Complete Beginner and Newbie Interested in Alpine Climbing

Hi All,

I have been lurking here for a few days and decided to post my first thread. First, I currently live in PA and considering a move to NC so I am and will be an east-coaster. I am completely new to all forms of climbing so I have little to no hands on experience. I am, however, an avid hiker and have no problem going long distances. My interest mostly lies in alpine style climbing and mountaineering but I am pretty open to learning new things. In my sights for next year is possibly a climb up Mount Rainier and in the next 4 is Denali. Does this sound obtainable?
Second, I am hoping for some guidance on 'where to begin?' I have always felt drawn to the mountains but I don't know anyone around that has a similar desire. What should I do to prepare? I am thinking about joining a local indoor rock climbing gym to get more familiar with climbing in general.
I saw that RMI offers 6 day seminars that include a Mount Rainier summit. Does anyone have any experience with this company? What are the essential things I need to learn or experience before going on an expedition like this?
Thanks for any help you can provide, it is very much appreciated!

Rainier and Denali can be walk-ups. You need to know how to self-arrest, basic crampon skills and glacier rescue. You need to be fit and strong more than anything else.

Going to a rock climbing gym will do nothing to help you for mountaineering goals. You're simply using your legs (for a long time) on Rainier or the west buttress of Denali.

Buy freedom of the hills, read it and practice the rope skills at home.
Buy training for the new alpinism, form a plan for mountaineering goals based on your current fitness.
Take a skills course such as the one offered by RMI (there are other companies that operate here in the PNW as well).

If you arrive for the skills course with some prior knowledge and a great base of fitness you'll gain more from it.

There are a large number of programs out there; I'd try to do lots of researching before settling on one.

Gym climbing is worthless and possibly even counterproductive as an introduction to alpine climbing. This doesn't mean you shouldn't go and do some, as long as you realize that you are only learning some basic things in an environment that does not even remotely prepare you for alpine climbing. You will get some targeted conditioning out of it, and it can be a lot of fun, but you'll need outdoor experience.

Personally, I think you'll get a much better perspective on alpine climbing if you go somewhere that combines snow and rock climbing rather than just the glacier techniques you'll learn on Rainier. Yes, the glacier techniques are the thing you'll need for Denali, but if you intend to do much mountaineering in the US, you have to develop alpine rock-climbing competence as well.

One way to do this is with two courses, a rock-climbing course you could take with a guide service in NC and the glacier-oriented course you mentioned on Rainier. Fox Mountain Guides is probably the best game in town for NC, they have an intro to rock climbing course, see foxmountainguides.com/rock-….

The problem with most rock-climbing courses is that they don't focus much on moving with competence and sureness on relatively easy ground, which is part of the foundation of alpine climbing. Rock-climbing courses are more oriented to confronting difficulty than smooth motion over moderate terrain. But eventually you will want and need to be able to climb more difficult rock as well so whatever you learn will eventually be useful.

If you want more of an all-in-one introduction, a very brief look at the internet google.com/search?q=US+alpi… reveals far more possibilities than I want to transcribe here.

For example,

The Exum guides have a 4-day alpine climbing seminar, but you have to go in June when there is still lots of snow. exumguides.com/ublminxportf….

Jackson Hole Mountain Guides jhmg.com/ may have something similar, but I can't tell from their website.

the American Alpine Institute has a hybrid 6-day course with one day of rock climbing and 5 days on Mt. Baker for glacier skills and an ascent. alpineinstitute.com/catalog…

vimeo.com/54728764

Hi,

I've been rock climbing for over ten years and did my first pseudo mountain this year. Everyone who said "strong and fit" is the number one requirement is dead on.

Second to that is comfort on crampons.

I hired a guide up Mt. Washington...learned a lot from the experience. EMS runs trips but I went with IME ime-usa.com/imcs/

Next winter, including getting in seriously good shape between then and now, im gonna do their three day course which ends with an ascent of Mt. Washington.

For us east coasters, it's as close as we can get to a decent alpine experience, even if only 7000 feet. The trails are steep and icy...and only a day's drive.

Let me know if you want to plan a winter trip...i am going again.

Also where in PA? I'm in NJ.

Erica - I have friends who have taken RMI courses on Rainier. RMI has a great reputation - highly recommended. Rainier is an awesome mountain. My sense is that if you go and summit, it will likely be a very rewarding experience. It was for me!

Wally

I sent you a pm

A course with RMI would be a great place to start. Plus, you'd get to attempt the summit along with the instruction. Give them a call or peruse their website to get more info and ideas.

Thanks for all the very useful information so far! Good to hear so many great things about RMI.

It helps to narrow down specific techniques that I'll need to develop.
I am planning on reading both books; I've seen them mentioned on here numerous times so I already went ahead and looked into them on Amazon. I have a little experience with ropes and belay from when I was in the military, which I picked up fast. I'm excited to re-learn the stuff I'm fuzzy on.

rgold - Thanks for the info on alpine rock climbing courses. I will definitely be looking into the Fox Mountain Guides course in NC, the AAI Alpinism course that I've heard great things about as well, and maybe some more specific-to-alpine type courses closer to me.

Jeff0 - I didn't even think to check if EMS did classes. They are by far one of my favorite resources for outdoor related activities. A winter trip sounds like a lot of fun but I'm not sure I'll be ready for that by then! Maybe 2017-18 :). I live in SE PA about 30-60 minutes North of Philly in the 'burbs depending on the traffic. Where about in NJ? Feel free to PM me.

year 1- winter camping, cross country backpacking and alpine scrambling/peak bagging, rock climbing gym to understand rope systems.

year 2- Mt. washington NH in winter, shasta, hood, glacier travel course

year 3- Rainier, glacier travel/rescue practice

year 4- Denali

Extensive backcountry skiing and snow science experience is imperative for modern mountaineering.

For technical alpine climbing, all of the above plus ability to climb hard gear and water ice routes, self rescue techniques, advanced rope systems, fine tuning your clothes, gear, shelter etc. for different objectives, knowing personal comfort levels, ability to suffer and high level of endurance and strength.

Realistically technical alpine climbing is going to be a 5-10 year project for most people, if not more.

^ This. Pay a lot of attention to dialing the year 1 stuff and getting lots of back country skiing experience.

"Realistically technical alpine climbing is going to be a 5-10 year project for most people, if not more."

I have climbed with quite a few top alpinist over the years, and all of them took anywhere from 5-10 years to graduate to the greater ranges.

The usual progression would progress in this order:

1. Climb at local crag for 1-2 years with occasional trips to other areas, learning basic skills.

2. In the past the Tetons was a favorite destination, or the Canadian Rockies,
Wind Rivers etc. to gain more experience.

3. Then one would graduate to major routes in the Alps or elsewhere.

4. Only after this experience would one venture to the greater ranges, like the
Himalayas.

It is the type of activity which cannot be rushed, or taken lightly. Remember that Alpinism often involves pain and suffering.