Summits on the Air U.S.A
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Summits on the Air U.S.A. (W0D – The Dakotas) Association Reference Manual Document Reference S109.1 Issue number 1.10 Date of issue 1 December 2015 Participation start date 1 April 2014 Authorised Date: 1 December 2015 obo SOTA Management Team Association Manager Randy Shirbroun, ND0C [email protected] Summits-on-the-Air an original concept by G3WGV and developed with G3CWI Notice “Summits on the Air” SOTA and the SOTA logo are trademarks of the Programme. This document is copyright of the Programme. All other trademarks and copyrights referenced herein are acknowledged. Summits on the Air Award Programme The Dakotas (W0D) Document S109.1 v1.10 Table of contents Page Section 1 Association Reference Data…………………………………………………………………4 1.1 Program Derivation ............................................................................................. 5 1.2 General Information .............................................................................................. 5 1.3 Final Ascent and Activation Zone ......................................................................... 7 1.4 Rights of Way and Access Issues ......................................................................... 8 1.5 Maps and Navigation ............................................................................................ 9 1.6 Safety Considerations ........................................................................................... 9 1.7 Navigation and Weather ..................................................................................... 10 1.8 Physical Exertion ................................................................................................ 11 1.9 Environmental Considerations ............................................................................ 11 1.10 Foreign Radio Amateurs ................................................................................... 11 1.11 Awards .............................................................................................................. 12 1.12 Summit Definition .............................................................................................. 12 1.13 Process to Maintain Summit Lists ..................................................................... 12 Section 2 Summit Reference Data ........................................................................................... 13 2.1 Region BB – Black Hills – Badlands of South Dakota – W0D/BB-xxx ................ 13 2.2 Region NW – Northwest South Dakota – W0D/NW-xxx ..................................... 15 2.3 Region ES – Eastern South Dakota – W0D/ES-xxx ........................................... 17 2.4 Region MR – Missouri River hills and buttes of South Dakota – W0D/MR-xxx ... 18 2.5 Region ND – North Dakota hills and buttes – W0D/ND-xxx ................................ 18 2 Summits on the Air Award Programme The Dakotas (W0D) Document S109.1 v1.10 Change Control Date Version Details 11 Mar 2014 0.90 Draft ARM document for Review 4 Sept 2014 1.00 Final ARM Document Release 1 Dec 2015 1.10 W0D/BB-053 showed wrong summit position. Was -106.6487; 43.6880 now -103.6610; 43.6817. Col position and prominence checked, found to be qualifying. Disclaimer Hiking, hill-walking, rock-scrambling and mountain climbing are potentially hazardous activities particularly in the Dakotas with their extreme low temperatures, climb exposures, and quick weather changes. The SOTA Management Team, the W0D-Dakotas Association and their participants do not accept responsibility for any death or injury resulting from participation in SOTA. The inclusion of a summit in this Reference Manual does not indicate that it is safe, legal, or even possible to climb the summit. The Summit Reference data is not guaranteed to be accurate and no reliance should be placed upon it. Any hiker must be sure to check applicable local, state, and federal laws to be sure that a hike or climb up any of the mountains listed in this manual is legal and safe. Some summits may reside in private hands, and all hikers must respect private property rights. As a particular caution to European hikers, please note that “Every Man’s Right” does not exist in the United States and permission to cross private lands must be expressly granted and cannot be assumed. Some Dakota summits may be technically demanding and may require traditional climbing experience, rope climbing skills, and competent knowledge of route selection and the associated risks. Technical climbing competency is a requirement for many peaks as many routes are technically graded 5.10 or greater based on the Yosemite Decimal System. Many routes offer poor protection with long runouts where a fall could result in serious injury or death. Proper training, experience, and personal capability assessment is required. Skills-based training is readily available from many world-recognized climbing groups including the Mazamas and the Seattle Mountaineers. Do not become a statistic! Copyright Notices ”Summits on the Air” (SOTA) and the SOTA logo are trademarks of the Program. This document is copyright of the Program. Some of the source data used in this document herein is from John D. Kirk (http://listsofjohn.com) and is used with his permission. All other trademarks and copyrights referenced herein are acknowledged. 3 Summits on the Air Award Programme The Dakotas (W0D) Document S109.1 v1.10 Association Reference Data for USA (W0D-Dakotas) Association U.S.A. (W0D – The Dakotas) Commencement date 01 April 2014 Regions (5) Region Name REF Identifier Peak Count Black Hills/Badlands BB 118 Northwestern SD NW 63 Eastern SD ES 2 North Dakota ND 41 Missouri River (SD) MR 12 Total No. 236 Peaks: Association parameters 1 Summit operation criteria Operation must be within 80 ft vertically of the summit The Dakotas Peak Count Band 1, score 1 point >= 328 ft asl <2999 ft asl 39 (16.5%) Band 2, score 2 points >= 3000 ft asl <3999 ft asl 44 (18.6%) Band 3, score 4 points >= 4000 ft asl <4999 ft asl 44 (18.6%) Band 4, score 6 points >= 5000 ft asl <5999 ft asl 68 (28.8%) Band 5, score 8 points >= 6000 ft asl <6999 ft asl 35 (14.8%) Band 6, score 10 points >= 7000 ft asl 6 ( 2.5%) Total No. Peaks 236 (100%) Seasonal bonus Winter bonus (3 points) is available for activators under stated conditions Bonus rationale Winter in the Dakotas often results in sub-zero temperatures, gale force winds, and heavy snow. Blizzard conditions with life- threatening wind chills of -50 degrees F. are not uncommon at any elevation. Min. height for bonus Bonus only available for summits with elevations above 3,000 feet Bonus period dates Winter 3 point bonus for activators from 1 December through 31 March Association sponsored awards None yet offered Association Manager Randy Shirbroun, ND0C [email protected] 1 See the SOTA General Rules for parameter definitions 4 Summits on the Air Award Programme The Dakotas (W0D) Document S109.1 v1.10 Acknowledgements The activation of this Association would not have been possible without the effort of many individuals. Invaluable assistance was received from Dennis, WA2USA, who helped develop the proper spreadsheet formats and was there every step of the way Also thanks to Guy, N7UN, and Steve, WG0AT for their support, as well as Jim, G0CQK, who helped initiate this Association. Special thanks go to John Kirk (Lists of John), whose data were crucial in developing this information. 1.1 Program derivation W0D-Dakotas SOTA is an extension of similar programs already active in other countries. Summit qualification for inclusion in the SOTA Program is based on the relative height of summits compared to their surroundings based on summit prominence. Qualification of summits for inclusion in the W0D Dakotas Association uses the P100 criteria and has been approved by the SOTA Management Team (MT). Summits must have a minimum of 100 meters (328 feet) of vertical rise from the surrounding saddle in order to qualify. This vertical separation from surrounding terrain is the basis of the definition of geographic prominence, which Wikipedia has an excellent description. Summit scoring is based on a given summit’s height above sea level (ASL). The W0D-Dakotas SOTA Association encompasses both North Dakota and South Dakota and has 236 SOTA summits that meet the prominence criteria based on data collected by the USGS (U.S. Geologic Survey) national surveys. See this link for more detail about the USGS survey processes. In particular, the USGS maintains a huge (80+ gigabytes) database of National Elevation Data (“NED”) for all surveyed peaks in the USA. The W0D-Dakotas SOTA dataset was derived from this USGS NED database. This database contains both named and un-named mountains (“numbered”) which also meet the prominence requirements of SOTA. The goal of this ARM is to develop a list of qualifying summits that are relatively accessible, climbable, and have a history of ascent. Therefore the “un-named” mountains have been included in this ARM. There are “un-named” or “numbered” peaks in North and South Dakota and named peaks. Participants in the W0D-Dakotas SOTA program must meet the qualifications stated in the SOTA General Rules, and must participate in accordance with these rules. In cases where information in this reference is in conflict with the General Rules, the General Rules shall take precedence. Full text of the SOTA General Rules can be found here. 1.2 General information The W0D-Dakotas SOTA Association includes summits within the state boundaries of both North Dakota and South Dakota. Both states are