Climbing Course
Winter Mountaineering & Advanced Crevasse Rescue
This course prepares students to plan and lead trips, introduces the fundamentals of climbing in the winter, and covers advanced glacier travel/rescue skills.
- Thu, Jan 30, 2025 - Sat, Aug 30, 2025
- Committee: Foothills Climbing Committee
- Members: $700.00 Guests: $1,000.00
- Availability: FULL (6 capacity)
- Cancellation & Refund Policy
Application LINK
REGISTRATION Timeline!
- Application Submissions: October 04- October 14
- You should find the application link in this course page.
- Application results published: No Later Than November 8
Cancellation : Refund minus $10 before 2nd Session (February 2). No refunds on or after this date.
Prequisites
This course assumes competency in the following
- basic knots and hitches
- crevasse self-extrication (ascending a rope)
- rappelling
and assumes familiarity with the following
- basic crevasse rescue (any system)
- basic snow and glacier travel (roped/unroped travel on foot, rope management, navigation)
Applicants should have completed at least 3 basic glacier climbs as a follower. While this is not a hard requirement, it has been a major indicator of success, safety, and comfort in the course.
COREQUISITES
All students are expected to have successfully completed a Level 1 AIARE course prior to attending the first experience trip
Please note: there are five mountains that have glacier only routes in the PNW that have minimal to no rock scrambling: Rainier, Baker, Eldorado, Hood, Adams. A majority of the other have rock scrambles or rock pitches. It is HIGHLY encouraged you be a be a comfortable/proficient rock scrambler or have graduated from the equivalent of Leading on Trad before enrolling in this course.
Course Description
WELCOME TO WINTER MOUNTAINEERING & ADVANCED CREVASSE rESCUE (WCR)!
This course teaches both the technical and non-technical skills needed to comfortably plan and lead climbs in the winter and on glaciers.
Through evening sessions at the Seattle Program Center and days in the field, students will practice good climbing technique, perfect self and team arrests, learn to place protection in snow and ice, manage moderately-steep snow slopes (up 55 deg), build and equalize anchors, construct advanced haul systems for crevasse rescue, set up group camps, and more! Lectures will also cover trip planning, including route selection, in-the-field evaluation, a navigation refresher, and how to write a practical trip plan.
The course is composed:
Coursework
Basic Instructor Review
- Required to assist at Basic Field trips in order to Graduate
Winter Mountaineering
- 3 lectures (Gear/Trip Planning, snow anchors, belaying)
- 1 winter overnight - snow travel techniques and a required overnight in a snow trench/cave
Small Party Rescue (Team Rescue)
- 3 evening session covering releasable belay escapes, lowering systems, and raising systems
- 1 weekend day practicing team rescue scenarios on snow
Advanced Crevasse Rescue
- 2 weeknight sessions learning solo rescue skills
- 1 weekend day session practicing rescue scenarios in snow
-
1 overnight trip to practice glacier travel and crevasse rescue evaluation
Intro to Alpine Ice
-
Optional - Intro to alpine ice session at the Baker Coleman Seracs. Learn to travel on exposed alpine ice
Volunteering/Instruction
All students will be required to volunteer at 3 days worth of activities. 1 day must be "Instruction" and 1 day must be "leadership". This is broken into:
- Instruction: Volunteer with Foothills Snow 1 (2 days) or Snow 2 (1 day)
- Leadership: Rope lead on a Basic Glacier Climb (may be multiple days, but will only count for up to 2 days.)
Experience Climbs
There are multiple "experience" trips that we will try to offer throughout the year. These will be focused on students planning and executing trips with the assistance of leaders and mentors. These trips will start with heavy instructor involvement and hopefully culminate in a student led and executed glacier trip by July.
Please see below for course dates: only one offering of each lecture or field trip will be offered
Application
Due to the demand for this course (usually 20+ applications for 6 spots), applications will be required. Applicants with a strong history of glacier climbing and volunteering with the Mountaineers (especially Foothills) will be prioritized.
Badges you will earn:
Course Activity | Date | Availability | Leader |
---|---|---|---|
WCR - Winter Mountaineering | |||
Private Residence |
Thu, Jan 30, 2025
Registration closes Jan 21
|
0
participants
5 instructors
|
|
Seattle Program Center |
Thu, Feb 6, 2025
Registration closes Feb 4
|
0
participants
4 instructors
|
|
Seattle Program Center |
Thu, Feb 20, 2025
Registration closes Jan 28
|
0
participants
2 instructors
|
|
Lane Peak/Zipper |
Sat, Mar 8, 2025 -
Sun, Mar 9, 2025 Registration closes Feb 20
|
0
participants
1 instructor
|
|
WCR - Small Party Rescue | |||
Seattle Program Center |
Thu, Mar 6, 2025
Registration closes Mar 4
|
1
participant
1 instructor
|
|
Seattle Program Center |
Thu, Mar 13, 2025
Registration closes Mar 11
|
0
participants
2 instructors
|
|
Seattle Program Center |
Thu, Mar 20, 2025
Registration closes Mar 18
|
0
participants
2 instructors
|
|
Alpental Ski Area |
Sat, Apr 5, 2025
Registration closes Apr 3
|
0
participants
3 instructors
|
|
Rope Leadership (optional) | |||
Online Classroom |
Tue, Apr 1, 2025
Registration closes Mar 30
|
0
participants
4 instructors
|
|
Stevens Pass Ski Area |
Sat, Apr 26, 2025 -
Sun, Apr 27, 2025 Registration closes Apr 24
|
1
participant
|
|
Austin Pass (winter) |
Sat, Jun 7, 2025 -
Sun, Jun 8, 2025 Registration closes Jun 5
|
3
participants
|
|
WCR - Experience Trip | |||
Mount Hood/South Side |
Sat, Apr 12, 2025 -
Sun, Apr 13, 2025 Registration closes May 1
|
0
participants
1 instructor on waitlist
|
|
Mount Baker Recreation Area |
Sat, Jun 14, 2025 -
Sun, Jun 15, 2025 Registration closes Jun 12
|
0
participants
3 instructors
|
|
WCR - Two-person Glacier Travel & Crevasse Rescue | |||
Seattle Program Center |
Thu, Apr 17, 2025
Registration closes Apr 15
|
0
participants
1 instructor
|
|
Seattle Program Center |
Thu, Apr 24, 2025
Registration closes Apr 22
|
0
participants
4 instructors
|
|
Paradise Area |
Sat, May 3, 2025 -
Sun, May 4, 2025 Registration closes May 1
|
0
participants
5 instructors
|
|
Mount Baker/Coleman Glacier |
Sat, May 31, 2025 -
Sun, Jun 1, 2025 Registration closes May 29
|
0
participants
4 instructors
|
TBD
You must register for this course to see course materials.