So I have been a tad bit not active on the blog. Understatement? I have some excuses. Actually, I have perfectly valid excuses.

In the Mountaineer Organization we have these awesome members known as the "Intermediates." Sometimes students. Sometimes graduates. You know you are on a trip with an Intermediate when you rarely see them outside of the trail head and summit because they are blazing away at lightening speed with much fancier (aka lighter) gear and brighter coats then the rest. They seem a little more fit and obsessive than most. They referred to mountains as "spicy." They are hopefully leading the trip. It isn't unusual to meet a Mountaineers member who was hoping to one day join the quirky bunch.

First - a little background.

I like to pretend more than 10 people including my in-laws are reading this. So for those of you who aren't trying to make holiday plans with me 8 months in advance here is my brief climbing history:

Prior to 2015: I went to the climbing gym occasionally. I knew how to tie a figure 8 knot. Met Darling Human who had similar experience.

2015: Darling Human and I join The Mountaineers. We sign up for navigation in hopes it will improve my road trip passenger skills (didn't really but I still blame the phone).

2016: We decide to give scrambling a shot. Sign up for the Mountaineers course where there are not any prerequisites for the class. I proceed to spend the next 6 months in a consistent state of panic and call it "type-2 fun."

2017: After 6 months of scrambling I have become comfortable with panicking all the time. We spend the second half of the year enjoying our new hobby and skills. We decide the solution to this not-really-a-problem is to add more terror to my life. We become Basic Alpine Climbing Students. BAC is another class with no prerequisites. I spend the next 6 months consistent state of panic. During this time some kool-aid is handed to me. I realize Mountaineers is the very best organization eva-eva and I pledge my soul and Manic Dog's first born puppies to them.

2018: Taking steps to make sure I continue to permanently be in a state of panic I apply to the Mountaineers Intermediate Program. Unlike Scrambling and BAC this class does have prerequisites. And saying I met these prerequisites is a lot like installing a very large and important piece of software on a computer that has only exactly the minimum requirements. Like me, they are a crazy bunch. So I'm accepted.

The name on the helmet changed many times every field trip to help people who had issues with pronoucing my name correctly.

And then I blinked and it was July.

I am somewhat aware of the stuff that happened mid-blink. Obviously I was doing something. I bled an insane amount of money and my arms and back have grown gleefully lumpy. And despite the new Ice-Cream and Waffles parlor that went in right next to work all of my pants started falling off. And according to North Face I am a size zero.

Hard to have lots of ice cream and waffles when you're a 20 mile hike from the car.

So what is it like being an intermediate student? Besides becoming painfully aware with how many weekends there are in a year. Let's break it down. So far this year my weekends have consisted of:

4 overnight field trips as a student (1 avalanche, 3 LOR)
2 overnight field trips as an instructor (1 scramble, 1 BAC)
2 one-day weekend activities as an instructor (1 navigation, 1 scramble)
3 Saturday Lecture and Practice (Scramble Leadership, BAC Instructor Review, LOR)
2 alpine climbs (Clark and Olympus)
1 Intermediate Climb (Sherpa)
1 intermediate snowshoe (everyone needs a break)
2 rock scrambles as a participant (3-Way and Kaleetan)
2 Conditioning Hikes I lead

So in the first 25 weekends of the year I have managed to irritate the dog 17 of them.

BUT WAIT!

Unfair to not count:

4(I think 4? Maybe 5) weekday scramble lectures
2 Avalanche Lectures
1 BAC Snow II review
2 Intro to Self Rescue Lectures
1 Scramble Orintation

So my photos and writing managed to drop a little bit on the priority list while finding more food to eat and making time to reflect my life choices has rose to the top. Also I have a full time career. And a Darling Human.

The learning curve for this kind of stuff is as high and as vertical as the walls we climb. And I have been feeling it big time. It has been challenged harder than I ever have in my life. Mentally and physically. None of those challenges are going away in the next several years and I am prepared to keep moving forward with a positive attitude.

But more importantly - the only way an organization like The Mountaineers can survive is if class graduates take what they have learned back and help instruct the new incoming students. Volunteering is the backbone of the organization. If it wasn't for the volunteers I wouldn't have any classes to struggle through. The networking wouldn't be there to keep me safe...or others safe from me. My best bet would be to pay a guide $1,200 to climb one mountain and try to learn everything else from...meetups? Where there isn't any record to show they have been evaluated and have a reasonable amount of experience to not die or even be seriously injured miles from vehicles and cell phone towers?

Becoming an intermediate student is very cool. I'm doing stuff I never thought a systems analyst like me could do. If you or anyone you know if applying to the intermediate program my best advice is to step back and weigh priorities. Learning to climb is just cool. But volunteering is bad-@#!^-ass. No one would be applying to intermediate if they didn't learn what they did from a volunteer. So on your list of priorities make it number one. Love every minute of it. Because climbing is a team sport were we support and belay each other.

Volunteering so others can safely learn and experience what the wilderness has to offer is more rewarding then reaching the summit of any peak in the world.

Also, being an Intermediate Student is expensive.

So if you think you have what it takes to be an Intermediate Student be sure to attend the next instructor review on January 19th, 2019!

I've loved my summer spent with the LOR Students and Instructors. Below are my photos from all three field trips.

I have been working double time trying to knock out some blogs and photos in rapid succession. Stay turned for up coming blogs on my summer climbs such as Sherpa Peak: Where Day Old Burritos Have Consequences For All Involved and Mount Olympus: Apparently I Enjoy Suffering.

Climb on!

Also it's CARE-a not CAR-a. Ka`ra. Think CARING. Not...cars.