AIARE Avalanche 2 Course -Alaska, Chugach Mountains

AIARE Avalanche Course- Alaska, Chugach Mountains

Backpacking

The OEAC 1150 Outdoor Living Skills: Mountain class again traveled up to the Beartooths this fall.  We did a short 4 mile hike in on Friday, set up camp and talked about topics such as Leave-No-Trace, dealing with bear inhabited areas, site selection and more.  Saturday the group set out to the north towards Lonesome Mountain, with some of the class making it to the top of the peak, elevation 11,400'.  Below are a few photos from the weekend.

Challenge Course

The students in the Challenge Course Facilitation class were working on setting up and taking down the challenge course, as well as learning and practicing on the elements themselves.  Northwest College is fortunate to have two different challenge courses, one inside the main gym, the second located outside at the A.L. Michelson Field Station.  The outdoor course is a traditional telephone pole course with a static (i.e. lobster claw) belay while the indoor course on campus is a dynamic belay, meaning the participant is belayed  separately for each individual element.  The image below is from a couple students learning the process for the lowering the log from the ceiling of the gym.  Once lowered, the participant is challenged to walk across the log with a stationary rope to assist them.  The Log itself is lowered with a 3:1 pulley system to help the facilitators in the lift.

PCIA Climbing Certification

Acadia Mountain Guides was in Cody, WY last week offering the Bottom/Top Managed Climbing instructor and Single Pitch Instructor certification courses for NWC Outdoor Ed students.  The course took place over a 5 day period teaching students instructor skills.  These skills included hard skills for anchor building, instructional and teaching strategies, environmental awareness, rescue scenarios and more.  The course concluded with a one day exam in which 2 of the students passed the certification, 3 others had a few skills to work on and will take the exam at a later date.

Thanks goes out to PCIA and Acadia Mountain Guides for offering this opportunity to our students, and we look forward to more certifications again in the future.

Bush Plane Flight into the Alaska Range- Denali National Park

Sea Kayaking Alaska Album 3