Beginning Backpacking Program | Fall 2024 | RSVPs Start June 28!

RSVPs start June 28! Activities prepare you for a KC-area Backpacking trip.

Hosts also include Coral Muñoz, Mitch Phariss, Lisa Ruskanen, & Amy Wingert.

This is for injury-free people with hiking experience or a regular fitness routine who want to start backpacking, or have backpacked & want to rebaseline.

The classroom day is part discussion & then key skills demonstrations. We want you to read & gain expertise through your efforts, & will provide a reading list + curated content to review. Studying & further reviewing our online content gives you invaluable info. to leverage & accelerate your backpacking chops.

How Do I Get to Go?

1. Read everything.
2. Join the waitlist. If we're in sync, we'll send you a survey to complete. Use an enduring email when responding to the survey as we'll be relying on it to reach you.
3. Sign-up workflow: RSVP on the waitlist, complete a Google survey when we send it to you, get confirmation of approval, donate or receive a scholarship, & accept Slack invitation. Please don't drag out completing the sign-up. Just starting to sign up doesn't guarantee a spot.
4. There are spots for ≈16 people who fully sign up quickly.
5. FREE for up to # people in their 20s & 30s! If you're looking to nab a scholarship, RSVP in both places.

After, go to the next level on more KC-area BP trips & a variety of big-league adventures by the National Sierra Club.

You have no Equipment? Borrow to Learn; Wait to Buy!

We have a gear library with sleeping bags & pads, tents, backpacks & stoves for Sierra Club members & scholarship recipients. Join Sierra Club (as low as $15).

The cost is $75 via PayPal if you’re not on a scholarship, which helps to finance the gear library, support leadership training & trail maintenance. The instructors volunteer their time w/o compensation. Refunds are not available if requested less than 30 days b4 the 1st activity.

Staying in Touch

We will use Slack to connect with approved participants.

Activities

We've streamlined the contact time commitment, optimizing hands-on kinetic learning:

1. 9/14/24 - Class, 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM, Anita B. Gorman Discovery Center, 4750 Troost Ave, KCMO 64110. Hands-on kinetic learning through a series of how-to activities important to backpacking, e.g. using a water filter, pitching a tent, preventing blisters, hanging a bear (varmint) bag, lighting/using a stove, properly lacing footwear, setting up a sleep system, staying warm at night, using hiking poles (length, hand straps, rubber tip vs. carbide tip), seam-sealing a tent, loading a backpack, etc., + a several-mile shakedown hike toting full backpacks.

See this for the KIT YOU HAVE TO BRING. If you have your gear, you'll bring that. If you arrange to borrow our gear, we'll have it there.

2. 10/18/24 - 10/20/24, 8:30 AM - 2:00 PM, BP Trip (place TBA) ≈four hrs. from KC. The leader(s) might bring a dog(s). Except for any confirmed loaner kit, you will BRING ALL THE KIT YOU NEED & consumables like food, water, stove fuel, etc.

PRIOR SESSIONS
f 2021
w 2021
s 2022
f 2022
s 2023
f 2023
s 2024

Participants complete a standard participant agreement & medical form in class.

Bring a personal 1st aid kit to all activities.

The activities officially begin & end @ the locations designated by Sierra Club, & don't include carpooling, transportation, or transit to & from them; each participant is personally responsible for all risks associated with this travel. Account for travel time when planning, we just show together time.

🚫 There are no vaccine, mask, or testing mandates. 😷
🤒 If you’re sick, please do not attend. 🏥
🤧 If you develop symptoms/illness during activities, you may be removed for your & others’ safety. 🚑
Knowing the above, it is your choice to attend. 🤔
Stay safe & take care! 😊