This mountaineering school and north side summit climb is designed to prepare aspiring mountaineers for the high-altitude peaks they dream of climbing around the world. With two days of skills training on the Hotlum Glacier, it is the perfect opportunity to build a solid mountaineering foundation here in California that will set you up for even more success as you add the factors of high altitude and expedition climbing to your climbing experience. The northeast side holds numerous complex routes that cross massive sheets of ice, perfect for glacial travel, crevasse rescue and snow travel skills work.
Mountaineering Skills Day
Goals:
- Introduce basic concepts of snow and ice climbing
- Become familiar with equipment choices, use and inspection.
- Practice knots, hitches and basic rope-work
Climbing a snow-covered peak can be difficult, and the specific challenges that we typically encounter can easily add unnecessary time or risk to your day. After hundreds of mountaineering expeditions all over the world, we know what works and what doesn’t work. This course is crafted to deliver the skills, knowledge and techniques necessary to start (or further) your mountaineering career.
Topics include:
- Introduction to the alpine environment
- Hazard recognition
- Overview of equipment
- Moving over steep snow
- Crampons and Ice axe use
- Diagonal and direct ascent and descent
- Self arrest
- Basic rope-work
- Knots and hitches
- Snow and anchors
- Belaying and rappelling
- Guided vs non-guided rope-work
- Strategies to increase security
Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue Day
Traveling on glacial terrain can be inherently dangerous, difficult and complicated due to the variable nature of the terrain, the limited ability to scope out the hazards in advance and the serious consequences of falling into a crevasse. Even a minor fall into a crevasse can negatively affect the safety and success of the adventure.
Preventing a fall, or limiting the potential severity of a fall, into a crevasse while moving efficiently is the goal of glacier travel and requires practice and attention to detail. Further; if a fall does occur, rapid, organized and safe rescue is the goal of crevasse rescue.
Goals of the Day:
- Introduce basic concepts of glacier travel and crevasse rescue.
- Become familiar with equipment choices, use and inspection.
- Practice roped travel, self-rescue and partner rescue.
Choosing how to travel on glaciated terrain is usually the first and often most difficult decision to make. There are two basic ways to address glacier travel safety and they usually depend on the activity and/or the perceived level of hazard:
- Having the team roped up in advance and pre-equipped for self and team rescue. This is the more traditional mountaineering glacier travel approach.
- Traveling unroped and having rescue equipment available for team rescue. This is most common for heli ski and ski mountaineering descents.
Choosing how to rescue is the next difficult decision to make and requires a specific skill set and significant practice. We will dive into both of these approaches and learn about the intricacies of both travel and rescue in each situation. Basic skills covered throughout the day include:
- Introduction to the glaciated environment
- Anatomy of a glacier
- Hazard recognition
- Overview of equipment
- Basic Rope-work
- Knots and hitches
- Tie in methods and spacing
- Team size and how that affects security
- Moving as a team
- Strategies to increase security
- Crevasse Rescue
- Overview of incident response to a crevasse fall
- Snow anchors and load transfers
- Lowering systems
- Raising systems
- Rope ascending and descending
Summit Bid
After spending the last two days developing the skills necessary for a successful summit of Mount Shasta, it will be time for our own summit bid. An Alpine Start will kick off our day, as we move under the cover of the stars towards the summit. We’ll utilize all of our new skills as we climb the beautiful north side route. After a short celebration atop one of California’s most iconic peaks, we’ll begin our decent back to base camp where will we get some much needed rest before trekking back to the trailhead the following day.
The Hotlum Glacier is our first choice for this itinerary. However, depending on conditions, our guides will occasionally select a different route to accomplish the same goals.
Interested in this trip with a ski descent? Check out our private options!
Who Can Participate?
Aspiring mountaineers with excellent physical fitness who want to gain the basic skills of glacial travel and also reach a fun, challenging summit.
What’s Included
- Food on the mountain
- Group Gear: Tents, Camp Kitchen, etc. (Does not include bowl, fork, spoon, sleeping bag, or sleeping pad)
- Ropes and other Technical Equipment (Does not include mountaineering boots)
- Wilderness Permits
- Guide Fees
The Alpenglow Difference
With countless expeditions to high-altitude peaks around the world over the last 15 years, we bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to our beloved “home mountain”. Our teaching and guiding philosophy has been honed from the flanks of the Himalayan giants to the technical peaks of Peru, and we are beyond excited to be able to bring our program to this fantastic mountain. In addition to our international expedition roots, we are accredited by the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA), being one of the very few guide services in the region to hold such a high standard. Each of our guides is trained by the AMGA in the terrain in which they operate, and the program is supervised by internationally licensed IFMGA mountain guides. This high standard, along with our many years of experience, translates to a fantastic mountain adventure!
