Pam Dalan didn’t see the point in taking a scrambling class.
Without the help of the Mountaineers, she had become an advanced hiker, even traveling off trails on snow and boulders once in a while.
“I’d been hiking and kind of going around the mountains with friends for about three years,” said Dalan of Seattle. “I thought, ‘Well, what do you need a class for?’”
But Dalan, then 50, kept hearing good things about the Everett branch of the Mountaineers and its annual course, so she decided to sign up.
Though the strenuous course was a major time commitment, with frequent lectures, field trips and many other mandatory events, Dalan has never looked back.
Every year since then, 2001, she has helped teach the course, which opened up a whole new world of adventure, confidence and expertise.
| TAKE THE CLASS
What: The Everett branch of the Mountaineers will offer its annual alpine scrambling course, which teaches students how to travel safely off maintained trails in order to scramble to mountain summits any time of year. Learn about proper equipment, clothing, navigation, route finding, avalanche avoidance, weather awareness, rock and brush scrambling, wilderness ethics, snow travel, ice ax self-arrest and glissade techniques. When: This three-month program starts March 2 and includes lectures, mostly on Thursday evenings, as well as field trips on Saturdays and a few Sundays, but not every weekend in a row. Students must attend all lectures, field trips and scrambling outings and become members of the Mountaineers to graduate. See a full list of lecture dates at www.everettmountaineers.org under the alpine scrambling link. Cost: Members of the Mountaineers pay a $140 fee, nonmembers pay a $180 fee. Students must be 16 or older. Additional costs include a textbook, membership dues ($73 for a year), all equipment and clothing and tuition for the Mountaineers first aid course, also required for graduation. Enroll online at www.everettmountaineers.org or call 206-284-8484 or 800-573-8484. Questions: Contact Jenny Hixon with the Everett Mountaineers at 425-481-7021 or scrambling@everettmountaineers.org. |
“There was a lot I didn’t know. I found out that I really didn’t know how to use an ice ax,” Dalan said. “A lot of it is learning how to keep yourself safe. I just felt really good about the skills I gained.”
Dalan now leads special “chick scrambles” for women and men Mountaineers who like to stop to smell the flowers and take in the views instead of plodding ahead.
On March 2, the Everett branch of the Mountaineers will again offer the three-month course – one of their most in-depth and challenging – for up to 50 students.
Thursday-evening lectures and weekend field trips will teach hikers how to take their wilderness walks to the proverbial next level.
Students learn numerous backcountry tricks, including how to climb to the top of a rocky peak without killing the vegetation along the way, how to use a compass and map correctly, even how to playfully yet safely slide down a snowy slope on one’s hind end.
Scrambling, which can be done any time of year, includes everything in between basic hiking and roped-up mountain or rock climbing. That typically means any “climb” rated Class 1 to 3 is a scramble by Mountaineers standards, meaning there is no need for ropes or crampons.
That’s why scrambling students won’t learn technical or roped climbing techniques, glacier travel or the use of crampons. (You have to take the basic climbing course for that.)
Melissa Tetreault, 23, and her now-husband Brian, 32, took the course last year and have expanded their skills so much that they may go on to that more technical climbing course someday soon.
Melissa Tetreault said the scrambling was a bit challenging for her at first because of her mild fear of heights.
She felt timid during some of the field trips, but found she wanted to stick with it.
“I’d get home that night and I couldn’t wait to get out there again,” Tetreault said. “I’ve developed skills for things I never even thought I’d do. It conditions you, so you can do more intense hikes in general.”
While scrambling trips usually start out on hiking trails, often the action intensifies quickly with speedy elevation gain and off-trail challenges such as boulders, big trees or snow.
“You’re taking a trail about halfway in and from there you’re using a compass and using your map to find your way to the peak,” Tetreault said. “It’s very exhilarating because you’re conquering something. It’s not something everybody could do.”
Students of the scrambling course, who must join the Mountaineers, are invited to sign up for any scrambling trip the Mountaineers offer after graduation.
Spring and summer trips include places such as Mount Angeles in April (Olympic Mountains), Mount Ann and Big Bear Mountain in May (Cascades) and the Bailey Range Traverse for a week in September (Olympic Mountains).
Winter scrambling trips include Mount Rainier’s Camp Muir, Mount Ellinor in the Olympic Mountains and Mount Herman, near Mount Shuksan.
Dalan enjoys a variety of scrambles, which have different categories to help beginners select appropriate trips.
“You can go on a really easy one or a really hard one,” she said. “Some of the really hard ones have you do two peaks in a day.”
Though scrambling can be tough at times, Dalan loves an all-day challenge and the “oxygen rich environment” of the mountains.
“Your endorphins start to flow,” she said. “By the time you get to the top and see the beautiful view you just feel like a million dollars.”
Reporter Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037 or sjackson@heraldnet.com.
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