Basic Glacier Travel Course

The Glacier Travel Course will cover ice axe use, roped glacier travel, crevasse rescue techniques, and gear selection that is appropriate for spring/summer glaciated peak climbs in the Pacific NW.

This course does not cover any rock climbing related skills.

Prerequisites:

The course is designed for those with some previous climbing/scrambling experience who want to learn the basics of safe glacier travel.

All students must have completed and passed Navigation prior to the first lecture. (See the February/March course listings for navigation course information if you do not have a current navigation card). 

Leaders permission is REQUIRED in advance of sign up. Contact the course leader for questions and sign up information (ebellata@gmail.com). 

Class Structure:

• Gear Lecture: evening lecture at the Clubhouse 7 - 9pm
• Skills Fieldtrip: one day field trip at the Clubhouse 9am - 4pm
• Snow Overnight: 2 day field trip (Saturday and Sunday)

Graduation Criteria:

Successful completion includes attendance at all lectures and field trips as well as one successful glacier climb.

The dates for the climbs are TBD as leaders schedule them for the summer months. Students will need to be flexible be available to sign up for these climbs and should not take this course if they have a rigid schedule or only have 1-2 weekends that they will be available to go on climbs

It should be noted that past students typically needed two or more scheduled climbs to achieve one successful summit due to changing weather and route conditions. Climbs generally are on weekends but some may be offered only on weekday dates.