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Olympia Intermediate Alpine Climbing

Olympia Intermediate Alpine Climbing

This module-based course provides comprehensive instruction in the essential skills required for successful alpine climbing. Participants will gain practical experience in a variety of challenging environments, while emphasizing risk management and teamwork.

Course Modules:

Winter Mountaineering:

    • Learn techniques for travel and survival in winter alpine conditions.
    • Develop skills in emergency shelter construction, preparing you to handle unexpected situations.
    • Become familiar with avalanche safety and rescue, including hazard assessment, companion rescue, and group decision-making.

Rock skills:

    • Become familiar the skills needed to lead on rock, including placing protection, building and equalizing anchors, and managing rope systems.
    • Practice swinging leads, and making efficient transitions, a crucial technique for efficient climbing.
    • Learn self-rescue techniques.

Hard Snow:

    • Develop proficiency in movement and safety techniques on hard snow and glaciers.
    • Learn German and French techniques for efficient and secure travel in these environments.

Leading on Ice:

    • Acquire the skills and front pointing techniques to climb steep ice effectively.
    • Learn the proper placement of ice screws for protection.
    • Practice swinging leads on ice up to 60+ degrees.

Emphasis on Risk Management and Teamwork:

  • Risk Assessment: Throughout the course, participants will learn to identify and assess potential hazards in all climbing environments. This includes winter weather evaluation, avalanche forecast evaluation, terrain assessment, and hazard recognition.
  • Team Communication: Effective communication is essential in climbing. Participants will learn how to communicate clearly and efficiently with their team members, ensuring everyone is aware of the plan, potential hazards, and “escape” plans should conditions or the environment change.
  • Teamwork and Support: Climbing is a team sport. The course will foster a supportive learning environment where participants can learn from each other, share experiences, build trust and friendship.

By the end of this course, participants will have:

  • A strong foundation in the technical skills needed for intermediate alpine climbing.
  • A deep understanding of risk management principles and their application in the mountains.
  • The ability to function effectively as part of a climbing team and contribute to the success of the group.

This course is designed to prepare climbers for leadership roles in challenging alpine environments. It is a demanding but rewarding experience that will equip participants with the skills and knowledge to pursue their climbing goals.


Prerequisites include Basic Climbing Course  graduate or FULL equivalency (this includes any ancillary course needed to finish equivalency), and successful completion of the Qualifier Field Trip.

Added requirements to graduate include holding or completing MOFA, WFA, or WFR at the time of graduation and completing an AIARE Level I Course by the time of graduation.

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