Note: Do not use floor anchors at the climbing wall! They aren’t rated for dynamic loads.

Part III: Rappelling with a backup autoblock. Changing over from ascending to rappelling. Ascending with prusiks.

Suggested Reference: Self-Rescue, Chockstone Press.


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Intro Cross-country SkiingAnn Pan

This workshop is an introduction to cross-country/Nordic skiing for those who have possibly never skied before. Cross-country/Nordic skiing is the foundation for all skiing forms today, including downhill/alpine skiing and telemark skiing. This class is an introduction to what cross-country/Nordic skiing is, its history, skiing techniques, and the equipment associated with XC skiing. We also teach you striding, the telemark turn, and skating (time permitting). The workshop consists of a classroom session and a weekend on the snow in avalanche safe terrain.

Classroom Session

Skiing topics o What is cross-country/Nordic skiing? o Three skiing techniques: diagonal striding, skating, telemark turn o Single & double camber skis, how skiing works o Different kinds of waxes: glide wax, kick wax & klister (what they are, what kind, where,

and how to apply) o Different kinds of skis: with and without metal edges, regular and “waxless” skis o History of skiing o XC/Nordic skiing equipment: NN, SNS, NNN, NTN

General topics o Appropriate winter clothing o Basic snow camping skills o Basic survival kit (via email)

Outdoors Session

Skiing topics o How to put on gaiters o How to put on XC skis o How to adjust the straps on ski poles o What height the ski poles should be o How to fall and get up on flat terrain o Balance on skis without poles o Walking on skis without poles o Striding without poles o Striding with poles o Which way to fall on steep terrain o How to get up on steep terrain o Snowplowing o How to traverse steep terrain (edging) o How to turn 180° while standing still (“lappkast” in Swedish, “kick turn” in English) o Herringbone o Side-stepping o Telemark turn

General topics (not covered in great detail)


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o Snow backpacking tips o Finding your orientation based on the sun and time of day o How to use a compass and map to find landmarks o Basic avalanche awareness o Bowline knot (two-handed & one-handed) o Clove hitch (pole knot)

Othero Frostbite o Hypothermia o Altitude sickness o What to do if your eyes freeze shut (don't panic, warm them up with your hands) o Snow anchors for tents

Intro Telemark Skiing Ann Pan

Group 1: Never Downhill Skied Before how to fall -- don't fall on knees! how to get up walk up the hill by either side-stepping or using the herringbone stop skis using the snow plow while facing straight down the hill turn left in snow plow turn right in snow plow how to get onto/off the chair lift S-turns downhill while snow plowing how to begin parallel skiing (bring skis parallel at end of turn) how to control speed by snow plowing and turning sideways or uphill practice Telemark stance while standing still, switching which leg is in front balance: practice Telemark stance while traversing across the hill, switching which leg is in front practice Telemark turn in only one direction at a time (turn and stop)

o go down into the Telemark stance and push yourself forward with the poles to gain momentum/speed while maintaining the Telemark stance

o turno Go up from the Telemark stance

practice linking turns 4-step turn (see group 2a)

Group 2a: Less Experienced Downhill Skier Practice Telemark stance

o Traverse hill while going down into Telemark stance, stay down for awhile, go up, repeat with other leg in front. Repeat.

To avoid doing a parallel turn, focus on the back ski (see group 2b) 4-step turn

Group 2b: Experienced Downhill Skiers, Beginner Telemarkers Bend knees and go down into the Telemark stance

o bend lower than you think you should


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o practice the rhythm (changing which foot is forward)o Telemark posture -- upper body facing downhill at all times

Focus on the front skio actively move the leg forwardo put pressure on big toeo tilt the knee and ski to carve the turno knee & toe move together

Focus on the back skio actively move the leg backwardo put pressure on the pinky toeo tilt the knee and ski to carve the turn

Suggested Reference: Free-Heel Skiing, Paul Parker

Intro to Mountaineering Warren Caldwell

2 evening sessions, 1 weekend tripGoals:Provide a broad foundation in basic mountaineering skills to students with solid outdoor skills but minimal or no mountaineering experienceGraduates should leave the course with:

- skills to climb single-day, moderately steep snow-covered peaks on their own- knowledge to climb with more experienced mountaineers on harder trips- knowledge of what skills they will need to learn in order to advance their abilities

Prerequisites:Proficiency with outdoor skills (hiking, backpacking, camping, cooking)Experience with winter outdoor skills (not required, but makes the trip easier for everyone)

Content:General winter skills and some details on the snow-covered mountain environmentHazards:

- avalanches (requires its own course; students should obtain proper instruction)- crevasse avoidance (snow bridges, probing, and where crevasses form: edges, convexities,

and zones of tension)- cornices, bergschrunds, rock moats, whiteouts- hypothermia (prevention, signs and symptoms, treatment), frostbite, snowblindness, sunburn,

altitude sickness (AMS), HAPE, HACEGeneral snow/winter skills: camping (snow caves, cooking, melting water), staying warmMention important skills that won’t be taught: first aid, navigation, avalanche safety, crevasse rescue

Equipment, with some basics of its useClothing:

- layering for mountaineering- mountaineering-specific items (boots, gaiters, gloves/mitts, balaclavas, glacier glasses)

Camping gear (mountaineering tents, warm sleeping bags, thick mats)Gear: crampons, ice axes, snow pro, harnesses, helmets

How to travel on snow:


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1. As an individual- Techniques for ice axe use (piolet canne, stake, low dagger, etc.)- Techniques for crampon use (pied en canard, front-pointing, etc.)- Walking in balance, self-belay, the rest step, changing directions on a slope, finding a rhythm- Glissading, plunge-stepping, other descending methods- Self-arrest (an emergency skill – use proper axe/crampon technique to avoid the need to self-

arrest. Remember that not all slides can be arrested!)2. As a group

- How to set up a rope team and when to rope up- Anchors (pickets, deadmen, bollards)- Anchor concepts: set-up, equalization, load multiplication- Mountaineering belays (running and fixed)

Teaching expectations:Class size: 12Instructor:student ratio: 4:1

Suggested Reference: Freedom of the Hills

Avalanche Awareness TBD

[from Ann Pan’s telemark class]Beacon practice - single burial search

test beacons to make sure they work beacon exercise: Put a beacon somewhere not within immediate range to simulate a buried victim

and give a beacon to each searcher. Their job is to locate the victim. primary search secondary search pinpoint search bracketing discuss how to probe discuss strategic shoveling technique discuss how searchers follow a flux line, not a straight line; how signals can be confusing near the

victim, depending on the beacon's orientation and due to nulls. Theory before practice. Have everyone practice with both an analog and digital beacon, to learn

the difference between the two. Don't put the victim beacon in a muddy area. Bury the victim beacon in snow and let people practice using the probe.

Suggested Reference: Snow Sense, Jill Fredston


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Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue Warren Caldwell

1 evening (1.5 hours), 1 afternoon (3 hours)

Prerequisites:Familiarity with tying into and using a harnessFamiliarity with basic climbing knots

Goals:Know how to build and use a Z-pulley hauling systemUnderstand how and where crevasses form and how to avoid them

Content:What crevasses are and why they are dangerousWhy one needs to know, practice, and be proficient with crevasse rescueConcepts of how and where crevasses form on glaciers (e.g. various zones of tension)How to identify crevasses based on visual inspection and physical inspection (probing)What snow bridges areHow to set up a rope team for glacier travelHow to travel as a rope team on a glacier (e.g. travel perpendicular to crevasses)Self-arrestAll options for getting out of a crevasse:

- rope team members haul victim out directly- victim ascends rope with friction hitch or ascender- rope team members build a pulley-based hauling system

Friction knots and rope ascension techniques (e.g. prusik knot to ascend a rope)Detailed description of the assembly and use of a 3:1 Z-pulley hauling systemSnow anchor concepts (e.g. load multiplication)Snow pro (basically limited to pickets)Deadman/T-trench anchor construction

Practice:Each person participates in 3 full crevasse rescue simulations, once as each member of the rope team:

- end-person (does almost all the assembly of the Z-pulley)- middle-person (assists the end-person as needed during Z-pulley construction)- victim (weights the rope and provides resistance during hauling)

Teaching expectations:Class size: 12 or 15Instructor:student ratio: 6:1Instructors should emphasize that crevasse avoidance is more important than proficiency with rescue skills

Suggested Reference: Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue, Andy Selters


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Appendix C: Resources For Trip Planningo Branner Map library, located on the 2nd floor of the Mitchell building. “The library has four Windows

workstations equipped with GIS software and geospatial data. You can create, modify, and print custom maps by using commercial GIS packages and geospatial data.”

o On-line resources“Perhaps my most used resource is www.topozone.com. There you can navigate through

seamless USGS topos of the entire US on various scales – for FREE. Note the ‘Print this map’ option.

At www.terraserver.com, you can look at aerial photos worldwide (again for free). Resolution varies, but is actually pretty good. www.terraserver-usa.com is a bit quicker to navigate and you can toggle between topos and aerials. Google Maps has some aerial photo capability but is fairly low res in most rural areas.

Google Earth is the coolest way to look at aerial photos. You have to download the application, but the basic version is free and it gives you aerials for the whole earth that are relatively high resolution, easily navigable, and there is even a 3D feature where you can tilt the landscape and see the relief. Very slick - easily hours of wasted time.

As far as trip reports good resources include:http://www.summitpost.org (general peak climbing)http://www.snwburd.com/bob/ (good resource for backcountry travel in the Sierras, esp. peak bagging).

There are numerous other trip reports out there. Google your destination and you will almost always find someone who's been there and has a description.” – Matt Covington

o Other on-line resourcesCalifornia State Parks, http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=21491Calinfornia Alpine Mountaineering Guides, Sierra Nevada Mountaineering, http://www.californiaalpineguides.com/alpine.html

o Other SAC and SO instructors – don’t forget to ask previous instructors for ideas and their past presentations

o Typical Trip Locations:Fresno Dome, south of Yosemite Tollhouse Rock, south of Yosemite Yosemite Valley Chimney Rock, Sequoia National Forest Pinnacles National Monument Castle Rock State Park, Skyline Blvd.Phantom Spires, Tahoe

Appendix D: Guidelines for Teaching a Class(adapted from OEP)

Teaching requires a lot of thought, creativity and preparation. We strive to get the students involved in each class, so many classes do not follow a traditional lecture format. Here are some hints and suggestions to help.

Some words on not reinventing the wheel


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We are working to archive files with materials used from past classes – Powerpoint slides, handouts, etc. While we are in the process of centralizing these materials, for now in a resource binder in the filing drawer at the climbing wall, be sure that you ask instructors of previous classes to see if they also have any resources. This way you don’t have to work from scratch. However, you certainly don’t have to limit yourself to what’s been done in the past. When you’re done teaching a class and have gotten feedback, it would be very helpful for you to archive your materials, notes, comments, and the hash, so that posterity can rifle through your brilliance.

Use other instructors: Teaching is not, or does not have to be, a solo. Some classes cry out for actual physical assistance. The rock climbing class is a good example of this. You will need elves to help you. In other cases you will need mental and emotional support. That means that if you are unsure whether your concept will fly, if you want to bounce ideas off someone, or if you just need someone to tell you the answer to something they left out of the book and that you can’t read from the hills, use your fellow instructors. Instructors are just like filing cabinets. There’s bound to be one that has a record of a previous experience in teaching the same class that you’re about to undertake. Talk to someone who’s done it before. You don’t have to use the same model, even if it was successful. It just helps to find out what’s gone before.

How to PrepareTime constraints: Because SAC’s classes are introductory and there is a limit on the amount of time you have to introduce your material, be cognizant of the level of detail which you go into. It helps to prioritize the material that you want to get across: if you run short on time, you’ll have the privilege and opportunity to tread into deeper waters; and if you run long, it’s more likely that you’ll have gotten through the most significant, fun and fascinating points before then.

Allow for lots of preparation time (don’t do it all the night before): We can’t emphasize this enough. Teaching doesn’t come in the instant recipe variety. It takes time. You will thank yourself for not skimping on preparation. Eight hours of preparation time is a realistic amount for a one-hour class if you haven’t taught it before! Check out the place where you are teaching before you actually do it. You’ll avoid most unexpected obstacles that way and you’ll feel more comfortable when you get there. This is especially pertinent to a class like rock climbing skills: you don’t want to show up and find out that your favorite tree has been moved across campus on the whim of some crazy campus planner! Along the same lines, arrive at class with enough time to spread out your goods, take a deep breath, think of last minute things that you didn’t think of earlier and say howdy to a student or two so that you don’t get stage fright. Make sure that you’ve done all your Xeroxing, major construction and costume arrangement well in advance so that you don’t get caught paperless, shelterless or naked. Researching: The most important things to remember while researching are to identify the major points or skills you wish to teach, and to anticipate questions. Obviously, the more thoroughly you know or understand something the easier it will be to ensure that you are well prepared and the less likely you will be to over prepare in the wrong area or focus on a related but non central question. Be sure to end your information gathering or recollection period well enough in advance to structure your class.

Organization of information: You can organize your information in almost any way that you want as long as it is organized in some way rather than dumped out on the floor (for certain classes, even this might work). This goes for discussions and activities as much or even more than for lectures. One guideline that is often used is to focus on a few main points. What is the least common denominator that you’d like every student to take away with him/her? If you organize your stuff around two to four key ideas/concepts/techniques/etc., it’s likely that the students will walk away from class with these


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segmented clusters still in their heads. Complex details can then be organized around these key points, as long as the least interested student still sees the big picture.

Props and materials You can sometimes get unstuck from an uninspired spell of preparation by thinking about all the props and materials at your disposal. Some of the best classes get generated out of the raw materials that you choose to use. For climbing, mountaineering, skiing, caving classes, etc., it helps to bring in the gear that students will be using so they can play with it and see what they will be working with.

Relate your class to the goals of the program and to the aims of the tripsAsk yourself the following questions: How could the instructors who are leading the next trip integrate my classroom session into the

activities they will be undertaking? What do I want the students to carry away from my class and retain for hours, days, weeks or months

to come? How does this general topic relate to the specific experiences and observations we make while in the

wilderness? How does the topic extend out of the wilderness into daily life? Why is it valuable to know this stuff?

Interacting with other instructorsWe discourage unsolicited group teaching: that is, if some absolutely brilliant and undoubtedly essential piece of data flies into your brain please refrain from blurting it out just as the lecturer is about to bring the class to a stunningly timed climax.

However, as the person teaching the class, you may enjoy and feel grateful that there are other instructors around since no one person can know or recall on the spot all the information pertinent to any specific topic, no matter how much research you’ve done. Keep in mind that in temporarily turning the floor over to someone else, you are doing a balancing act with time. Sometimes you can get to the heart of a question a lot quicker if you let someone else field it than if you grapple with it yourself, especially if it throws you off your mental outline. Sometimes eliciting help will be like wading into a morass; you may regret it and come out with sticky heels. The joy of the experience is that you never know beforehand which is gonna happen.

Always give the floor to others explicitly and always bring it back to yourself explicitly. This will ensure that you and your plan remain the focal point or fulcrum, so to speak. Ultimately, you have the floor and can take it back at any moment with just a word or two. If people are rambling, even about fascinating stuff, or getting off the point, you should feel good about asking the discussion to continue during the break or after class so that you can get through what you wanted to cover.

As an observing instructor, respect other people’s need to learn through their own successes and failures. If you have something to say that you think will contribute significantly, raise your hand and wait to be acknowledged. Don’t insist; if you feel like you’re being ignored you probably are. Also, be aware of how many other instructors have already put in their two cents and think twice as the number mounts.

Eliciting participation from the students


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Here are some things you can do to encourage an especially passive class to participate and interact. Add to the list if you have other suggestions. Learn names and use them. Call on specific people to answer increasingly complex questions; if the first person you call on

doesn’t know, don’t dwell on him/her; ask someone else (in a noncompetitive way). Think about how your questions are phrased: perhaps the students don’t understand what you’re

asking; perhaps you were too broad or ambiguous; perhaps your question sounded rhetorical. Experiment with different ways of asking for participation until you hit on one that seems to work.

Keep class level in mind—new or young students are often a lot less vocal and a lot more conscious of their peers. You may have to work harder to get them to respond. Don’t feel like you’re a flop just because you’re greeted with silence and stares: it can mean anything. Try to figure out what.

Compel the students to interact by having them work one-on-one or in groups. If you see two students sitting silently while the rest are having no trouble interacting, go up to them (or ask another instructor to go up to them), join them and seed the conversation.

Emphasize to the students that they’ll get more out of the course by being active participants both on trips and in class.

Generate enthusiasm by being genuinely enthusiastic and showing it. Shrink the circle, i.e. make the room smaller by getting rid of a few chairs, or all of them. Have

people sit on the floor. Spread out your materials on the floor so that it’s easy for them to take a closer look.

Walk around, vary your approach, pretend you’re an actor who’s gone into the audience for laughs, perform! It’s cheap, it’s easy, and it sometimes works.

Be aware of class vibes and respond. Are the students tired? Do they need psyching up? Or is it time for them to quiet down and listen for a while?

Handling questions Understand the question first. Be sensitive. Students often feel like they’re taking a risk when they ask questions. Don’t squash their

initiative by making them feel like they got it all wrong. If you don’t know the answer to a question, hand it off to another instructor or put it off by saying that

you don’t know but will find out; then make sure you follow-up. Limit the length of your response according to the time you have left. Don’t cut off curiosity or interest in getting to the right answer too quickly; step people through their

misconceptions rather than correcting or saying no. Open the question up to a student, or all the students if you like. Honor each person’s perspective/opinion even if you don’t agree with it or know it to be

misinformed. People seldom learn by being opposed. Demonstrate why you see things the way you do and leave the door open for them to follow you. If you don’t succeed by a soft approach, you wouldn’t have succeeded by a hard one.

Teaching Policy in the National or State Parks

In regards to the issue of “conducting business” within a state or national park the advice of over five lawyers and a judge who has ruled on issues in a national park were consulted. All the parties agreed that the Stanford Alpine Club is acting within reasonable limits and may hold classes within a state or national park. Since instructors are not compensated for their time, and the fees is a reasonable amount for covering use and maintenance of the equipment, etc and not for an instructor, and since we are not


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making money off the park, then it cannot be construed that the Stanford Alpine Club is conducting a business. As such, the club is safe from the ruling.

In contrast, if the instructors were paid, or if the trip to the state or national park were a part of a class/program where the students pay in to the salary of the instructor directly or indirectly then that would be considered a violation of the regulations.

As for instructional classes taking place in Yosemite National Park in particular the following clause fournd in the 2009 Yosemite National Park Superintendant’s Compendium found here http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2009/julqtr/pdf/36cfr5.4.pdf applies:

§ 5.3 Business operations. Engaging in or soliciting any business in park areas, except in accordance with the provisions of a ermit, contract, or other written agreement with the United States, except as such may be specifically authorized under special regulations applicable to a park area, is prohibited.

While this clause is sufficiently vague, the legal advice sought out and described above has come to the conclusion that holding instructional trips, where fees are charged for equipment, transportation, and organizational material, but in which the instructors themselves do not receive monetary compensation, does not fall under the definition of soliciting business.


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http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2009/julqtr/pdf/36cfr5.4.pdf



Appendix E: Risk Management and Safety Practices

Risk Management

“Even if you know what you're doing, lots of thing can go wrongand you may be injured or die. It happens all the time.”

Standard disclaimer stuff is usually there for a reason: it’s true. So it’s repeated here:“CLIMBING IS AN INHERENTLY DANGEROUS ACTIVITY that may result in serious injury or death. You should always climb within your ability, after carefully judging the safety of the route. Failure for you to follow these conditions may result in injury or death. We are not responsible for your actions. You are, so be safe.

DO NOT participate in these activities unless you are an expert, have sought and obtained qualified professional instruction or guidance, are knowledgeable about the risks involved, or are willing to assume personal responsibility for all risks associated with these activities.”

InsuranceStanford University has agreed to provide liability insurance and legal assistance to cover OEP instructors (but not students) for alleged negligent acts associated with OEP activities. However, there are some restrictions: Vehicle accidents involving personal vehicles (not Stanford-owned vehicles) are not covered. Drivers

must have their own liability insurance. Intentional acts are not covered. (If you accidentally cause someone to die by doing something you

should have known was dangerous then you are negligent, and Stanford will help you out. But if you intentionally kill someone then you go to jail.)

Contractual obligations are not covered. Do not sign any agreements or contracts with outside organizations (such as a contract with an outfitter or guide service). Car rental contracts are acceptable if the rental agency provides insurance for every driver and the company agrees to the use of the vehicle.

If alcohol or drugs are involved, or you break the law, you will not be covered. OEP has no insurance for property loss or damage, or medical expenses. Students and instructors

should have their own health and accident insurance.

GuidelinesThe Office of Risk Management has suggested the following guidelines: Do not give the impression that OEP is a guide service or a commercial operation. Instructors cannot

be paid. (If we were paid our liability risk would increase.) Do not hire anyone or contract for services. Stanford will not permit “high-risk” activities, specifically including (but not limited to) hang gliding,

parachuting, bungee cord jumping, activities involving aircraft, hot air ballooning, survival training (naked camping), and extreme mountaineering. (Use your best judgment when deciding what is “extreme”; just remember that if you try to take the class up Denali and someone gets killed, you might have to find your own lawyer.)

OEP students must be members of the Stanford community (registered students, faculty, staff, and their families).

Drivers must be informed that they need a valid drivers license and at least the minimum vehicle insurance coverage required by California law.


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If anything goes wrong on a trip, especially if there is a major accident, we must report it to the Office of Risk Management immediately so we can prepare for potential lawsuits. Do not wait until the court summons you to appear!

If a major lawsuit occurs Stanford could terminate OEP. Please make safety your primary concern!

Personal Instructor LiabilityThe bottom line is that you can get sued no matter what! Even with the waiver! The waiver doesn't actually do anything if it goes to court. Since the past agreement between Stanford and the Stanford Alpine Club has been somewhat vague – that as long as instructors behave “reasonably”, that Stanford will help with liability insurance and legal assistance, assume that in the case of an actual lawsuit or accident, anything could happen. You could still be liable for any loss or damages. Promoting personal responsibility among students can help, but even if you do this, the parents might still come after you if anything happens.

Personal ResponsibilityInstructors must stress that each individual in the backcountry must assume personal responsibility for his or her decisions. Participants are informed that rock climbing, and lead climbing in particular, involves risk. All trip participants must be willing to take personal responsibility for their own safety as well as that of their climbing partners.

Further Note About Extreme/Advanced MountaineeringOSA explicitly lists “advanced mountaineering” as a high-risk activity which no student group at Stanford is permitted to sponsor. They state that “Permission for such activities has been consistently denied... Individuals wishing to organize such activities on their own may do so, but are not permitted to use the Stanford name in publicizing their events or when dealing with vendors, participants or others -- AND -- may not use program money or house dues to support such events. In organizing such an event, one is implicitly assuming responsibility for the safety of participants and could be held personally liable in case of accidents.”

Safety Practices

“A whole rock formation might collapse on you and squash you like a bug.”

Safety on a university-run trip is crucial in order for us to be able to continue as an organization. On SAC trips you need to follow a much higher standard of safety than on trips you would take as an individual. As an instructor, you are responsible for the safety of the students, and the students look to you as an authority on how to travel safely in the backcountry, climb safely without taking unnecessary risks, make wise decisions about avalanche dangers, etc. Your risk of a lawsuit is much greater than if you were just out with your friends.


X. Thou shalt not let judgment be overruled by desire. If it’s too dangerous, bag it.XI. Thou shalt not let familiarity breed overconfidence. Just because you have been there before

doesn’t mean everything will be OK.XII. Thou shalt not forget the abilities of the group. The students are less experienced than you.


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XIII. Thou shalt not show off. Even if you can do jump-turns down an icy slope, free-solo Astroman, or enjoy a 24 hour orgasm, don’t set a bad example! That means not running it out on leads or placing marginal anchors.

XIV. Thou shalt maintain a margin of safety. Never push a situation to the limit.XV. Thou shalt avoid situations for which you lack experience. If you feel uncomfortable, speak up

and change plans.

TransportationTo emphasize again, a lot of bad things can happen in accidents, besides physical injuries. Because Stanford does not cover vehicle accidents, anyone in your car or anyone who you get into an accident with can sue you for everything you have. In fact, OEP found that instructors’ liability is a serious enough concern that just recently acquired $6000/yr of funding from the Geo Department for rental cars for trips. Stanford students who are SAC instructors and are still on their parents' insurance are especially at risk, since anyone in an accident could potentially go after all their parents' assets. However, SAC doesn’t have the funding to be able to rent cars for all its trips, and passing on the costs of rental cars to students would probably make classes prohibitively expensive. See Appendix E for a Safety History for OEP (and SAC forthcoming). It’s there to give you an idea of some of the accidents that tend to happen – they have mostly taken place on the road. Driving is the most dangerous part of our trips!

Note that Stanford will NOT provide additional insurance in excess of your policy if: drive recklessly drive where alcohol and drugs are involved anyone in the car is breaking the law the vehicle is being used for illegal purposes

Two more commandments should be added to the list:


XVI. DO NOT SPEED!XVII. Everyone in the car wears seatbelts at all time. No exceptions!

XVIII.

Emergency and Medical Protocols

To better assess risks and deal with emergencies in the backcountry, we strongly encourage every instructor to take the relevant classes that will improve their awareness and skills – whether medical emergencies or avalanche awareness, SAR or crevasse rescue. However, since anything can happen on a trip even with the most qualified instructors and students, it’s necessary that you review the emergency care and evacuation procedures and the medical protocols.

If you have a WFA or a WFR, you operate under Dr. Joanne Feldman’s license. Dr. Feldman is our Medical Advisor. She has approved of the medical protocols in the appendix. Please note that Dr. Feldman requests that instructors not clear C-spines or administer epi-pens. If you do so, you no longer operate under her license. If you wish to be able to perform these protocols, Dr. Feldman wants to check off these skills with you in person.

If you do not have current certification, either WFA or WFR, these protocols do not apply to you, and emergency medical care should be provided by the WFA/WFR-certified instructor on your trip. We


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encourage you to obtain certification so that you know how to use these protocols and can assist in any emergency or incident that may occur on a trip.

Climbing-Specific DangersFor one of the more commonly read articles discussing climbing-related accidents, see “Staying Alive” by John Dill, NPS Search and Rescue, at http://www.friendsofyosar.org/safety/climbingSafety1.html, or at the front of the Falcon guide for free climbing in Yosemite. In Yosemite National Park,

“Fifty-one climbers died from traumatic injuries between 1970 and 1990. A dozen more, critically hurt, would have died without rapid transport and medical treatment. In addition, there were many serious but survivable injuries, from fractured skulls to broken legs (at least 50 fractures per year), and a much larger number of cuts, bruises, and sprains.

Not surprisingly, most injuries occurred during leader falls and involved feet, ankles, or lower legs; for many, these are the accepted risks of climbing. However, leader falls accounted for only 25% of the fatal and near-fatal traumatic injuries; roughly 10% were from rockfall, 25% from being deliberately unroped, and 40% from simple mistakes with gear. Many cases are not clear cut; several factors may share the credit, and it is sometimes hard to quantify the weird adventures climbers have... In case after case, ignorance, a casual attitude, and/or some form of distraction proved to be the most dangerous aspects of the sport.”

SAC can’t afford to make mistakes from negligence, ignorance, distraction, or any other factors. When instructing a trip, try to be especially aware of the more common climbing mistakes: rappelling – rapping off the ends of knots, both ends not on the ground, rope not in ATC correctly leader falls – not placing sufficient or adequate protection miscommunication – lowering leader from anchors, climbing without being on belay, etc. tying in incorrectly – using a wrong knot, tying into the wrong place inexperience, exceeding abilities

Dr. Joanne Feldman has established the Wilderness Medical Protocols that SAC instructors with current WEMT, WFR or WFA certifications may follow under her license. Dr. Feldman does not wish for us to implement certain protocols in the field; these are: 1) clearing the spine, and 2) administering epinephrine. Please see the attachment for these protocols.

Appendix A: Emergency Evacuation Procedures

Pre-Trip Planning Scope out the area before you go.

o Where are the nearest roadheads, telephones, air strips, etc.? o What facilities (hospitals, hotels, restaurants) are available nearby? o Are helicopters, horse packers or rescue units available for evacuations? o Is the area remote or do you expect to run into other people who could help? o What kind of wildlife, vegetation and terrain will you find, and do any of these pose hazards

or require special equipment? Prepare for first aid situations:

o Get the highest level of first aid training possible, especially wilderness-oriented training. o Get a first aid kit which matches your first aid experience and the possible injuries you

anticipate. o Bring a reference such as Medicine for Mountaineering (or medical protocols from

wilderness medical director).


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o Get a medical history from each participant, including allergies, current medications and recurring illnesses or injuries. For SAC, these are kept locked in the cabinet in SAC’s gear storage.

o Collect emergency contacts. Get phone numbers for the sheriff, Park Service, rescue unit, and friends at home. Have plenty of

backup numbers. Leave a detailed itinerary with friends at home, and include the above phone numbers so they can

initiate a search if you don’t return on time. Carry an excess of money and credit cards, and quarters for phone calls. Decide if a radio transmitter, ELT or flare is useful; if you bring one of these, be sure you know how

to use it.

Emergency Response First, stabilize the victim: give first aid, assess injuries, and make the victim comfortable. Then relax, step back, assess the situation and formulate a plan.

o Can the injured person complete the trip without endangering her/himself or the group? o Is outside medical help necessary? How soon? o Does the weather or terrain necessitate moving the victim to a safer place? o Is the rest of the group mentally and physically prepared to safely execute an evacuation? o Consider the choices for evacuation, and either choose one or deal with the injuries yourself.

Keep a complete written medical log. o Write down exactly what happened, including date, time and injuries. o Make frequent notations of vital signs and symptoms along with the time of observation

(every 15 minutes in case of severe injuries). o Write down what treatment you try along with the time. o Keep a list of medical problems (however minor) for each participant throughout the trip.

Be sure there is a leader. o One person must take charge and delegate tasks. Everyone else must follow instructions. o The leader’s role is to keep a clear head, formulate the plan and organize the rescue effort.

The leader should appoint other people to perform first aid, keep the written record, prepare food and hot drinks, and make preparations for an evacuation.

o Don’t forget about the safety of the rescuers or the emotional state of the injured person. o Do not risk additional lives; make sure nobody is cold, hungry or exhausted. o Reassure the victim, and don’t show any panic or indecision. Be sensitive!

Stay calm!

Conducting an Evacuation If the victim can walk then redistribute weight and walk out together. Otherwise:

o Write down your plan. o Make a primary plan and at least two backup plans. Include itineraries, dates and times. Try

to foresee everything which could go wrong, and make contingency plans. Choose evacuation plans which are appropriate for the situation (see the suggestions below).

o If the group splits up, each party must have a copy of the plans and a set of marked maps with rendezvous locations. Don’t forget to plan how the group will get back together after the evacuation.

o The medical log stays with the victim. A copy should go out with the group getting help. o Make very explicit written instructions for the group getting help so nobody has to remember

details at the roadhead. Include a list of special equipment or personnel which will be required.


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Sending runners to get a helicopter, horse, boat, snow mobile, or rescue team:o If the nearest help is far away then send AT LEAST two people, preferably four people. It is

far too risky to send a single person. o The runners should be the strongest group members, but the leader ALWAYS stays with the

victim. o Prepare light packs with necessary food and equipment for the trip. Bring enough clothing

and shelter for the worst possible weather. o If the group is too small or the weather puts the runners at risk, stay together and wait for

rescuers to find you. Also try signaling for help. Signaling for help:

o Use a radio, ELT or flare if you brought one. o Make a smoky fire to attract a ranger (especially useful in dry areas of California!). o Three of anything means S.O.S. Try signaling aircraft with three fires.

Litter evacuations: o You need a minimum of 6 litter bearers to carry an average adult, and progress will be VERY

slow. Litters are awkward. o Litters can be improvised from frame packs, climbing ropes, trees, skis, Ensolite pads, etc.

Use your imagination and practice at home beforehand. o Victims with suspected head, neck or spine injuries or profuse bleeding should not be littered

except by a trained rescue team. If the victim is unconscious make sure you can maintain an airway while carrying the litter.

Preparing for a helicopter evacuation: o Helicopter evacs are expensive and can take a long time to arrange. Consider a helicopter

only in the case of severe injuries or if other evacuation methods are impractical. o Choose a level, open area (100 yards by 20 yards) with approaches from several directions.

Mark it on a map which the runners will take. Indicate the site with brightly-colored, well-anchored objects (like staked-down sleeping bags).

o Start a fire near the site to indicate wind direction to the pilot. o Beware of the strong wind from the helicopter rotors (which can blow away gear, burning

embers and people). Always approach a helicopter crouched and from the front so the pilot can see you.

o The victim may have to be moved to an appropriate landing site. If possible, a trained rescue team from the helicopter should do this.

An evacuation can take hours or days. Plan carefully, and then stick to your plan!

Information Which Runners Must Report to Emergency Personnel In the event that outside help is necessary the runners should have a prepared statement with the

following information. This information can be read verbatim over the phone to an emergency worker. Don’t hang up until the person you are talking to says that all questions have been answered. The group leader should keep a copy.

o The name, location and phone number of the caller, with time and date. o The name and sex of the victim. o A description of the injury or illness, including date, time, location, and names of witnesses. o A description of the patient’s condition (critical, serious, unconscious). o Number of group members and their location(s) and condition. o Location of the victim. o Type of evacuation support requested, when, and where. o Extra medical/rescue equipment or personnel needed with evacuation support team.


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o Details of the evacuation plan. o Details of the backup plans. o Name and signature of the group leader.

The runners should also have a set of maps with the following markings: o Location of the accident. o Present location of the group and the victim. o Runners’ route, destination, and estimated time of arrival. o Route chosen by the main party (if the victim will be moved), helicopter landing site, etc.

Mark dates next to the expected location of the group each day. o Route the runners will follow after getting help. o Site and date for the runners and main party to reconvene. o Contingency routes for all of the above.

Appendix B: Medical Protocols (.pdf)Dr. Joanne Feldman has established the Wilderness Medical Protocols that SAC instructors with current WEMT, WFR or WFA certifications may follow under her license. Dr. Feldman does not wish for us to implement certain protocols in the field; these are: 1) clearing the spine, and 2) administering epinephrine. Please see the attachment for these protocols.


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Appendix C: Resources For Trip Planning

Branner Map library, located on the 2nd floor of the Mitchell building. “The library has four Windows workstations equipped with GIS software and geospatial data. You can create, modify, and print custom maps by using commercial GIS packages and geospatial data.”

On-line resources

“Perhaps my most used resource is www.topozone.com. There you can navigate through seamless USGS topos of the entire US on various scales – for FREE. Note the ‘Print this map’ option.

At www.terraserver.com, you can look at aerial photos worldwide (again for free). Resolution varies, but is actually pretty good. www.terraserver-usa.com is a bit quicker to navigate and you can toggle between topos and aerials. Google Maps has some aerial photo capability but is fairly low res in most rural areas.

Google Earth is the coolest way to look at aerial photos. You have to download the application, but the basic version is free and it gives you aerials for the whole earth that are relatively high resolution, easily navigable, and there is even a 3D feature where you can tilt the landscape and see the relief. Very slick - easily hours of wasted time.

As far as trip reports good resources include:

http://www.summitpost.org (general peak climbing)

http://www.snwburd.com/bob/ (good resource for backcountry travel in the Sierras, esp. peak bagging).


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There are numerous other trip reports out there. Google your destination and you will almost always find someone who's been there and has a description.” – Matt Covington

Other on-line resources

California State Parks, http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=21491

Calinfornia Alpine Mountaineering Guides, Sierra Nevada Mountaineering, http://www.californiaalpineguides.com/alpine.html

Other SAC and SO instructors – don’t forget to ask previous instructors for ideas and their past presentations

Typical Trip Locations:

Fresno Dome, south of Yosemite

Tollhouse Rock, south of Yosemite

Yosemite Valley

Chimney Rock, Sequoia National Forest

Pinnacles National Monument

Castle Rock State Park, Skyline Blvd.

Phantom Spires, Tahoe

Appendix D: Guidelines for Teaching a Class

(adapted from OEP)


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Teaching requires a lot of thought, creativity and preparation. We strive to get the students involved in each class, so many classes do not follow a traditional lecture format. Here are some hints and suggestions to help.

Some words on not reinventing the wheel

We are working to archive files with materials used from past classes – Powerpoint slides, handouts, etc. While we are in the process of centralizing these materials, for now in a resource binder in the filing drawer at the climbing wall, be sure that you ask instructors of previous classes to see if they also have any resources. This way you don’t have to work from scratch. However, you certainly don’t have to limit yourself to what’s been done in the past. When you’re done teaching a class and have gotten feedback, it would be very helpful for you to archive your materials, notes, comments, and the hash, so that posterity can rifle through your brilliance.

Use other instructors: Teaching is not, or does not have to be, a solo. Some classes cry out for actual physical assistance. The rock climbing class is a good example of this. You will need elves to help you. In other cases you will need mental and emotional support. That means that if you are unsure whether your concept will fly, if you want to bounce ideas off someone, or if you just need someone to tell you the answer to something they left out of the book and that you can’t read from the hills, use your fellow instructors. Instructors are just like filing cabinets. There’s bound to be one that has a record of a previous experience in teaching the same class that you’re about to undertake. Talk to someone who’s done it before. You don’t have to use the same model, even if it was successful. It just helps to find out what’s gone before.


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How to Prepare

Time constraints: Because SAC’s classes are introductory and there is a limit on the amount of time you have to introduce your material, be cognizant of the level of detail which you go into. It helps to prioritize the material that you want to get across: if you run short on time, you’ll have the privilege and opportunity to tread into deeper waters; and if you run long, it’s more likely that you’ll have gotten through the most significant, fun and fascinating points before then.

Allow for lots of preparation time (don’t do it all the night before): We can’t emphasize this enough. Teaching doesn’t come in the instant recipe variety. It takes time. You will thank yourself for not skimping on preparation. Eight hours of preparation time is a realistic amount for a one-hour class if you haven’t taught it before! Check out the place where you are teaching before you actually do it. You’ll avoid most unexpected obstacles that way and you’ll feel more comfortable when you get there. This is especially pertinent to a class like rock climbing skills: you don’t want to show up and find out that your favorite tree has been moved across campus on the whim of some crazy campus planner! Along the same lines, arrive at class with enough time to spread out your goods, take a deep breath, think of last minute things that you didn’t think of earlier and say howdy to a student or two so that you don’t get stage fright. Make sure that you’ve done all your Xeroxing, major construction and costume arrangement well in advance so that you don’t get caught paperless, shelterless or naked.


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Researching: The most important things to remember while researching are to identify the major points or skills you wish to teach, and to anticipate questions. Obviously, the more thoroughly you know or understand something the easier it will be to ensure that you are well prepared and the less likely you will be to over prepare in the wrong area or focus on a related but non central question. Be sure to end your information gathering or recollection period well enough in advance to structure your class.

Organization of information: You can organize your information in almost any way that you want as long as it is organized in some way rather than dumped out on the floor (for certain classes, even this might work). This goes for discussions and activities as much or even more than for lectures. One guideline that is often used is to focus on a few main points. What is the least common denominator that you’d like every student to take away with him/her? If you organize your stuff around two to four key ideas/concepts/techniques/etc., it’s likely that the students will walk away from class with these segmented clusters still in their heads. Complex details can then be organized around these key points, as long as the least interested student still sees the big picture.

Props and materials

You can sometimes get unstuck from an uninspired spell of preparation by thinking about all the props and materials at your disposal. Some of the best classes get generated out of the raw materials that you choose to use. For climbing, mountaineering, skiing, caving classes, etc., it helps to bring in the gear that students will be using so they can play with it and see what they will be working with.


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Relate your class to the goals of the program and to the aims of the trips

Ask yourself the following questions:

How could the instructors who are leading the next trip integrate my classroom session into the activities they will be undertaking?

What do I want the students to carry away from my class and retain for hours, days, weeks or months to come?

How does this general topic relate to the specific experiences and observations we make while in the wilderness?

How does the topic extend out of the wilderness into daily life? Why is it valuable to know this stuff?

Interacting with other instructors

We discourage unsolicited group teaching: that is, if some absolutely brilliant and undoubtedly essential piece of data flies into your brain please refrain from blurting it out just as the lecturer is about to bring the class to a stunningly timed climax.


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However, as the person teaching the class, you may enjoy and feel grateful that there are other instructors around since no one person can know or recall on the spot all the information pertinent to any specific topic, no matter how much research you’ve done. Keep in mind that in temporarily turning the floor over to someone else, you are doing a balancing act with time. Sometimes you can get to the heart of a question a lot quicker if you let someone else field it than if you grapple with it yourself, especially if it throws you off your mental outline. Sometimes eliciting help will be like wading into a morass; you may regret it and come out with sticky heels. The joy of the experience is that you never know beforehand which is gonna happen.

Always give the floor to others explicitly and always bring it back to yourself explicitly. This will ensure that you and your plan remain the focal point or fulcrum, so to speak.

Ultimately, you have the floor and can take it back at any moment with just a word or two. If people are rambling, even about fascinating stuff, or getting off the point, you should feel good about asking the discussion to continue during the break or after class so that you can get through what you wanted to cover.

As an observing instructor, respect other people’s need to learn through their own successes and failures. If you have something to say that you think will contribute significantly, raise your hand and wait to be acknowledged. Don’t insist; if you feel like you’re being ignored you probably are. Also, be aware of how many other instructors have already put in their two cents and think twice as the number mounts.


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Eliciting participation from the students

Here are some things you can do to encourage an especially passive class to participate and interact. Add to the list if you have other suggestions.

Learn names and use them.

Call on specific people to answer increasingly complex questions; if the first person you call on doesn’t know, don’t dwell on him/her; ask someone else (in a noncompetitive way).

Think about how your questions are phrased: perhaps the students don’t understand what you’re asking; perhaps you were too broad or ambiguous; perhaps your question sounded rhetorical. Experiment with different ways of asking for participation until you hit on one that seems to work.

Keep class level in mind—new or young students are often a lot less vocal and a lot more conscious of their peers. You may have to work harder to get them to respond. Don’t feel like you’re a flop just because you’re greeted with silence and stares: it can mean anything. Try to figure out what.

Compel the students to interact by having them work one-on-one or in groups. If you see two students sitting silently while the rest are having no trouble interacting, go up to them (or ask another instructor to go up to them), join them and seed the conversation.

Emphasize to the students that they’ll get more out of the course by being active participants both on trips and in class.

Generate enthusiasm by being genuinely enthusiastic and showing it.

Shrink the circle, i.e. make the room smaller by getting rid of a few chairs, or all of them. Have people sit on the floor. Spread out your materials on the floor so that it’s easy for them to take a closer look.


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Walk around, vary your approach, pretend you’re an actor who’s gone into the audience for laughs, perform! It’s cheap, it’s easy, and it sometimes works.

Be aware of class vibes and respond. Are the students tired? Do they need psyching up? Or is it time for them to quiet down and listen for a while?

Handling questions

Understand the question first.

Be sensitive. Students often feel like they’re taking a risk when they ask questions. Don’t squash their initiative by making them feel like they got it all wrong.

If you don’t know the answer to a question, hand it off to another instructor or put it off by saying that you don’t know but will find out; then make sure you follow-up.

Limit the length of your response according to the time you have left.

Don’t cut off curiosity or interest in getting to the right answer too quickly; step people through their misconceptions rather than correcting or saying no.

Open the question up to a student, or all the students if you like.

Honor each person’s perspective/opinion even if you don’t agree with it or know it to be misinformed. People seldom learn by being opposed. Demonstrate why you see things the way you do and leave the door open for them to follow you. If you don’t succeed by a soft approach, you wouldn’t have succeeded by a hard one.


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Appendix FE: Safety History, OEP

[SAC Safety History still being compiled]

Winter, 1988, Highway 88 A student's car was involved in a glancing head-on collision during a winter storm. The other car (a giant Suburban assault vehicle) had a blown tire, and the student's car was totaled and left in Pioneer forever. There were no injuries.

Winter 1989 A student's car went off a curve during a winter storm, rolled over sideways down an embankment and landed upright. The windshield was cracked but there were no injuries. There was major karma stress. (The student and a passenger went on to become top bananas.)

Spring 1990, Highway 120 An instructor's car slid off the road while avoiding another accident during a spring storm. They waited a couple of hours for a tow truck, but there were no injuries and no damage.

May 1989, The Lost Coast During the afternoon students were permitted to wander off and explore. One student climbed a hill near camp and fell, cracking his kneecap. He was able to walk back to camp by himself. Instructors found a deep cut on his knee, 6 cm. across and extending down to the bone. The wound was cleaned and the leg splinted, and plans were made for an evacuation. The next day the student was carried by litter 2 miles, then by dune buggy 6 miles to the trail head, then by car to a hospital. Later the student was flown to Stanford Hospital for surgery to remove a bone chip from the knee cap. As a result of this accident, OEP instituted a policy of no student going alone beyond sight or earshot of camp.

December 1991, The Lost Coast The beach at the Lost Cost is narrow and at the inland edge there are steep, crumbly cliffs. The class was hiking back to the trailhead in small groups just below the cliffs when storm conditions out at sea caused the tide to rise higher than expected. The instructors had considered the dangers of high tide, but had come to the conclusion that the hike would be safe. Isolated waves hitting the cliffs were over 6 feet high, and in some areas the water surged 20 feet up the rock. One student was swept out by the tide but was rescued by other students and suffered only minor surface cuts, as well as emotional trauma. All students and instructors were able to regroup at an area where it was possible to climb 30 feet up the cliff, and the group waited there until the tide had gone out enough to allow passage. Factors influencing the incorrect decision were inexperience with the coastal environment, observations of the area at high tide during normal conditions the day before, and failure to observe signs of the above-normal tide when there was still time to turn back.

Spring, 1998, OaklandAn instructor’s car spun out on an exit ramp. The car was totaled, but no passengers were hurt.

Fall 2002, Campus Drive (Stanford Campus)A student's car was totaled while leaving campus by being hit by a turning car. The car was pushed through a chain-link guardrail, but no one was injured. That student chose to remain on campus and was excused from the trip. The other students were able to fit their gear into other cars and go on the trip. Note: students and instructors assume liability for using personal vehicles for OEP trips. Students may only be excused from attending trips in extreme situations.

Winter, 2003, Red Lake Area (Carson Pass)On Saturday afternoon, an instructor’s ski tip dived beneath a sun crust, causing him to fall and break his leg. Another instructor, who happened to be carrying a sled, took a small group of students, skied him out, and brought him to the hospital. The remaining instructor and the group skied out and returned to campus.

Spring, 2004, Round Top Area (Carson Pass)On Saturday afternoon, after climbing Round Top, students in the advanced course began glissading dangerously down a steep slope below the ridge. After seeing what the students were doing, instructors asked them to stop, but in their last glissade down, one student jumped off a rock (holding an ice axe, no less) and fractured his ankle when he hit the snow. Instructors conducted an assessment, splinted the ankle, and brought him and the group back down to camp. They stayed the night, then built a sled out of foam sleeping pads and a crazy creek chair (with ice axes to pull it) and dragged the student to the trailhead by lunchtime the next day. Important to emphasize safety when teaching glissading and ice axe use. Also important to emphasize the consequences of rash behavior in the backcountry.


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Appendix F: SAC Rock Climbing Curricula

Beginning Class

1 evening (optional), 1 day

See Instructor Requirements for All Instructional Trips

TL = Trip Leader

Rev. 10/24/05

Goals:

People with pre-experience checked off with basic skills (belay, rappel) if they are safe

Exposure for everyone to TR climbing, belaying, and rappelling.

Helmets

Harnesses

Fig-8 with fisherman’s backup

Carabiners

ATC

Belaying (BUS belay)

Commands


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Belay position

Backup belaying

Gear Care Intro (don’t drop or step)

Intro to rappelling (w/ fireman’s belay and discussion clipping-in to anchor)

Introduction to movement on Rock


Teaching Expectations:

All non-checked off belayers have a backup until proficiency is shown to TL or instructor (at TL discretion)

Those unable to get checked off for basic skills at the start of the class must return on another trip (formal or informal) for check-off

Typical size: 10-12 students

Instructor: student =1:6 max


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Anchors I: Rocks, Trees, Bolts

1 (or 2) evening classes, 1 day trip


TL = Trip Leader

Rev. 10/24/05

Prerequisites:

Be checked-off for basic skills (exceptions at TL discretion)

Comfort with belay skills

Suggested: a few TR climbing trips (personal or club)

Goals:

Understand Anchor concepts and analysis

Students get as much hands on anchor practice as possible

Students climb on anchors they set

Discuss Approaches and Descents

Intro to Ratings, Topos, and Guidebooks

Knots:


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Overhand series (in webbing). Series = knot, knot-in-a-bight, follow-through, and “bend” (in this case water knot)

Fig-8 series (in cord/rope)

Girth Hitch

Double&Triple-Fishermans

Equipment Strengths, Weakness

Equipment Care and Inspection

Locking vs Non-locking biner types

Opposite and opposed biners

What makes a good anchor (SERENE)

Coiling a rope

Webbing management

Anchor Points types and evaluation

Trees & shrubbery

Horns & Chickenheads

Chalkstones

Boulders

Pinches

Bolts

Fixed Gear (pitons, slings, etc)

Chains (clip UNDER)

Anchor Practice and Instruction:DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT

DRAFT 71



SERENE

Angles

single strand webbing (use and extension)

double strand webbing (use and extension)

cordellettes

sewn sling usage, pros, and cons

sliding-X pros and cons

equalization tricks

Throwing ropes

Anchor types: (bottom belay, top belay, tying ropes together, rappels)

Edge awareness and management: concepts, discussion, practice



All knots should have twice the length of the knot worth of tail

SERENE anchors, with special care on redundancy of gear

Minimum 1 locker and 1 non-locker OR 3 non-lockers at turn-around point

Students are clipped in to an anchor when near the edge

Being tied in while throwing ropes off for rappel


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Typical size: 8-10 students

Instructor:student =1:5 max

Anchors II: Gear anchors and trad following

1 (or 2) evenings, weekend (2day) trip


TL = Trip Leader

Rev. 10/28/05

Goals:

Understand Gear placement concepts and analysis

Understanding Gear anchors for top ropes

Understand gear cleaning and rope management for multi-pitch

Students practice lead belay

Students get as much hands on practice placing protection and building anchors as possible

Students follow a trad protected climb

Discussion of Risks, Retreat, and Safety issues of multi-pitch climbing

Practice rappel with auto-block backup (check-off if student is ready)


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Discussion of Approaches and Descents

Working knowledge of Ratings, Topos, and Guidebooks

Students are prepared to second a more experienced leader on traditional climbs

Prerequisites:

Checked off for Basic & Anchors I skills

Competence with Belaying

Previous rappelling experience

Competence with setting-up top rope anchors using trees rocks and bolts

Familiarity with anchor theory (angles, SERENE, etc)

Suggested: significant experience setting anchors using trees rocks and bolts

Knots:

review previous knots

Auto-block

Gear introduction (Strengths, things to watch out for)

General Good Anchors: Rock quality, Surface Area, Direction of Pull, ease of cleaning

Hexes

NutsDRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT

DRAFT 74



Tricams

Cams

Mention others

Practice placing all types of gear

Review of webbing, cordelletes, & natural anchors

Practice equalizing gear placements into anchors

Intro to multi-pitch climb concept.

Safety on approaches and descents

Multi-pitch sequence

What it takes to bail

Lead belay (position)

Leader-Follower Communication (names, verbal and non-verbal)

Bottom Anchors (when required, other thoughts)

Clipping in to multi-pitch anchors

Discussion of ratings, topos, guidebooks

Basic non-climbing gear to bring on a multi-pitch

headlamp

Small pack (optional)

water

food


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shell

warm layers (wool or synthetic)

knife (Safety of knifes around taut rope)

Time and rope management

Cleaning and Re-racking

Discuss Rappelling

Device types

Tying ropes together

Retrieving ropes

Knots in end

Backups

Students demonstrate comfort with managing themselves on rappels with attention to:

tethers, anchors, clipping-in

rigging rappel device

proper use of auto-block third-hand

practice leg-wraps



Typical class size: 8-10DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT

DRAFT 76



Instructor:Student Ratio = 1:5max (1:4 preferred)

Trad Lead Workshop

2-3 evenings, 2 weekend (2days/ea) trips


TL = Trip Leader

Rev. 10/24/05

Goals:

Demonstrate solid Gear placements and analysis abilities

Students get as much hands on practice placing protection and building anchors as possible

Students spend time mock leading a trad protected climb

If students demonstrate competence on mock leads, they may lead a trad climb with instructor

Students can describe Risks, Retreat, and Safety issues of multi-pitch climbing

Practice rappel with auto-block backup (check-off if student is ready)

Approaches and Descents

Working knowledge of Ratings, Topos, and GuidebooksDRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT

DRAFT 77



Students are prepared to second a more experienced leader on traditional climbs

Prerequisites:

Checked off for Basic & Anchors I & Seconding & Anchors II skills

Experience following a multi-pitch climb

Competence with setting-up anchors

Competence with anchor theory (angles, SERENE, etc)

Competence lead belaying

Theory

Connecting ropes for rappel

Runnering, Rope Drag

Single, Double, Twin

Understanding anchors for multi-pitches

Understanding Sport vs. Trad leading

Clipping in Properly (not Back-clipping, not Z-clipping)

Efficiency

Falling

Fall-Factors

Multi-pitch rappel theory

mid-climb rope organization

Racks and rackingDRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT

DRAFT 78



Picking routes, ratings

Retreating and Bailing

Things to think about in the backcountry


Practice

Optionally spending time sport leading (see Lead climbing by students, below)

Review and more practice with gear placements and assessment

Practice setting multi-directional anchors

Students Follow an experienced leader on a multi-pitch climb

Mock Leads

If appropriate lead climbing (see Lead climbing by students, below)

Rigging a rappel station

Knots: clove hitch, munter, munter-mule, prusik, kleimheist

Feedback from Instructors

At end of Mock Leading day, Instructors decide which students are qualified for trad leading the next day.

At end of class, Instructors emphasize that students are not automatically qualified to trad lead; following/mentoring with an experienced trad leader is the usual next step.


Typical class size: 8-9

Instructor: Student Ratio = 1:4max (1:3max while leading)DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT

DRAFT 79



Revisions 10/18/05 (SAC Safety Committee)

See above under Feedback from Instructors

Lead climbing by students

on approval of TL only

lead climbs must have been climbed by one of the instructors (to guard against errors in the guidebook)

no “runout” lead climbs

difficulty level at least one grade less than student’s (confirmed) toprope ability for sport routes and at least 2 grades less for trad routes. No harder than 5.8 sport and 5.7 trad.

SAC will create and maintain a list of specific climbs at different areas (Tollhouse, Lover’s Leap, etc.) which are approved (and not approved) for student leads (conditional on their ability). For example, Tollhouse Traverse (5.7, Tollhouse Rock) is approved for students who can toprope 5.9 or harder and have demonstrated proper gear placement on their mock leads.

Intro to Self-Rescue: Belay Escape Practice

1 evening at the climbing wall

A Belay Escape is the first step if something goes wrong while you are belaying someone when climbing. And the pieces of a belay escape are fantastic tools in their own right to have in your bag of tricks for both emergency and non-emergency climbing situations. Escaping a belay involves tying off a loaded rope in a releasable way and then getting out of the system so that you can go for help (or start a self-rescue).


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Part I: Instructors demonstrate once how to escape from a loaded belay. (Gives context to knots)

Review knots

Double fisherman's knot used to tie cordelette (emphasize length of tail)

Clove hitch, Munter hitch

Mariner, Mule knot, Munter mule

Prusik, Klemheist, Autoblock

Part II: Demonstrate escaping a loaded belay. Go through steps with students, then let them practice on their own. Note: Do not use floor anchors at the climbing wall! They aren’t rated for dynamic loads.

Part III: Rappelling with a backup autoblock. Changing over from ascending to rappelling. Ascending with prusiks.

Suggested Reference: Self-Rescue, Chockstone Press.


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Appendix G: SAC Ice and Snow Curricula

Intro Cross-country Skiing

Ann Pan

This workshop is an introduction to cross-country/Nordic skiing for those who have possibly never skied before. Cross-country/Nordic skiing is the foundation for all skiing forms today, including downhill/alpine skiing and telemark skiing. This class is an introduction to what cross-country/Nordic skiing is, its history, skiing techniques, and the equipment associated with XC skiing. We also teach you striding, the telemark turn, and skating (time permitting). The workshop consists of a classroom session and a weekend on the snow in avalanche safe terrain.

Classroom Session

Skiing topics

What is cross-country/Nordic skiing?

Three skiing techniques: diagonal striding, skating, telemark turn

Single & double camber skis, how skiing works

Different kinds of waxes: glide wax, kick wax & klister (what they are, what kind, where, and how to apply)

Different kinds of skis: with and without metal edges, regular and “waxless” skis

History of skiing

XC/Nordic skiing equipment: NN, SNS, NNN, NTN

General topics

Appropriate winter clothing

Basic snow camping skills DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT

DRAFT 82



Basic survival kit (via email)

Outdoors Session

Skiing topics

How to put on gaiters

How to put on XC skis

How to adjust the straps on ski poles

What height the ski poles should be

How to fall and get up on flat terrain

Balance on skis without poles

Walking on skis without poles

Striding without poles

Striding with poles

Which way to fall on steep terrain

How to get up on steep terrain

Snowplowing

How to traverse steep terrain (edging)

How to turn 180° while standing still (“lappkast” in Swedish, “kick turn” in English)

Herringbone

Side-stepping

Telemark turn

General topics (not covered in great detail) DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT

DRAFT 83



Snow backpacking tips

Finding your orientation based on the sun and time of day

How to use a compass and map to find landmarks

Basic avalanche awareness

Bowline knot (two-handed & one-handed)

Clove hitch (pole knot)

Other

Frostbite

Hypothermia

Altitude sickness

What to do if your eyes freeze shut (don't panic, warm them up with your hands)

Snow anchors for tents

Intro Telemark Skiing

Ann Pan

Group 1: Never Downhill Skied Before

how to fall -- don't fall on knees!

how to get up

walk up the hill by either side-stepping or using the herringbone

stop skis using the snow plow while facing straight down the hillDRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT

DRAFT 84



turn left in snow plow

turn right in snow plow

how to get onto/off the chair lift

S-turns downhill while snow plowing

how to begin parallel skiing (bring skis parallel at end of turn)

how to control speed by snow plowing and turning sideways or uphill

practice Telemark stance while standing still, switching which leg is in front

balance: practice Telemark stance while traversing across the hill, switching which leg is in front

practice Telemark turn in only one direction at a time (turn and stop)

go down into the Telemark stance and push yourself forward with the poles to gain momentum/speed while maintaining the Telemark stance

turn

Go up from the Telemark stance

practice linking turns

4-step turn (see group 2a)

Group 2a: Less Experienced Downhill Skier

Practice Telemark stance


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Traverse hill while going down into Telemark stance, stay down for awhile, go up, repeat with other leg in front. Repeat.

To avoid doing a parallel turn, focus on the back ski (see group 2b)

4-step turn

Group 2b: Experienced Downhill Skiers, Beginner Telemarkers

Bend knees and go down into the Telemark stance

bend lower than you think you should

practice the rhythm (changing which foot is forward)

Telemark posture -- upper body facing downhill at all times

Focus on the front ski

actively move the leg forward

put pressure on big toe

tilt the knee and ski to carve the turn

knee & toe move together

Focus on the back ski

actively move the leg backward

put pressure on the pinky toe

tilt the knee and ski to carve the turn

Suggested Reference: Free-Heel Skiing, Paul Parker


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Intro to Mountaineering

Warren Caldwell

2 evening sessions, 1 weekend trip

Goals:

Provide a broad foundation in basic mountaineering skills to students with solid outdoor skills but minimal or no mountaineering experience

Graduates should leave the course with:

skills to climb single-day, moderately steep snow-covered peaks on their own

knowledge to climb with more experienced mountaineers on harder trips

knowledge of what skills they will need to learn in order to advance their abilities

Prerequisites:

Proficiency with outdoor skills (hiking, backpacking, camping, cooking)

Experience with winter outdoor skills (not required, but makes the trip easier for everyone)

Content:

General winter skills and some details on the snow-covered mountain environment


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Hazards:

avalanches (requires its own course; students should obtain proper instruction)

crevasse avoidance (snow bridges, probing, and where crevasses form: edges, convexities, and zones of tension)

cornices, bergschrunds, rock moats, whiteouts

hypothermia (prevention, signs and symptoms, treatment), frostbite, snowblindness, sunburn, altitude sickness (AMS), HAPE, HACE

General snow/winter skills: camping (snow caves, cooking, melting water), staying warm

Mention important skills that won’t be taught: first aid, navigation, avalanche safety, crevasse rescue

Equipment, with some basics of its use

Clothing:

layering for mountaineering

mountaineering-specific items (boots, gaiters, gloves/mitts, balaclavas, glacier glasses)

Camping gear (mountaineering tents, warm sleeping bags, thick mats)

Gear: crampons, ice axes, snow pro, harnesses, helmets

How to travel on snow:

As an individual


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Techniques for ice axe use (piolet canne, stake, low dagger, etc.)

Techniques for crampon use (pied en canard, front-pointing, etc.)

Walking in balance, self-belay, the rest step, changing directions on a slope, finding a rhythm

Glissading, plunge-stepping, other descending methods

Self-arrest (an emergency skill – use proper axe/crampon technique to avoid the need to self-arrest. Remember that not all slides can be arrested!)

As a group

How to set up a rope team and when to rope up

Anchors (pickets, deadmen, bollards)

Anchor concepts: set-up, equalization, load multiplication

Mountaineering belays (running and fixed)

Teaching expectations:

Class size: 12

Instructor:student ratio: 4:1

Suggested Reference: Freedom of the Hills

Avalanche Awareness

TBD


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[from Ann Pan’s telemark class]

Beacon practice - single burial search

test beacons to make sure they work

beacon exercise: Put a beacon somewhere not within immediate range to simulate a buried victim and give a beacon to each searcher. Their job is to locate the victim.

primary search

secondary search

pinpoint search

bracketing

discuss how to probe

discuss strategic shoveling technique

discuss how searchers follow a flux line, not a straight line; how signals can be confusing near the victim, depending on the beacon's orientation and due to nulls.

Theory before practice. Have everyone practice with both an analog and digital beacon, to learn the difference between the two. Don't put the victim beacon in a muddy area. Bury the victim beacon in snow and let people practice using the probe.

Suggested Reference: Snow Sense, Jill Fredston


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Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue

Warren Caldwell

1 evening (1.5 hours), 1 afternoon (3 hours)

Prerequisites:

Familiarity with tying into and using a harness

Familiarity with basic climbing knots

Goals:

Know how to build and use a Z-pulley hauling system

Understand how and where crevasses form and how to avoid them

Content:

What crevasses are and why they are dangerous

Why one needs to know, practice, and be proficient with crevasse rescue

Concepts of how and where crevasses form on glaciers (e.g. various zones of tension)

How to identify crevasses based on visual inspection and physical inspection (probing)

What snow bridges are


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How to set up a rope team for glacier travel

How to travel as a rope team on a glacier (e.g. travel perpendicular to crevasses)

Self-arrest

All options for getting out of a crevasse:

rope team members haul victim out directly

victim ascends rope with friction hitch or ascender

rope team members build a pulley-based hauling system

Friction knots and rope ascension techniques (e.g. prusik knot to ascend a rope)

Detailed description of the assembly and use of a 3:1 Z-pulley hauling system

Snow anchor concepts (e.g. load multiplication)

Snow pro (basically limited to pickets)

Deadman/T-trench anchor construction

Practice:

Each person participates in 3 full crevasse rescue simulations, once as each member of the rope team:

end-person (does almost all the assembly of the Z-pulley)

middle-person (assists the end-person as needed during Z-pulley construction)

victim (weights the rope and provides resistance during hauling)


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Teaching expectations:

Class size: 12 or 15

Instructor:student ratio: 6:1

Instructors should emphasize that crevasse avoidance is more important than proficiency with rescue skills

Suggested Reference: Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue, Andy Selters


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Agenda for Feb - Stanford...

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