How's your Glacier Travel Skills with Skis/Board?

Some of you have mentioned that you'd like to be alerted when the next Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue Class for Skiers and Boarders comes up at the Seattle Mounties.  <br><br>Last night was the lead instructor's "improvements meeting" for this coming season's annual course.  Lots of suggested improvements and changes to the course were tested, some discarded and some implemented.  Because of this focused leadership the course continues to improve every year.  It promises to be another great course this year.<br><br>Many have told me this is the best course for traveling in the backcountry that they have ever taken.  If you have taken the course and agree, please chime in.<br>The major benefit of this course to me is the opportunity to go back each year and refresh and sharpen my skills for roped travel on skis so that I can be a more valuable bc ski partner.  Many others on this site seem to feel the same way, as we were well represented at the this instructor's meeting.  JW, Stefan, Kam, Skip, Allison, Monika, CascadeFreak (Chris) and, of course, the class leader, Darryl, just to name a few, were in attendance.<br><br>There will be two instructor's refreshers prior to the beginning of the course, one indoors and one on snow, to get all of this season's instructors up to speed.  So if you are a past graduate and would like to help out with the course and update your skills at the same time, be sure and let Darryl know. (www.turns-all-year.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB...file;username=Darryl)  You will need to attend those refreshers to be included as a course instructor.

For those that have not attended the course as a student, this is a rare opportunity to sharpen, or develop from scratch, your glacier travel and crevasse rescue skills.  It is the only class I know of where these skills are taught to be utilized while on skis and snowboards.  And for 100 stones for 10 + hours of indoor workshops and a two day field trip where you actually get to go down into a real crevasse on Rainier with all your ski/snowboard gear and pack on, I believe it's a real bargain.  More info on the course is at www.mountaineers.org/skiing/ (click on "Glacier Travel")

You have to be a member of the Mountaineers to attend the class.  If not already a member you can sign up at www.mountaineers.org/ .  Graduates are encouraged to return each year (at no cost) to help instruct.  This helps keep the cost down for first time students and give the instructors a means to continue improving their skills, and the course; a win-win situation for us all.<br><br>The course starts March 29th and enrollment is limited to 25 students.  Be advised, this course always sells out and happens only one time each season.  I'm posting this notice because I would prefer it if ALL our TAY family were at least grads of this course, and preferably instructors.  Regisrtation is open NOW.  I'd sugest you take care of this right away, if you care to join us, and become a safer GT partner.<br><br>Let us know if you sign up so we can be looking for you in the class.<br>Rock on  

Ron - thanks for the posting the information on the Glacier Skiing/Snowboarding and Crevasse Rescue course.<br><br>As he has for the last two years, Dale Rankin, our course creator, is organizing a techniques investigation field trip for former and current instructors of the course. This field trip takes place concurrently with the course field trip on the Nisqually Glacier on April 24. Examples of the techniques that have or will be investigated are: middle person rescue, tension release knots, prusiking over the crevasse lip unassisted, two person rescue, knotting the rope, and others.<br><br>If you are a former instructor, contact me if you are interested. You must attend the two instructor refresher training workshops: March 19 and March 22.

Thanks, Ron and Darryl, I'm in.

That's great, Greg!<br>You are one of the folks I was thinking of when I put up the post. You'll have a lot of fun and learn some cool stuff. See you there

I imagine the answer is no but I'm going to ask anyway: Could I join the field practice on the Nisqually without attending the mid-week workshops? As a Portland resident it'd be impossible for me to attend the mid-week classes. <br><br>Unfortunately the Mazams have nothing close to this.<br>

I imagine the answer is no but I'm going to ask anyway: Could I join the field practice on the Nisqually without attending the mid-week workshops?

Jeff, I imagine the answer is no but I'm going to ask anyway: Would you still join the Mounties and then pay the $100 enrollment fee just to attend the field trip? <br>Even if you would there's a few other challenges to deal with, not the least of which is that of convincing the people you rope up with to go out on the glacier that you would, in fact, have the skills to rescue them as effectively as the other folks in the class who attended all the workshops.<br>With that and the other challenges I've yet to mention, I'd offer that you'd be better off leaving work an hour or two early once a week and doing the 6 hour RT commute from Portland 4 times. Not any worse than working two jobs one day a week. Some folks do it all week long. <br>With what you learned you could pioneer the same program at the Mazamas so no one else would have to rack up equivalent torture points.<br>Rock on

I imagine the answer is no but I'm going to ask anyway: Could I join the field practice on the Nisqually without attending the mid-week workshops? <br>

<br><br>Jeff - thanks for your interest. The answer is no. The course isn't set up to support "at home learning" for the workshops. We use the workshops to assess if the students understand the techniques well enough to be safe on the glacier.

i would like to chime in (this is not an ad, btw).<br><br>this will be my fourth year participating in the course. (the first year i was a student, then i came back the following years to volunteer as an instructor.) before taking the course, i "cluelessly" wandered onto several glaciers without understanding the risks involved.  fortunately though, my experiences were uneventful. but had an accident occurred, i would not have been prepared to deal with it, both in knowledge and experience.  a friend of mine brought the course to my attention.  i decided to take it because in the past i had put the time into taking avalanche/backcountry classes, as well as learning the proper techniques in climbing, so i figured that learning how to safely travel across a glacier wouldn't hurt.  in the end, it was worth every penny and more!<br><br>anyway, the Mountaineer's GTCR course was eye-opening.  i learned that rescuing a victim requires a tremendous amount of coordination and work.  that concept was completely foreign to me until i got to experience it for myself.  hauling someone out of a hole requires teamwork, knowledge and experience. the GTCR course gave me a chance to find that out, but in a controlled situation. also, it was especially humbling when i was lowered into a crevasse in the Nisqually Glacier -- i'll never forget the first time i was lowered and suspended inside of a deep and dark freezer and had to attempt self-rescue.  i don't ever want to fall into one of these:<br><br> <br><br>so for me, the class gave me the opportunity to learn first hand the risks of glacier travel and how to minimize/avoid them.  it gave me some confidence. it prepared me with the knowledge and experience to deal with an emergency situation.  additionally, i learned basic glacier travel techniques (e.g., route finding), knots, building anchors, self-arrest, how to use my gear, etc.  in my opinion, the need to take this course is the same as the need to take an avalanche course to familiarize oneself with the risks of avalanches and how to be safe.  since i enjoy skiing/climbing on glaciers, it made perfect sense to take it.<br><br>overall, the course was worth every penny, and i volunteer each year as a way to keep what i've learned fresh in my mind.  also, it's a good way to meet/connect with people who share the same interests.  i think Dale, Darryl, Ron, Jeanette, Tom, Gerry, and others from the Mountaineers have done a wonderful job putting the course together. please consider taking it.<br><br> click here for photos from past field trips <br><br>i have a 15-minute video that shows a typical rescue scenario involving three skiers on a glacier and one skier falls into a hole while the other two perform the rescue.  it's a home-video (i.e., low quality) and i'll post it up soon for those interested to download.<br><br>-kam  <br>

Jeff - thanks for your interest.  The answer is no.

<br>That is perfectly understandable. Thanks for entertaining the question.

Kam - interesting hearing your story on the GT class... and GREAT pics. <br>So is Greg the only one of us that's signing up?

I've been mostly lurking on the board for the last couple of years. <br><br>Anyways, my boyfriend and I are both registered for the course

That's great. ultragrrl. We'll look forward to meeting you both.<br>You know it hasn't been very many years ago when MadDog was the only female instructor helping with the course. It's good to see the gender imbalance equalizing in this course. Females add a lot of needed balance to a bc ski group.<br>Amy, mentioned yesterday that she's signed up, too.