Glacier Training on Mount Baker

The climb of Mount Adams two weeks ago was exhilarating and exhausting, but an important element of mountaineering was [thankfully] lacking: ice. Glaciers present a new set of hazards and require specialized techniques to overcome them. It behooves every mountaineer to obtain training and plenty of practice such that, in an emergency, the mountaineer can immediately swing into action and apply rescue procedures quickly and correctly. We react how we train.



I was fortunate enough to spend this weekend camping with Brooke and Ryan next to a glacier on Mount Baker. Ryan had taken a glacier class from a mountaineering guide service the previous weekend and explained to us as much of the material as we could get through. On the glacier, we put these concepts into action. Here is a list of the glacier traversal and rescue procedures we covered.

• prusiking


• glacier traversal


• crevasse identification


• anchoring in snow


• anchoring in ice


• roping up


• self-arrest


• crevasse rescue


• ice climbing

The two-day trip consisted of the following events.

On Day 1, we: drove to Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, we hiked 2.5 miles from the trailhead to the camp site crossing numerous streams carrying glacier melt water down the volcano, setup camp, discussed rope climbing fundamentals, prusiked up a tree, had camp supper, enjoyed a view of the heavily glaciated face of Mount Baker, enjoyed discussion with some other climbers camping there, and I slept in a bivouac sack+thermarest+sleeping bag.

On Day 2, we: carried gear onto the glacier, practiced traversal techniques, climbed over some ice mounds, made all sorts of anchors, setup ropes, practiced rescue techniques, practiced self-arrests, ice climbed, broke camp, hiked out, and enjoyed a nice supper at a brewery in Bellingham.

What will eventually follow is a brief description of each of the hazards and techniques we trained for. The entire two-day trip was well documented, for the sake of both posterity and so I can review material. It will take several days to coalesce photos from two cameras and write things down, but I'll try to complete at least one section before the end of the week.

Coming soon: Prusiking