Some of the specific things you’ll be learning in this course include:
- Anchor building in snow, ice and rock
- Rope management techniques for multipitch technical climbs
- Equipment considerations/selection
- Ice climbing
- Mixed climbing
- Avalanche awareness
- Glacier travel and crevasse rescue
3 Day Intermediate Mountaineering Course
This is just a sample itinerary and there are several variations and alternatives that will depend on the conditions, group size and ability, fitness level, etc.
Day 1
Waterfall Ice and mixed climbing on Mt. Willard’s Hitchcock Gully. Hitchcock is a deep gash in the southeast face of Mt. Willard with more than 1000 feet of relief from top to bottom, and everything from steep snow to grade 3 waterfall ice to a short section of tricky mixed climbing up a verglassesed chimney. After completing the gully you’ll spend the rest of the day learning about how to safely descend a multipitch technical alpine climb. You’ll learn how to set up rappels, including an in depth look at V-threads, and the opportunity to set some of your your own. In the lower section of the gully you can try your hand (in a spot with no consequences for anchor failure) at rappelling off a bollard. You will have ample terrain to work on downclimbing, both facing in and out, glissading and self arrest.
Day 2
Shoestring Gully on Mt. Webster. This 2000-foot gully is one of the most classic alpine climbs in the White Mountains. The gully starts with low angle snow climbing and becomes steeper and more difficult as you gain elevation on Mt. Webster’s massive west face. The route culminates with 5-6 pitches of steep snow and bulges of grade 2/3 ice. At the top you can finish the route in the main gully, via steep snow, or you can exit right via a thin ice runnel and rock chimney. At the top you’ll pick up the Webster Cliff trail and follow it back down to the road. Shoestring is a great objective for practicing your footwork and axe techniques, as well as your efficiency with multipitch transitions, rope management, overall efficiency.
Day 3
We have two options for day three, depending on the group’s inclination. Option 1 is to spend the day at the base of Willey’s Slide working on various crevasse rescue scenarios. Option 2 is to climb a gully in Huntington Ravine such as Pinnacle, Odell’s, Yale or Damnation.
3 Day Intermediate Mountaineering Rates
Please note that this three day itinerary does not include an overnight. Eliminating the overnight allows you to get in three full days of instruction, without having to worry about all the logistics that go into setting up a winter camp. However, for teams that do want to gain more experience with winter camping, an overnight can easily be added into this itinerary. Our rates are calculated based on a per-day rate. Those rates are directly related to the number of people in your group.
Here is the breakdown for a typical 3-day course with one guide:
- Private (one person): $375 x 3 days = $1125
- Group of two: $250 x 3 days = $750 per person
- Group of three: $225 x 3 days = $675 per person
- Group of four: $195 x 3 days = $585 per person
- Group of five: $175 x 3 days = $525 per person
Here is the breakdown for a typical 3-day course with one overnight, and one guide:
- Private (one person): $375 x 3 days + $145 x 1 night = $1270
- Group of two: $250 x 3 days + $130 x 1 night = $880 per person
- Group of three: $225 x 3 days + $100 x 1 night = $775 per person
- Group of four: $195 x 3 days + $80 x 1 night = $665 per person
- Group of five: $175 x 3 days + $70 x 1 night = $595 per person
