Seattle Alpine Scrambling

Looking to summit a mountain, but there is no trail? Ready to elevate your hiking career to new heights? Welcome to Scrambling at the Seattle branch of the Mountaineers! The Seattle Alpine Scramble Committee is currently chaired by Jordan Small.

Alpine Scrambling is a thrilling Mountaineer's experience serving as a stepping stone between strenuous hiking and technical mountain climbing. In a single day-trip (otherwise known as ‘scramble’) one might take advantage of a conventional trail before traversing an off-trail section of: dense forest, an open meadow of flowers, a steep snow slope, a sheer rocky ridgeline, and finally a serene summit with views extending across the Cascades.

Learn

The Seattle Alpine Scrambling Committee offers Alpine Scrambling, Condensed Alpine Scrambling and Alpine Scrambling Equivalency courses each year – February through June – focused on mountaineering techniques including: off-trail wilderness travel for reaching snow and rock summits (walking in-balance, route-finding, etc.), ice ax skills (self-belay, arrest, etc.) and mountain safety for un-roped movement on and across low or moderately-exposed terrain.

ALPINE SCRAMBLING COURSE

The Alpine Scrambling Course offers a 3-month series comprised of three skills workshops (gear, snow and rock), three field trips (conditioner, snow and rock) and an evaluation trip to demonstrate your newly acquired or polished skills. It is designed for people interested in learning how to scramble, supplemented by time to practice skills and improve physical conditioning.

CONDENSED ALPINE SCRAMBLING COURSE

The Condensed Alpine Scrambling Course offers a one-weekend, action-packed course covering scramble skills (snow and rock), at-once and an evaluation trip to demonstrate your newly acquired or polished skills. It is designed for people interested in learning how to scramble and already in great physical condition.

Find Mountaineers Scramble Courses, here.

Note: courses are generally published in the Fall (October - November) in-advance of registration opening (December - February) for the course season (February - June).

ALPINE SCRAMBLING EQUIVALENCY

Alpine Scrambling Equivalency offers an opportunity for those with previous scrambling experience to demonstrate adequate skills in: off-trail travel, snow travel, rock travel, navigation and first aid and be granted equivalency to join the Mountaineers on scramble trips. Note: equivalency occurs in-tandem with the Alpine Scrambling Course (February through June).

Note: to earn a Scramble Badge or Equivalency also requires separate coursework and badges in Basic (Wilderness Navigation) and Wilderness First Aid.

JOIN A TRIP

Ready to scramble? Great! Summer scrambles are available for both students and graduates, and can be snow, rock, or both; scheduled between April 1st and October 31st.

Winter scrambles may require additional skills or equipment, and as such are limited to course graduates only; schedule between November 1st and March 31st. Take a moment to explore the upcoming alpine scrambling trips, and plan your next adventure today!

VOLUNTEER!

Are you interested in developing leadership skills, practicing teamwork, or maybe just finding a new group of like-minded adventurers? We are always in need of more volunteers for the scramble programs. You can help us out by becoming a course instructor or a trip leader or joining the committee.

INSTRUCTING

We welcome our scramble graduates back to become instructors on our course field trips! Each field trip listing will have an associated instructor listing, where you can “Register as an Instructor” to help. We have designed an instructor clinic to help give you confidence to step forward and volunteers as an instructor. It is not necessary that you are an expert in our curriculum or our teaching methods – our new instructors are always paired with one of our experienced instructors, so you can learn the ropes.

TRIP LEADERSHIP

Experienced scramblers can volunteer to lead trips out into the backcountry. Trip leaders are responsible for deciding destinations and routes, safely guiding the group. To learn more about trip leadership and the requirements for becoming a leader, please visit our Leadership page.

COMMITTEE

We welcome scramble graduates and experienced scramblers alike to contribute to our scramble community and attend our monthly committee meetings; simply e-mail the Seattle Scramble contact to find out more about our next meeting and opportunities to get involved.