Basic Climbing Course

This is a comprehensive introduction to alpine mountaineering. Graduates will develop the fundamental skills necessary to climb alpine peaks in the northwest. We will cover knots, anchors, belaying, rappelling, rock climbing, glacier travel, the fundamentals of self rescue, and crevasse rescue. This course runs approximately five months meeting weekly with several field trips. Attendance at all lectures and field trips, first aid, navigation and completing experience climbs are required for graduation. Participants should be in good cardiovascular shape and be comfortable with basic camping skills.  Everett offers an intimate learning experience with a high instructor to student ratio. This is perhaps the best reason to select this course.

Although the course is demanding, the rewards are great.  The acquisition of these skills opens the door to a lifetime of outdoor enjoyment.  Course graduates are eligible to participate in Basic Climbs, Club Climbs, the Intermediate Climbing Course, and other advanced climbing seminars periodically offered by the Everett branch. 

Course Schedule - 2015

• Lecture 1 - Gear lecture - 1/20
• Lecture 2 - Knots and Prusiks - 1/27
• Field Trip 1 - Mt Si Conditioner FT (Mt Si) - 1/31
• Lecture 3 - Rock Anchors and Belaying - 2/10
• Lecture 4 - Fundamentals Practice - 2/17
• Field Trip 2 - Fundamentals (Seattle Program Center) - 2/28
• Lecture 5 - Rappelling and ETO - 3/3
• Lecture 6 - Rock Climbing and Following on Rock - 3/10
• Field Trip 3 - Rock 1 (Seattle Program Center) - 3/14
• Lecture 7 - Midterm Exam - 3/31
• Lecture 8 - Skills Enhancement - 4/7
• Field Trip 4 - Rock 2 (Leavenworth) - 4/11-4/12
• Lecture 9 - Avalanche Awareness and Snow Camping - 4/21
• Field Trip 5 - Snow 1 (Stevens Pass) - 4/25-4/26
• Lecture 10 - Packing Wisely and Dealing with Emergencies - 5/5
• Lecture 11 - Glacier Travel - 5/19
• Lecture 12 - Z Pulley Practice - 5/26
• Field Trip 6 - Snow 2 (Mt Baker) - 5/30-5/31
• Lecture 13 - Final Exam - 6/2
• Lecture 14 - Potluck Celebration - 6/9

Graduation Requirements:

• Attend all field trips and lectures
• Successful completion of all field trips
• Passing score on skills, tests, and on written exams
• Current Mountaineers membership
• Current WFA Certification
• Completion of Mountaineers Navigation Module
• Completion of 3 required experience climbs, including at least one glacier and one rock climb by Oct 1st.
• Petition the Climbing Committee
• Climbing Committee Approval

**Note - please ignore the fact that there are only 2 FT's listed (there are 6) and ignore any messages you might get that the field trips are full or that you are on the waitlist for the field trips.  All students will be accommodated into the field trips and we are in the process of trying to suppress the messages associated with the capacity restrictions.