Intro to Mountaineering Bow #2

Take Yourself to New Heights

Intro to Mountaineering Bow #2

Take Yourself to New Heights

Learn glacier travel and rescue skills with ACMG guides

All meals and group gear included—no experience needed

A perfect first step into mountaineering

Stay at Bow Hut and summit classic alpine peaks

Trip Description

Whether it’s your first summit ever or just the first of the season, Bow Hut is the perfect place to kick things off. Join us for four days of hands-on mountaineering training and peak bagging in the heart of the Canadian Rockies.

You’ll build essential skills, learn new techniques, and put your knowledge to the test in a stunning alpine environment. With expert instruction and real-time application, this course is designed to boost your confidence and prepare you for a summer of mountaineering success. This course is designed for those with little to no previous outdoor climbing or mountaineering experience.

Porters will carry your group’s food into the hut to keep packs light for the ascent. You can expect nutritious continental-style breakfasts, packed lunches and 4-course dinners with soup, appetizers, meat-based entrees (with vegetarian options) and a delicious dessert. All of the food for this camp is provided by Peak Eats. Accommodation at the Bow Hut is included in the course. A complete gear list and equipment rental information can be found here.

Itinerary

This course is designed to provide you with both the skills and experience to pursue your own independent alpine adventures, all while summiting some exciting peaks. The course focuses on the following skills:

Roped glacier travel
Basic knots
Crevasse rescue
Snow and ice travel
Use of mountaineering axe and crampons
Navigation skills (including topographic maps, bearings, trip planning, and electronic navigation devices)

The climbing objectives for this course are Grade II alpine climbs involving snow and ice mountaineering. These objectives include relatively straightforward glaciers and may involve some short sections of scrambling (either roped or unroped) to reach the summit. If conditions permit, you’ll have the opportunity to summit the following peaks:

Mt. Olive (3,126m) from Bow Hut
Mt. Rhondda (3,062m) from Bow Hut

This camp promises both hands-on learning and exciting climbs, preparing you for future alpine pursuits.

Pre-trip meeting

Meet online at 7:00 PM (MST) for an introduction zoom session. Zoom link will be sent out about 1 week in advance of the camp. This will be around 1-2 hours and allow your guide to go over gear with you, make sure everyone is on the same page, make sure everyone knows where to meet for the next day and to answer any questions.

Day one - three

Meet at the trailhead for Bow hut (Bow Lake Parking area) and hike into the hut. Explore the peaks in the area with overnights back at the Hut, see what a sample day could look like below.

Day four

Maybe sneak in a final peak before lunch and hike back to trailhead.

A sample day on the camp

Mountaineering means getting up early! Take advantage of the easiest and safest snow travel conditions. Enjoy a continental-style breakfast (food always tastes better when our porters carry it in to the hut for you) to give you the energy you need to start the day.
Rope up, and head up the toe of the Bow Glacier to the Wapta Icefield. From there, your destination (Mt. Olive) is only 3km away. Don’t be fooled by the distance, though: the 3km includes a walk over the icefield, 770m of elevation gain, and the crux: a short but steep snow section. To overcome all of these, you’ll put your new glacier travel and snow mountaineering skills to use. After you kick steps into the snow up the crux, self-belaying with your mountaineering axe, it’s a straightforward scree ascent to the top. Take in the view, relax, and enjoy your lunch.
On the way back, your guide will coach as you test out your new navigation skills. Practice identifying features on a topographic map and taking bearings off of the surrounding peaks to identify your position.
Back in the hut, you’ll have a chance to socialize with your fellow newly-minted mountaineers.
In a short, hour-long evening instructional session, you learn how to create and follow a trip plan. The next day’s objective is introduced and discussed. Afterwards, everybody heads to the bunkroom to get some well-deserved rest.

Location

The gateway to the Wapta Icefield

Bow Hut is one of the most popular and well-situated alpine huts in the Canadian Rockies, especially for mountaineers looking to explore the Wapta Icefield. The hut sits in a broad alpine basin beneath the eastern slopes of Mount Gordon and Mount Olive, providing a prime staging point for access to the surrounding peaks and expansive glacier terrain.

Guides & Staff

Our guiding ratio will be a maximum of 6:1 to give you plenty of one-to-one learning time with our excellent guides. The small groups also mean that you can split up based on objectives and pacing, and get the individualized attention needed to tackle more challenging alpine rock routes. All guides are certified by the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG).

Guide Selection Pending

Guides for this trip are still being confirmed.

We sell Tugo® Travel Insurance suitable for both ACC Adventures and personal trips

Arc'teryx supports our Intro to Mountaineering courses and we thank them for their support.

Open

Details

* Camps are subject to minimum enrollment in order to run.

Arc'teryx supports our Intro to Mountaineering courses and we thank them for their assistance.

Adventure Hazards

Terrain

Terrain is uncontrolled, unmarked and not inspected, risks include but are not limited to: Cornices, Crevasses, Cliffs, Trees, tree wells, forest dead fall, and tree stumps, Creeks, rocks and boulders. Holes and depressions below the snow surface. Variable and difficult snow conditions. Variable and difficult walking terrain. Snowcat roads and road banks, fences and other man-made structures. Snow immersion. Impact or collision with other persons, vehicles or objects. Extreme variation in trails or terrain. Encounters with domestic or wild animals. Loss of balance or control, slips, trips, and falls. Becoming lost or separated from the group.

General Hazards

Risks include but are not limited to: Slips, trips and falls indoor or outdoor. Equipment failure. Infectious disease contracted through viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi which may be transmitted through direct or indirect contact. Negligent first aid. Negligence of other persons, including other guests. Negligence of the guide including failure to take reasonable steps to safeguard or protect you from, or warn you of risk, dangers, hazards, on participating in ACC activities. Changing weather conditions including but not limited to high winds, lightning, forest fires, effects of high altitude including pulmonary edema and cerebral edema, incomplete warnings or instructions, negligence of other people, including trip coordinator and other guests. Negligence includes failure on the part of ACC Guides (if applicable) to take reasonable steps to safeguard or protect you from or warn you of the risks, dangers and hazards of wilderness activities.

Rockfall and Icefall

Risks include but are not limited to: Rockfall and icefall can be caused by natural forces or by people travelling through the terrain (e.g. climbing/scrambling/hiking)

Falls and Belaying

Risks include but are not limited to: Mountaineering and ice climbing present the risk of falling from the wall causing the climber to collide with the wall or ground which can lead to injury or death. The risk of a belay failure is also present which can contribute to a ground fall. Equipment failure, including equipment associated with climbing, rappelling and belaying

Communication and Rescue

Risks include but are not limited to: Communication can be difficult and in the event of an accident, rescue and treatment may not be available. Adverse weather may also delay the arrival of treatment and transport out of the field. If an Injury occurs in challenging terrain movement to an evacuation point may be slow.

Personal Injury

Risks include but are not limited to: Sprains, strains, shock, stress, nausea, foodborne illness, diarrhea, burns, cuts, abrasions, fractured or broken bones, impalement, drowning, hypothermia, loss of limbs, frostbite, sunstroke, sunburn, dehydration, illness, soft tissue injuries, neck, head and brain injury, paralysis, psychological injury, other injury to the body.