Intro to Ski Mountaineering
Ski mountaineering combines all facets of mountaineering, alpine skiing and backcountry skiing. For this course we'll venture to steeper and glaciated terrain where we can travel through crevasses and practice rope skills and snowpack assessment. The skills we'll learn are set at an international standard by the AMGA and AIARE.
Return to Skiing Overview.
Skill Level
Intermediate to advanced alpine (ski area) ability and either mountaineering or backcountry skiing experience.
Dates
April - June (two or more days)
Topics Covered
- Trip Prep: tour planning, food planning, reducing pack weight
- Glacier Travel: knots, roping together, anchors, escaping the system, haul system, prussiking,
- Winter Camping: preparing for storms, cooking in a storm,
- Avalanche Skills: snowpack assessment, terrain management, decision making
- Travel Technique: track setting, skinning tricks, strategies for light and fast, skills for defensive downhill
Includes
- Guide services
- Navigation, first aid and repair kits
- Emergency communication
Does Not Include
- Travel to Alaska and trailhead
- Food
- Personal ski gear (see Ski Mountaineering Gear)
- Available for rent: beacon, shovel, probe, backpack, ice axe, crampons, harness
Cost
- 1 customer: $400 per person per day
- 2 customers: $275 per person per day
- 3+ customers: $200 per person per day
Belaying a skier down the initial slopes above a big run. Here I'm belaying from a Munter hitch on a cordelette that is tied off to a T-slotted ski.
Probing the edge of a large crevasse. In the mountains, we take extra care with crevasse bridges in the early season before the seasonal snow has solidified into solid neve.
Climbing toward an alpine pass using ice axe and crampons. For speedy transitions, we always wear a harness in ski mountaineering terrain