Intermediate Snowshoeing Course

Basic Snowshoe is a prerequisite for this course.   It's OK to sign up for the Basic and Backcountry courses at the same time, but students must successfully complete Basic Snowshoe before attending the Backcountry Snowshoeing Skills lecture.

The Backcountry Snowshoe Skills course is designed for adventurers who want to gain the skills and experience to handle more challenging snowshoe routes and terrain than those offered in Easy or Easy+ trips. Moderate and Strenuous trips are, in many cases, non-technical mountain-climbing routes with mountain peaks for destinations. The course will cover information and skills needed to survive in backcountry terrain, including introductory avalanche awareness and response, incident response, emergency shelters, self-belay and self-arrest skills. This course is open to graduates of Basic Snowshoe (or formerly Snowshoe Lite) and also to graduates from Alpine Scrambling or Basic Climbing. 

Registration for this activity includes both the lecture on 1/27 and the all-day field trip on 2/7 to Skyline Ridge near the Stevens Pass Ski Area (logistical details provided at the lecture). Please note that attendance at the Lecture is MANDATORY in order for you to take the Field Trip. 

To graduate the course and attain the Backcountry Snowshoe Skills certification, students must attend the lecture, successfully complete the field trip, hold a current Mountaineers Navigation card, and successfully complete a minimum of three (3) snowshoe trips offered by the Seattle Branch, two of which must be rated Moderate or Strenuous.

Current students and graduates of Backcountry Snowshoe Skills will be eligible to participate in Moderate and Strenuous snowshoe trips. Students must have already completed the field trip to be eligible to sign up for Moderate or Strenuous trips.

You must be fit for the more physically demanding courses like Snowshoeing, Alpine Scrambling or Basic Climbing. Try hiking up Mt. Si (8 miles round-trip; 3,550 ft. elevation gain) and see how you do. If you can get to the top of Mt. Si (to the view points in the haystack basin) in 2½ hours or less (barring icy conditions), you are probably in adequate condition for this course. 

An ice axe is required for this course. Guidelines on how to choose a general ice axe (not for technical ice climbing) will be provided to you at the lecture, or students can go to a local outdoor retailer and request sizing assistance.

Carpooling for the field trip is strongly recommended, due to parking limitations. Read and understand how carpooling at the Mountaineers works. Please specify your carpool preferences for the field trip when signing up (or edit them later). Then click the link in your Profile to view other students' carpool preferences so that you can organize your own carpooling arrangements.

Students have until 4/30 to complete their requirements for graduation, which includes successful completion of the Navigation Course offered this spring in February and March.

This course is open to Mountaineers members only.

For additional questions, please email Larry.