Rock Climbing and Caving School

INTRODUCTION TO ROCK CLIMBING I

Teachers: Mathias Dammer and Nicole Marchan
7 days, Easy-Moderate
Skill level: Beginner
Ages 11-13, July 12-18

This adventure for beginner climbers will take students on a rock climbing expedition to spectacular cliffs hidden deep in the forest. The first few days will be spent living at Kroka Village creating community, making crafts, working in the garden and learning knots and a multitude of climbing skills on a local rock face. Once the group is ready, we will travel to our remote climbing site. We will create our own wilderness base camp and everyone will get busy “ learning the ropes”; belaying, rope handling, safety and climbing and rappelling techniques. In the afternoons we will hike down to the river or the waterfall for a swim and gather yummy sweet berries as we go. Our days will end joyously with campfire stories and songs.

Teachers: Nicole Marchan and Ross Scatchard
7 day, Moderate
Skill level: Intermediate
Ages 12-14, August 2-8

This exciting program is designed for students who have completed Introduction to Rock I, or those who have acquired previous personal climbing experience. From Kroka Village we will travel to several different local climbing sites where we will practice sequentially harder climbs and rappels each day. Students will review basic knots and belaying and repelling techniques. As usual, at Kroka, special emphasis will be placed on cooperative teamwork. This allows each team member to succeed in a supportive family-like environment. On the way back from climbing we will explore cliffs worth jumping into the water from, waterfalls, swimming holes and wild blueberry patches. This program is an important step towards participating in Kroka’s advanced climbing program.

Teachers: Mathias Dammer and Nicole Marchan
14 days, Moderate
Skill level: Intermediate- Advanced
Ages 12-15, June 22-July 4

For brave souls who dare to meet the gnomes, trolls and challenges of the underground and vertical worlds!

This program will combine rock climbing with underground climbing and exploration.
The first half of the program will focus on above ground rock climbing and rope skills. We will learn belaying techniques, body movement and knot tying. There are many wonderful cliffs hidden in the forest around our camp and every day we will climb, swim, see new places and enjoy base camp life. At last the time will come to pack our food and gear for our caving adventure! We will set our camp in the Western Green Mountains. A day of farming at Someday Farm in Dorset, Vermont will provide us with our own harvested vegetables and eggs before we venture underground. Each caving day we will explore new caverns, going deeper into the underground world, as we gain experience in caving. We’ll scurry through tunnels, wade through underground streams and witness beautiful rock formations that have been forming for thousands and thousands of years. Corkscrews, sump holes, sinks, slots and siphons will become familiar terms. After swimming and washing off the cave mud in a mountain river or a waterfall, we will spend our afternoons at camp learning how to start a fire using the bow-drill, making baskets with bark and roots, gathering wild edibles, and living joyously and simply in the forest. We will end our days with campfire stories and songs.

Teachers: Mathias Dammer and Marcela Restrepo
Ages 14-18, August 2-22

For Kroka students and alumni who have a craving for real adventure! Focus: Climbing, trekking, and exploring and learning about Mexican and indigenous culture, language, food and crafts. Special Note: You do not need to be a climbing expert to participate. The Grand Adventure of 2009 will take place South of the Border! While traveling and climbing in Mexico our dear Dammer Brothers have scouted this new advanced expedition. After assembling and packing at Kroka, we will fly to El Paso, Texas. From there we will continue by van to Potrero Chico, a climbers’ paradise located in the state of Nuevo Leon in Northern Mexico near the village of Hidalgo. We will make camp in a canyon surrounded by 2,000-3,000 foot cliffs and limestone summits with hundreds of climbing routes that accommodate all levels of experience. Here we will begin practicing multipitch climbing techniques and vertical terrain skill. Everyone, regardless of previous experience, will be able to learn new skills, get comfortable on the rock and have loads of fun!

Proximity to the village will present opportunities for cultural exchange and culinary immersion into great local chilaquiles, enchiladas, quesadillas y taquitos.

Famed to be the most spectacular railroad ride on the continent, TransPacific train will deliver us to the second part of our journey: Barranca del Cobre (Copper Canyon) in the State of Chiguagua. These beautiful and rugged canyons, as deep as the Grand Canyon of Arizona, are home to the legendary Taraumara culture. The nomads of the canyons cover great distances daily to herd sheep and farm the rocky plateaus of the canyon. Raramuri (barefoot runners), as they call themselves, are known for their exceptional stamina and are said to hunt deer by chasing them on foot until they drop from exhaustion. Shy and friendly people, they make their winter homes in the depths of the canyons under the rock formations. We will hike through the Taraumara region in pursuit of remote climbing and real interactions with natives. We hope to be able to stay with local people and we may have an opportunity to make Raramuri sandals with local resources as a craft to take home.

As you may well know, there is nothing like going on a brand new Kroka program: it never ends up being like its written description and it always ends up being an experience of a life time!