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The Alpine Club of Canada

Summer Crevasse Rescue

Learn the Skills Needed to Travel Across Glaciers Safely and Independently

Whether it’s upcoming ski or summer mountaineering missions, now is the perfect time to update and refresh those vital crevasse rescue skills. Who better do it with than Canada’s national mountaineering organization? Learn from experienced ACMG guides how to make your summer adventures as safe as possible. This camp will allow you to feel more comfortable heading out on the glacier to access the areas that are out of reach for many people without these skills.

Skills you’ll learn on this course include

  • Climbing knots (figure 8, overhand, prusik, clove hitch, Italian hitch, Italian hitch tie-off, double-fishermans, girth hitch)
  • Ascending & descending the rope in an emergency
  • Glacier travel basics (where & why crevasses form)
  • Guidelines on when to travel roped or unroped winter and summer
  • Building snow and ice anchors
  • Setting the rope up for glacier travel
  • Arresting a crevasse fall
  • Crevasse Rescue
  • Learn and practice the steps
  • Special scenarios: 2-person rescue, unroped fall into a crevasse, adding more mechanical advantage
  • Use of specific equipment you might carry (e.g.. pulleys, micro-traction, Tibloc, ready-built systems)

This course will include two field days to maximize hands on practice and visit different areas.

Arc'teryx supports our Mountaineering Program and we thank them for their assistance.
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BOOKING INFORMATION

Date:
JULY 15-16, 2023

Price: $450 + TAX

Before registering, please review our Waivers and Liability page.

MORE INFORMATION

Please try to register online before calling. If you are having issues please try to have your emergency contact information and course questionnaire filled out before calling.

OR Call: (403)-678-3200 ext 213

Rockfall and icefall
  • Rockfall and icefall can be caused by natural forces, or by people travelling through the terrain (Climbing/Scrambling/Hiking)
    What are the risks
  • Impact from a falling rock or ice can result in injury or death and can also damage equipment such as ropes.
Hazard Mitigation
  • Our ACMG certified guides have experience and training to manage this risk
  • Your guide will ask you to put on a helmet when in the mountains
Avalanche
  • Avalanches can occur in the terrain you will be entering. Caused by natural forces, or by people travelling through the terrain
    What are the risks
  • Anyone caught in a avalanche is at risk of personal injury, death, and or property damage or loss
Hazard Mitigation
  • Our ACMG certified guides have experience and training to manage this risk
  • Daily risk assessment processes
  • Guest training if avalanches are a risk on your trip
Terrain
  • Cornices
  • Crevasses
  • Trees, tree wells, and tree stumps
  • Creeks
  • Rocks and Boulders
  • Variable and difficult walking terrain
  • Impact or collision with other persons or objects
  • Encounters with domestic or wild animals
  • Contact with poisonous flora or fauna
  • Loss of balance or control
  • Slips, trips, and falls
Hazard Mitigation
  • Our ACMG certified guides have experience and training to manage this risk
  • Radios and/or other communication devices
Falls and belaying
  • Mountaineering and ice climbing present the risk of falling from the wall causing the climber to collide with the wall or ground
  • There is also the risk of a belay failure, which can contribute to a ground fall
Hazard Mitigation
  • Your guide will review best belay practices with you or will control the belay
Communication, rescue, and medical treatment
  • Communication can be difficult and in the event of an accident rescue and treatment may not be available
  • Adverse weather may also delay the arrival of treatment or transportation out of the field,
  • Alpine weather conditions can be extreme and change rapidly without warning making travel by helicopter, snowmobile, snowcat, dangerous
  • If an injury occurs in challenging terrain movement to an evacuation point may be slow
Hazard Mitigation
  • Your guide is trained in both backcountry first-aid and rescue techniques
  • Emergency response plans
  • Satellite communication tools
Other
  • Slips trips and falls indoor or outdoor
  • Infectious disease contracted via direct or indirect contact, including but not limited to influenza or Covid-19
  • Equipment failure
  • Negligence of other persons, including other guests
  • Negligence of the guide Including failure to take reasonable steps to safeguard or protect you from or warn you of risk, dangers, hazards, while participating in ACC activities
Hazard Mitigation
  • Your guide is trained in both backcountry first-aid and rescue techniques
  • Satellite communication tools

Skills you’ll learn on this course include

  • Climbing knots (figure 8, overhand, prusik, clove hitch, Italian hitch, Italian hitch tie-off, double-fishermans, girth hitch)
  • Ascending & descending the rope in an emergency
  • Glacier travel basics (where & why crevasses form)
  • Guidelines on when to travel roped or unroped winter and summer
  • Building snow and ice anchors
  • Setting the rope up for glacier travel
  • Arresting a crevasse fall
  • Crevasse Rescue
  • Learn and practice the steps
  • Special scenarios: 2-person rescue, unroped fall into a crevasse, adding more mechanical advantage
  • Use of specific equipment you might carry (e.g.. pulleys, micro-traction, Tibloc, ready-built systems)

Day 1

  • The first day will be taught at Rundle Rock in Banff. We will meet here at 8am. You’ll review essential climbing knots, how to descend and ascend a rope, and learn how to set up a hauling system.
  • Your guide will also discuss the use of commercially-available crevasse rescue equipment (pulleys and ready-made systems) and provide opportunity to practice with these.
  • You will also cover glacier travel basics, roped and unroped, and preview the different steps to a crevasse rescue.
  • The end of the day will be hiking into Bow hut to give you more time on the glacier

Day 2

  • Day two the group will switch to ice. The second field day will let you practice your new skills in a realistic outdoor environment. The group will practice arresting a fall, transferring the load to an anchor, and going through the steps for the rest of a rescue.
  • You’ll also get a chance to practice advanced crevasse rescue scenarios, including a 2-person rescue and an unroped fall into a crevasse.

Introductory

This program is designed for people who have some previous mountaineering or glacier skiing experience looking to improve their safety “toolkit” of skills

Food

To keep the cost of this course as low as possible for participants, food will not be provided as part of the course. Please bring 2 lunches 1 breakfasts and 1 dinners as well as your favorite snacks!

Accommodation

The Bow Hut is fantastically scenic, perfectly situated and is an excellent base for exploring further onto the Wapta Icefields in winter or summer. It is the easiest and most natural route onto the Wapta and gives access to the Peyto Hut to the north, and the Balfour and Scott Duncan huts to the south. The peaks of the Wapta are an attraction for summer mountaineering as well and many climbers have learned or honed their glacier travel and crevasse rescue skills within sight of the hut. The hut itself is bright, spacious and fantastically scenic. It is the largest, best equipped and most accessible of the four huts on the Wapta.

Guiding

Our guiding ratio will be a maximum of 6:1 to give you plenty of one-to-one learning time with our excellent guide. This camp is guided by ACMG-certified alpine guides.

The ACC hires guides certified by the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG). Visit the ACMG website to learn more about what they do!

 

 

 

Rentals

If you don’t have everything on the gear list and aren’t ready to invest in your own, there are many awesome local businesses that rent out all of the equipment you will need. Be sure to reserve your rentals ahead of time to make sure everything you need is available for you when you need it.

  • Coming from the Bow Valley? Check out GearUp in Canmore. ACC members get 10% off all gear rentals!
  • Coming from Calgary? We recommend renting your gear from MEC, the University of Calgary Outdoors Center, or the Norseman.
  • Coming from the Revelstoke? Give Revelstoke Powder Rentals a try.

We sell Tugo® Travel Insurance suitable for both ACC Adventures and personal trips:

INCLUDED WITH YOUR CAMP FEE

  • 2 days of professional guiding at max 6:1 ratios by certified ACMG alpine guides
  • 1 nights accommodation at the Bow Hut
  • All Group Gear

PARTICIPANTS MUST PROVIDE

  • Transportation to and from the trailhead
  • Food for your trip (2 breakfasts, 3 lunches, 2 dinners, and snacks!)
  • Personal gear (see gear list)

ORGANIZING FANTASTIC ACC ADVENTURES FOR OVER 100 YEARS

  • Local Knowledge – based out of Canmore, AB, we know the Rockies region and the best local caterers, guides and porters
  • Dedicated resources – full-time office staff, ACMG guides and group equipment on-hand to ensure your trip runs smoothly
  • Not-for-profit – any money we make on camps and courses is reinvested into providing services for our members and the mountain community