The Basic Climbing Course is a one or two year course of classroom instruction, field instruction and climbing experience designed to provide the basic skills necessary to safely climb rock, snow and the glaciated peaks of the Pacific Northwest. This course covers selection and care of equipment, wilderness travel, roped and glacier travel, belaying, rappelling, rock climbing, crevasse rescue, and many other topics. During field trips and actual climbs the student will put these skills to practical use with experienced mountaineers. Solid physical conditioning and psychological commitment is essential
Juniors: Members under 18 years of age must complete the Junior Application Supplement and attend an information night for a Junior Interview. A parent or legal guardian must accompany you. To receive the Junior Application Supplement, contact Lonna Frans by phone or e-mail.
Registration: Registration should be completed online at www.mountaineers.org. The course size is limited to 100 participants. If the course has already filled before your registration is received, you will be notified and will receive a full refund for course fees.
BCC Course Fees: Course fee is $475 for members; $575 for non-members. Refunds, less $50 handling and materials fees, can be made if you withdraw from the course and notify the chair in writing prior to the second lecture. In order to receive a refund, your written statement of withdrawal must be submitted to Lonna Frans (Lmfrans@yahoo.com) by the close of business on March 6th, 2013
The BCC fee does not include the cost of the required Wilderness First Aid or Navigation courses, which are required for graduation.
2013 Course Schedule: Dates subject to change until January 18th, 2013. Lectures are Wednesdays at the Tacoma Mountaineers program center. They will begin promptly at 7 p.m. and run until about 10 p.m. Arrive by 6:30 p.m. to Lecture #1 for distribution and review of course materials. All lectures and field trip preps are required as prerequisites to attend field trips.
Lecture Schedule:
February 13 - Lecture 1: Course Expectations, Conditioning, Equipment
March 6 - Lecture 2: Snow Travel, Avalanche Hazards
March 27 - Lecture 3: Accident Response, Mountain Rescue, Health, Nutrition
April 10 - Lecture 4: Rock Climbing
May 8 - Lecture 5: Glacier Travel, Crevasse Rescue
Field Trip Schedule:
February 2 - Second Year Qualifier for 2nd yr students only
February 27 or 28 - FT 1 Prep: Fundamentals, Knots, Prusiking
Mar 2 or 3 - FT 1: Fundamentals, Knots, Prusik Test, Belaying
March 17 - FT 2: Belay Test
Apr 6 and 7 - FT 3: Winter Overnight
April 20 or 21 - FT 4: Rock I - Knots, Rock Climbing, Rappelling
May 18 or 19 - FT 5: Rock II - Rock Climbing, Rappelling
May 29 or 30 - FT 6 Prep: Crevasse Rescue
June 8 and 9 - FT 6 and 7: Crevasse Rescue and Hard Snow
June 12 - Final exam:
June 26 - Course review
November 2 - Climbing division potluck