Winter Camping School

This is a non-survival school for those who want to enjoy the winter, snow and moonlight in comfort.

The Winter Camping School concentrates on understanding the equipment, clothing, food, and techniques needed to stay warm in cold and snowy environments on an overnight stay. Skills learned in this school are applicable for anyone who plans to spend time in the winter wilderness including hikers, snowshoers, campers, climbers and skiers. It does not teach high altitude glaciated techniques, but it provides a solid foundation that can be expanded to camping over timberline.

The Winter Camping School is open to any member of the CMC regardless of group membership or classification. There are no prerequisites, but prior completion of the CMC Wilderness Trekking School and/or some winter hiking experiences is recommended.

Topics covered

In this school, students have the opportunity to learn winter camping techniques with personal attention and practice such skills in a non-competitive, non-confrontational setting.  The Winter Camping School is a great place to make new friends and open up a new season of activity.

The School is planned with a mixture of in-person and online activities. There will be one in-person and other online lectures, Q and A online sessions and instructional videos as well as other materials posted online.

In order to graduate, students have to attend all lectures (Q and A sessions are optional), watching all video modules and submit all quizzes with satisfactory grading.

Students also have to participate in three qualified CMC trips: one one-day snowshoe trip to learn basic techniques and two overnight field trips.  All trips will be on snowshoes, no skis allowed.