{"id":2227,"date":"2026-01-07T03:42:58","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T03:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/w6sota.org\/web\/?p=2227"},"modified":"2026-01-07T18:30:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T18:30:53","slug":"2025-w6-assn-wrap-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/w6sota.org\/web\/2026\/01\/07\/2025-w6-assn-wrap-up\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 W6 Assn Wrap Up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">2025 was an epic year for W6 SOTA, 39 more summits were activated than in 2024. &nbsp; Below we\u2019ll review some cool stats for W6 and a few other things that happened in the W6 association during 2025.<\/span><\/p><h1 dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:20pt;margin-bottom:6pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:20pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">2025 Activations &amp; Chasing<\/span><\/h1><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Although SOTA is not a contest, all involved agree that the points scheme and fun awards we have adds to the fun of chasing and activating.&nbsp; I\u2019m sure there have been studies on how \u201cgamification\u201d influences participation and there\u2019s no doubt it\u2019s played a role in SOTA.&nbsp; Although we may not agree about how some summits get more points than others, it never stops us from hiking, activating, chasing, working on completes and summit-to-summit points.&nbsp; All of this combined with the love of hiking and getting outdoors makes SOTA the best!<\/span><\/p><p><strong><br><\/strong><\/p><h2 dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:18pt;margin-bottom:6pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:16pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">An Epic Number of Activations &amp; Chasing<\/span><\/h2><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">W6 members posted some huge numbers in 2025 (based on logs uploaded by 1\/5\/2026).&nbsp; In 2025, W6 had <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"><strong>273 <\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"><strong>activators <\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">who completed <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"><strong>4,055 activations<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"> earning 18,114 total points.&nbsp; We had 342 <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"><strong>W6 chasers who worked 38,622 activators<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">, scooping up 177,568 points.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p><p><br><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">In 2025, we witnessed the creation of <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"><strong>twelve new W6 Mountain Goats<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">, bringing the total to 48.&nbsp; In addition, Carol KE6SRN became YL SOTA GOAT #19 from within North America, joining Lorene W6LOR, YL Goat #10 as the first W6 YL Goat among those currently registered in W6.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<p>Lorem Ipsum has been the industry&#8217;s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.<\/p>\n\n<p>Lorem Ipsum has been the industry&#8217;s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<h2 dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:1pt;margin-bottom:6pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:16pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">New Goats in 2025:<\/span><\/h2><ul style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-inline-start:48px;\"><li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;\" aria-level=\"1\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Mark KD7DTS<\/span><\/p><\/li><li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;\" aria-level=\"1\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Tom KE6SRO<\/span><\/p><\/li><li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;\" aria-level=\"1\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Todd KH2TJ<\/span><\/p><\/li><li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;\" aria-level=\"1\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Carol KE6SRN<\/span><\/p><\/li><li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;\" aria-level=\"1\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Rex KE6MT (Goat summit while doing a first activation!)<\/span><\/p><\/li><li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;\" aria-level=\"1\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Gabe AJ6X<\/span><\/p><\/li><li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;\" aria-level=\"1\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Ara N6ARA<\/span><\/p><\/li><li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;\" aria-level=\"1\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Wayne W6DT<\/span><\/p><\/li><li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;\" aria-level=\"1\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Ted W6TED<\/span><\/p><\/li><li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;\" aria-level=\"1\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">William N6MTB<\/span><\/p><\/li><li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;\" aria-level=\"1\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Martin AJ6CL<\/span><\/p><\/li><li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;\" aria-level=\"1\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Johanannes KI6M<\/span><\/p><\/li><\/ul><h2 dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:18pt;margin-bottom:6pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:16pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Multi-Goats in 2025<\/span><\/h2><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">In addition, a few W6 operators crossed the line into multi-goat territory.<\/span><\/p><ul style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-inline-start:48px;\"><li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;\" aria-level=\"1\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Chris N1CLC &#8211; 4X<\/span><\/p><\/li><li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;\" aria-level=\"1\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Keith KE6TH &#8211; 2X<\/span><\/p><\/li><li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;\" aria-level=\"1\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Adam K6ARK &#8211; 2X<\/span><\/p><\/li><li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;\" aria-level=\"1\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Michael N6MKW &#8211; 2X<\/span><\/p><\/li><li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;\" aria-level=\"1\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Ben AG6N &#8211; 2X<\/span><\/p><\/li><li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;\" aria-level=\"1\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Tim K6TW &#8211; 2X<\/span><\/p><\/li><\/ul><p><br><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Congratulations to all!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<p>Lorem Ipsum has been the industry&#8217;s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.<\/p>\n\n<p>Lorem Ipsum has been the industry&#8217;s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<h2 dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:1pt;margin-bottom:6pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:16pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">New \u201cShack Sloths\u201d created in 2025<\/span><\/h2><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">7 W6 operators surpassed 1,000 chaser points to achieve \u201cShack Sloth\u201d<\/span><\/p><ul style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-inline-start:48px;\"><li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;\" aria-level=\"1\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Ben N3BEN<\/span><\/p><\/li><li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;\" aria-level=\"1\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Randy KE6X<\/span><\/p><\/li><li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;\" aria-level=\"1\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Jim K6JS<\/span><\/p><\/li><li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;\" aria-level=\"1\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Martin AJ6CL<\/span><\/p><\/li><li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;\" aria-level=\"1\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">MIKE K6MII<\/span><\/p><\/li><li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;\" aria-level=\"1\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Carol KE6SRN<\/span><\/p><\/li><li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;\" aria-level=\"1\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Tom KE6SRO<\/span><\/p><\/li><\/ul><p><span id=\"docs-internal-guid-ea76dce1-7fff-b5f4-ed0d-7e131f930534\"><br><\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Thanks to all the new Sloths and other chasers.&nbsp; Without you, we wouldn\u2019t have so many Mountain Goats!!!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<p>Lorem Ipsum has been the industry&#8217;s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<h2 dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:1pt;margin-bottom:6pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:16pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Top Three Activators in 2025!<\/span><\/h2><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">#1<\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"> &#8211; Carol Bruegge, KE6SRN activated 141 summits for 942 points for the year.<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Carol likes to activate with her husband, and prefers operating CW on the HF bands.&nbsp; She joined the Quansheng 2m\/CW craze at Tanglewood earlier this year, preparing her for the 2026 ARRL 2m Weak Signal challenge.&nbsp; Carol spent the year activating in W6, W1, W5N, W7A, W8O, W9 and earned her Mountain Goat award in September.&nbsp; Carol and Tom enjoyed getting to know many more in the SOTA community, through the campouts and other gatherings.&nbsp; When operating with Franzi WE7CAT in Flagstaff she had a fun challenge.&nbsp; When Franzi reached a chaser from the PNW she would say &#8220;I got another one of my people&#8221; and when Carol got a chaser from W6 she would say &#8220;got another one of our people&#8221;.&nbsp; So thank you W6 for being &#8220;our people&#8221;!!!<\/span><\/p><p><b style=\"font-weight:normal;\" id=\"docs-internal-guid-699cbfff-7fff-cd67-07f6-f0df4bfe4366\"><br><\/b><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">#2<\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"> &#8211; Tom Bruegge, KE6SRO activated 142 summits for 934 points!<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Tom activates with his wife Carol and likes to use an HT with an Arrow Yagi along with operating SSB on HF.&nbsp; Tom had his first CW exchange with Mike K6STR in July, and has had 116 since; a goal for 2026 is to continue to improve this skill.&nbsp; Tom&nbsp; spent the year activating in W6, W1, W5N, W7A, W8O, W9 and earned his Mountain Goat in October &#8212; just in time for his birthday.<\/span><\/p><p><b style=\"font-weight:normal;\"><br><\/b><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">#3<\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"> &#8211; Chris Claborne, N1CLC, activating 161 summits for 747 points for the year.<\/span><\/p><p><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Chris mainly uses his KX2 and KX3 radios with a random wire he built from a K6ARK kit.&nbsp; In 2025, Chris activated in W6, W7A, W5N and W7O associations.&nbsp; He is also the #2 W6 SOTA activator over all years with 4580 points to date.&nbsp; Chris assumed the role of W6 Association Manager this past summer.&nbsp; His first big task was to overhaul the W6 SOTA web page (now <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/w6sota.org\" style=\"text-decoration:none;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">W6SOTA.org<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">).<\/span><\/p><div><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"><br><\/span><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Lorem Ipsum has been the industry&#8217;s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h2 dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:1pt;margin-bottom:6pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:16pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Top Unique summit operators for 2025 are:&nbsp;<\/span><\/h2><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">#1<\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"> &#8211; Tom, KE6SRO with 141 for the year.<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Tom is so excited to see that he beat his XYL on one of these SOTA categories, as Carol was always ahead in points. &nbsp; Of the ~140 summits they did in 2025, they hiked all but 2 together.&nbsp; Early in the year Carol was relying on 2m\/FM and HF\/CW; Tom, not knowing CW, was using 2m\/FM and HF\/FT8.&nbsp; In mid-summer FT8 (using the KX2, an Android phone, and FT8CN) stopped working.&nbsp; Suddenly Tom was falling behind in points on peaks where FM did not come through.&nbsp; On these occasions he failed to get the needed QSOs, while Carol achieved points via CW. &nbsp; His SOTA summary still shows that he activated these peaks &#8212; having made a minimum of 1 QSO for an activation but without getting 4 to earn points.&nbsp; Thus for these hikes they both &#8220;activated&#8221; a summit whereas only Carol got points!!!&nbsp; By the fall, and after a crash course in CW, Tom was again keeping pace with Carol on points &#8212; now joining her in using CW when necessary. &nbsp; As September approached Tom was behind 24 points, and Carol was ready to turn Goat.&nbsp; Carol hiked with Tom to Tollhouse Benchmark, but didn&#8217;t activate to allow Tom to catch up on points. And on Tom&#8217;s Goat\/ Birthday hike to Onyx Peak Carol had a conflict, but Tom made the day special by inviting their son Brian, KG6BCF, to accompany him.&nbsp; Brian has been licensed since the age of 8, but inactive since a young adult.&nbsp; Tom&#8217;s Goat day was thus Brian&#8217;s first SOTA points day.&nbsp; There you have it &#8212; the long story of why Tom has activated more summits in 2025, whereas Carol earned more points.<\/span><\/p><p><strong><br><\/strong><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">#2<\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"> &#8211; Carol, KE6SRN with 139 for the year.<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Tom and Carol\u2019s favorite peaks include Mountain Biking to Vetter Mountain, and those where they joined PCT thru hikers in the Spring (Williamson, Islip, and Liebre).&nbsp; Throop is also very nice.&nbsp; Although Throop is the one we heard a bear roar, and Jon commented during the QSO &#8220;which tasty morsel did he get?&#8221;<\/span><\/p><p><strong><br><\/strong><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">#3<\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"> &#8211; Lorene, W6LOR with 132 uniques for the year<\/span><\/p><p><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">When Lorene was asked what her favorite summit is, she said \u201cThe one I just did\u201d. &nbsp; Lorene\u2019s top three are White Mountain Peak\u201d, Mt. Anna Mills, and Trail Peak.&nbsp; Lorene carries a Yaesu FT-60 or VX-6R or a Quansheng HT and likes to use a KX2 for HF.&nbsp; Lorene and Mike chase with either a K3 or an IC-718 from home when they aren\u2019t on a mountain.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"><br><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<p>Lorem Ipsum has been the industry&#8217;s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.<\/p>\n\n<p>Lorem Ipsum has been the industry&#8217;s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<h2 dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:1pt;margin-bottom:6pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:16pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">2025 Top Three Chasers for 2025<\/span><\/h2><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">#1<\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"> &#8211; Peter, WB6POT, with 28,720<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;background-color:#ffffff;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#222222;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">When Peter is not on a summit, he does all of his HF chasing from his 2nd home location of Colfax, CA.&nbsp; He mostly operates it remotely from his primary residence in San Jose.<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;background-color:#ffffff;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><br><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;background-color:#ffffff;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#222222;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Peter\u2019s Chasing setup is a Flex 8600 which he mainly runs barefoot, although he does have an amp for chasing DX if necessary.&nbsp; Peter has several yagi antennas on towers plus two dipole antennas for the various bands.<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;background-color:#ffffff;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><br><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;background-color:#ffffff;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#222222;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Peter says that the best part of chasing is when he gets to meet all the activators in person at the various SOTA campouts he\u2019s attended.&nbsp; He\u2019s also been able to activate summits with many of the people he has met chasing, while traveling.<\/span><\/p><p><b style=\"font-weight:normal;\" id=\"docs-internal-guid-2194cf34-7fff-59d1-f643-0e125e6ae795\"><br><\/b><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">#2<\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"> &#8211; Jon, NT6E with 22,135 points for the year.<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Jon is a chaser who seems to always be on the air to return a CQ SOTA call, to relay communications between summit operators when they can&#8217;t seem to otherwise connect, or even to give radio advice and activation tips.&nbsp; Jon is a successful chaser due to his great home station location in Torrance, and dedication to this task.&nbsp; On Friday September 5, 2025, the SoCal SOTA community thanked Jon for his support of their activations.&nbsp; On this date two brothers, Huston KK6WT and Ralph KK6MT, picked Jon up from his house and drove him to Table Mountain, where he made his third career SOTA activation.&nbsp; A dozen SOTA friends met him there to celebrate with their friend and thank him for his years as a chaser.&nbsp; We look forward to more QSOs with Jon in the years ahead.<\/span><\/p><p><b style=\"font-weight:normal;\"><br><\/b><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Jon uses a Yaesu FTDX-10 to load up a OCFD 40m, as well as a Cushcraft R9 Vertical on the roof for chasing.&nbsp; Given his location near a power substation, and KNX AM broadcast towers, he uses a Morgan AM broadcast high pass filter and a JPS noise canceller.&nbsp; Jon said that SOTA chasing allows him to use his radio every day, but the best part is all the friends he\u2019s made.&nbsp; It gives Jon comfort and assurance that his SOTA peeps are well and active when he sees their spot.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/p><p><b style=\"font-weight:normal;\"><br><\/b><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">For 2026, Jon said he\u2019s looking forward to hearing all the activators out there, plus new ones getting into the hobby.&nbsp; He\u2019s also excited about the 2m challenge this year, and his score reflects that.<\/span><\/p><p><b style=\"font-weight:normal;\"><br><\/b><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">#3<\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"> &#8211; Elliott, K6EL with 12,405 points for the year.<\/span><\/p><p><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Elliot is a 50+ year amateur radio operator, having worked all countries and heavily into SOTA since 2013.&nbsp; Elliot organized the SOTA luncheon during Pacificon 2025, as he has for many past years.&nbsp; Elliott operates SSB or CW and is always looking for a summit-to-summit.<\/span><\/p><div><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"><br><\/span><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Lorem Ipsum has been the industry&#8217;s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.<\/p>\n\n<p>Lorem Ipsum has been the industry&#8217;s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h2 dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:1pt;margin-bottom:6pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:16pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Top Summit To Summit Operators for 2025<\/span><\/h2><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">\u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#222222;background-color:#ffffff;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">I love racing to a peak if I know somebody else is on a peak that I might be able to get on 2m. I\u2019m always impressed how well 2m FM works from one summit to another when it seems there\u2019s so much dirt in the way.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#222222;background-color:#ffffff;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">&#8211; <\/span><a href=\"mailto:lorene599@outlook.com\" style=\"text-decoration:none;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#1155cc;background-color:#ffffff;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\" data-rich-links=\"{&quot;per_n&quot;:&quot;Lorene Samoska&quot;,&quot;per_e&quot;:&quot;lorene599@outlook.com&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;person&quot;}\">Lorene Samoska<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#222222;background-color:#ffffff;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">.<\/span><\/p><p><b style=\"font-weight:normal;\" id=\"docs-internal-guid-4391f83d-7fff-05d6-de04-2939ff616b11\"><br><\/b><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">#1<\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"> &#8211; Elliott, K6EL,&nbsp; with 10,990 points for the year.<\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"><br><br><\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">#2<\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"> &#8211; Lorene, W6LOR,&nbsp; with 2,376 points for the year.<\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"><br><br><\/span><\/p><p><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">#3<\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"> &#8211; Chris, N1CLC with 2,221 points for the year.<\/span><\/p><div><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"><br><\/span><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Lorem Ipsum has been the industry&#8217;s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<h1 dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:1pt;margin-bottom:6pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:20pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">2025 Campouts &amp; More<\/span><\/h1><h2 dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:18pt;margin-bottom:6pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:16pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Sawtooth Canyon&nbsp;<\/span><\/h2><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Last January, around 12 SOTA fanatics met up at <\/span><span style=\"font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#1d1c1d;background-color:#ffffff;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Sawtooth Canyon Campground near Lucerne Valley for a fun multi-day campout and SOTA extravaganza.&nbsp; There was lots of 2m action, mechanical issues, flat tires, and<\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"> finding a Baofeng along the road (probably tossed out the window in frustration).<\/span><\/p><p><strong><br><\/strong><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:16pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Big Bear SoCal SOTAFests<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Lorene, W6LOR and Mike, K6STR organized the annual Big Bear SoCal SOTAFest.&nbsp; It was a ton of fun, with lots of activations in the surrounding mountains which gave up a lot of points, summit-to-summits and completes for some of the operators.<\/span><\/p><p><strong><br><\/strong><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Participants always agree that the best part of these campouts is just getting together with like minded radio people, having a refreshment, and telling stories.&nbsp; It\u2019s always fun to meet someone that you\u2019ve only contacted via radio.<\/span><\/p><p><strong><br><\/strong><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">One of the biggest campouts in the country was the W7O campout at Diamond Lake near Crater Lake in 2025.&nbsp; Over 70 hams along with XYLs and some of their children joined the party.&nbsp; W6 was well represented, and it was a ton of fun.&nbsp; If you want more information on the 2026 plans, join the Google Group Jefferson State SOTA distribution.<\/span><\/p><p><strong><br><\/strong><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Consider attending one of these events, or better yet, putting one together.<\/span><\/p><p><strong><br><\/strong><\/p><h2 dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:18pt;margin-bottom:6pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:16pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Community Hangouts<\/span><\/h2><p><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">The SOTA community is part of what makes this hobby so fun.&nbsp; To that end, we always like getting together to celebrate achievement parties for new goats like ones held for KD7DTS, N6ARA, KE6SRO and KE6SRN, We also celebrated a milestone birthday for N6AN, with a day of S2S work followed by a gathering at a local pub.&nbsp; There were several other get togethers at various places in LA and a couple of \u201cSOTA Symposium\u2019s\u201d in San Diego.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"><br><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<p>Lorem Ipsum has been the industry&#8217;s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.<\/p>\n\n<p>Lorem Ipsum has been the industry&#8217;s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.<\/p>\n\n<p>Lorem Ipsum has been the industry&#8217;s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<h1 dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:1pt;margin-bottom:6pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:20pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">In 2025 W6 Built A New Website!<\/span><\/h1><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">The W6 Association, covering all of California,&nbsp; has more members and more summits than any other association in the US.&nbsp; Our website was dated, became static, and was ready for a rebuild.&nbsp; Chris, N1CLC, put together a requirements document and then circulated that among anyone that he could find to get input.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/p><p><b style=\"font-weight:normal;\" id=\"docs-internal-guid-d362451d-7fff-1ce2-35bd-8c6215b01278\"><br><\/b><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">The new site has the expected <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/w6sota.org\/web\/category\/news\/\" style=\"text-decoration:none;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">News<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/w6sota.org\/web\/category\/events\/\" style=\"text-decoration:none;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Events<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"> capabilities but one of the key technical features of the site that Chris felt would provide the most value is the \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/w6sota.org\/web\/trip-reports\/\" style=\"text-decoration:none;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Trip Reports<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">\u201d page. Unlike <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/sotl.as\" style=\"text-decoration:none;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">sotl.as<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"> and other sources <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/w6sota.org\" style=\"text-decoration:none;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">w6sota.org<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"> allows user to search for summits by \u201carea\u201d and sort on things like distance or type.&nbsp; The site does all of this and provides a modern look to display news and events for W6.&nbsp; As of 12\/31\/2025, total <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/w6sota.org\/web\/trip-reports\/\" style=\"text-decoration:none;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Trip Reports<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"> from multiple W6 members are now at 157 posts.<\/span><\/p><p><br><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Speaking of Carol, Chris said that help from Carol, KE6SRN, was absolutely critical to the success of the new site.&nbsp; Carol provided active recommendations and feedback while the site was under construction, she performed QA, and is an excellent editor and reviewer.&nbsp; In addition, Carol has written 83 of the trip reports (so far).&nbsp; See the article \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/w6sota.org\/web\/why-create-a-trip-report\/\" style=\"text-decoration:none;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Why Create A Trip Report<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">\u201d.&nbsp; We\u2019ve published content on getting started, CW skills, safety and more from multiple authors.&nbsp; If you would like to read more about site features, functionality, go <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/w6sota.org\/web\/2025\/08\/18\/w6-sota-association-has-a-new-website\/\" style=\"text-decoration:none;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">HERE<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<p>Lorem Ipsum has been the industry&#8217;s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.<\/p>\n\n<p>Lorem Ipsum has been the industry&#8217;s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.<\/p>\n<p>Lorem Ipsum has been the industry&#8217;s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<h1 dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:1pt;margin-bottom:6pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:20pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">N1CLC Makes Safety Top Priority<\/span><\/h1><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Chris, N1CLC, wrote 11 safety tip articles over as many weeks and published to the SoCal, NorCal, and other lists.&nbsp; You can find all the safety tips <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.n1clc.com\/2025\/12\/the-ham-ninjas-top-10-safety-tips.html\" style=\"text-decoration:none;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">HERE<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">.<\/span><\/p><p><b style=\"font-weight:normal;\" id=\"docs-internal-guid-5ff6de01-7fff-62f1-6b91-3e79a0684822\"><br><\/b><\/p><h1 dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:20pt;margin-bottom:6pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:20pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">W6 Gets a New Association Manager<\/span><\/h1><p><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">In June of 2025, Rex, KE6MT asked Chris, N1CLC, to take over as the W6 Association manager.&nbsp; He was happy to do so as it gives him a chance to give back to the community that has brought so much joy and has helped him over the past several years.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/p><div><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"><br><\/span><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Lorem Ipsum has been the industry&#8217;s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.<\/p>\n\n<p>Lorem Ipsum has been the industry&#8217;s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<h1 dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:1pt;margin-bottom:6pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:20pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">SoCal Zoom Sessions<\/span><\/h1><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Mike Molina (KN6EZE) the W6 Assistant Association Manager, has been leading the monthly zoom meetings, which is a great place to ask questions, and see some awesome presentations by some of our members and meet new people.&nbsp; Sign up to the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/groups.io\/g\/SoCalSota\" style=\"text-decoration:none;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">SoCal SOTA mailing list<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"> if you want to be notified about the next zoom shack meetup.<\/span><\/p><h2 dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.44;margin-top:18pt;margin-bottom:6pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:16pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Road Closures<\/span><\/h2><p><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.44;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#212121;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Many trails and roads were closed seasonally or due to storms. &nbsp; Angeles Crest Hwy 2 was opened this past August after being closed at Islip Saddle for several years due to storm damage.&nbsp; This was short lived, as it is again closed due to our January 2026 storms. &nbsp; We are happy that San Gabriel area is again open, after being closed for much of 2025 due to the Eaton Canyon fire.&nbsp; This peak was not burned, but closed by the Forest Service to let the area recover.&nbsp; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/w6sota.org\/web\/trail-road-conditions-closures\/\" style=\"text-decoration:none;\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Trail and road closure information<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#212121;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"> can be found on our new W6 website.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#212121;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\"><br><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<p>Lorem Ipsum has been the industry&#8217;s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.<\/p>\n\n<p>Lorem Ipsum has been the industry&#8217;s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<h1 dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:1pt;margin-bottom:6pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:20pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Looking <\/span><span style=\"font-size:20pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">Forward<\/span><\/h1><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">2026 is going to be an awesome year.&nbsp; I know that there is at-least one campout planned with a possible second one in the planning stages.&nbsp; In addition we have the 2026 Challenge, working stations on 2m SSB or CW.&nbsp; Find out more about the challenge along with FAQs and other info by going to <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/w6sota.org\/2026challenge\" style=\"text-decoration:none;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">W6SOTA.org\/2026challenge<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">.&nbsp; It looks like several ops have jumped in with both boots, so get out there and have fun.<\/span><\/p><p><span id=\"docs-internal-guid-3bb576cc-7fff-e289-e319-65ebc5f0bbcf\"><br><\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">If you have ideas for an article, campout or other activity for 2026, contact us directly or via <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/w6sota.org\/web\/contact\/\" style=\"text-decoration:none;\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">the contact form<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;\">.&nbsp; Don\u2019t forget to cheer for USA during the Winter Olympics and then the World Cup (maybe we can make it out of group stage \ud83d\ude42 ).\n\nStay safe everyone and we look forward to hearing you on the bands.\nN1CLC\nKE6SRN<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<p>Lorem Ipsum has been the industry&#8217;s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":2109,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/w6sota.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/w6sota.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/w6sota.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/w6sota.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/w6sota.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2227"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/w6sota.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2267,"href":"https:\/\/w6sota.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2227\/revisions\/2267"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/w6sota.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/w6sota.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/w6sota.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/w6sota.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}