North Conway, New Hampshire
ICE CLIMBING & MOUNTAINEERING

Winter Climbing 101- Basic Ice Climbing & Mountaineering Skills

Join us on this course for some great climbing on both snow and ice, and you’ll come away with a full understanding of the fundamentals of winter climbing. It all starts here for people headed toward the winter pursuits of ice climbing or winter mountaineering. In this full-day course, we will outfit you with all the gear required to move on steep snow and moderate-angled ice. READ MORE

Skill Level: Beginner

Length: 8 hours

Prerequisites: No previous climbing experience required

Meeting Location: North Conway Eastern Mountain Sports

Mt. Washington Ascent

The tallest peak in New England is an even greater challenge in winter. Over half of the 8.2 mile round trip is above treeline where conditions can be famously harsh. Mt. Washington still holds the world record for the highest land wind speed at 231 mph and winter wind chill factor reaching a staggering -50 degrees!

If facts like these get your competitive juices flowing, our experienced guides will provide all the technical gear you need (ice axe, crampons and boots) to take on Mt. Washington at its toughest. While no prior mountaineering experience is required, we do recommend taking our Winter Climbing 101 course so you can make your ascent with total confidence. READ MORE

Skill Level: Beginner

Length: 8-10 hours

Prerequisites: No previous mountaineering experience required, but a good level of fitness essential

Meeting Location: North Conway Eastern Mountain Sports

Ice Climbing Fast Track (2 days)

Join us on this course for some great climbing on both snow and ice, and you’ll come away with a full understanding of the fundamentals of winter climbing. In this 2-day course, we combine our Winter Climbing 101 and our Ice Climbing 201 courses to provide a comprehensive 2-day ice climbing experience which focuses on the very foundation skills of ice climbing and winter mountaineering while providing an opportunity to test your ice climbing skills on steeper terrain. READ MORE

Skill Level: Beginner

Length: 2 days, 8 hours each day

Prerequisites: No previous climbing experience required

Meeting Location: North Conway Eastern Mountain Sports

Accelerated Mountaineering (3 days)

This is our most popular winter program, and a solid foundation for anyone headed to Mt. Rainier, Mt. McKinley, or similar objectives. Your three individual days of instruction begin with our Winter Climbing 101 course where we’ll teach you the basics of hiking above treeline with crampons and an ice axe. On day two, you will apply the skills you learned on your first day on a moderately-angled snow and ice route. Finally, on day three, you’ll put everything you’ve learned to the test with a thrilling summit attempt of Mt. Washington or one of the Adirondacks High Peaks! As a combination of the educational and the experiential, this course is tough to beat and you’ll come away from it with a comprehensive understanding of what serious winter mountaineering is all about. READ MORE

Skill Level: Beginner

Length: 3 days, 8 hours each day

Prerequisites: No previous climbing experience required

Meeting Location: North Conway Eastern Mountain Sports

Mountaineering 201- Intermediate Mountaineering Skills

Looking at classic mountaineering objectives out West, or the committing winter ascents of the East? Then we’ll take the skills you learned in Winter Climbing 101 and apply them on a long route that will get you way up above the valley. In Winter Mountaineering 201, we’ll review the basics, then head up a route of moderate-angled snow and ice. We’ll cover lots of ground, protecting the party while moving together on the rope, and belaying the sections that require more care. Route selection, hazard assessment, and decision-making in the mountains all come into play as we steadily gain elevation. For a safety-conscious party, smooth and efficient movement up the mountain is a reward in itself, but the views from up there make it even better. Since the top of any climb is really the half-way point, we will need to address the variety of descent options as well. READ MORE

Skill Level: Intermediate

Length: 8 hours

Prerequisites: Successful completion of our Winter Climbing 101 course or previous mountaineering/ ice climbing experience

Meeting Location: North Conway Eastern Mountain Sports

Ice Climbing 201- Intermediate Ice Climbing Skills

If you’ve taken our Winter Climbing 101 course or have some previous ice climbing experience, this full day course is for you. After reviewing the basics of ice axe and crampon use and self arrest techniques, we will then focus on specific techniques for efficient movement on steeper ice. We’ll help you fine-tune those techniques and then move on to ice protection and anchors. As with all of our courses, we provide all technical gear and offer everyone personalized instruction in a group environment. READ MORE

Skill Level: Intermediate

Length: 8 hours

Prerequisites: Successful completion of our Winter Climbing 101 course or previous mountaineering/ ice climbing experience

Meeting Location: North Conway Eastern Mountain Sports

Ice Climbing 202- Multi Pitch Ice Climbing Skills

This full day course is for experienced ice climbers looking to take the sport to the next level. Our goal is to seek out longer ice climbs or attempt shorter, more problematic routes. You’ll become a more confident second on steep terrain and understand how to move a climbing party smoothly and more efficiently. We also focus on choosing when and where to place ice gear. You will work closely with our experienced instructors to learn advanced techniques for climbing, route selection and anchors. This course can be taken more than once to further develop your skills. Come with a checklist of topics relevant to your own ice climbing, and we’ll take it from there! READ MORE

Skill Level: Intermediate

Length: 8 hours

Prerequisites: Successful completion of our Mountaineering 201 course, Ice Climbing 201 course or previous technical mountaineering/ ice climbing experience

Meeting Location: North Conway Eastern Mountain Sports

Glacier Skills & Crevasse Rescue

If you aspire to climb bigger mountains out West or abroad, learning to rope up for and travel over glaciers is essential. You’ll also need to know how to extricate yourself or your partner from a crevasse. Though there are no glaciers in the Northeast, our instructors can teach you all of the latest tricks and techniques for navigating though these hazards. A portion of the day will be spent learning the basics of glacier rigging for different sized rope-teams, as well as equipment options and crevasse rescue systems. We will then set up and practice the demonstrated techniques in the field. We require technical climbing experience or participation in one or more of our mountaineering courses for this hands-on, technical program. READ MORE

Skill Level: Intermediate

Length: 8 hours

Prerequisites: Successful completion of our Accelerated Mountaineering course, Mountaineering 201, or similar mountaineering experience

Meeting Location: North Conway Eastern Mountain Sports

Alpine Gully Climbs

This course is less about learning new skills and more about “putting it all together” on long classics in the Adirondacks of New York or the White Mountains of New Hampshire. You’ll use your mountaineering skills, ice climbing skills and “mountain sense,” as well as your fitness and endurance to maximum efficiency. Your decision-making will also be tested – especially your avalanche hazard assessment skills as you push yourself to exciting new levels in some of the most starkly beautiful and challenging settings in the East. If conditions allow, routes like the Trap Dike in New York, or Shoestring Gully in New Hampshire are great choices, along with the long alpine gullies in Huntington or Tuckerman Ravine on Mt. Washington. READ MORE

Skill Level: Intermediate

Length: 8-10 hours

Prerequisites: Successful completion of our Ice Climbing 201, Mountaineering 201 or similar experience

Meeting Location: North Conway Eastern Mountain Sports

Learn to Lead on Ice

The name says it all here – you want to move to the other end of the rope, and your experience so far says that it’s time. In this course, we’ll fill in any technical gaps that might exist in your set of skills, and move into the realm of the “sharp end.” We will begin to teach you how to think like a leader: assessing your party, choosing an appropriate route, sorting through the gear required, racking efficiently, protecting both leader and second, planning for the descent, and safeguarding the entire party through those transitions. And remember – with your 20% outfitting discount, you can build up your rack after the course and work with your guide to decide which gear to buy. You must have significant experience following on ice, and preferably some experience leading on rock to enroll in this course. READ MORE

Skill Level: Advanced

Length: 8 hours

Prerequisites: Successful completion of our Ice Climbing 202 course or plenty of ice climbing experience, and lead climbing experience on rock

Meeting Location: North Conway Eastern Mountain Sports

Mixed Climbing on Ice and Rock

Enter the esoteric world of “anything goes!” Mixed climbing will tap not only your ability to climb hard ice and rock, but also your creative problem-solving reserves. Nothing is quite as it seems in mixed climbing, and it requires a very open mind to see the opportunities that you will need to exploit. We’ll lead a brief clinic on the specifics, then get right onto those routes that are barely even there. READ MORE

Skill Level: Intermediate

Length: 8 hours

Prerequisites: Successful completion of our Ice Climbing 202 course or similar experience, and additional rock climbing experience

Meeting Location: North Conway Eastern Mountain Sports