The Bellingham Branch of The Mountaineers offers the Basic Mountaineering Course to teach you the skills needed to safely travel on rock, snow, and glaciers through moderate to difficult terrain. Emphasizing safety, respect, and team building, this course provides students with the confidence and knowledge to foster mutual trust and reach high places that once seemed unattainable.

What You’ll Learn

  • Evaluation & Navigation: Assessing weather, alpine hazards, and snow conditions to make sound decisions in the high country; navigation, route finding, and basic avalanche terrain evaluation.
  • Rock Climbing: Equipment selection, climbing knots, rope management, and basic rock techniques, including how to follow a lead climber.
  • Snow & Glacier Travel: Essential techniques including self-arrest and rescuing a fallen climber from a crevasse.
  • Wilderness First Aid: Advanced Alpine First Aid skills to minimize accident potential and provide backcountry first response.

The Fine Print & Requirements

  • Commitment: This course requires a significant investment of time, energy, and money. Please do not apply unless you can attend ALL field trips, lectures, and evaluations (see the 2027 Course Schedule for dates and locations).
  • Travel to Canada: The course includes a mandatory rock climbing field trip in Canada; students must be able to legally travel across the border.
  • First Aid Certification: Wilderness First Aid is required to graduate. Students who do not already have this certification can take a Mountaineers Wilderness First Aid Course.

2027 Course Fees

  • Mountaineers Members: $1,085
  • Non-Members: $1,285

If you cancel your participation before Jan. 1, 2027, you will receive a refund minus $10. No refunds are issued after Jan. 1, 2027.

Financial Assistance

We know costs add up quickly, especially when you also need to purchase gear. We encourage students to apply for our scholarship program, which is funded by generous donors to make courses more accessible. Your application for financial assistance must be processed before registering for the course, so it's a good idea to apply early. Learn more and apply for a scholarship.

How to Apply

Applications for the 2027 are now closed. Applicants will be notified of their status by the end of November.

Learn More & Contact

Review our Course Manual to learn more about our field trips, gear, and required reading. If you have questions, please email BellinghamMountaineers@gmail.com.

Our Commitment to Inclusion

The Bellingham Mountaineers are committed to building and fostering a representative climbing community that reflects the spaces in which we live and recreate. We recognize that outdoor recreation has historically excluded communities of color, women, and LGBTQ people. Hence, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other underrepresented communities.

Course Documents