The Catskill Mountain 3500 Club, incorporated as the Catskill 3500 Club and often just referred to as the 3500 Club, is a peakbagging organization for hikers in the Catskill Mountains of New York. Those wishing to become members must climb all 35 Catskill High Peaks and, in a departure from the requirements of most other such clubs, climb Slide, Blackhead, Balsam and Panther mountains again in winter, which is defined by the Club's by-laws as the period from December 21 to March 21 regardless of the actual occurrences of the winter solstice and vernal equinox in particular years. The Club also awards a separate patch for those who go on to climb all 35 peaks during winter. Until fairly recently it was the only hiking organization with a specific Catskill focus. Membership Members record their climbs on a tally sheet and then submit them to the Club's membership chair when they have completed their last required peak. This is mostly done on the honor system; however sometimes the tally sheets are cross-checked against the logs kept in the canisters the club maintains at the summits of the 13 peaks that lack a trail to the summit. there are 3,323 regular members and 1,335 winter members. Those who have not yet finished the prescribed 39 climbs (35 regular, 4 winter) are referred to as aspirants. Members and aspirants alike may subscribe to the quarterly newsletter of the organization, The Catskill Canister, for $10 per annum. In the case of members, this payment additionally represents an annual dues payment; those who are paid up are considered active members. The organization offers lifetime memberships. History The Club traces its origins to the early 1950s, when Dan Smiley, a descendant of the founders of Mohonk Mountain House and his fellow birders were trying to track down the elusive Bicknell's thrush, then considered an unimportant subspecies of the gray-cheeked thrush. Since it prefers to mate and spend its summers in cool, shady places like the boreal forests found on the summits of higher mountains in the Northeast, Smiley and his fellow birders drew up a list of the peaks in the Catskills over 3,500 feet and thus likely to have such forestation. Their goal was not to bag peaks but simply to find the thrush. Nonetheless, they published their list of (at that time) 33 peaks in a nature journal. Area hikers who saw it