This is the third of the series of 6 webinars. In this 60 minute webinar Cyril Shokoples will present information on the black art of using pitons. Now that sport climbing and fancy spring loaded camming devices have revolutionized rock climbing it has become increasingly difficult to learn about piton placement. Although many climbers will never have need to use them, people intending to do alpine first ascents, climbing winter routes, exploring in the greater ranges or doing remote alpine routes are well advised to learn about pitons.

(Note: the Advanced Rock Anchors Seminar offered by the Calgary Section on Sunday, Aug 23 2020 will include practice using pitons as part of what is covered. If you want some hands on practice – recommended - that would be a great way to cover both the theory and the practice without committing to spending a lot of money on buying a hammer and pins, which will be provided. It will be taught in a very small group setting – maximum 4 students - with full COVID precautions in place.)

Cyril is an ACMG / IFMGA Mountain Guide, an ITRA Level 3 Rescue Instructor and owner of the company “Rescue Dynamics”. He joined the ACC in 1975 and has been a member ever since. He was inducted as an Honorary (Life) Member of the Alpine Club and has taught courses and guided for the ACC for decades.

Some technical details every participant needs to know: There will be a maximum of participants admitted to the webinar, so sign up early. If you are not going to attend please cancel your participation so someone else on the waiting list is allowed to attend. If you do not cancel and do not attend you may compromise your ability to sign up for any of the future webinars in this series.

This webinar will be presented using the Zoom platform. To limit the potential for the unfortunate phenomenon known as “Zoom Bombing” where uninvited guests disrupt presentations, Zoom has updated its software and we are undertaking a few additional recommended steps. Prior to joining, you should download the most recent version of Zoom or you may not be able to log in. You must sign up on the Calgary Section website as you would for any ACC Calgary trip. If you name isn’t on the sign-up list you won’t be allowed to connect to the webinar. Once you have signed up you will be sent an email the day before the webinar with the link to attend.

You are encouraged to connect to the webinar 5 to 10 minutes early where you will find yourself in a “waiting room”. A co-host will check your name and email address against the sign-up list before you will be admitted to the webinar. Note that if you attempt to join using a pseudonym other than your real name you will not be admitted. When you connect to the webinar your microphone will be muted and screen sharing and chat will be disabled, so this is not like a zoom meeting in that respect. No logins to the webinar will be accepted after 6:40 PM so please don’t try to sign in late.

There will be specified times during the session where questions and answers will be taken, at which time chat may be enabled or your microphone may be turned on at the discretion of the hosts.