Seattle MAC - Glacier Skills Practice Night

Youth activity: Mountaineers Adventure Club

Seattle MAC - Glacier Skills Practice Night - Mountaineers Seattle Program Center

Skill building day at the Program Center to practice the fundamental skills of glacier climbing such as - alpine butterfly knot, ice ax grip positions, prusik hitches, crampon use, traveling in rope teams, bag packing considerations, and ascending the rope with prusiks. This skills workshop has no prerequisites. 6-8:30pm

  • For Beginners (Getting Started Series)

Mountaineers Program Center basement, 6:00-8:30pm

Homework for Glacier Skills nights:

  • Required: In advance, purchase minimum 25 feet of 6mm accessory cord from REI or another gear retailer. Mention that you are in The Mountaineers youth program and they may extend the discount they usually give to Basic Climbing students.
  • Optional: Tie your own Texas and waist prusiks according to instructions in the links below. By doing this, you will be able to help others tie theirs at the workshop and contribute. It’s a fun way to practice with the knots at home. Everyone will tie them at the meeting if not done at home already.

It is important that students participating in snow field trips and eventually glacier climbs get lots of chances to practice with the individual components of glacier climbing. These skills workshops are designed to give everyone the opportunity to get familiar with these basic elements throughout the year before going on glacier climbs like Rainier, Baker, Sahale, etc. 

Attendance at these (enough of them to be judged competent by leaders) is required for the snow skills field trip and glacier climbs. A minimum of 2. Mileage may vary between members, therefore attendance at 2 glacier skills workshops does not guarantee admittance to snow field trips or glacier climbs. To go on those trips, one has to have a solid understanding of the different parts and be ready to put them all together in a challenging environment. You will be evaluated based on those criteria, not specifically the number of workshops you attended.

Route/Place

Mountaineers Seattle Program Center


Roster
Required Equipment

Required Equipment

Personal climbing equipment for glaciers (can all be borrowed at the workshop) 

  • Harness
  • Helmet
  • Mountaineering boots
  • Crampons
  • Ice axe
  • belay device w/ locker
  • PAS w/ locker
  • Prusik cord (autoblock length) w/ locker
  • Texas prusik cords (tied according to instructions on this page) w/
    • one locker for waist prusik
    • optional chest harness webbing w/ non-locker
  • 2-4 non-lockers w/ alpine slings
  • 1-2 extra locking carabiners 

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