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Navigating in the mountains is one of the most important skills a backcountry traveler can acquire. This course consists of an indoor lecture in North Bend followed by a nighttime ski tour conducted entirely in the dark.
The course consists of an indoor study session in North Bend followed by a ski tour that will be conducted entirely in the dark. The study session/lecture will be in the afternoon (usually 2-5 PM) followed immediately by an evening ski tour. The total course time will be roughly 8 hours including the indoor portion. Get plenty of sleep the night before as we might be out late! This is a fantastic way to learn about navigating in the dark or whiteout conditions and course participants are always amazed how much they get out of this format.
Important: This course is only suited for strong skiers with advanced skiing skills or snowshoers with very strong fitness.
Overall Difficulty Level:Â Moderate to Difficult
Skills Required:Â Advanced skiing skills or snowshoeing skills. Skiing skill cannot be a concern when navigating at night.Â
Fitness Level: Strenuous
Afternoon Indoor Session (2:00 pm - 5:00pm)
During the three-hour class, we will review the “anatomy of a map”, explain tour planning, time calculations, compass use, and elementary GPS use.
Evening Tour (6:00pm - 11:00pm)
During the tour in the Snoqualmie Pass backcountry we will apply all the things we learned in the classroom session. This tour will obviously only be conducted in safe snow conditions. It is an amazing experience. Treat yourself to this.
Course Curriculum
• Review of the make-up of a map
• Review of time calculation and tour plans
• Putting a bearing on a map
• Translating the bearing into the landscape
• Translating the bearing onto the map from the landscape
• Whiteout navigation in a winter environment
• The UTM grid system
• Introduction to GPS use modern navigation apps like Gaia or Caltopo.
Snow Travel Gear
Safety Gear
The real life nature of a night tour challenges even our guides! We can pretty much guarantee that you will learn a lot from this class.
The indoor component of this course will be conducted in North Bend at a designated indoor classroom space. The specific meeting location will be announced 10 days prior to the start of the course.
The tour will be conducted in the Alpental backcountry. The specific location will be determined by the instructor depending on conditions and weather.
Although tipping is not a requirement, it is considered standard practice in the guiding industry and is appreciated by our guides. We generally recommend roughly 10%-20% of your course or trip cost or a flat amount that you are comfortable with.