Cimbing up in the world's a blast

-Brittany Catanzaro

By Brittany Catanzaro

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to go on a rock-climbing trip with the expert guides from JBLM’s Outdoor Recreation program? I had an opportunity to learn hands-on basic alpine climbing skills and techniques on a recent snow camping weekend in Mount Rainier National Park. I experienced an amazing weekend with perfect weather and awesome people. During the trip, I got to meet others who are interested in the same fun that I’m into — a great bonding experience.

This field trip was mainly about learning iceaxe arrest, snow camping and glacier travel practice. Alpine climbing instructors Scott Schissel and Shawn Raybell brought 10 of us on this trip. We worked together in teams of three or four but also worked together as a whole. Two other girls, Stephanie Duncan and Kimberly Collins, were in my group as a rope team and tent mates.

First day setup & practice

On the first day, we snowshoed with all our gear to our campsite. The sunny weather made the views perfect. We all worked efficiently together to set up camp. Everyone remained level-headed and more than willing to help each other out, especially during camp setup and preparing cooked meals.

Some of us set up the group kitchen by digging a snow table and snow benches, while others dug out a community bathroom. Shawn Raybell brought his tepee tent to place over the group kitchen to keep us warm while we ate dinner.

After setting up camp, we snowshoed up to an area with a steep slope to practice ice-axe arrest. As we ascended, we practiced snowshoeing techniques — step-kicking, proper switchbacking and the French technique.

When we arrived to our location, we began practicing ice axe arrest. This was an exhilarating exercise to learn! If a climber falls, there are techniques to stop a fall as quickly as possible. Self-arrest with ice axe is the best technique.

However, there are many ways one can fall downhill, so we practiced all of them — head uphill, face-down/head uphill, on your back/ head downhill, face down/head downhill and on your back.

After practicing, we headed back down to camp for a snack while learning how to descend fresh snow by using the heel-step technique.

Next, we roped up with our team with appropriate gear and assimilated climbing techniques on a nearby trail. We were getting the feel of climbing with a rope team and learning to move together on snow while using running belays.

The sun was setting by this time, and the views were gorgeous. We finished the day with eating dinner together in the tepee-tent group kitchen — all laughing and talking about what a fun day we had.

Second day honing skills techniques

On the second day, we woke up before sunrise, ate a snack, roped up in our teams and each geared up with an ice axe, crampons, headlamp, helmet, harness and pack.

We practiced rope team management — adjusting pace, proper switchbacking and communication. We also practiced using crampon techniques (combination/American, French and German techniques).

Scott led us to an area that was perfect for watching a breathtaking sunrise. In front of us, the sun turned Mount Rainier into an orange hue, and the orange sky backlit the Tatoosh Mountain Range behind us. We headed back to camp and enjoyed a warm breakfast.

We finished the trip with the last parts of our training by practicing crevasse rescue with a Z-pulley and C-pulley, anchor setups and snow bollard setup.

Becoming a mountaineering woman

The women of the group had a blast during the trip. If you’re a woman who would love to join in an epic experience like this, don’t let intimidation stop you. This is a wonderful and exciting experience for everyone.

During the drive back to base, I spoke with Stephanie and Kimberly about their thoughts on the trip.

Stephanie enjoyed the camp setup: “Setting up camp from start to finish was one of my favorite parts because I’ve never really done it before. Now I have the skills to do it again. I learned with both ODR gear and my own gear. Using ODR gear gave me the opportunity to try gear out before investing, while seeing and feeling what quality gear is. It’s also nice that ODR sells much of the same gear.”

Kimberly loved practicing the ice axe arrest portion of the trip: “Learning ice axe arrest was dynamic, practical and fun. I felt challenged and safe in the ice axe arrest portions because it was made as safe as possible. I felt challenged in the crevasse rescue portions as there are different ways of completing that objective safely. We had a lot of critical thinking mixed with an orderly set of procedures to safely secure the rest of the rope team and the fallen climber.”

Special thanks to instructors Scott and Shawn, who were patient, extremely helpful and fun. They did an amazing job instructing the techniques and helping to make our weekend so memorable. I will forever remember this epic trip.

Complete outfitting

ODR provides experienced instructors, round-trip transportation and all gear required for climbing trips. Here’s what they provided:

• Four-season tents.

• Crampons.

• Snowshoes.

• Harness and carabiners.

• Trekking poles.

• Helmets.

• Sleeping pads.

• Gaiters.

• Mountaineering boots.

• Ice axe.

• Pickets.

• Rope.

• Stoves and fuel.

What’s ahead in mountaineering

There’s more climbing activities on tap this spring and summer with ODR:

• Vantage rock climb Saturday, June 8.

• Crag climbing night in North Bend Mondays, July 1 and 22.

• Mount Erie rock climb Sunday, July 21.

• Alpine rock climbing at Snoqualmie Pass Sunday, Aug. 4.

• Smith Rocks climb Aug. 30–Sept. 1. Mountain-summiting experiences to come include:

• Mount Hood climb May 4–5.

• Mount Baker climb May 18–19.

• Mount Adams climb May 25–26 and June 15–16.

• Mount Baker climb June 8–9.

• Mount Olympus climb June 28–July 1.

• Glacier Peak climb Aug. 23–25.

For more information about basic alpine climbing and mountaineering trips, email JBLMadventuretrips@gmail.com.

For a schedule of trips or to sign up, visit JBLMmwrRegistration.com and click on Trips.