10-Week Mountaineering Course Will Begin Feb. 1 in Long Beach

Registration is under way for the annual Basic Mountaineering Training Course offered by the Sierra Club. The 10-week course will begin Feb. 1.

Subjects taught by an all-volunteer staff include mountaineering safety, navigation with map and compass, rock climbing, snow travel techniques, winter camping, food planning, equipment and physical conditioning.

The course is limited to about 125 students from throughout Long Beach, the South Bay and Southeast areas of Los Angeles County, and northern Orange County. Weekly meetings consisting of lectures, demonstrations, slides and movies will be from 7:30 to 10 p.m. Mondays at Stanford Junior High School, 5871 Los Arcos St.

Four group field trips also are scheduled: a one-day conditioning hike in the San Gabriel Mountains, a weekend in the desert at Joshua Tree National Monument for navigation and rock climbing practice, another one-day trip in the local mountains for instruction on snow travel and use of the ice ax, and a weekend snow camp in the Sierra Nevada.

The cost is $90 for Sierra Club members or $100 for nonmembers, plus $12 for a textbook. Applications are available at some sporting goods stores and libraries; from the Long Beach course chairman, Joe Wankum, Box 90937, Los Angeles 90009; or registrar Mindi Belli, telephone 425-6358. Sierra Club membership information is available from the Angeles Chapter headquarters, 3550 W. 6th St., Suite 321, Los Angeles 90020, telephone 387-4287.