Winter Mountaineering & Advanced Crevasse Rescue

Application LINK

Applications period closed 

REGISTRATION Timeline!

• Application Submissions: October 04- October 14
  • You should find the application link in this course page.
• Application results published: No Later Than November 8

Cancellation : Refund minus $10 before 2nd Session (February 2). No refunds on or after this date.

Prequisites

This course assumes competency in the following

• basic knots and hitches
• crevasse self-extrication (ascending a rope)
• rappelling

and assumes familiarity with the following

• basic crevasse rescue (any system)
• basic snow and glacier travel (roped/unroped travel on foot, rope management, navigation) 

Applicants should have completed at least 3 basic glacier climbs as a follower. While this is not a hard requirement, it has been a major indicator of success, safety, and comfort in the course.

COREQUISITES

 All students are expected to have successfully completed a Level 1 AIARE course prior to attending the first experience trip

Please note: there are five mountains that have glacier only routes in the PNW that have minimal to no rock scrambling: Rainier, Baker, Eldorado, Hood, Adams. A majority of the other have rock scrambles or rock pitches. It is HIGHLY encouraged you be a be a comfortable/proficient rock scrambler or have graduated from the equivalent of Leading on Trad before enrolling in this course.

Course Description

WELCOME TO WINTER MOUNTAINEERING & ADVANCED CREVASSE rESCUE (WCR)!

This course teaches both the technical and non-technical skills needed to comfortably plan and lead climbs in the winter and on glaciers.

Through evening sessions at the Seattle Program Center and days in the field, students will practice good climbing technique, perfect self and team arrests, learn to place protection in snow and ice, manage moderately-steep snow slopes (up 55 deg), build and equalize anchors, construct advanced haul systems for crevasse rescue, set up group camps, and more!  Lectures will also cover trip planning, including route selection, in-the-field evaluation, a navigation refresher, and how to write a practical trip plan.

The course is composed:

Coursework

Basic Instructor Review

• Required to assist at Basic Field trips in order to Graduate

Winter Mountaineering

• 3 lectures (Gear/Trip Planning, snow anchors, belaying)
• 1 winter overnight - snow travel techniques and a required overnight in a snow trench/cave

Small Party Rescue (Team Rescue)

• 3 evening session covering releasable belay escapes, lowering systems, and raising systems
• 1 weekend day practicing team rescue scenarios on snow

Advanced Crevasse Rescue

• 2 weeknight sessions learning solo rescue skills
• 1 weekend day session practicing rescue scenarios in snow

• 1 overnight trip to practice glacier travel and crevasse rescue evaluation

Intro to Alpine Ice

• Optional - Intro to alpine ice  session at the Baker Coleman Seracs. Learn to travel on exposed alpine ice

Volunteering/Instruction

All students will be required  to volunteer at 3 days worth of activities. 1 day must be "Instruction" and 1 day must be "leadership". This is broken into:

• Instruction: Volunteer with Foothills Snow 1 (2 days) or Snow 2 (1 day)
• Leadership: Rope lead on a Basic Glacier Climb (may be multiple days, but will only count for up to 2 days.)

Experience Climbs

There are multiple "experience" trips that we will try to offer throughout the year. These will be focused on students planning and executing trips with the assistance of leaders and mentors. These trips will start with heavy instructor involvement and hopefully culminate in a student led and executed glacier trip by July.

Please see below for course dates: only one offering of each lecture or field trip will be offered

Application

Due to the demand for this course (usually 20+ applications for 6 spots), applications will be required. Applicants with a strong history of glacier climbing and volunteering with the Mountaineers (especially Foothills) will be prioritized.