Intro to Mountaineering and Glacier Travel & Crevasse Rescue Equipment Lists
It’s about that time of year where we kick off our mountaineering education programs, and we’re stoked! Below we’ll go over some of the equipment you’ll need for the Intro to Mountaineering and Glacier Travel & Crevasse Rescue Courses.
Intro to Mountaineering:
For this course we’ll utilize all of the technical equipment that we would use on one of our more advanced mountaineering expeditions like the Ecuador Climbing School or Mount Everest Rapid Ascent Expedition. If you are purchasing your own gear, you’ll need to make sure you have the following equipment:
– Climbing Helmet (UIAA Certified) – We recommend the: Petzl Meteor
– Climbing Harness (UIAA Certified) – We recommend the: Petzl Altitude
– Steel Crampons – Any steel, fixed horizontal front-point crampon will work. Strap-on, hybrid, and step in crampons will all work as long as they are compatible with you boots. We recommend the: Black Diamond Sabertooth Crampons
– Climbing Boots (a single boot is great, or a winter hiking boot. Must be compatible with your crampons) – We recommend the: La Sportiva Trango Tech GTX, or the La Sportiva Nepal GTX.
– Ice Axe (straight piolet, 50-65cm in length) – We recommend the: Petzl Summit
– Tube style belay device – We recommend the: Petzl Reverso
– 2 Locking Carabiners – We recommend the: Petzl Attache
– 2 Non-locking Carabiners – We recommend the: Petzl Sprit
– Double-length Dyneema sling – We recommend the: Petzl St’Anneau
– About 7m (23ft) of 6mm Accessory Cord for making a cordalette and prusik – We recommend: Sterling Ropes 6mm
ALTERNATIVELY, you can also use 5m of 6mm Accessory Cord for a cordalette AND a HollowBlock2 or equivalent.
Glacier Travel & Crevasse Rescue:
Much like the Intro to Mountaineering course, all of the technical equipment that we’ll be using during the course is carried with us on the bulk of our expeditions. This course is the perfect opportunity to get to know the equipment and its different functions. The technical equipment you’ll need includes:
– Climbing Helmet (UIAA Certified) – We recommend the: Petzl Meteor
– Climbing Harness (UIAA Certified) – We recommend the: Petzl Altitude
– Steel Crampons – Any steel, fixed horizontal front-point crampon will work. Strap-on, hybrid, and step in crampons will all work as long as they are compatible with you boots. We recommend the: Black Diamond Sabertooth Crampons
– Climbing Boots (a single boot is great, or a winter hiking boot. Must be compatible with your crampons) – We recommend the: La Sportiva Trango Tech GTX
– Ice Axe (straight piolet, 50-65cm in length) with leash- We recommend the: Petzl Summit
-3-Piece Collapsible Ski Poles- We recommend Black Diamond 3 Ski Poles
– About 5m (23ft) of 6mm accessory cord for making a cordalette: Sterling Ropes 6mm
– 4 Locking Carabiners – We recommend the: Petzl Attache
– 2 Non-locking Carabiners – We recommend the: Petzl Sprit
– Double-length Dyneema sling – We recommend the: Petzl St’Annue
– Small Prusik Loop (6mm prusik) – We recommend the: Sterling Ropes HollowBlock2
ALTERNATIVELY, you can bring a few extra meters of 6mm accessory cord (above for cordalette) and make your own prusik.
-1 – Tube style belay device – We recommend the: Petzl Reverso
-1 Progress Capture Pulley- We recommend the Petzl Micro Traxion
For a complete Equipment List for both expeditions, please refer to the equipment list for the Intro to Mountaineering and Glacier Travel & Crevasse Rescue Courses. If you have any questions regarding gear or need more recommendations, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
All of the equipment listed above is the “ideal kit”. We expect that you will not have a lot of the gear- it can be provided by Alpenglow Expeditions, please just notify our office of what you will need. Our mountaineering boot rental fleet is somewhat limited, so please let us know early if you are planning on renting boots so that we can double check we have the size you need.
Boot Options
There are a few different options for boots if you do not already own a mountaineering boot.
– Reach out and see if we have your size in our mountaineering boot rental fleet. You can do this by leaving a comment in your client portal or emailing info@alpenglowexpeditions.com.
– Our crampons are compatible with ski boots, so you can wear your ski touring boots as a supplement to mountaineering boots
– Some hiking boots are compatible with strap-on crampons. If you are planning to use your own hiking boots with a strap-on crampon, please let us know so that we can double check your boot will work and make sure we have crampons available for you.
Ready to Book?
As our winter backcountry ski and ride season comes to an end, we’re stoked to kick off our Spring and Summer programming. Our reservation system is open and accepting bookings for High Sierra Backcountry Tours, Intro to Mountaineering, and Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue courses! We’ve also opened up booking for our summer Via Ferrata.
Additional Glacial Travel and Crevasse Rescue Equipment That You’ll See in Your Guide’s Kit:
-8 or 9mm x 100-120 ft (depending on route and #of climbers) static rope- We recommend Black Diamond 9.0 Static
-Picket with center pull wire connection point- We recommend MSR Cable Picket
-Ice Screw- We recommend Petzl Laser Speed
-1 Non-locking Roll-Clip Pulley Carabiner- We recommend the Petzl Rollclip A
-1 Rope Cramp- We recommend the Petzl Basic