Sherri Chesarik was single, taking care of a new baby boy and, admittedly, overweight.

She needed some kind of spark – something to look forward to, and something to get her into shape.

It was then, six years ago, when she discovered the thing that would change her life.

It wasn’t a self-help book.

It wasn’t a set of motivational tapes.

It wasn’t even a religious awakening.

It was a class that introduced her to a new hobby and literally took her higher and further than she’d ever been.

She learned alpine scrambling.

“The scrambling course changed my life overnight,” Chesarik said. “If anybody suggested I’d be climbing these mountains, I wouldn’t have believed it. I’ve gained a lot of self-confidence.”

A cross between hiking and climbing, alpine scrambling takes participants off trails without using technical equipment such as ropes and harnesses.

It’s believed about 90 percent of the peaks in the Cascades are attainable without using such equipment.

Chesarik, 40, is now the chairwoman of the Mountaineers’ Everett Branch Alpine Scramble Committee. She coordinates and teaches scrambling classes and said the activity is as social as it is athletic.

“Every year, we get these groups that form and become lifelong friends,” she said. “And I have a lot of people tell me they’ve done (scrambling) for years and they finally took the class and learned what they’d been doing wrong all this time.”

Registration is open for the next round of classes, which starts in February.

There are four lectures and five field trips from February to May, which give students the basics on topics such as food and nutrition, finding routes and wilderness ethics and etiquette. The class costs $135 for Mountaineers members, $155 for nonmembers and does not include the course textbook.

“It is a commitment,” Chesarik said. “You’re in a situation that can really be dangerous. The best way to avoid or handle those situations is to be trained. And when you go out as a group, you want to know the people around you have the same training.”

Getting started in scrambling with the proper clothing and minimal equipment costs about $500, Chesarik estimates.

The excitement of the activity comes in finding your own route and reaching a summit. Hopping boulders and, in some cases, navigating through ice are just parts of the process.

Neil Bresheare, 56, of Snohomish has taught scrambling classes for the Mountaineers for a few years to men and women who were “big, small, young and old.”

“You just have to have the attitude that you want to do it,” he said. “You don’t have to be Superman to do some of these moves.”

Lee Hughes, 42, of Everett took the class last time around and graduated in October, after completing three scrambles on his own. A friend talked him into taking the class, and he wasn’t sure what to expect.

“I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed the class,” Hughes said. “I really looked forward to it every other week. I just expected a bunch of tree-hugging granola-crunchers, but these people were just like me – they just love the outdoors.”

Jennifer Hixson, 42, of Bothell taught hiking classes before trying scrambling and loves it, although she still hikes.

“You just have a map and compass to reach the peak. No trail,” she said. “You can’t always tell the route from where you start. It’s a definite challenge. You’re finding your best route up, going over rocks.

“You really feel like you did something when you get to the summit.”

Skills such as using a compass to navigate and using an ice axe to stop from sliding down a hill are the functional aspects of what Hughes learned, but there was more to it than that.

“You also learn a lot about yourself,” Hughes said. “All week, you’re driving to work, putting up with your boss and you get to the mountains and earn this summit by your effort and sweat.

“It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day hassles of things, but it’s like a new perspective when you get up in the mountains.”

Reporter Victor Balta: 425-339-3455 or vbalta@heraldnet.com.