Mountaineering school training courses in Arvada, CO (public, in-house or online)

provides students with a combination of skills and practical experience in the fundamentals of mountaineering. Emphasis is placed on basic climbing skills and techniques, equipment usage, safety systems, mountain travel and awareness, problem solving and decision-making, high altitude climate and weather, wilderness ethics, and physical fitness.

Summit views are always spectacular, but they are especially appreciated after an exhilarating and exposed ascent, without the aid of marked trails. We begin this course with an introduction to equipment and clothing for warm weather adventures and the essentials of trip planning and navigation.

After this introduction, we’re off to a nearby small peak, where we’ll practice using map, compass, and altimeter to find our way, off-trail, to the base of an open slide. Without getting into the...

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If you want to gain the skills needed to “summit�an Adirondack peak in midwinter, this two-day course is a great way to do it. We begin instruction with an introduction to equipment and clothing for cold weather adventures and the essentials of trip planning and navigation. After this introduction, we’re off to learn about using crampons with a single ice axe. You will learn the basics of French and International technique and practice these skills on ice and snow close to the road. Without get...

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Navigation technologies are rapidly evolving and offer the potential for better planned outdoor adventures along with greater accuracy in determining your whereabouts. Unfortunately, to realize the benefits of many of these technologies, the investments in time and equipment are often substantial. In some cases, you need to lug expensive, specialized gadgets, with limited battery life. In other cases, steep learning curves and limited functionality lead people to conclude that the information ga...

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Most outdoor enthusiasts have a pretty good idea of how to get where they are going on trails, or when following obvious terrain features, under good conditions. Knowing just the basics of reading a map and that a compass points north, may be enough under these conditions but, without specific skills beyond these obvious basics, there is little margin for error if you wander into more complex environments or weather conditions. Without visual clues, reliable navigation requires tools and a knowl...

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