Mt. Rainier Mountaineering Day School

IMG's Mountaineering Day School (MDS) is an introductory climbing course that teaches skills essential for climbing Mt. Rainier and other alpine climbs. It is designed to prepare participants to climb Mt. Rainier under the direction of International Mountain Guides' professional guide staff. The MDS is a full day of learning and practicing snow climbing techniques, including ascending and descending steep snow slopes, cramponing, ice axe use, self and team arrest, and roped glacier travel. The school takes place on snow generally within an hour's hike from Paradise. We'll spend all day becoming familiar with snow climbing and glacier travel techniques, but will not cover crevasse rescue or other rescue techniques essential for proper team glacier travel. For this reason, we recommend the MDS be taken in conjunction with the Advanced Mountain Day School and the 2-day Crevasse Rescue School, a good primer in anchors and crevasse rescue systems. By itself, the Mountaineering Day School is not sufficient training to allow you to climb on your own.

Why Choose This Program?

The Mountaineering Day School teaches the essentials of roped team glacier travel. This course is included in the content of most of IMG's climbs on Mt. Rainier, but it is a good review for experienced climbers planning to climb on their own or who feel the need for additional training before their 3½ Day Summit Climb.

The MDS is a hands-on course which allows a substantial amount of time to practice skills before climbing Rainier or other glaciated peaks.