FAQs

Begin at the course you want, then click the “Book” button to see the next dates available. The calendar shows the month with the next open dates. If dates are listed elsewhere on the website, but do not appear on the calendar, then the course is likely full. Call or email us to double check. We also have a master calendar of all our course offerings in one place. If you are unable to book a course you see online, please call us. We restrict last-minute bookings so we have time to prepare upcoming courses.

Many of our courses are weather dependent. We have different locations across the state with varying conditions, so we select the location in the final 3-5 days before your course to give you the best experience. We always default to the closest location to Seattle, unless conditions are much better elsewhere.

Yes, we create custom courses all the time. The advantages of a custom course are:

• You pick the date
• You decide who goes
• Your group’s goals are the focus of the trip
• You can skip or add curriculum or objectives to a custom trip

Certain courses require additional planning or staffing. These include AMGA certification courses and AIARE courses. Check out our Custom Courses page to get started.

If it is any other personal issue, please see our cancellation policy. Please also consider purchasing travel insurance which can cover most of these issues.

There is a general list on the confirmation email you received when you registered. You will receive a packing list about a week before your course for most offerings. There is also general information under the Equipment menu on the page that describes the course you are interested in. For example: Glacier Mountaineering Skills Course.

Our mountaineering trips require a meeting with your guide(s) and all the other climbers before your climb. This is usually an online Google Meet remote meeting held 1 or 2 evenings before your first day of your course. During that 2 hour meeting, your guide will go over your packed items, food, navigation, weather, group gear, meeting location and time, and other critical planning items to ensure a successful trip.

Attendance is required to ensure we are all prepared for the outing. If you miss the meeting, you will not be able to join the climb.

You may register and pay in full online by following booking links for the course you are interested in. If you want to make a partial payment, more than 30 days out, please call our office and register over the phone. There is not currently a way to make a partial payment online. Your full payment will be due 30 days prior to your course start date.

Yes. Usually one trip per year though. It’s often in late July or August, and we run it as a fundraiser for the Washington Trails Association.

Information for our annual climb comes out the first week of March, and registration (9 climbing spots) is usually full by the end of March. Regular commercial guiding permits for Mt Rainier are extremely limited, and rarely available to small and medium-sized guiding companies like ours.

We encourage you to appeal to MORA’s agency if you would like to see more guiding companies with access to Mt Rainier. Thanks!

We have 2 versions of our Mt Baker climb. Our most popular climb is 3 days because we spend the first-day practicing glacier travel, ice arrest, gear use, and gaining skills to become a competent mountaineer. We call this course our Glacier Mountaineering Skills Course.

We also offer a 2-day guided climb of Mt Baker, but it does not include teaching mountain skills. We prefer the education approach, but offer the 2-day for people who want a more traditional guided experience and have some previous glacier experience.

We embrace the weather. Our everyday playground is outside and we encourage dressing properly for the weather.

We generally do not cancel for weather. That said, if avalanche conditions or a mountain storm would stop a trip before it starts, we will reschedule if we are able. If we cannot reschedule, we will offer Kaf credits for other courses/dates, or refunds.

Our guides make the decision to run the course based on all available data and weather conditions in the days before your course. If you need to cancel, please check out Cancellation Policy

Our Custom Courses page is a great place to start. We have set rates for some custom courses. They are listed on that page. If you are interested in multi-day courses, please call us to discuss it. The details do affect the price.

We have a cancellation policy. Please review it before booking your course.

Refunds are processed through our booking company, returning your payment directly to your credit card (we have no access to your credit card information).  You will receive a confirmation email. It will usually take customers a week to 3 weeks to see the refunded amount on their card.

Thanks for asking! Most of our guides have Venmo, please ask them for their contact info as you complete your course. You may also give it in cash during your course, or you may submit a tip through our system here. PayPal handles the transaction, but you  can use any credit card, or your own PayPal account to submit funds.