Mazamas Leadership Development

In the previous post I mentioned posting on all the requirements of the Mazama Leadership Development (LD) program. The Mazamas take climb safety quite seriously, and as a result the LD program for certifying climb leaders is a multi-year commitment. I find that pretty remarkable considering I’ll probably finish my Computer Science masters degree faster than I will the Mazamas LD program. Despite the time commitment, I want to start the LD program for two reasons. The first is altuistic and the second somewhat more selfish. We’ll start with the selfless one first.

The raison d’être of the Mazamas is leading mountain climbs for the broader public. It follows that the health of the organization is determined by the number of climbs the Mazamas can support at any one time. The Mazamas have more than enough ropes, pickets, shovels, avalanche beacons, probes, and all the other material requirements for mountain climbing. Similarly, as a non-profit the Mazamas has broad access to the National and State Parks where all manner of mountains are found. With plenty of equipment and plenty of mountains, the Mazamas are only short on qualified climb leaders. Competition for openings on scheduled climbs is fierce. By becoming a climb leader myself I can help alleviate that bottleneck.

My second reason, like I said, is a little more self-serving. I want to be able to climb where I want, when I want. As a climber I’m at the mercy of what climb leaders choose to post to the schedule. By becoming a climb leader I can take the initiative in putting climbs on the calendar for times that are convenient for me. If I want to climb Rainier I can post it to the calendar on a date that works for me, my employer, and my family rather than having to move heaven and earth to try and make an arbitrary date work.

Beginning the LD program requires:

• A resume of climbing experience and education. Completion of ICS is required.
• A letter explaining why I want to become a climb leader.
• References from three current climb leaders.

Obtaining a “C” level provisional leader status requires that I:

• Assist with three ICS field sessions as an instructor and obtain evaluations from three different leaders.
• Assist with three Mazama climbs with three different leaders.
• Assist in an Introduction to Alpine Climbing (IAC) snow field session.
• Assist in an IAC rock field session.
• Organize and lead an IAC hike.
• Lead an IAC breakout session.
• Complete crevasse rescue, map and compass, avalanche, accident management, CPR and Mountain First Aid training.
• Complete the annual climb leader update.

Luckily, since I already have more than 6 Mazama climbs and 6 non-Mazama climbs I’ll automatically start as an assistant leader. To acquire full leader status I’ll have to lead three climbs assisted by full climb leaders. Each climb must have a different climb leader, who will submit an evaluation to the climb committee upon completion.

I anticipate it’ll be quite the undertaking, but so is anything worth doing. I hope to be able to complete two climbs a year in addition to assisting with the ICS and IAC field sessions. That being said, the Mazamas are also pretty patient. If I have to take a temporary break for a particularly rigorous college course, or if I want to pause a bit to help volunteer at my kids’ school, the Mazamas provides the flexibility in the program to be able to do that.

I hope you finished this article with a better understanding of the lengths the Mazamas takes in the pursuit of competent climb leaders. In any case, please wish me luck!

Photo by Frank Okay on Unsplash