GMC - August 2 - Rained out

I could have titled this post REST DAY!, but really with rain much of the night and day, no trip went out. Instead Jeff and Jen, the pro-guides reviewed additional safety and rescue scenarios. Crevasse rescue set ups were shown and demonstrated. Some participants wanted to know why a fallen climber wouldn't "just ascend" the rope if they were not hurt.
The guides set up a demonstration where participants practiced ascending a rope. The drying tent made for a fine set-up and resulted in about 3 or 4 feet of actual ascend. Using minimal gear, the exercise demonstrated quickly how difficult ascending (even in a staged scenario free of any danger or stress) can be, and in particular how slow and exhausting it is.

Jeff demonstrates key skills: How to free oneself from a fully
loaded system, setting up a drop-line to a fallen climber,
rappelling, ascending.

Julius has a captive audience. His lovely interactive presentation
style and self-deprecating humour made for a memorable
and informative session.

We also had the benefit of one of the participant's bear expertise. Julius generously and interactively lectured on bears. Part 1 was mostly how to recognize different bears, basic evolutionary information to help us understand different bear behaviours. Part 2 dealt with human-bear encounters and how to be safe in bear country. This was an awesome value add. Thanks, Julius.

Here's a link to his Grizzly Bear Ranch operation.

The next day, woudl be our last opportunity to get out and climb a mountain. Most people were pretty excited to get out there. During dinner Friday, we were offered "climbers' choice". The guides basically liste a bunch of objectives and people could indicate thier interest. We opted for the very first one Azimuth, a long rock ridge, with a regular 6 am wake-up.