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Greetings from Oregon Peak Adventures,

This is the July 2002 Oregon Peak Adventures Newsletter. You are receiving this because you are a past client, you have asked about us, you are family, or friends. So have a read. If you don't wish to receive any further Newsletters, just reply with "Remove" in the Subject and we actually will take you off the list.

Well, it's definitely summer in Oregon. Our first summer climb of St. Helens was scheduled for Friday, June 28 and was preceded by 90 degree F. days. However, in true Oregon early July behavior, a fast moving front rolled in and it rained very hard most of Friday. Fortunately, a look at the weather forecast Thursday evening confirmed that Friday wasn't going to be a good climbing day, so we cancelled in town. As a general policy, we will not start on a climb if we do not believe there is a reasonable chance that we will be able to complete it.

The weather looks really good for the coming week so we expect that we will summit St. Helens on July 10, and have a great St. Helens round-the-mountain backpacking trip July 12-15. We still have a few spots available on both of these trips.

JULY TRIPS

We have openings for the following trips in July:

Mt. Adams Round-the-Mountain backpacking trip - July 18-21

Mt. Adams South Spur Climb - July 23-24

Mt. Adams Mazama Glacier Climb - July 26-28

Mt. Adams South Spur Climb - July 31- August 1

NEPAL

We're still planning to go on our trekking and climbing trip to the Khumbu region of Nepal this October-November. Our gathering date in Kathmandu is October 29. Our return date back to the US after the trek and Island Peak climb is November 24. While unrest continues in lower elevations and in the western regions in Nepal, the Khumbu region remains very quiet and safe, and the wonderful people are delighted to welcome the trekkers who are savvy enough to go there.

TANZANIA

Our Tanzania trip is filled. We will accept one or two more alternates. We will be developing our itinerary for our February 2004 trip soon. Please let me know if you have specific places you would like to visit in East Africa.

SUMMER 2002 SCHEDULE

The Website www.oregonpeakadventures.com is up to date so check it out for more information. Pricing for the trips includes transportation, guides(s)/instructors, group and technical gear, food and permits. We can arrange to rent you most of the things we don't provide.

CLIMBS:

St. Helens: Monitor Ridge Route: July 10 & 30, August 13, September 5, 20, & 27

Mt. Adams: South Side Route: July 23-24, July 31 - August 1

Mazama Glacier Route: July 26-28, August 9-11, August 23-25

North Cleaver Route: August 21-23

BACKPACKS:

St. Helens Round-the Mountain: July 12-15, August 3-6

St. Helens Mt. Margaret Backcountry: September 9-12

Mt. Adams Round-the Mountain: July 18-22, August 15-19

Indian Heaven Wilderness: August 5-7

HIKES

St. Helens Hike the Blast (Hike across the Pumice Plain to Loowit Falls at the crater breech)-Class - Sept 3 or 4, Hike - September 7

Hikes at the Oregon Coast, Columbia River Gorge, and on St. Helens, Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood and in the Portland area can be arranged at any time we have a guide available.

SIGNING-UP: You can use our Secure Sign-up Form at http://www.oregonpeakadventures.com/sign-up.htm.

FULL ADVENTURE TRIPS

The Portland, Oregon area is particularly blessed with diverse opportunities for outdoor activities. We are going to schedule a couple of FULL ADVENTURE trips for the summer of 2003 which will enable you to experience these various activities in a multi-day trip. A representative schedule would include two days at our beach house at the coast for hiking, sightseeing and boating, a raft trip on the White Salmon or Deschutes River, and a climb of Adams or St. Helens. We will stay in Bed and Breakfast establishments and all transportation and arrangements will be provided. If you have specific dates and interests, please let me know and we will schedule a trip to accommodate your desires. By the way, the beach house is available for rental year round. For information visit http://www.kiwandacoastalproperties.com/kcp168.htm.

OUTDOOR SKILLS TRAINING

We have completed our series of outdoor skills training sessions which included Alpine Mountaineering, Land Navigation, and Wilderness Survival. We will have another series in the Fall:

 

INTRODUCTION TO ROCK CLIMBING. This is for the beginning rock climber as well as for those who have mostly climbed in a rock gym environment. We will cover movement on rock, equipment, knots, belaying, and rappelling. The classroom session will be held 6-9 PM September 12, probably at the US Bank Building in Lake Oswego. The first field session will be held Saturday, September 14 at Rocky Butte in Portland. On Sunday we will go to Horse Thief Butte in Washington to climb on real rock. We'll have more details available next month. Let me know if you're interested, since I anticipate that the class will fill-up quickly.

WILDERNESS SURVIVAL covers mental and physiological aspects of surviving a short-term emergency. We will discuss survival equipment, planning, setting priorities, and responding to situations. The Classroom sessions are 6-9 PM at the US Bank Building on October 1, or at Hawthorne Farms Athletic Club, 4800 NE Belknap Court, Hillsboro, OR on October 2. The overnight field session at Mt. Hood is October 5-6. For more information see http://www.oregonpeakadventures.com/wilderne.htm on the website.

LAND NAVIGATION covers basic map and compass skills and an introduction to the uses of a GPS receiver. The Classroom sessions are 6-9 PM at the US Bank Building on October 7, or at Hawthorne Farms Athletic Club, 4800 NE Belknap Court, Hillsboro, OR on October 9. The field session will be held on October 12 in Washington Park in Portland. For more information see http://www.oregonpeakadventures.com/map&.htm on the website.

GPS SKILLS covers the uses of your GPS receiver. We go into more detail how the GPS works and practice using your specific model. The Classroom sessions are 6-9 PM at the US Bank Building on October 8, or at Hawthorne Farms Athletic Club, 4800 NE Belknap Court, Hillsboro, OR on October 10. The field session will be held on October 13 in Forest Park in Portland.

TIPS SECTION

A critical requirement is to take care of your skin and eyes when in an outdoors environment.

EYES - We definitely need to protect our eyes. This is especially true when climbing. Snow reflects 95% of the light shining on it and the higher we go, the less UV radiation is filtered out by the thinning atmosphere. Not protecting your eyes can cause snow blindness in the short term and is a major contributing factor to Adult Macular Degeneration long term.          ( More info is at http://www.eyesight.org/) So we need dark climbing goggles with side shields to block out the sunlight. If you don't need to correct your vision or always wear contacts, you can buy glacier glasses at REI or climbing shops from $40 to $140. If you normally wear glasses, you can just buy the frames and have your optometrist put prescription lenses in. Make sure you have a dark coating and UV coating applied. Another option is to wear ski goggles over your regular glasses.

Most people tolerate their contacts reasonably well. However, if you are intolerant of dust and grit or suffer from dry eyes, you might be better off just going with glasses rather than be uncomfortable with your contacts. Having artificial tears available is a good thing, whether you're wearing contacts or not.

SKIN - A snow field or a glacier is not the place to work on a tan. Intense UV rays and reflected sunlight combine to provide the opportunity for you to get the worst sunburn of your life very quickly. Using sunscreen/sunblock is essential. The sunscreen/sunblock basically absorbs the energy of the UV rays before they get to your skin cells. It's also important to use lip balm with a SPF of 30+. "SPF" refers to Sun Protection Factor. If you would suffer skin damage in 15 minutes unprotected, then applying suncreen with a SPF of 40 would allow you to stay in the sun for 600 minutes before suffering the same level of damage. The manufacturers recommend applying it about 20-30 minutes before exposure and reapplying it regularly. You need to be especially mindful to apply sunscreen of newly exposed areas as you remove clothing. Short term sunburn can be very painful (watch the movie "Two for the Road" to get a better understanding of this). Long term sun exposure and repeated burning can cause skin cancer at worst, or make your skin look like distressed leather at best.

I really like the Aloe Gator SPF 40 gel. It's waterproof and stays on for a long time.

Finally, foot powder will make your feet happy (and your tent mates also!).

We are looking forward to doing a trip with you. Please e-mail or call at (877) 965-5100 to reserve your spot or get more information.

You can find previous Newsletters at http://www.oregonpeakadventures.com/newsletters.htm

Again, if you don't wish to receive this newsletter, please reply with Remove in the subject line and we'll cease and desist.

Best Regards,

Joe Whittington