Glacier School

Glacier School is an instructional trip for learning the basics of general mountaineering. The trip takes place over a weekend in early september.

2006

What is Glacier School? Glacier School is a 2-day (weekend) course intended to teach safe and efficient means of travelling over glaciers. Instruction is designed for beginners to snow and glacier travel. Students with more glacier experience will also have an oppurtunity to take on more demanding activities during the weekend.

Who can take the course? Since we will be focussing on teaching glacier skills, it is expected that all students have some experience in backpacking and camping. If you’ve never touched snow or ice before but are into trying something new, this course is for you.

When is it? The course itself will be on a weekend in late September. We will leave Vancouver very early on Saturday morning and return in the late evening on Sunday. There will also be a MANDATORY DRY SCHOOL.

Where will it be held? See past history.

How much does it cost? $5. Your $5 pays for photocopying of useful information booklets that you’ll get at DRY SCHOOL. The instructors are entirely volunteering. You will, however, be expected to chip in $15-$20 for gas to and from Vancouver. If you borrow gear from the club, a $20 per item deposit will be collected at DRY SCHOOL. But you’ll get that money back.

What Happens at DRY SCHOOL? There will be a brief introduction to Glacier travel before we outline what’s to be expected for the weekend. Then, we’ll arrange transportation and camping groups, collect your $5, sell prussik cord (about $5 as well), lend out VOC gear ($20 deposit per item… max of 4 items each…more likely 1 or 2). And finally we’ll teach a few rope skills that will come in handy on the weekend, and maybe even put those prussik cords to use.

Just about everything except the instruction is your own responsibility, so that includes gear, insurances, passports, and rides. There will be a mandatory dry school on Sept 14th to sort out these issues and more.

Expectations

Students should expect to learn the following skills:

• Knots for mountaineering
• Travelling over snow and ice with crampons
• Self Arrest
• Snow and ice anchors
• Crevasse resuce
• Belaying techniques for mountaineering

The prerequisites for being a student at glacier school are minimal. Students must have overnight backpacking experience. Some rope skills (such as belaying, common climbing knots, etc) are desireable but not absolutely necessary.

Instructors for glacier school are club members who volunteer their time, and are not professional guides. If you don't feel comfortable taking responsibility for your own life in the context of an informal course advised by VOC instructors, you should take a mountaineering course offered by a professional guiding service.

Gear List

Individual Gear

The following is a list of equipment that every student must have.

Glacier travel

• ice axe (general mountaineering type)
• helmet
• harness (best if leg loops are fully adjustable)
• 3 locking carabiners
• Belay device (optional)
• prussik cords - one each of 5mm x 1.5m and 5mm x 2.5m are suggested*
• crampons
• hiking or mountaineering boots appropriate for use on snow and with crampons
• sunglasses
• gaiters
• clothing to deal with cold, wind, rain and snow, including sliding bodily on wet snow

Note: The VOC has some of this stuff and will lend it out to students. If there’s not enough, some borrowing or renting from MEC will have to fill the voids. Visit www.mec.ca and search for "rental." Please plan ahead.

You’ll need 2 “prussik” cords (Don’t worry if you have no idea what that is). We’ll be selling it for about $5 per set at DRY SCHOOL.

Overnight

• Sleeping bag
• Sleeping pad
• personal toiletries
• a group with tent, stove, pots, etc
• headlamp

Team Gear

Each team will need the following equipment. Your instructor can probably supply most of this stuff

• climbing rope 8.5mm+
• snow pickets
• anchor slings
• ice screws
• pulley

History

16th-17th September 2006

Held at Anniversary Glacier. Photos are available on the VOC Gallery.

17th-18th September 2005

Mt. Baker (Easton Glacier). 3+ hour drive SE of Vancouver. Dry conditions, and no snow patches for instruction and practice off the glacier.

11th-12th September 2004

Glacier School was held at the Anniversary Glacier near Joffre Lakes. In inclement weather coniditions, most people stayed in Keith's Hut. There are only a handful of decent camping spots nearby the hut. This would have been a problem had the weather not been so bad that there were no members of the public wanting to use the hut. Despite dry conditions on the glacier, there were good snow patches below the SE face of Joffre.

September 2003

Glacier school was held at the Easton Glacier on Mount Baker

September 2002

Galcier school was held at the Coleman Glacier on Mount Baker for the third consecutive year. We were fined by the US National Forest rangers for having a group larger than 12 people.

September 2001

Held at Coleman Glacier.

September 2000

Held at Coleman Glacier.

September 1999

Held at the Anniversary Glacier. We camped at the glacial lake formed by the terminal morain, out of sight of Keith's Hut. Since the winter had seen record breaking snowfall, the glacier was still in "spring" conditions. I am not sure how good of a venue this would have been otherwise (where to self arrest when all you have is ice?).