Winter Climbing School News

Winter Climbing School News



News of our recent expedition: Winter Climbing School
 
10 of us spent a week doing the www.WinterGlacierSchool.org . It was very fun. Everyone met at the leader's house and some people slept on couches and floors, while others got a local motel room. After a delicious team breakfast, we spent a day checking our individaul and group gear and went to local mountain shops to rent or buy what we needed. There are so many mountain shops here, so there were a lot of choices. We went up to the mountain and set up our tents in the snow, rigged our harnesses, practiced roped glacier travel techniques, avalanche beacon location, snowshoeing and skiing. After the class we came down the mountain and had a nice dinner together, a beautiful ocean boatride, and a big bonfire on the beach. It was fun to meet everyone, to hang out, to climb together, and make new friends.

Please join our next winter Glacier School and please check out our Summer Glacier School too: www.SeattleGlacierSchool.org .
 


Martha skinning up her skis to head up the mountain.Practicing safe vertical ice climbing.

Blog posts: Please click one of the links below to go directly to that blog post or just scroll down.

6 January:
5 January:
4 January:
3 January:
2 January:
1 January:



Stewart Wolfe and Ari Karchin belaying Ridlon Kiphart and Jaime Herriot on the ice wall. Tak Ogasawara and Victor Masny studying the snow layers and temperature in an avalanche test pit they dug.



After setting up a belay, Eric McPherson decides to ski down. Member are posing for photo. Winter School. Photo by Victor Mesny



Tak Ogasawara and Dan ready for action. Practicing abseiling and ascending on fixed ropes and ice.
 

6 January: Departure from mountain, 7 January: Return flight home. It’s always hard to say goodbye, but we saw our members off to their flights home and can’t wait for them to join us again on higher peaks around the world now that they have the skills necessary to be successful.

5 January: Winter glacier school activities day;After breakfast, went up a variety of non-technical snow terrain with excellent views of the surrounding glaciers to find vertical ice to practice climbing. Setting up safe anchors, we belayed one another as the team tried using 2 ice-axes on steep ice sheets. Members also spent today socializing with new friends while hiking the trail enjoying the high mountain environment.

4 January: Winter glacier school activities day;Classes Begin: After an early breakfast, we went over roping up and walking as a team. We climbed some of the hills surrounding camp and practiced building snow anchors while belaying one another from them. We finished the day by practicing self-arrest and glissading with our ice axes as we descended back to camp. At camp, we made dinner, socialized, and had an excellent view of the mountain from our sleeping-bags.

3 January:Travel to mountain, ski/snowshoe in and set up camp;Today, we packed our rucksacks and cars in Olympia and caravanned to the mountain. On our way, we stopped at a grocery store for the food that would need on the mountain throughout the week. Arriving at the parking lot, we started by getting group gear sorted and permits organized before we hiked up to the snow. After practicing and learning snow travel techniques along the way we arrived at the glacial moraine where we set up camp, cooked dinner, and got a good night’s rest for school the next day.

2 January: Gear check and equipment hire/rental and purchase;We kicked off the day with some of the coffee or tea that made Seattle famous. Then we metin the expedition leader’s kitchen for a mandatory meeting at 8:30. After grabbing a group breakfast at a local café, the expedition leaders, along with experienced climbers, went through the equipment needed. We then split up and checked individual equipment, answering questions that arose. Next, the group carpooledto local outdoor shops where participants could buy, try out, or rent equipment. We then finished the day off with dinner at a local restaurant before making our way back to SummitClimb headquarters for the evening.

1 January: 20 team members of men and women from around the world arrived today at SummitClimb headquarters; Some of the true adventurous climbers sleep on the floor of my house, while others decided to go to an inexpensive motel to fight the jetlag in private.










 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 
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