The best way to join the Climbing Club is to come to a meeting. The Calendar lists all the club events. Use it to find a time that suits you and come say hi!

Another good way to join is to go to the HUB ticketing office, where membership forms are available. The ticketing office is on the ground floor in the northern part of the building.

If none of these options work for you, send us mail and we'll figure something out.

All UW students, faculty and staff can become members. Membership costs $20, which can be paid by cash or check when you sign up. Members must sign a liability waiver.

The members are UW students, faculty and staff. Some members have been around for a number of years and are accomplished climbers and skiers, but most are either just starting out or have a couple of years of experience.

Club members tend to be very outdoorsy but there is no emphasis on any particular kind of climbing - it's all good as far as we're concerned. Hiking, backpacking and backcountry skiing are also very popular, especially in the colder months.

If you are looking for partners and wish to improve your skills in the company of like-minded people, in a setting where you are responsible for your own actions, then the Climbing Club could be the right place for you.

Many Climbing Club members are active in the larger Seattle climbing community. We welcome anyone to participate in our outings. If you are not UW-affiliated but want to hike, climb or ski with us, please get in touch.

The Climbing Club is a great place to find other people with similar interests and experience, to plan trips with and simply have fun. Membership has many benefits.

The Community
The biggest benefit of joining the Club is becoming involved in a community of hikers, climbers and skiers that are active year-round. At any given time there are usually several people that are looking for partners for different trips. Occasionally you may need to take the initiative and suggest a trip for others to join but if you do you will never be short of trip partners.

Club Events
The Club has regular weekly events like meetings, lunch, office hours, bouldering at the UW Rock, and pub night. It also puts on slide shows and informal clinics, and throws the odd party at somebody's house or BBQ at a park. Club Events are always listed on the calendar page on the web site.

Improving Your Skills
There are no official Club trips, nor does the Club provide any formal instruction. However, joining other members on their outings can be a very good way to improve your mountaineering skills. Just remember that you are responsible for your own actions.

Introductory Trips
Members always organize a number of introductory outings every quarter. These are intended to open new possibilities for the participants. In past years, Snow School, ice bouldering on the Coleman and the Nisqually, and sport climbing at Frenchman Coulee have been the most popular introductory trips.

Web Site
With the exception of the introductory pages you are reading, the Club's web site is restricted from public access. The restricted, community sections include:

• Forums - The Club runs a web-based bulletin board that members use extensively for planning trips, telling stories of trips, arguing about gear for trips, and, well, you get the picture.

• Phonebook - The bulletin board includes a phonebook that lists every member. This is highly useful when making those late night calls to recruit a new party member to replace the flake who just bailed...

Maps and Guidebooks
We try to make meetings the place to plan the next trip. To that end the Club has a sizeable and growing collection of maps of the Cascades and the Olympics, and at least one copy of each of the more prominent guidebooks. The maps and guidebooks are not available for borrowing outside of Club meetings.

Checking Out Gear
Club members that are eligible for using the IMA can check out mountaineering geer free of charge from the IMA Gear Room. Eligibility for IMA use is explained on the IMA web. The Gear Room hours are listed on the calendar.

More gear is also available in the Club's office and office hours are also listed, you guessed it, on the calendar.

Gear must always be returned in the next week when the gear room or office is open. Failure to timely return gear that somebody else has requested can be a cause for a voided membership and even fines by the IMA.

Gear Discounts
This year, Climbing Club members enjoy a 10% discount at Feathered Friends, an independent gear store located next to REI in downtown Seattle.

This is a community of pretty open-minded, tolerant people, and we like to keep it that way. If you are reasonable, and don't do anything way stupid like use the phonebook to wake people in the middle of the night, abuse mailboxes with spam, repeatedly get obnoxious in the forums, or the like, then you'll do fine.

However, if you are not reasonable, and do something way stupid, you may get kicked out faster than you can say "no second chance". The Club reserves the right to terminate any membership without notice.

Note that failing to return gear to the IMA or the Club office at the right time may be considered way stupid if the missing gear is requested by somebody else. Abusing discounts is even worse and may result in loss of the discount for the entire Club. Don't Do It.