We had couple of fellows reach out looking to salvage their day. They had planned on coming up to do some ice climbing with a group but it ended up getting canceled as climbable ice is limited right now (that may change briefly, now with snow on its way — cross your fingers). Instead of ice climbing they opted for a Glacier Skills Course. This, we knew we could do. Where exactly was up in the air, but we knew in the worst case we had the okay to limit the class duration allowing for more time for remote access, if needed. This was unnecessary, though. Early in the day Redline Guide Pat Ferland scouted some likely spots nearer to our Intervale Basecamp and Worldwide Headquarters. Our glaciers aren’t hundreds of feet thick, more like tens of millimeters thick, but really, we’re limited to the surface in any case so there is effective training to be had. That said, our crevasses sure are different… a little like mixed climbs. Training was conducted on the “Cathedral Ledge Glacier.” There they worked on some mountaineering and glacier basics with the focus on traveling as part of a roped team. After that the team moved to the “North End Crevasse Field.” There they addressed crevasse rescue, haul systems, self-extraction on a near vertical crevasse wall, and more. Pat tells us that both students got a ton out of the day. We’re happy to be able to make our guests’ day worthwhile.
