Alaska is home to some of the most beautiful, rugged, and technical mountains in the world. There is no doubt why this place has become one of the best mountaineering locations worldwide. Through NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School), I spent 30 days learning mountaineering skills while living and traveling on glaciers.
Preview: During the 30 day NOLS mountaineering course we encountered 24 hour sunlight, crossed tracks of grizzly bears, fell into crevasses, stomped out runways for planes to land on the glacier, summited a technical mountain, made pizza in the backcountry from scratch and so much more.
You will read about all of these moments during the NOLS 30 day mountaineering training course below! Also, if you stick to the end, I have a few extra resources for you.
Day 22: Ice Climbing
Incredible day learning the new skill of ice climbing. While heading to the spot, we crossed ice ledges that were only a foot or two wide with crevasses on all sides. This was an area where the possibility of falling was low, but the consequences would be extremely high if one of us were to fall into a crevasse. We are now on bare ice glacier, which means that we are not traveling via rope teams. Instead, we are using crampons to gain traction on the ice so if someone were to fall, nothing would stop them other than the crevasse itself.
We needed to be careful and vigilant where we were walking to minimize risk. Ice climbing began and it was incredible to rappel into a crevasse and ice climb out with crampons and ice axes.
Day 23: Off The Glacier
Today we traveled about 6 miles to a spot where we will basecamp for a day or so to receive our last resupply and to send out mountaineering gear.
I’m a bit excited to be off the glacier to see a space that is a bit less barren and more alive with wildlife. During the travel, we saw many large mulleins which are large holes of flowing water that can sweep you down into the glacier and kill you. It is beautiful and so dangerous at the same time.
Day 24: Rope Ascension
Today, as we were waiting for our plane to come, we went over rope ascension methods which are the preferred method of crevasse rescue if you are in a 2 person rope team. Mellow day all together.
Day 25: Travel Day
Travel day through the gravel bars hidden beneath the glacier. Nothing crazy but enjoyable!
Day 26: Student Seminars
Basecamp day as we were originally planning to head over a pass but clouds were low and it wouldn’t have been ideal. Instead, we base camped here and did student seminars. I did one where I taught the students the edible and medicinal uses of Fireweed and allowed everyone to taste the leaf as part of the demonstration.
It is fun teaching others and enjoyable to see people curious about the same things I care about.
Day 27: Route Finding
Today was such an enjoyable day of route finding. We made our way to a lake within a few miles. The route consisted of wading through creeks, marshes and thick densely covered bush where we were seeing large amounts of grizzly bear tracks and scat. Eventually we arrived at the lake.
Day 28: Summit of an Unnamed Mountain
We reached the summit today of an unnamed mountain where we rock scrambled all the way to summit. Views were incredible of the valley where we came from, a braided river and endless evergreen forests beneath us. Some areas were a bit exposed where a fall could be bad..
Later, we went for a swim in an ice cold alpine lake which was refreshing to say the least.
Day 29: Final Day
Final field day here in the Alaskan wilderness. Hiked and bushwhacked about 7 miles out to where we’d camp and get picked up tomorrow.
Day 30: Conclusion
This course had been a dream of mine for quite some time. Mountaineering encompasses a set of skills that I have been eager to know. Needless to say, it has been a great 30 days with every range of emotions that you could imagine. However, I am beyond excited to begin the adventures that will follow the course.
Thanks for following my entries of this adventure!
NOLS Mountaineering Resources
Suggested Reading:
Glacier Mountaineering: An Illustrated Guide to Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue by Andy Tyson and Mike Clelland
First of all, this book is WRITTEN by NOLS instructors who have experience with technical mountain ranges in Alaska, Canada, Cascades etc. This book is practically a written version of all the skills we learned on this course, so if you are curious, I couldn’t recommend this book enough. It is extremely visual and well thought out with a wealth of good information. 5 Stars from me.
Other Resources:
NOLS: NOLS is a world renowned wilderness skills and leadership school that excels in outdoor education. The one downside is the cost of the schools programs. However, they offer financial aid and academic credit (which I used) to make this available to everyone. Please reach out via social media DM’s if you want to hear more about my experience!
Thanks for checking out week one of the 30 Day Mountaineering Training!
Here are a few more related articles:
- Week Two: 30 Days Alone In The Wilderness
- Week Three: 30 Days Alone In The Wilderness
- Week Four: 30 Days Alone In The Wilderness
Hey there! My name is Tanner and I specialize in outdoor survival, bushcraft, expeditions and adventure travel.