Glacier School
Introduction
What is Glacier School?
Glacier School is a 2-day (weekend) course intended to teach safe and efficient means of traveling over glaciers. The School is divided into two courses: 1) Glacier 1 is designed for beginners to snow and glacier travel. It is expected that you have previous backpacking and camping experience. 2) Glacier 2 is for students with previous glacier experience that want to learn more advanced skills or to climb a peak.
How much does it cost?
In 2009 we sold prussics for $5 to those who needed them (sold 23). We did not print a handout. We charged all students to Glacier 1, XXXXX, to cover the cost of 8 liters of red wine, poo bags, and we intend to compensate the Flavelles for the use of their outhouse (though perhaps nobody used it).
$5 Photocopying/Surprise fee + $25 gas money + gear rental deposit
Please bring CASH for all expenses (preferably small change). Your $5 pays for photocopying of useful information booklets that you’ll get at DRY SCHOOL. Also, we’ll have a little treat for everybody on Saturday night, as we camp below the glacier. The leaders are entirely volunteering. You will be expected to chip in $25 for gas to and from Vancouver. If you borrow gear from the club a $40 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, stove and tent groups, collect your $5 fee, sell prussik cords, lend out VOC gear (max of 4 items each), and finally we’ll teach a few rope skills that will come in handy on the weekend.
Expectations Students should expect to learn the following skills:
- Knots for mountaineering
- Traveling over snow and ice with crampons
- Self Arrest
- Snow and ice anchors
- Crevasse rescue
- 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 desirable 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.
Handout
In 2009, the Veenstras totally revised the handout which we supply to participants of Glacier 1. Unfortunately it runs to 18 pages and needs a color printer to adequately show the knots. This document is excellent and should perhaps be printed and sold to participants rather than having them print their own, because lots of people don't have color printers or they are lazy or they want to save money.
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. See below.
- 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 $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
Past Events
September 2009
Glacier School 2009 was held at the Anniversary Glacier. Glacier (2) was at Mt Baker.
The Anniversary Glacier was pretty well snow-free, making bad conditions for practicing ice axe arrests. The weather was atrocious on Saturday but Sunday was sunny and warm. We had 40 people camped below the glacier. The Hut was being renovated and re-supplied with firewood, so we were not welcome there.
September 2008
Glacier School 2008 was held at the Anniversary Glacier. Glacier (2) was at Joffre Lakes. Weather was somewhat miserable both days.
15th-16th September 2007
Glacier School 2007 was held at the Anniversary Glacier.
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. Weather was cold and wet.
11th-12th September 2004
Glacier School was held at the Anniversary Glacier near Joffre Lakes. In inclement weather conditions, 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
Glacier 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 moraine, 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?).