| Chicago Mountaineering Club |
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February 2026 NEWSLETTER
Wayne Martin, EDITOR
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| FUTURE MEETING PRESENTATIONS |
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CMC Meetings
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Chicago Mountaineering Club (CMC) meetings are held on the second Monday of the month, September through May. This month's meeting will be held at First Ascent Avondale, 3516 N Spaulding Ave, Chicago, IL 60618. Theboard meeting will be at 6:30pm and the general meeting at 8:00pm. This month will feature a presentation by Chicago Adventure Therapy.
Board meetings are open to CMC members only, while the general meeting is open to the public.
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Ice Climbing - Ouray, Colorado
Unfortunately this outing has been cancelled.
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Ice Climbing - Ontario, Canada
The February Follies Ice Climbing Trip will be onFebruary 13th-15th. (Thesedates do not account for travel days).Lodging is at McCauley’s Inn in Haviland, ON, Canada.
You can also book any of the Air-bnbs in the area and if you do please let Al Graber know and whether you are willing to share the Airbnb with others on the trip.
- Passports required
- Cold weather gear is required
- Snowshoes are required (if you need a pair let Al know, he has extra pairs)
Please email Al Graber if you are going and where you plan on staying. There are group meals 3 breakfast and 3 dinners and cost are $30 if you want in.
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Western Outing - Rocky Mountain National Park
The RMNP Western Outing will be on July 18 - 26.Some people may arrive earlier or later than that week. The trip itinerary is in development. If interested contact Jim Considine.
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Rock Climbing Weekends - Devils Lake, WI
The schedule for the Devils Lake outings is in the works and will be published soon.
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New Members
Our newest CMC member is:
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Name
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Hometown
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Sponsors
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Rae Goodman-Lucker
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Northbrook, IL |
Jake Adili, Jacek Wilkos |
And our first readings for applicants are:
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Hometown
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Sponsors
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Eric Lentz
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Chicago, IL
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Cherie, David
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Kyle Johnston
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Arlington Heights, IL
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Li-En Tai, Dave Hann
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Nazizi Ilana
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Chicago, IL
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Joel Perkins, Anna Benson
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News
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| Club Leadership |
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Perhaps you would be interested in organizing an outing to a climbing area other than Devils Lake. Let us know. Also, we could use someone who would like to organize outings at climbing gyms during the winter. If interested contact Chris Schaecher, CMC Outings Chair
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| Annual Dinner |
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Join the Chicago Mountaineering Club for our 2026 Annual Dinner, featuring Polish alpinist Piotr Śliwiński — a world traveler and record-setting climber known for his ambitious expeditions across the Seven Summits, the North and South Poles, and beyond. Piotr will share stories of adventure, endurance, and exploration from some of the most remote corners of the planet. Enjoy an evening of great food, community, raffles, and inspiration as we celebrate another incredible year of climbing and camaraderie with the CMC.
The annual dinner will be held at Allegra Banquet Hall,5035 N River Road Schiller Parkon Saturday March 7th from 5:30pm to 10pm.Tickets are now available!Use the link below. |
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| KMAC Guide Services |
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CMC has developed a relationship with KMAC Guide Services based in Estes Park, Colorado. This relationship will provide mountaineering guide services to the CMC membership. Initially, KMAC is offering the following to promote their services:
- 10% reduction on one-day guide services offered by KMAC. The code for the reduction is found at CMC website page on Destination - Colorado Cabin.
- Guide trip services for a three-day multi pitch climbing course or back country ski class for a minimum of three members. Team up with other members or friends and stay at the Gorby Cabin. The cost would be $590 or $400 for a 2-day session. If interested contact Jim Considine using the link below.
- KMAC has generously provided 2-days of guide services for auction at the upcoming annual dinner on March 7th. Attend the annual dinner or watch the newsletter for details on how you can bid for these services.
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| Alpine Mentoring Program |
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Have you heard of the CMC Alpine Mentoring Program - called AMP? It is a program to help develop mountaineering leadership in the club, and normally takes two years to complete. The best part of the program is that CMC, in collaboration with the Mountaineering Federation of Chicago (MFC), will help to subsidize some of your training costs. The program involves developing leadership and technical skills in winter camping, ice climbing and alpine multi pitch climbing. The program subsidy is available to members who are rope leaders, board members, or members that have contributed to the club in some other highly significant manner.
If you want more information about AMP, please read the description in the CMC Yearbook. Contact Dave Kenealy for additional details. Of note, we are working with a professionally accredited guide service in Colorado to provide training in the multi pitch climbing part of the program, which is eight days long.
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| CMC Colorado Cabin |
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A great advantage of CMC membership is the ability to use the Gorby Cabin in the Wild Basin of RMNP. The Cabin is only a block walk from the Wild Basin entrance. Information about the Cabin can be found at the link below. Cabin registration is made through the CMC website. Go to the Members Only portal and then to the Member Information tab. There is a charge for using the Cabin, the fee is not included in the Devil’s Lake camping fee. If you have questions about the Cabin contact Nico Orduz.
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Updates from Patrick (Safety Chair)
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- Stay tuned for news about courses at the Lake in 2026. We are partnering with guide companies at the Lake for member access to discounted safety courses.
- For members, I also hope to re-offer an introduction to anchors for aspiring rope leaders, with no prior experience necessary; and a more advanced course for those seeking to practice static rope anchors and other more advanced skills.
- We always want more rope leaders! If you are interested, please let me know. Trad gear is not required—just your stoke and willingness!
- After years of hearing your requests, I hope to offer two other member options: An introduction to trad climbing at the Lake; and an introduction to multipitching. Even if you only want to be a second/follower, these skills can be very useful and increase opportunities for fun.
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Newsletter and Trip Reports
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If you have questions or comments about the newsletter, or want to submit content such as trip reports, or upcoming trips you'd like to plan, send it to me and we'll consider putting it here.
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