If you were at the February BCMC social, then you might be as excited as I am to put on a BCMC summer camp! If not, here's what you missed:
- Since around 1910, the club used to have summer camps where BCMC members would get together in a remote mountain location, set up a huge base camp, and spend a week or two swimming, hiking, scrambling, climbing, and mountaineering in the surrounding peaks. These camps were a great platform for not only the ultimate summer adventure getaway, but for meeting other members, mentorship opportunities, and even some first ascents! Historically, some camps included cooks at base camp and guides, while others were more casual and self-supported. 

Being inspired from learning about how these camps used to be, I wanted to see if there's interest in getting a BCMC camp going again for this summer. UPDATE: we now have a volunteer committee that is currently working on group gear, transportation, logistics, food, courses and workshops, objectives research, accommodations, and everything else that goes in to making a camp like this happen. 

We have now firmed up the dates - July 30th to August 7th, inclusive. To be conservative, we will allow for the entire day on Saturday, July 30th to transport the group to the camp, and the entire day on Sunday, August 7th to transport from the camp. If you wish to arrive or depart on different days, then you must arrange your own transportation. Discounts will not be given. 

We have also picked a location - we will set up a base camp at the Russian Army Camp in the Tantalus Range (left end of the lake in the image above). From this location, there is hiking, scrambling, and even mountaineering and alpine rock climbing! You could even take a hike to Lake Lovelywater and do some swimming or canoeing! We have a team working on objectives, so all the information about the various day or multi-day trips will be available. Feel free to also do your research on the area ahead of time.    

Here are some Potential Objectives

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS AT THE CAMP - we will be looking for volunteer course/workshop instructors. If you have a skill you can share, please get in touch with Marlaina. Maybe you can do a 1-day mountaineering skills workshop, maybe you want to teach slacklining, maybe you've got some neat rope and knot skills you want to share. Can be half-day to multi-day, or even things to do in the evening. Don't be shy! PREFERENCE WILL BE GIVEN TO COURSE/WORKSHOP INSTRUCTORS

UPDATE (June 25):

- We will be allowing a maximum of 25 participants for the camp. Because this is the first time the volunteering committee has organized such an event, we are keeping it relatively small to avoid a logistical nightmare. 
- The cost of the camp will be $400

This cost includes...
- helicopter to and from the Russian Army Camp, departure location TBD but likely Squamish
- mass tents for cooking, eating, storage, and socializing
- car camping-style 2-burner stoves and fuel (e.g. Coleman stoves with propane) for anyone to use while they are at the camp, as well as some basic food storage to keep the critters out
- basic greywater management system
- two basic toilets and the cost to fly out waste

Participants are expected to bring their own....
- technical gear (e.g. crampons, axes, ropes, rock pro)
- sleeping tent and camping gear (mass tents for socializing and cooking only, not for sleeping)
- food for 9 days (feel free to gather in groups to cook meals)
- your own cooking setup for multi-day adventures (if you want to partake)
- clothing, personal items, all the usual backcountry stuff

Each person will be allowed to bring a maximum of 75lbs due to helicopter restrictions on weight. This should be plenty, but if you need more weight, please contact Marlaina and we can probably work something out. 

We have one beefy club rope that we can bring, a few sets of ice tools, and two personal locator beacons that we can bring for whoever to use. Everything else will be up to the participants to bring. 

To confirm your spot, please follow these steps:
(1) Click "Join this Trip". You will be added to the Waiting List
(2) Once on the Waiting List, you will have access to the Paypal button on the left hand side of the page (reads: Pay Now). Click on the button and complete your payment as prompted
(3) Once you payment is received by the trip organizer, you will be moved to the Confirmed List 
**Note that once you are on the Waiting List, it's a first-come-first-served basis. There may be more people on the Waiting List than can be accommodated at the camp, so be sure to complete your payment as soon as you receive a notification that you are on the Waiting List. I'll try to remove the Paypal button once we've reached 25 people, but if I don't get to it, please be advised that if there are already 25 people on the confirmed list, you will not be accepted, but will be provided a refund. Please save us the trouble of refunding and don't sign up - sorry!