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Q: Wilderness Travel Course
#9233 11/24/10 09:49 AM
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 3
T
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T
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 3
Hi Guys/Gals,

Noticed an ad for sierra club in my area offering this 10-week course. Just checking if anyone here has taken it and could give me an insight on what the experience was like, worth it/helpful/fun?

I'm still a relative newbie when it comes to hiking (and venturing out into the woods in general) and just looking to learn more, specially snow travel.

Thanks!

Re: Q: Wilderness Travel Course
Tyrone Biggums #9234 11/24/10 10:24 AM
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Originally Posted By: Tyrone Biggums
...worth it/helpful/fun?...

Definitely!


Journey well...
Re: Q: Wilderness Travel Course
Tyrone Biggums #9235 11/24/10 10:57 AM
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Hello Tyrone,

A friend of mine often travels with the Sierra Club to places like the Grand Canyon/Havasupi Falls, Mt. Rushmore, and many more places I can't remember at the moment. My friend loves the Sierra Club trips. She also hikes with the Sierra Club one evening each week after work. Personally, I've stayed at the huts such as Harwood and Keller huts in Southern California......you can't beat the price per night and the accommodations are good too, plus they're equipped with community kitchens where you can prepare your own hot meals which is a great savings. The huts operate similar to a hostel in that you sleep in a dorm room with other members and everyone pitches in by doing a chore in the hut in the morning before you depart. You'll generally meet friendly people with the same interests. You can learn a lot about hiking conversing with other Sierra Club members at the hut. Another good place to look for organized outings is on the REI or Adventure 16 websites. If you're not familiar with Adventure 16, it's a recreational equipment store similar to REI. Following is REI and Adventure 16's links to wilderness outings and other events:

REI:
http://www.rei.com/learn

Adventure 16:
http://www.adventure16.com/events.asp?itemid=56

I look forward to reading your Trip Reports on the Whitney Zone soon.

Happy Thanksgiving


Lynnaroo
Re: Q: Wilderness Travel Course
Tyrone Biggums #9254 11/27/10 08:24 AM
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K
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Tyrone, I've known many who have gone through the course, and I am continually impressed with the quality of the instruction that people receive. I strongly recommend it. It appears to provide a strong "base" of information, skill, and experience.
Those that provide the instruction are skilled, dedicated volunteers.

The modest cost is very cheap for the value of the course. I also find that people seem to make friends that they keep for years.

However, I personally find that the activities that Lynn describes are very different than the WTC, and the people are also different. My experience is that the WTC graduates are far more self reliant, and that those that go on the organized trips are a bit more towards the "take a tour" group, although there is crossover.

Re: Q: Wilderness Travel Course
Ken #9257 11/27/10 06:06 PM
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 47
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Posts: 47
I did the course last year, based in Pasadena. It was excellent. Met for 3 hours once a week for talks, and book instruction, covering orienteering (fantastic), clothing, equipment, snow travel, snow camping. The practical stuff included a 14 mile conditioning hike , up almost 4,000 feet, a camping weekend in Joshua Tree to learn orienteering and class 3 climbing (not technical, but peak bagging without needing to be technical), a snow travel day with snowshoes - but they are not covered to teach crampons or use of an ice axe or self arrest, and then a snow camp in the eastern Sierra, such as South Lake, which is a 3 day weekend. To graduate one must participate in all these, pass a (easy) final written test, and then do two trips over the summer, one with a Sierra Club leader and one independent trip. I didn't do all of this since I wasn't interested in being a "graduate" so much as gaining the skills I wanted, which is also fine with them. And you can attend the following year for makeups too. The leaders (2 for each group_ and assistant leaders (about 6-8) are all WTC graduates and extremely knowledgeable; one of my leaders even has a route up Whitney named after him. On the trips, the ratio is about 1:4 leader to students.
I did think that one needs at least some, basic camping and backpacking experience to best benefit from the course, but it isn't require. Steep learning curve if you're a total newbie. Also essential to be in reasonable physical shape too - and they do stress this - or else the first "conditioning" hike will be hell. And you do need to finish this hike, or otherwise show you're in good shape for them to let you continue with the course too. They give refunds if you drop out up to a certain point.
There basic text is the Mountaineer's book - Freedom of the Hills.
Hope this helps - B


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