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Education is the foundation to our Alaska mountaineering courses, and the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park is a classroom of unparalleled beauty. During our mountaineering expeditions and mountain climbing courses, numerous topics are taught and practiced such as: types, differences and specific uses of climbing equipment, knots, climbing rope use and management, crampon, ice axe, and crevasse rescue techniques, Alaska mountaineering hazard evaluation, glacier campsite selection, sanitation, mountaineering menu planning, hypothermia and frostbite, to name but a few.

St. Elias Alpine Guides is a professional Alaska mountaineering guide service that offers a full range of Alaska mountaineering programs, from a climbing school that includes ice climbing and glacier seminars, to general mountaineering courses, to first ascent expeditions, to high altitude mountaineering expeditions. The remoteness of peaks we offer guarantees solitude, beauty and a feeling of being "the first" that has become difficult to find in the Alaska Range. Our expeditions are totally self sufficient. The nearest humans can be nearly 100 miles away.

SEAG is a strong supporter of professionalism in mountain guiding, practicing the highest level of climbing ethics as set forth in the Tyrol Declaration. Our founder, Bob Jacobs, is an American Mountain Guides Association Certified Alpine Guide, as are several of the guides who work for this small personalized company.

Owner Wayne Marrs deep in a crevasse, but still smiling...

COURSES: ALASKA MOUNTAINEERING

• Glacier Travel and Climbing - 5 days
• Expedition Course - 8 days
• Technical Mountain Course - 8-10 days
• Ski Mountaineering Course - 7 days
• Mountain House Trip - 5 days

Alaska Mountaineering Expeditions
Ski Mountaineering in Alaska

Glacier Travel and Climbing - 5 Days

This Alaska mountaineering course focuses on learning the skills necessary for exploring heavily glaciated terrain. The course includes instruction in "hard skills” such as equipment selection and use, glacier travel technique, snow and ice climbing skills, and crevasse rescue. Additionally, throughout the mountaineering course, participants will learn “soft skills” such as personal skill recognition, hazard assessment, risk management, and improved judgment. We like to refer to these skills collectively as Mountain Sense. You will have the opportunity to apply your new skills in the last few days of the course with a “graduation climb” up one of the numerous peaks flanking 16,390 ft (4,995m) Mt. Blackburn. No previous climbing experience is necessary, however participants should be in good physical condition.

Trip Highlights:

• Partiipate in an Alaska mountaineering course amongst the rugged beauty of the Wrangell St. Elias National Park
• Develop new skills to safely travel on glaciers and steep snow.
• Learn proper technique and safety from professional mountain guides
• Practice emergency techniques such as self-arrest and crevasse rescue.

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If you’re interested in expanding your outdoor skills and mountain climbing experience, our Expedition Course is a great introduction to Alaska mountaineering. The course takes place deep in the heart of the remote Chugach Mountains, where you will learn how to assess and minimize risks to efficiently travel on mountain glacier terrain and snow covered peaks. Our mountaineering courses are taught by experienced mountain guides to ensure you’re receiving the highest quality and most current instruction available in Alaska mountaineering.

Trip Highlights:

• Alaska mountaineering in the spectacular Chugach Mountains
• Exploring remote glacier and rugged mountain peaks
• Learning the skills necessary to achieve your own mountaineering goals while climbing mountains in Alaska!
• Experiencing the solitude and awe-inspiring scenery of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

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Technical Mountain Course - 8-10 days

If you’ve got personal mountain climbing experience and are looking to take it to the next level, or have taken our basic mountaineering course, then our Technical Mountain Course is a great next step. This mountain school takes place in the rugged Granite Range of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, where you will build on your experience and learn the skills necessary to potentially lead climb on mountain glacier terrain and snow covered peaks. Our mountaineering courses are taught by experienced mountain guides to ensure you’re receiving the highest quality and most current instruction available in Alaska mountaineering.

Trip Highlights:

• Climbing in the rugged Granite Range of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
• Learning the skills necessary to achieve your own mountaineering goals while climbing mountains in Alaska!
• Course focused on preparing participants for lead climbing
• Small group size maximizes your learning opportunities

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Don’t miss this amazing opportunity to ski Alaska terrain and learn from the pros! You will fly from McCarthy to the Bagley Icefield - an amazing one hour bush flight across the awe-inspiring Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. The Bagley Icefield is the largest sub-polar icefield in the world, and offers incredible terrain for skiing and an unparalleled environment for studying snow science. Many of the mountains you will be surrounded by are unclimbed, unskied, and unbelievably skier friendly. Our ski guides will lead morning and evening discussions and training covering travel in avalanche terrain, human factors that effect decision making, trip planning and preparation, observations, travel techniques, avalanche rescue, and crevasse rescue. Days will be spent touring, skiing and riding in and around avalanche terrain. Our small client to guide ratio will allow all participants to focus on their own personal goals, from intermediate skiers with a keen interest in snow science, to extreme skiers that look forward to chatting over hot cocoa after hitting some of the extreme skiing lines that only Alaska can deliver.

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On a perfect day, the Don Sheldon Amphitheater on the Ruth Glacier is so spectacular as to be almost beyond belief - which is why Reader's Digest listed it as one of the ten most spectacular places on earth!  The Ruth Gorge, right around the corner from the Mountain House is equally spectacular.  And the best way to enjoy this glaciated paradise is to stay at the world famous Don Sheldon Mountain House.

We will use the Mountain House as a day-lodge and base for our four-night, five-day stay as we tour around the area.  The glass-walled, heated, six-sided building provides a cozy rest between tours. Its location, on a glacier surrounded rib of rock, provides a fine viewpoint for some of the mighty summits in the area, including Mt. McKinley and the Moose's Tooth.  Ski touring on the Ruth Glacier, while not difficult, brings us closer to the sights, which are so impressive you may have trouble believing what you see.  And if we're lucky, this is an amazing place to see the Northern Lights. Other activities are available for the more adventurous.

Our trip will start and end in the historic town of Talkeetna, where we will fly by ski-equipped bush plane to our glacier landing.  It is only a short walk or ski to the Mountain House, where our cook and guides will care for us for up to five nights.  We would hardly call it roughing it.  Each day will feature a ski tour, or possible climb, returning to the hut for a well earned rest.  Participants should be intermediate cross-country skiers in fair physical conditioning.

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