Inaugural Newsletter
WELCOME TO THE INAUGURAL CLIMBAVYAWARE NEWSLETTER!
We wanted to take a moment to provide you with a recap of our accomplishments during the 2023-2024 program season and then a look ahead at upcoming projects and programs for 2025 and beyond. If you have suggestions or ideas for events we should attend or venues where we can make a presentation, please send them to newsletter@climbavyaware.org or visit our website.
As many of you know, we lost our Founder, Dara Miles this year and are doing our best to carry the mission of Climb Avy Aware forward with the help of volunteers and Robin Miles who now serves as our President and Treasurer.
EDUCATIONAL EVENTS
We held our inaugural event on November 16 2023 at G1 in Broomfield, CO. We also held events at Neptune Mountaineering in Boulder, CO and Bent Gate Mountaineering in Golden, CO. Each event offered an overview of the ATES rating scale and a look at the Officer’s Gulch Project.
The Avalanche Terrain Exposure Scale (ATES) scale is the basis of our work and to learn more about how valuable this approach is to mitigating avalanche risk for ice climbers, please visit our webpage to learn more.
FIRESIDE CHAT AT THE OURAY ICE FESTIVAL
One of the highlights of our first year was a fireside chat with Will Gadd, a prominent Canadian ice climber, mixed climber and paraglider pilot, at the Ouray Ice Festival. Will discussed the evolution of the ATES system in Canada and emphasized the importance and value of our efforts in bringing this approach to ice climbing areas in Colorado.
INFORMATIONAL OUTREACH EVENTS
In addition to our educational events we also had the opportunity to set up information tables at REI Denver and the Ouray Ice Festival.
ATES PROJECTS UPDATE
During this last year we accomplished the following
Completed ATES Analysis for 100+ routes in Lincoln Falls and the I-70 corridor from the Front Range to Glenwood Springs.
Near completion ATES Analysis of 30+ routes in the San Juans
ATES rating just published for 100+ routes in Cold Stokes, a Ice Climbers Guide Across the Colorado Continental Divide by Rob “Griz” Ginieczki
San Juan ratings to be published in Suffer Candy by Jason Nelson.
We’ll publish all these ratings on our website and Mountain Project the first of December
PLANNED PROJECTS
Additional routes in southwestern Colorado and RMNP to be published beginning of 2025-26 season
Creation of an atlas with maps and routes to be published by beginning of 2026-27 season
Creation of app TBD based on funding and reception of ratings.
Please join us for our first event of this season!
WHEN: November 21
TIME: 6-8pm
WHERE: Climbing Clinic in Golden, CO (420 Corporate Cir, Golden, CO 80401).
This is a joint event with Golden Mountain Guides.
Stay tuned for more events.
IN MEMORIUM - DARA MILES
Dara started laying the groundwork for Climb Avy Aware in 2019, after her friend, Canadian ice climber, Sonja Findlater was killed by an avalanche. Soon after that tragedy, Dara decided to undertake what she called the Colorado ATES Project to honor Sonja’s memory, raise avalanche awareness among Colorado ice climbers, and give them a tool to help them stay out of harm’s way. Dara knew about the ATES from climbing in Canada and recognized it as a great risk management tool that could benefit climbers in Colorado. COVID stalled out her efforts, but the project finally gained traction when the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations (IFMGA) guide, ski guidebook author and avalanche educator, Mike Soucy came on board to organize and spearhead the technical work. Dara founded Climb Avy Aware in July 2023, a month after she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and led it until she succumbed to the cancer on September 14, 2024. Climb Avy Aware is her memorial to Sonja and her legacy. Today, Climb Avy Aware is supported by a long list of volunteers and led by Dara’s husband, Robin Miles who serves as President & Treasurer.
