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GLACIER SCHOOL

We welcome you to visit our new Everest View Glacier School website. There is more thorough information about this new trip, slideshows, photo galleries, video clips and much more. Thank you. Please also view our updated Cascade Glacier School website.

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1 week of glacier-travel, crevasse-rescue, ice-climbing, and snow-camping, including a summit attempt on a classic glaciated volcano near Seattle, Mount Baker.

Mt. Baker, at 3285 metres, is a massive, very high, isolated, and active volcano located several hours north of Seattle. It is the northernmost of the volcanoes in the contiguous United States. Up to 30 feet of annual snowfall means that the upper part of the volcano is covered by icy-crevassed glaciers. Mt. Baker looks massive from a distance, because it towers 2500 metres higher than the surrounding forests. It is an ideal place to learn and practice glacier rope techniques, ice-climbing, crevasse rescue and snow-camping, and is a challenging mountain to climb.

Please Register now for these dates:

First Level School: 11 to 18 July, 2009

Second Level School: 29 August to 5 September, 2009

To go to the second level school, you need to have completed the level one school.

Hello Friends. Would you like to join us for a glacier travel, crevasse rescue, ice climbing, snow-camping session including a climb of Mount Baker (at 3285 metres, the most northerly volcano in the 48 contiguous United States) for a week during July, August, and September? It is a good way for you to meet with some of our expedition leaders, including Daniel Mazur, and learn and hone your glacier travel and rescue and ice climbing skills. You can also test some of the equipment we use in the Himalaya too...

Ask lots of questions, then sign up for our glacier school: info@SummitClimb.com

We started this Glacier School, now in its fourth year, because we saw a need for people to meet our leaders, and to hone their glacier-climbing and snow-camping skills and test out equipment.

The course includes 6 days with our leaders, including Daniel Mazur, and it includes use of group equipment: stoves, fuel, cooking pots, tents, ropes, anchors, etcetera..

It does not include insurance, camping fees, forest entry permit fees, transport, accommodation, food, meals, drinks, expenses of a personal nature, personal equipment, unexpected expenses, etcetera. Bring your own glacier-travel equipment, or we can make suggestions as to where you can hire/rent, and/or purchase the necessary items. In order to get started, please take a look at our "EQUIPMENT LIST".

Pre-requisite note: We ask that you be familiar with roped climbing and descending. If you are not, please take a class at your local rock gym or from your local climbing club. Additionally, we request that you study a book about glacier travel, such as "Freedom of the Hills".

Fitness and physical training note: We do not ask that you be an Olympic champion to join this class. However we do request that you are in good physical condition. Its important that you exercise regularly, at least 4 times per week, during the 60 days prior to joining our school (please remember to get lots of rest and eat and drink correctly during training so you do not injure yourself). If you are not in good physical condition, please do not join our course. Thank you very much. For more information about training, please click here.

The famous Easton Glacier, looking toward the summit of Mount Baker.

We are offering two 1-week-long sessions, during the early Summer and early Autumn. 

Proposed Daily Itinerary:

Day 1, Saturday: Arrive in Seattle at "Sea-Tac" International airport (Seattle only has one airport, and the three letter code is SEA). You car-share with other members and rent/hire your own vehicle, meet at the airport, and then drive to Olympia, where you will sleep in a tent in Daniel Mazur's back yard/garden. You will be purchasing your own meals at local restaurants. If you wish to stay in a local "motel", at your own expense, that is also an option.

Day 2, Sunday: Wake up early, grab a bite to eat at a local cafe. Drive to Seattle, spend the day looking at climbing equipment, make your choices from the excellent range of very reasonably priced shops in Seattle, and hire/rent or purchase what you don't have. Go to a local grocery store and buy the food you will carry, cook and eat and for the next 5 days. After sipping some of the famous Seattle coffee and dining out in one of the many delicious local eateries, drive north to the foot of Mount Baker, set up camp and sleep in a tent in a forest-service campground.

Day 3, Monday: Wake up and cook your breakfast. Pack your rucksack, and hike for 5 hours (or so) up to the snow line. Cook your own dinner, and sleep in the tent you carried.

Day 4, Tuesday: Wake up, cook breakfast, pack your rucksack, and walk up onto the snowfield, and set up glacier camp. When we reach the snow, you will put on your glacier travel equipment and begin practicing immediately, especially glissading and self-arrest techniques. After setting up the camp, we will practice more in the afternoon, and begin learning about glacier travel. Cook your own dinner. Sleep in the tent you carried.

Day 5, Wednesday: Wake, up cook breakfast. A full-day of instruction on the glacier. Practice ice climbing, learn crevasse rescue, practice abseiling/rapelling, practice jumaring fixed lines, learn about route finding. Cook your own dinner. Sleep in the tent you carried.

Day 6, Thursday: Wake very early, cook breakfast. Go for the summit. Take photos, plant a flag. Return to glacier camp. Cook your own dinner. Sleep in the tent you carried.

Day 7, Friday: Wake up early, cook breakfast, break-down camp, and walk back to the car. Drive into Seattle, return hired equipment, and enjoy a huge meal, then continue driving to Olympia, where you will find a fun local watering-hole where we can all celebrate and exchange addresses, and then sleep in a tent in Daniel Mazur's back yard/garden. Or, feel free to stay in a "motel", where it might be easier to get cleaned-up.

Day 8, Saturday: Breakfast at a local restaurant. Drive yourself back up to the airport. Fly home.

Itinerary notes:

A. All members must participate in the full 8-day itinerary. It is not possible to arrive later, nor is it possible to depart earlier.

B. We are not able to accommodate people who wish to arrive in Seattle earlier, nor are we able to help those who wish to stay later. If you choose to make a longer trip, you will be "on your own". We ask that you arrive at Daniel Mazur's house in Seattle during reasonable hours, that is, before Midnight on Saturday.

Looking down toward the Roman Nose, from near the summit.

Transport note: You will be sharing a hired/rented car with people you have not met and you will be subject to the vagaries of their driving habits, bad roads, foreign drivers, etcetera. We have not had a problem with this in the past, but just wanted to let you know....

Travel insurance which covers any travel mishap, and includes climbing rescue, is mandatory. In most places in the world, it is easily available, and inexpensive. For example, in Britain, get yours from the British Mountaineering Council in Manchester on: 0161 445 4500. In the US, you can buy yours from Lynn at STA Travel: 206-329-4567. In France, the CAF provides good insurance. In Germany, it is the DAV. If it is not available in your country, we will accept a waiver letter and your credit card, authorizing any necessary payment to be taken from your card.

What to do now: Ask a lot of questions, think about it carefully, then register for the course.

Reviewing lots of equipment in the front garden, before making our shopping trip to hire and purchase the needed bits and pieces. A break during the 3 hour walk from the trailhead to our basecamp on the glacier, where we will practice our glacier travel, rope, and crevasse techniques (Magnus Nerve).

Kirsti and Moe practicing their ice skills. Magnus taking a break while learning how to place and retrieve ice screws. Stan practicing abseiling/rappelling (Magnus Nerve).

Glacier School new friends Patrick and Kirsti (Roland DeBare). Resting in the tent before going for the summit (Magnus Nerve).

Sunrise just below the summit, on a beautiful morning (Roland DeBare). Our glacier school gang on the summit. Back at home in the kitchen with new friends.Thanks for joining! (Magnus Nerve).

FEEDBACK FROM PAST PARTICIPANTS:

Here is what people are saying about a recent Glacier School session: 

Clark from Texas says: "I just wanted to thank the both of you for a really great week. Your instruction and guidance were superb. And thanks for opening up your house to a bunch of strangers. I hope we can repay the favour some time soon. I look forward to using your services in the future on a Himalayan adventure. Please let Eric know how much we appreciate his help also..."

Here is what Bruce from England has to say: "A really great week - I thought it was handled with your normal cool approach and good humour. I would not have missed it for a moment."

Chris from Australia says: 

"The organization of the climb? Organization of the climb itself was as good as you would want it to be. Our schedule worked well.

The logistics of the shopping and renting gear in Seattle? It worked out. A hectic day, but we got everything done. Second Ascent was a good choice.

The camping on the glacier? Nice and close to our training ground. Spacious, with all the amenities!

The day of glacier-crevasse training? Fun times! Good training.

Climbing the upper mountain through the crevasses and snowfields? VERY interesting and exciting! More a mental test than a physical one. Just keep chugging uphill!

The last night in Olympia? In/out motel - short lived, but we got showered and a few hours sleep.

Ask lots of questions, then sign up for our glacier school: info@SummitClimb.com

Please visit and learn about our other expeditions:
 

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