Nepal Relief Fundraiser

The Khumbu area of Nepal is world famous for it's jaw-dropping sights and sublime trails. Unfortunately this remote region is unlikely to receive direct government aid and so it's up to the mountaineering and trekking community to help them rebuild. With the connections our three members on the ground in Namche have forged, Cascade Leadership Challenge is in a unique position to be a conduit to provide direct assistance in the Namche Bazaar. Please help the Khumbu Sherpa by sharing this link to our Razoo fundraiser and supporting if you are able. 

Nepal Update & Response

Dear CLC members, friends, family, and supporters,

By now you've no doubt heard about the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that swept through Nepal, devastating Kathmandu and leaving the entire region in shambles. We are glad to be able to report that we have been in touch with the CLC team in Nepal and that all are safe and sound. Mark, Kleo and Frances are holed up safe just outside of Namche. Ian and KJ are doing well in Tingri but it looks like they'll be stuck there for at least a week. Harrison just got back to base camp and looks forward to heading back up the mountain if the situation allows. 

The devastation, however, surrounds them and has ripped through an already-impoverished region. The Nepalese government has reached out to the international community for help, and across the world many are extending a helping hand during this tragic time.

As an organization, we are discussing a way that we can serve in this time of need, and examining the different options at hand. For now though, if you are interested in supporting the relief effort, we wanted to provide you with a number of different organizations that are already on the ground and doing important work.

This New York Times article provides a great summary of updates from the region as well as some organizations. In addition to these, the following groups are soliciting donations right now

Doctors without Borders, USA  (high 4 of 4 star rating from Charity Navigator). Immediate medical time-limited medical response. Leads to link to donate, but not specific to Nepal relief.

American Red Cross (Charity Navigator 3 of 4 star rating). Link leads to relief effort needs and summary along with link for online donation specific to Nepal relief.

International Medical Corps (Charity Navigator 3 stars). Front-page with embedded links to relief efforts and links to donate specifically to Nepal Response.

Mercy Corps (Charity Navigator high 3 of 4 star rating). Emergency response and sustained recovery efforts. Direct link to donate specifically to Nepal relief efforts.

Global Giving (Charity Navigator high 4 of 4 star rating) Works with local partners to provide food, fuel, water, shelter, and hygiene supplies.

Introducing Freemiums

Cascade Leadership Challenge is happy to announce our newest event: Freemiums!

A Freemium is a special description of event new to CLC in 2015. In order to recruit more potential members, once a month we are offering events free potential members. Current members can also come along for free as long as they bring a guest (otherwise it's $20, them's the rules). These events can be day hikes, snowshoeing, biking trips, rock climbing, and anything really since we're open to any ideas. It will be a low risk environment for CLC members and anyone and everyone who wants to come see what this organization is all about.

So far it's been a great success with a grand total of four trips in the books (and now on the blog). The January Trip was a snowshoeing hike up to Steven's pass. Unfortunately for our trekkers, there wasn't as much snow as everyone had hoped for originally but fun was had despite the less than stellar snow pack. Numerous encounters with wildlife were reported and the snowshoeing in general was an enjoyable experience.

The February Freemium was a day trip to Ocean Shores State Park. We were really fortunate that the weather help out and it was only overcast and not raining and cold like we had original feared. It was a whole lot of fun to throw the football around on the beach and make "sandmen" before destroying them. We then roasted hot dogs over the fire before switching to roasting Oreo s and marshmallows. On the way back we stopped in Aberdeen at the Sucher & Sons Star Wars Stop. A fun side trip one member brought home a Wookie hat which we all enjoyed very much.

In March the freemium was a bike trip over to Bainbridge Island. Despite issues of it being rainy and windy, the sun managed to shine through and make for a pleasurable experience. The ferry across was fun as always and Bainbridge is an all together enjoyable place to bike around. This was the start of what are hopefully many bike trips to come, including a weeklong tour of Vancouver Island in August and it's awesome to be able to get a taste of what that might be like for free.

Our most recent freemium was a day trip up to Deception Pass with people from Mary's Place. We hiked along the eastern edge of the park and experienced some challenging mud along the way. Watermelon was had on the beach and the weather held out for long enough us to enjoy spectacular views of the bridge and surroundings. Everyone was really excited to get out and enjoy nature after a couple weeks of less than stellar weather.

We'll be doing a freemium event every month for as long as we can. We haven't decided on our next freemium just yet but we'll let you know when we've decided. If you're interested in coming on a free event, please contact info@cascadechallenge.org.

-TD

An Update At Last

Springtime is upon us and that means the CLC "off-season" is almost over, but our lack of posts isn't due to being fair weather fans. CLC has been going all over the Pacific Northwest this winter, shedding out blankets in order to don our best GoreTex Seattle suit. Over the course of this week . we'll bring you up to speed with all of the cool things CLC's been doing to stay busy, like rafting the Deschutes, hiking all over the Cascade's, and the ongoing trek to Mt. Everest (check out the Everest Experience on Facebook for the latest updates)

To start things off let's pick up right where we left off. The Hipster Hunt was a great success. To follow that up we drove up to Deception Pass State Park for our first of many Shaker trainings. A gorgeous drive up was greeted with an equally dark set nighttime set up. Camp was made and everyone went to sleep in order to prepare for the big day ahead of everyone.

In the morning multiple training sessions were had. The new shakers were introduced to all things CLC, including kitchen set-up, tent review, and gear introductions. After a quick lunch it was time for the orienteering challenge, which all groups thankfully completed as the sun set in the west. A fun campfire full of old CLC stories occurred as people peeled off one by one to go to sleep.

The first Shaker training ended with a seminar in packing the trailer and taking down camp. In fact it was such a success we're doing it again on June 5th-7th, once again at Deception Pass. The weather will hopefully be much warmer and sunnier. As always watch the facebook for the newest information. Since summer is right round the corner, we're now starting official registrations with a new aspect, a 10% down deposit. This is so we can reserve and rent equitment, buy permits, and get all the other behind the scenes stuff done and ready for you to come out and learn! For more information on how to sign up for Mt. Rainier and any of our other trips, please email us at info@cascadechallenge.org.

-TD