Mountaineering Course
The complete grounding in alpine travel and glacier skills.
- Length: 4 Days
- Where: Squamish & Blackcomb
- Level: Intermediate
- Guide ratio: 1:5
- Price: $750 CAD per person
Four days to learn how the alpine actually works: roped glacier travel, crevasse rescue, self-arrest, snow and ice anchors, and the route-finding and judgment that tie it together — with hands-on practice the whole way and easy access to real alpine terrain.
This is the course I wish I'd taken first — it covers in four days what most people piece together over years.
What you'll cover
An evening lecture, a ground-school day at the Squamish Smoke Bluffs, then three days on the Blackcomb alpine — glacier travel, anchors, crevasse rescue, and mountain travel. Transportation to the alpine is included. Days run 7–8 hours.
Day by day
- Eve — Online lecture 7:00pm Zoom the night before: mountain formations, glaciology, and route planning.
- Day 1 — Smoke Bluffs Route planning, intro to gear, knots, and alpine climbing and rescue systems on Squamish rock.
- Day 2 — Onto the glacier Glacier travel, ice axe and self-arrest, and snow and ice anchors on the Blackcomb alpine.
- Day 3 — Crevasse rescue The full rescue sequence — arrest, anchor, haul — drilled on Blackcomb until it's second nature.
- Day 4 — Mountain travel Glacier and mountain travel, putting the whole toolkit together on real terrain.
What's included
- Guide specialist
- Transportation to the Blackcomb alpine
- Harness & helmets
- Ropes, anchors & belay devices
- Crampons & ice axe
Is this for me?
Good fitness — days run 7–8 hours. Bring mountaineering boots, lunch and water. No technical background required; we build from the ground up. Meets at the Squamish Adventure Centre.
What to bring
- Mountaineering boots (rental available)
- Lunch, water & warm layers
- A head for an early start