fenderfour

I only seem to post info for Boealps... Oh well. The Boealps intermediate is a very personal affair. They focus on experience climbs with very experienced instructors as opposed to a "lemming" type environment with 12 climbers following one leader. The class size is very small, usually fewer than 20 people for the year. Climbs usually have no more than 3 students per instructor and are often one-on-one with the instructors. There is no formal test for entry, you just have to convince your instructors that you have a clue. check out http://boealps.org/intermed.html for more info.

I found some Kazami skis at the bottom of the Worm Flows route on St Helens on Sunday 01/11. There were no tracks anywhere up there. We were the first people in there since Tuesday. I carried them out and left them at Jack's.

The Boeing Alpine Society only teaches some basic Ice Climbing in the intermediate class. You will need to show some proficiency in basic alpine skills before you can take it. There is also a one day ice climbing seminar coming up.

Shrikes are only $99 at the BD website. http://www.bdel.com/php/specials.php?gear=alpinism&id=163

I am involved with the Boeing Alpine Club (Boealps) the intermediate course sounds like what you are looking for. It costs around $200 for the full course and you do get to pick many of your climbs. The instructors are all very experienced. There is no competency exam, but you will have to convince your instructors that you know what you are doing, after all, their lives are in your hands. The class is more like a mentoring program. Usually 2 instructors and 2 students per climb. You can contact Len Kannapell [kannapell@yahoo.com] for more info.