Winter Hiking Program

[Mohamed Ellozy]

The Boston Chapter's Winter Hiking Program starts in about a month, all are welcome, including non-members. I have been associated with the program for several years, so I may be biased, but I think it is an outstanding course at a ridiculously low cost.

The New Hampshire Chapter (and othe Chapters that I know less about) offers a couple of courses (one given by one of our contributors), but since I do not know how much they want to publicize them I will not give any pointers to them.

 

[alpinista]

Mohamed: Am I reading the info correctly that it's $35 (for members) for all five sessions at Joy Street???

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

Alpinista,

$35 with advance registration, $40 at the door (you pay more and you wait in line) buys you five evenings of classes, with drinks and cookies at the intermission plus a 200+ page manual.

How much do we get paid to run the program? Zero, which is why it is so affordable.

 

[Stan]

I took the course several years ago and would recommend it to people with just about any level of experience because it covers such a wide agenda related to winter hiking that there is bound to be something new and informative.

Is the weekend field praticum still part of the course? I would assume that's an extra cost since accomodations and meals were part of the program.

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

There are three components to the course:

• The lectures (plus manual) at Joy Street. These are covered by the course fee.
• Optional day hikes, free.
• Optional weekends, with a cost to cover the food and lodging. One is the basic weekend at Cardigan, Boston Chapter members may have read an excellent article about it in the current MUD. The second is an advanced Above Treeline Workshop held at Harvard Cabin

 

[alpinista]

I'm signing up. It's too good a deal to pass up!

 

[The Sikes]

Is anyone from the Manchester NH are interested in carpooling down?

 

[ChrisB]

Full NH AMC Hike Schedule?

Kevin,

I assume non-AMC members are welcome on chapter winter hikes, correct?

If so, is there a web site that lists all NH Chapter hikes throughout the winter?

I know they are listed in the Monthly Bulletin, but as a former member I no longer get that publication.

cb

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

... since parking is always an issue in the city.

There is underground parking under the Common, and in previous years the program has sold reduced price tickets for the garage.

That said, car pooling is an excellent idea!

 

[Stan]

Another alternative is to drive in to places like Alewife (red line), Riverside (green line) or others and take the T in. Even some of the commuter rail lines have schedules that would coincide with the course. All stations are reasonably convenient to Joy Street ... especially for reasonably fit hikers!

 

[bill bowden]

To Chris B.

There's a plan for a web based system of listing hikes for all the local AMC chapters but I'm not up on the schedule for when it goes in place. The possibility of listing winter and summer hikes for the public as on the web has been a big source of discussion for some time.

Some leaders are very open to this (we don't charge, could always use some new blood). Others are very negative (don't want publication of phone number or address). NH chapter strongly believes in pre-screening participants for experience, conditioning and gear before the hike so prior contact is necessary.

For the present, I suspect your best bet is to hope your local library gets the bulletin or else pay the (recently increased) dues but I heard a rumor that the Boston Chapter was putting hikes on their website.

 

[alpinista]

Who attended?

Did any of you sign up and attend this Tuesday? I was there and the room was PACKED! Close to 150 people showed, which the AMC said was a record for these workshops. I kept looking around to see if I recognized anyone -- and I actually put "alpinista" on the name tag -- but alas, I didn't spot anyone from VFTT.

The first session was informative, and a good beginning for people new to winter hiking, or looking for a refresher on the basics. It included a fairly exhaustive manual that I've yet to pore over, as well as a list of group day hikes and backpacking trips in the offing.

 

[amstony]

The NH Chapter has an excellent Winter Hiking program which I went through last year. However they are probably about half done now for the 2004 session. That is an excellent course for next year. All the TL's screen for experience, keeps you and them out of a potential emergency situation if you've over extended yourself.

The Worcester Chapter and Maine Chapter of the AMC put their hikes online now . I went on a couple of Maine AMC chapter hikes last year for some NH 4K's, and they were a fun group to hike with . I have met some of the Worcester members on the Monadnock peaks on hikes too, but never went on an official hike.

Also, the Green Mountain Club in Vermont post all their hikes and activities on the GMC calendar on their website.

Tony