Student Alpine Week

2008 DATES Click Dates To Book.... Week 29: 13 Jul - 19 Jul Week 31: 27 Jul - 2 Aug FULL Full Summer Programme Click Here COURSE DURATION 5 days, 6 nights ALL INCLUSIVE PRICE £545 Your course price covers: • Guiding + guides expenses • Full board + accommodation • All picnic lunches/snack food • All course transportation • All mechanical uplift • Loan of technical equipment Click here for Full Details RATIO 6:1 COURSE GRADE Difficulty: 2 Fitness: 2 Click Here for Grading Details

This course provides an opportunity for people in full-time education to gain the benefit of an ISM instructional course at a greatly reduced cost. Available to anyone over the age of 16 in full-time education (under 18's must have written permission from a parent) the course comprises 5 days instruction and includes 6 nights accommodation (normally three at a Guest House in Leysin and three in high mountain huts).

As well as offering a relaxed and fun introduction to mountaineering for novices, the course is particularly valuable for people with climbing experience in the UK who want to progress to higher mountains in glaciated areas.

We teach the full range of skills needed for safe mountaineering on all types of alpine terrain: rope work and rock skills on the first day, snow & ice climbing and glacier work on the second then high mountaineering from a mountain hut in the latter part of the week where (snow craft and crevasse rescue are incorporated into the programme).

The course benefits those who plan to climb independently afterwards by giving a solid grounding in the safety aspects of alpine climbing. Guides will be able to advise on suitable areas/objectives for people planning to climb on their own after the course. The course is also perfect preparation for the more ambitious Student Alpine Ascents week, which is a week of intensive alpine mountaineering (with less time devoted to instruction) again geared to the Student budget.

An important aspect of the course is that participants have plenty of opportunity to practice techniques for themselves, and to lead the climbing rope for themselves wherever possible. The areas that we use for this course have been carefully selected to provide the best possible climbs for you to practice and develop your skills, with expert coaching and supervision from the ISM guides.

The course starts with a briefing at 7.00pm at the guest house (normally The Hiking Sheep) on the course starting date.

STUDENT GROUPS. In addition to the advertised course dates, we can arrange this course throughout the summer for groups of 6 or 12 people at the advertised price, and for groups of different numbers with an adjustment in price.

Who the course will suit

Participants should have good general fitness and some experience of rock climbing and rope work (whether gained on outdoor cliffs or indoor climbing walls). People with more climbing experience will be encouraged to lead the rope (with suitable instruction) on a variety of alpine terrain.

What the course covers

As this course is designed to be accessible to people new to mountaineering, we cover all of the basic climbing and alpine skills, including:

• Attaching to the rope and essential climbing knots.
• Basic movement techniques over rock.
• Abseiling and prussiking.
• Belaying and protection techniques on rock, ice and snow.
• Use of crampons and ice axe on snow and ice.
• Taking coils and moving together with the rope.
• Short rope techniques for different types of alpine terrain.
• Safe glacier travel and crevasse rescue.
• Descending on snow and ice.
• Navigation and interpretation of maps and guidebook.
• Preparation and selection of climbing equipment.
• Alpine huts and the ‘alpine start’.

You will have the chance to practice these skills on mountain routes such peaks as the Pigne de la Lé (3396m) and the Pointe de Mourti (3563m). See the course programme description for more details of these ascents.

Typical course programme

Sunday evening.

The course starts with students and guides meeting at 7.00pm at The Hiking Sheep in Leysin. This is the chance for the guides to give you a thorough briefing on the details of the course, sort out any particular personal equipment requirements and for you to ask any questions that you may have!

Monday.

The beautiful peaks above Leysin provide an ideal venue to practice and perfect basic rope and climbing techniques. We cover everything from tying in, through belay set-ups and belaying techniques, movement over rock, abseiling and prussiking, to the taking of coils and shortening of the rope for moving together on alpine terrain. The multitude of friendly climbs here gives plenty of scope for introducing the complete novice, as well as coaching and improving the technique of those with previous climbing experience. We return to the guest house for dinner,

Tuesday.

We travel to the Zinal valley (one of the great mountaineering centres of the Swiss Valais) branching west into the Val de Moiry. From the roadhead, the Moiry glacier dominates the view and is just half an hour's walk away. This gleaming cascade of ice is possibly the best venue in the Alps for practising ice climbing skills. We ascend the glacier to the Moiry hut, encountering ice pitches of every angle to practise ice axe and crampon technique, the use of ice screws for protection and belays and rope techniques for moving together. Where the glacier levels off we teach safe glacier travel before our final ascent on steep moraine to the hut. .An evening session at the hut covers the use and interpretation of map and guidebook, relating it to the terrain around us.

Wednesday.

A pre-dawn start is made to climb the superb Pointe de Mourti. The approach takes 2 hours over a serious glacier where we apply the glacier travel skills learned the previous day. Our routes takes the NE ridge of the peak, a typical 'blocky' alpine ridge (PD standard) which can be short-roped except for a few short pitches to overcome steeper sections. Participants have the opportunity to lead the rope during the ascent and descent of the peak. The ascent finishes with a fine snow crest, exposed in places, leading to the summit Madonna.The summit panorama is superb, taking in giant peaks like the Matterhorn and the Weisshorn. We make a careful descent by the same route, taking particular care with ropework on the glacier due to softer snow in the afternoon.

Thursday.

We descend for 15 minutes to the glacier and move down to where it forms some remarkable towers of ice, steep serac walls and giant crevasses. This is an exceptional venue for learning ice climbing skills (cameras highly recommended!). Here we learn how to set up anchors and belays on ice and work on climbing skills for all angles of ice up to the vertical. Later in the day we cover the theory of crevasse rescue, from self-rescue techniques to assisted hoists and the setting up of pulley systems.

Friday.

An hour's walk brings us a col below the N ridge of the Pigne de la Le, a friendly peak which is perfect for using all the alpine ropework skills covered in the course. The summit is a great viewpoint for mighty Zermatt peaks like the Zinalrothorn and the Obergabelhorn. During our descent of the glacier we cover snowcraft skills and set up an authentic crevasse rescue, with people having the opportunity to act as both rescuers and victims. We continue down via the hut to our transport back to Leysin, where no course would be complete without a night out at the Yeti bar with all the ISM team!

Saturday morning.

Breakfast at the guest house is included before departure.

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