Intermediate Snowshoeing Course

Registration for this activity includes both the lecture on 1/27 and the all-day field trip on 2/6 (location and logistical details provided at the lecture). Please note that attendance at the Lecture is MANDATORY in order for you to take the Field Trip.

The Backcountry Snowshoeing 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 material 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. See the snowshoe program web site for full details.

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.

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.

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

Mountaineers members only.

For additional questions, please email Courses.