The classes listed below are from the 2010 Mountainfest, which took place in January. Next year’s classes will be posted in Fall 2010

SATURDAY

Beginning Ice with Jim Pitarresi – $130

Climb with Jim (Doctor Ice) and learn about selection and use of gear; efficient use of tools; footwork. By end of day students should be proficient top roping moderate climbs.

Limited to 8 participants

Women’s Climbing with Emilie Drinkwater (Beginning to Intermediate) – $130

Emilie will introduce a small group of women to the sport of ice climbing. By the end of the day students should have refined techniques on near vertical ice.

Limited to 8 participants

Alpine Climbing Primer with Chad Kennedy – $130

Learn the fundementals of ice, snow and mixed climbing with Rock & River Guide Chad Kennedy. This clinic is intended for participants who have limited experience with technical climbing in winter conditions. Participants will gain experience with use of an ice axe, cramponing on rock/ice/snow, proper use of a rope, and packing for a winter ascent.
This clinic has a participant to guide ratio of 4:1.

Limited to 4 participants

Go Climb a Slide with Jeremy Haas – $150

Join Rock & River’s Jeremy Haas for a technical ascent of one of the many slides found in the High Peaks. Practice fundamental snow/ice climbing skills and rope techniques for safe and efficient travel over exposed alpine terrain. This clinic is suitable for participants who: have the fitness to winter hike for six hours; are proficient with the use of mountaineering axe/crampons; have experience with roped climbing, i.e. glacier travel and/or top-roping. This clinic has a participant to guide ratio of 3:1.

Limited to 6 participants on Saturday and 9 on Sunday

Steep Ice for the Weak and Chickenhearted with Don Mellor – $130

After pledging in blood that he’d never climb leashless (thinking himself too weak and scared to rely only on his hands), Don Mellor is back, this time without his classic twirly webbing straps, ready to prove to all who will listen that patience, slow breathing, and trickery will get the timid, the scrawny, the aged up vertical ice. He’ll show you how to slither and grovel, using your knees and your elbows, your belly and your chin. It won’t be pretty. But once you’ve thrown the traditional ice climbing gospel into the trash can (along with your pride), you’ll be surprised at the routes you might consider leading. Yes, it’s possible to be relaxed, rested, and happy (yes, even you!) on a vertical pillar. This is a very different approach to steep ice, designed for experienced climbers who shy away from the steep. The strong, the bold, and the good looking need not apply.

Limited to 8 participants

Intermediate to Advanced Ice with Steve House- $130

Ice climb with Steve and learn special techniques required on steeper ice, thin ice, hollow ice and no ice. By end of day students should have refined techniques on more difficult ice.

Limited to 8 participants

Intermediate to Advanced Ice with Matt Horner – $130

Participants will work on intermediate to advanced ice techniques, with an emphasis on going leashless. Learn from two of the converted the tricks of climbing with leashless tools and how losing the leash has turned the sport of ice climbing into a ballet of freedom and movement. You’ll learn techniques applicable to all climbers, even if you’re not planning on switching to leashless anytime soon.

Limited to 8 participants

Snowshoe Mountaineering with Carl Heilman – $90

After a brief introduction indoors in the morning – to get to know the group, pass out handouts, and answer some questions – we’ll head out in the snow to spend a full day climbing in the mountains, having more fun than you ever imagined you could have on a pair of snowshoes!

Throughout the day we’ll practice and put to use different snowshoeing techniques, and also cover topics about winter equipment, weather, and safety, so folks will get a good sound start in winter mountaineering.

Most of our time will be spent off the trail. I like to pick routes that emphasize the use of snowshoe crampons and snowshoeing techniques. While the most strenuous part of snowshoeing is the climbing of course, the most fun is coming back down – running, jumping, and glec-sading (glissading) down the snowy slopes. Come as a novice snowshoer, and go home an expert.

Limited to 8 participants

Intro to Avalanche Safety & Rescue – $85

If you are an avid mountaineer or backcountry skier, having the skills to assess avalanche terrain and make the right decisions is a must. This course provides the approved curriculum of the American Avalanche Association and National Ski Patrol, for Introduction to Avalanche Safety and Rescue. It is set for either Saturday or Sunday, so you can register for either day. If you plan to continue with formal avalanche training, you may attend an extra half day (Sunday or Monday) to complete the requirements for the first day of an NSP Level I Avalanche course. You can then complete the level one course by registering for any of the three courses that will be offered at Smugglers Notch, VT, Mt Washington, NH, and Whiteface MT, NY, later in the season. Two more weekend days in the field will complete the level one course. You do not get level one certification for taking this class.

Snowpack metamorphism: The hydrologic cycle in the solid phase. The mountain snowpack as a structural engineering element; what keeps it in place, where its stresses are maximized, temperature gradients; what their presence or absence means to changes between snow grains.

● Snowpack modifiers: Wind, precipitation, sun, time, gravity, slope type and angle, weak layer concepts; what they are and how to find them.
● Slope stability evaluations: Hasty pits, sounds, armpits, pole pits, regional knowledge, nature’s billboards.
● Route finding (it’s not “how to” anymore, it’s “when to…”) and safe travel in suspect terrain.
● Preparation – physical and mental. Party actions when one person is launched. Individual actions when launched.
● Find the victim – search techniques

SUNDAY

Beginning to Intermediate Ice with Emilie Drinkwater – $130

Climb with Emilie and learn/refine your technique on near-vertical to vertical ice.

Limited to 8 participants

Beginning Ice with Jim Pitarresi – $130
Course same as Saturday

Advanced Ice with Steve House- $130

Ice climb with Steve and learn efficient use of tools and footwork on moderate ice. By end of day students should have refined techniques on near vertical ice.

Limited to 8 participants

Go Climb a Slide with Jeremy Haas – $150
Course same as Saturday, but with 9 participants and three guides.

Steep Ice for the Weak and Chickenhearted with Don Mellor – $130
Course same as Saturday

Intermediate to Advanced Ice with Matt Horner & Jim Shimberg – $130
Course same as Saturday

Snowshoe Mountaineering with Carl Heilman – $90
Course same as Saturday

Intro to Avalanche Safety & Rescue – $85
Course same as Saturday

Avalanche Fundamentals & Rescue – $15

If you plan to continue with your avalanche education and certification you should take this half-day class, which builds on what you learned Saturday with more in-depth information, especially on avalanche rescue. Completes the requirements for the first day of a level one class, allowing you to take a two-day class later (instead of the normal three-days) for level one certification. Also available on Monday.

MONDAY

Avalanche Fundamentals & Rescue – $15
Course same as Sunday. You may take the AF&R class today whether you took the avalanche awareness class Saturday or Sunday.