I am just back in town, having unpacked the last soggy sock and discarded Clif bar wrapper from an awesome weekend up in Government Camp.  I've talked a few times about BCEP, the Basic Climbing program that's part of Mazamas.  This weekend was my team's weekend up in the snow!  We got to hang out all day Saturday and most of the day Sunday and camp out as a team up at the Mazamas Lodge.  It was, essentially, an ideal weekend: part adult summer camp, part adventuring, part learning.  If you know anything about me you know it was basically a dream come true; 12 awesome students and a really cool group of instructors.  Our team name, by the way, is the Glacier Snakes; specifically the Black Adder group.  And, yes, we have a secret handshake.

On the mountaineering tip, we got to do all kinds of crazy things.  Rappelling, for example; guiding yourself down a fixed line with your own belay, your life in your hands (not really; it was training, after all, so we were on a fairly gentle slope and some nice sticky wet snow).  My favorite part of the weekend was learning to self-arrest: basically, hang down a hill head first on your back with someone holding your ankle and then let go, picking up a head of steam until you drive your ice axe into the snow and spin yourself around and grind to a stop (you know, in case you fall climbing a mountain).  There was lots of other stuff, too: knot tying, traveling in a fixed line team for glacier travel, navigating crevasses with a fixed line team.  There was also a 3 liter box of wine, a sunburn my nose won't quite forget, innumerable terrible puns and an amazing meal at Skyway on the way back.  I feel like I made (at least) 11 new friends and not only did my knowledge increase but also my self-esteem and my emotional intelligence.  Total package.