GLACIER TRAVEL AND SKI MOUNTAINEERING

This weekend’s storm has been a welcome relief for the area. As the days have been getting longer and the snowfall less, trending thoughts toward spring and summer activities have been pretty inevitable. But, there is still  at least another month (or three!) of snow sliding, depending how keen you are. This little bit of weekend snow is a good push to start thinking about longer spring missions, mountaineering objectives and glacier travel plans.

As with anything in the backcountry, it is recommended to have some kind of crevasse rescue training before venturing into bigger, glaciated terrain. Having the right equipment to recover from a fall, as well as understanding and using techniques to travel safely is as much a part of the adventure as it is to have a beacon/probe/shovel as you start to climb any skin track. 

If you’re interested in learning a little bit about glacier travel and winter mountaineering, or you’d like a short refresher and some tips to this kind of travel, check out this recent article by one of Wild Snow’s blog contributors and IFMGA guide, Ian Nicholson. There are some great points regarding types of rope to be used, when to rope up, how many people to have in a group vs how many should be roped up while travelling, tool tips, probing and other travel tips, and even a little bit about using GPS or other maps for travel. A highly recommended read, check it out!