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Mountaineering is about so much more than reaching the summit—it's about embracing the journey and all of the lessons it has to offer. As you learn to navigate steep snowfields, master the art of rope management, and conquer technical terrain, you'll discover a sense of empowerment that will stay with you long after the course has ended.
During our first day together, we'll spend time at Mt. Erie reviewing the basics of knots, hitches and rope management, before growing our skills on the bigger stage of Mt. Baker. Also known as Koma Kulshan to the indigenous Lummi people, Mt. Baker is the is the perfect place for our group to learn and practice essential mountaineering skills like snow and glacier travel.
This course is designed for women of all levels, from complete beginners to seasoned climbers looking to expand their skills. Led by American Mountain Guide Association Alpine Guide Lani Chapko , you'll learn essential mountaineering techniques on one of Washington's most beautiful volcanos.
During this course you'll have the opportunity to practice skills at the crag and in the mountains. We'll spend our first day together at Mt. Erie, in Anacortes, WA to refresh our rope skills and ensure the entire group is growing from the same foundation. After getting in some reps of knots, hitches and systems, we'll take our talents to the mountains to practice essential mountaineering techniques.
As we ascend Mt. Baker, each day presents new opportunities to put our skills into practice. With the guidance of your experienced instructors, you'll learn important skills such as snow travel, self-arrest, and crevasse rescue. These skills are vital to any mountaineering objective and enable you to be a safe and competent partner in the backcountry.
After our day of climbing in Anacortes, we'll spend the night in Bellingham. You'll be on your own for accommodations, although we do recommend staying indoors so you'll have the chance to sort your gear and pack you bag for our time in the mountains.
The following three nights will be spent camping at various campsite on Mt. Baker. As we will be deep in the backcountry, there are no established amenities. Our team will bring everything we need to set up camp, treat water, and deal with our waste. She Moves Mountains can provide backpacks, sleeping bags, pads, water filters, and stoves for participants as needed. We will coordinate with participants beforehand to figure out the sharing of tents.
While this isn't a culinary experience, it is important to ensure that we are all fueled and fed during our journey. To kick off our first evening together, we'll have a group welcome dinner in Bellingham after our first day of climbing at Mt. Erie.
For the backcountry portion of our trip, we ask that you bring your own freeze-dried dinners, breakfasts, and snacks. She Moves Mountains will provide guidance on what to bring. There is an REI in Bellingham where we can help you pick out freeze-fried meals if needed.
The weather on Mt. Baker is highly variable and changes from year to year depending on snow levels and temperature. While we do our best to choose a time of year with the best chances to summit, it is difficult to forecast the conditions for a given year. Given the variability of weather and snow conditions, it's essential for climbers to remain flexible and open-minded.
An important skill in mountaineering is reading the weather and making conservative decisions about when to climb and when to turn around. With four days on the mountain, we have some flexibility to shift our plans to take advantage of the best weather window to summit. Certain weather conditions, like thunderstorms or significant rain, could make a safe ascent impossible.
It's important to remember this course is about learning skills, not the summit. But we will certainly do our best, while making conservative decisions, to get the group to the summit.
PAYMENT INFORMATION
Cost: $2,150
EVENT DATES:
June 24th - 28th
Here is a link to our cancellation policy. We strongly suggest purchasing trip protection to protect your investment as we will not modify our cancellation policy under any circumstance.
WHAT’S INCLUDED:
WHAT’S NOT INCLUDED:
GETTING TO ANACORTES:
OPTIONAL:
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS: .
Note:
We will host this retreat rain or shine. If the weather is poor we will propose alternative activities such as technical skills lessons (anchor building, self-rescue, multi-pitch) or hiking. If poor weather would make you want to cancel we recommend looking into Cancel For Any Reason trip protection.
Our adventure begins with a foundational skills session at Mt. Erie, focusing on essential skills. We'll gather for a meet and greet, followed by a thorough gear check and review of basic skills such as equipment handling, tie-ins, and belays. In the afternoon, we'll delve into more advanced techniques including knots, hitches, rappelling, and mechanical advantage raises. We'll have a trip debrief in the evening to ensure we're all on the same page, before our group welcome dinner and packing up our gear.
Accommodations: None, but we recommend staying in a hotel in Bellingham.
We'll rise early in the morning to make our way to Heliotrope Ridge, where'll commence our hike to our campsite, Hogsback Camp nestled just below the glacier. In the afternoon, we'll transition to snow school, focusing on footwork, crampon usage, ice axe techniques, snow climbing, and self-arrest skills.
Accommodations: Camping at Hogsback camp (6,000')
In the morning we'll kick things off with glacier skills training, where we'll focus on glacier travel techniques such as footwork, crampons, ice axe, snow climbing, and self-arrest before moving to high camp.
In the afternoon, we'll learn and practice crevasse rescue.Depending on weather, this day can also include a summit attempt.
Accommodation: Camping at Black Butte camp (7,200')
Another early morning as we set out to ascend Mt. Baker via the Coleman-Deming route. After summiting, we'll return back to our camp at Black Butte for the night.
Please note, depending on weather our route may change.
Accommodation: Camping at Black Butte camp (7,200')
Depending on weather, this may also be a window to summit. Depending on our schedule, we'll descend our last day back to our cars, and celebrate our accomplishments with a farewell lunch or dinner in Glacier at Chair 9. From there we'll say our goodbyes and head our separate ways.
Yes we have 2 types of payment options:
Please visit our PAYMENT PLAN page for more information.
We have a very strict cancellation policy. Please review it before committing to this retreat.
We will not modify our cancellation policy under any circumstances (if you get sick, injured, or have an emergency). For this reason we highly recommend purchasing trip protection. HERE is a great article by Forbes that covers their favorite plans.
This must be purchased through a trip insurance agency.
Yes! This course is designed to teach all the skills of mountaineering, from ground zero. There will be very minimal rock climbing during our time at Mt. Erie as we are learning the foundation climbing skills. When we are on the mountain, we will be keeping both feet on the ground and using our rope and knot skills from our day of climbing.
All of our retreats are rain or snow or smoke or shine. We do our best to choose dates where this won't be an issue, but it's always a possibility. Even more so with the changing climate. If poor weather occurs we will propose alternative activities such as movement skills at the climbing gym, technical skills lessons such as anchor building or multi-pitch clinics, or hiking.
If poor weather will ruin your experience we suggest that you purchase "cancel for any reason" trip protection as we will not be providing any refunds due to weather related issues.
This course is probably best for someone who is not totally new to camping, because we don't have a lot of time built in to teach these skills. If you are interested in growing your still in the backcountry, we recommend enrolling in our Beginner Backpacking retreat to learn how to safely and confidently camp in the backcountry.
We aim to keep our packs at about 40 pounds. Our guides will help you in planning what to pack to ensure the most efficient gear makes it into your pack. You will also be asked to carry some group gear, which will also be factored in as the group packs. up.
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