One fine body…
The AT/Ski Mountaineering course is designed to acquaint CMC members with the skills, attitudes, and awareness needed for ski mountaineering tours. Participants will be prepared for trips such as 14ers in Colorado or ski traverses like the Haute Route in the Alps. Students should be proficient on backcountry equipment (AT, telemark, split boards) and with advanced skiing ability.
The goal is to prepare CMC members to make the transition from skiing groomed slopes at resorts to touring the off-piste environment in the mountains. The focus of the course is on the skills needed to ascend and descend ski mountaineering routes in Colorado and other locations, such as California, the Pacific Northwest, Canada, and Europe. Although terrain requiring technical gear such as crampons, ice axes, ropes, etc., may be encountered during the field trips, the school will not cover glacier travel and crevasse rescue. Students interested in acquiring those skills are encouraged to enroll in the CMC High Altitude Mountaineering School (HAMS) or the Advanced Mountaineering School (AMS).
The format of the course includes a series of lectures and field sessions that cover gear, travel techniques, self-arrest, emergency shelters, avalanche assessment (analysis, risk minimization, rescue), route finding, navigation, general mountaineering techniques, weather, group leadership, trip planning and accident management.
The course consists of three evening lectures and five field trips. Four of the field trips are day trips; the fifth trip requires a backpack and camping in winter conditions. Lectures are held in the Baker Room of the American Mountaineering Center in Golden and start at 7:00 a.m.
bmswinter@cmcboulder.org
Enrollment in the school is on an application basis. Interested individuals should contact one of the co- or associate directors of the school to obtain an application form (see Appendix). Requests for waivers of prerequisite requirements should be made at the time of application.
Ski Mountaineering Clinic Application Student Responsibilities and Liability Release (all applicants need to sign!)