Hi folks,

It's been a long time away from the board, and I miss it. Just spent an hour poking through old posts to see what I've missed.

Doesn't seem like too much has changed...
-Joe's still being made fun of,
-Moss makes every other post
-Ron's run out of tree gear to buy and started re-buying everything just to relive the experience of trying out new gear
-Wiley's telling tall tails
-New folks have come aboard and are welcomed and have their questions patiently answered
-Others post trip reports and inspirational climbing moments

Keep up the good work!

I've been busy myself, and as many of you know was roped into heading up this year's rendezvous. I have some wonderful news I can finally announce:

Rendezvous will be held at Mount Hermon Camp and Conference Center in Felton, CA from
Oct 12-14. Folks will have access to the site starting Thursday (10/11) afternoon (and maybe earlier - I'll let you know).

Closest airport major airport is San Jose International, about 40 minutes away. I am working on establishing some set shuttle times with large passenger vans, so folks can organize their flights around this. Otherwise I strongly encourage folks to look for rideshares through this message board, the facebook climbing groups, and personal contacts.

The camp has many redwoods about 100 years old - excellent starter redwoods for those new to this interesting but brittle trees. SRT skills are highly desirable and will let you climb many more of the trees. There are also a few (smallish) Valley Oaks and California Bays which have a broader canopy and more DRT friendly.

The camp also has a redwood zipline canopy tour, and we're looking at setting up a special price for rendezvous attendees, if folks are interested. (check out redwoodcanopytours.comfor photos)

I will update this post when registration is up (and/or I get the shuttles arranged), but I wanted to get the dates out so folks can get planning. Early bird registration should be under $200 including lodging and all meals (Sorry, price had to change due to .

I hope to reconnect with many of you, and meet some new folks as well!

Questions? Ask away!

Update (5/11/2012):

Facebook Event Page
Information Central for the Event, although I will be trying to up date here as well:
https://www.facebook.com/events/294010004016273/

Shuttles:
Here is the Shuttle Schedule. When you register, there will be an option for the van shuttle FROM the SJC airport. Shuttle will be $10 and only be one way (traditionally folks can bum return rides, but we can also organize some van shuttles). This is the intended departure time so please plan accordingly for the luggage, etc.

Shuttle Schedule:
Thursday Afternoon (4pm)
Thursday Evening (9pm)
Friday Morning (11am)
Friday Afternoon (4 pm)
Friday Evening (9pm)

Pricing and Registration:
(Pricing has suffered a modest increase due to increased site fees. Sorry! Registration is up.)

SRT and Redwood Climbing:
SRT is not strictly necessary but STRONGLY encouraged to take advantage of the climbs available. Many of the trees are second growth (~100-120 year old) redwoods and Douglas-firs. It is often helpful to use a ground-tied SRT anchor when entering these trees in order to help mitigate the risk of smaller, downward sloping limbs.

It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that if you will be climbing SRT you can perform a changeover to rappel blindfolded while free hanging with your system of choice.

I (or someone else) will be conducting a quick introduction to climbing these sorts of trees Friday Morning, as well as an SRT refresher course. We will also have some sort of SRT mentor board at the 'vous for folks experience in SRT climbing to pair up with folks newer to SRT.

Gear:
Almost all of the trees at this site have lowest climbable limbs at 120 ft or lower, and many 60 ft or lower. Therefore there isn't much need to purchase a longer rope if you can climb SRT and partner up with another climber to tie two ropes together for a ground anchor.

There will be some SRT available to borrow - I have 5-7 yoyo rigs, and some other climbers have volunteered to bring additional SRT equipment as well. However, if you choose to use this as an opportunity to purchase some more equipment, go for it!

That's it for now!

-Oak

AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME
-- great work Oakie Boy

Tall Tales??? I'll have you know that most of the lies I tell about you I have to make up from scratch!! Certainly, a lot of the good stuff is based on truth, but the rest I have to spend late hours at night making up. You cannot imagine how much this is interfering with my "beauty rest". Either way, thank you very much in advance on a job well done!! REDWOODS, huh? So what length rope do I need to bring with?? And thank you for the early notice, With five months advance notice I might be able to schedule time off work. Thanks OAK!! Good to see your post.
Wiley Coyote

Ah! This is the basic logistics info I was looking for on the Facebook post - Now I get more details to think about going this year - Better stat practicing again to get in shape - Motorcycle riding skills do not easily transfer to Tree Climbing, I guess!

I have not been around her in several weeks also like Oak.

Santa Cruz area is pretty awesome. Nice work Oak!
-AJ

I tried "Googling" "Mt. Herman maps" and it took me several minutes of confusion before I realized that I was looking at a map of Lebanon and not California!

OK, let's try this again.....

Oak honey,

You are a real darling for doing this wonderful, wonderful thing for all of my hunks and friends in tree climbing. I've already made sure my custom-pink C-130 is ready to fly, and I plan to bring at least 50 gallons of hot, buttered grits to this rendezvous. It ought to be a wonderful, loving experience since most people out there on the Left Coast have no idea what grits is all about.

Love,
Alice Lou Cornshucker
Patron goddess of adventure, research and educational tree climbers everywhere

I've got California on my mind. Haven't booked a flight yet, but a check with several airlines and websites indicates it's cheaper to fly into SFO than into San Jose at the moment. That's likely to change, though.

However, if three or four people are all planning to go together, it could be just as cheap to rent a car/small van and do a two-week trip from coast to coast -- the climbing opportunities would be priceless.

And Oakland (OAK) may be cheaper as well. Both are about 75-90 minutes away, if you know where you're going. San Jose (SJC) is about 45 minutes and we'll be hosting shuttles there.

Additional information as been added to the original post, check the top post for the update.

Rendezvous in the Redwoods. Fantastic! I'll be there.
Thanks for all the excellent hard work, Sam!

Registration is up!

http://www.mounthermon.org/ITCR

The camp typically runs religious retreats for various age groups, and the registration process is designed around those needs. I'm working with them to eliminate some of the irrelevant questions from the reg process (age, church affiliation, etc.) but not sure when that will happen. My apologies about the the complications!

This is the real deal though, so feel free to register through the above link!

Got the Southwest ticket reserved yesterday - Next pay for registration.

Oak, I Need help checking if the registration is working; I got this message instead:

Thank you for your interest in the Tree Climbing Rendezvous!

Unfortunately, event registration is not yet available.
We're working hard to bring everything together for you.

Booking should begin sometime soon. I promise. Check back in!

Anybody knows what is the deal??????

Desi-

Both Becki and I got the same results today so stay tuned and hope it is a IT issue instead of a something else.

I hate that when it happens and Becki bought her airfare today also. Non-refundable.

You may want to call Sam directly so you will know what to do and he will be told.

Out on a Limb Tree Climbing Phone: (415) 874-5504

I got the same message numerous times as I continued checking occasionally for a week or two. Then I was able to make a reservation on August 5. Don't know what the problem is. You might want to check info@mounthermon.org "or call 888 MH CAMPS."
Thanks!
Jim