Alpine Skills Weekend (ASW) is the Club’s flagship winter mountaineering clinic — four days of hands-on instruction, team-building, and Type II fun in one of the most rugged and legendary mountain environments on the East Coast: Mt. Washington, home of “the world’s worst weather.”

Led by experienced club members, you’ll cover foundational and intermediate alpine skills, including:

• Winter layering, cold-weather systems, and gear use
• Ice axe self arrest
• Crampon techniques
• Team movement
• Snow camping basics
• Summit attempt (weather and team dependent)

Due to the overwhelming demand for this event, an application process is used to select participants.

Why should you do ASW?

• You’ll push your limits in a challenging but supportive environment
• Learn real alpine skills that translate to bigger objectives
• Bond with a team of equally stoked and slightly unhinged mountain people
• You’ll have bragging rights forever (“Remember that ASW whiteout?”)
• You might even summit Mt. Washington in the winter (if the mountain allows it)

Next Steps

More detailed information on ASW is available here.

The ASW application portal will be open Sunday October 12 to Friday October 24 5:00pm. Applications will not be accepted after the cut-off date. See the application event listing for the application link.