Tag Archives: BCEP

May6

BCEP – Hiking Hamilton Mountain

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Last year, I took the BCEP class with the Mazamas – Basic Climbing Education Program. It was interesting; a great chance to review my well-trained skills, practice some that I hadn’t used in ages, and get to meet some new climbing and outdoors people. It was fun, and ticked all the boxes that I had hoped that it would.

My faith in the outdoors community reinvigorated, I quickly and happily volunteered to help teach BCEP this year. I was expecting to assist with the same group that I’d taken the class with the previous year, since leaders tend to continue teaching year over year, so I was a bit surprised when I was placed with a different group… but it turns out, this new group was just starting out – the first year the leader had led a BCEP team on their own.

The chance to help out with a new group, and to help build a similar culture of excitement and optimism for the outdoors? All while getting to show people the unbridled joy of rock climbing? Of seeing new views off the side of a mountain?

Well. Sign me right the heck up.


Saturday, 08-Apr-2023


Another Saturday, another adventure with BCEP team four!



I freely admit – I miss my lazy weekends, at this point. I’ve been having a blast with Team 4, getting lots of adventure in and getting a ton of great socialization… not to mention getting to see people come into their own and become the confident adventurers that they all can be. But it’s tiring, and having to wake up early so often wears me down a bit.

Ben needs his lazy mornings, dang it!


Thankfully, Hamilton Mountain didn’t start out all too early. I was able to stay in Portland with Jess, which meant a bit shorter of a drive and a bit of nice breakfast in the morning… which definitely helped make up for the early rising, I freely admit.

We got to the trailhead, we conferred with the rest of the team, and we hiked in.

Yup.

It was a hike.

We… uhh… we walked? We chatted?

I fell behind a bit so I could take some photos, and then caught up with the team as they hit the snow line near the summit.

We descended, and headed onward to our next adventure… I mean, it’s hiking, dear reader. You know the drill.


It was an excellent time, I wasn’t at work, and the pictures were great. What more could I ask for?

May4

BCEP – Showing people the ropes at Horsethief Butte

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Last year, I took the BCEP class with the Mazamas – Basic Climbing Education Program. It was interesting; a great chance to review my well-trained skills, practice some that I hadn’t used in ages, and get to meet some new climbing and outdoors people. It was fun, and ticked all the boxes that I had hoped that it would.

My faith in the outdoors community reinvigorated, I quickly and happily volunteered to help teach BCEP this year. I was expecting to assist with the same group that I’d taken the class with the previous year, since leaders tend to continue teaching year over year, so I was a bit surprised when I was placed with a different group… but it turns out, this new group was just starting out – the first year the leader had led a BCEP team on their own.

The chance to help out with a new group, and to help build a similar culture of excitement and optimism for the outdoors? All while getting to show people the unbridled joy of rock climbing? Of seeing new views off the side of a mountain?

Well. Sign me right the heck up.


Sunday, 02-Apr-2023


As mentioned, I have a special spot in my heart for Horsethief Butte. It’s not a soaring crag, it’s not a massive crag, but it is the first crag that I climbed in Oregon – which for me, sets it apart from all others in the Pacific Northwest.

We arrived early – I’d been put in charge of wrangling the students, and thankfully was successful in shepherding them all from the campground to the parking lot with a minimum of fuss and stress… and while still getting some breakfast and coffee into me in the process.

There was a little, of course, but… minimal, thankfully.




The climbing of the day was short and sweet – we set a few routes, we showed people how to rappel, to climb, and to belay, on their first exposure to vertical rock. All the skills had been taught before, of course, but… As we all know, there’s a difference between learning something in a classroom setting, and doing it for real. Especially when the “classroom setting” is a 20 degree grassy slope, and the “for real” is a vertical cliff a solid 20ft tall.


That’s the fun of teaching, though, and absolutely why I was so excited to assist with BCEP this year.

I got to man the rappel station for a majority of the morning, helping people through the whole process from initial safety through to them arriving on the ground below safely. I was fortunate enough to see people start out on their first rappel, hands shaking as they set up their equipment and checked their anchors… and then see them at the end of the day, confidently confirming their gear before hopping off the cliff like a pro.

Everyone got quite a few routes in, and thankfully I wasn’t an exception to that! Nothing huge, and nothing particularly challenging… but they were fun none-the-less, and I was absolutely thankful for the opportunity to get my hands on the rock!



(Ed Note: Ben doesn’t have a list of the climbs that he did, since Horsethief is only mediocrely well documented. He climbed primarily in the back area sort of near the slabs, top roping a few 5.6s and maybe a 5.7)

May3

BCEP – Leading a hike at Catherine Creek (Coyote Wall)

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Last year, I took the BCEP class with the Mazamas – Basic Climbing Education Program. It was interesting; a great chance to review my well-trained skills, practice some that I hadn’t used in ages, and get to meet some new climbing and outdoors people. It was fun, and ticked all the boxes that I had hoped that it would.

My faith in the outdoors community reinvigorated, I quickly and happily volunteered to help teach BCEP this year. I was expecting to assist with the same group that I’d taken the class with the previous year, since leaders tend to continue teaching year over year, so I was a bit surprised when I was placed with a different group… but it turns out, this new group was just starting out – the first year the leader had led a BCEP team on their own.

The chance to help out with a new group, and to help build a similar culture of excitement and optimism for the outdoors? All while getting to show people the unbridled joy of rock climbing? Of seeing new views off the side of a mountain?

Well. Sign me right the heck up.

Saturday, 01-Apr-2023


With the scouting done the weekend before, we were ready for our training hike. I’d emailed a prospectus out (a fancy “here’s the info you need” email), and everyone knew both what to bring and where to meet. We’d be convening at the trailhead, hiking, then heading to a nearby campground to sleep out under the stars before doing some actual technical rock climbing at Horsethief Butte the next day.

I have a special place in my heart for Horsethief, since it was the first spot in Oregon that I ever climbed (Ed Note: See the post below, dear readers!), so I was absolutely quite excited for the chance to help everyone lock in their skills ahead of time.

The weather was perfect when we met up at the trailhead, and we got going nice and easily on time… maybe 10min late, but that kind of fits with my style, so I’ll take it as a win.


Ohh… what to write about the hike… We walked. We snacked, we adjusted layers, and we hiked some more. We got to the spot I’d marked out, and set up our anchors and ropes. The students practiced, and further etched the skills they’d need into their memory. We discussed pros and cons to various options, and weighed when each would be appropriate out in the field.

We hiked on.

It snowed, a bit, but nothing stuck… just enough for us to feel good, and get some singularly excellent views.


I led from the front, as strange as that sounds for a hike, and was able to keep a pretty solid pace for the team. It went well, I’m thankful to report, and I was quite happy with how it all shook out.



That evening, we made camp and hit the hay early… but not before catching up with some of the other teams who were joining us at the Maryhill Campground – one of which was my team from the previous year, the Snakedogs! It was awesome getting to catch up with everyone, and hear how their BCEP sessions were going. I learned a bit about what Portland Mountain Rescue (the folks who rescue injured climbers on Mt. Hood) were up to, and what “interesting” politics they were dealing with this year.

I’d brought some pulled pork that I’d slow-cooked the day before, and then put into a battery-powered crock pot, which went over quite well. I shared my delicious creation, sampled many other peoples submissions to the group, and even got to enjoy some especially delicious whiskey.

It was a good day.


My first climb at Horsethief, and in Oregon itself!

https://talesfromthehutt.com/2015/08/31/my-birthday-weekend-the-fourth-weekend-that-im-in-hood-river-oregon-and-the-west-coast-saturday-ribs-and-climbing/