- Intermediate
- All ages
Develop essential winter camping skills to increase your comfort in a winter landscape. Get hands-on experience with expert guides!
Quick Details
Snowshoe Technique and Safety Course
Experience the North Cascades in all their serene and quiet breathtaking beauty. More than just an escape from the city, this course equips you with the skills to navigate and execute your own snowshoeing trip.
-
As a single day, participants will meet at a designated park and ride convenient for all participants. Meeting times vary but usually begin at 7:00 a.m. Please consider driving as a caravan and all driving will take place on plowed roads to the summit passes. Chains for your vehicle will be required.
Backcountry locations vary depending on conditions. Plan on driving up to 2.5 hours from Seattle to the location. Once at the location, all participants will begin their snowshoe.
A sample trip progression
Meet for a pre-trip avalanche assessment at a pre-established location. Discussion on snowshoe technique and safety in a winter environment. After lunch, there will be classes on winter ecology and navigation.
As a beginner course, plan to ascend and descend up to 1,000 feet or more throughout the day. There will be longer stops for education in a cold environment. Plan on standing in the snow for up to 20 minutes at a time with long periods of physical movement.
Plan on being home by 6 p.m.
-
- 18+ for adult courses or 16+ with consent from a guardian and Kaf approval
- 12-18 for youth courses
-
- None, come as you are!
-
- How to select, use, and care for the necessary equipment on a snowshoeing day
- Plan, organize, equip, and safely implement a snowshoeing day
- How to stay warm in a winter environment
- Snow travel techniques
- Winter ecology and Leave No Trace practices
- How to select, use, and care for the necessary equipment on a snowshoeing day
-
- Eight hours professional instruction
- Snowshoes
- A trekking pole
- Eight hours professional instruction
-
- Transportation
- Lunch
- Transportation
-
- Waterproof boots (we recommend insulated boots)
- Personal layers
- Waterproof boots (we recommend insulated boots)
-
Transportation and times will be coordinated by email when the pre-trip announcement is sent to all registrants.
-
Avalanche: Beginner and Snowshoeing: Intermediate. If skiing or splitboarding is more your style, we offer a Skiing/Splitboarding: Beginner course.
“The date I want isn’t listed.” Please visit our Custom Courses page and contact us to book a private or custom course that fits your needs.
“I don’t see any dates.” Several of our courses run infrequently. We invite you to opt for a waitlist on our courses that do not have visible dates on the course calendar. When enough people sign up for that course, we will select a course date and invite you all to register then.