How to Choose The Right Baker Expedition
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Researching and choosing the right expedition company to support you and help guide you through all logistics, as well as be there for you on the mountain is important. You want to do your homework so you feel 100% confident in your choice and can focus on the climb.
We encourage you to look closely at both the big picture and the small details. Look at a company’s priority on safety, the quality and experience of their guides, their reputation, and their level of ‘care factor’.
Safety & Success
Your safety and success are the top priorities, in that order.
A climbing company should invest heavily and plan extensively for your safety.
Baker is a very approachable mountain, but that does not mean it’s free from hazard. Large glaciers, sudden storms blowing up the Strait of Juan de Fuca or down the Fraser river valley, and possible white-out conditions any time of year are all factors your Guides need to be conscious of and familiar with.
At CTSS we ensure the safety of our climbers by employing Guides with years of experience in the Pacific Northwest and around the world. We design our itineraries to give our Guides the ability to take advantage of weather windows and give you the best chance of success by climbing when it’s safe to climb.
Leadership
Look for Guides who are seasoned experts with a strategy that is patient, conservative and well planned to give you the best opportunity for success. They should be adept at managing the team, able to lean on extensive experience and “thread the needle” when it comes to picking the best summit window.
Our mountaineering guides and staff are second to none, and our teams ALWAYS include a lead guide with extensive experience on Mt. Baker. They know the area well and understand how to make your climb of Mt. Baker as smooth, and successful as possible.
Skills Clinic & Training
Mt. Baker is a fantastic opportunity to learn (or concrete) key mountaineering skills you will use throughout your entire climbing career.
It is important that your operator dedicates time in your itinerary to a ‘snow school’ or climbing clinic.
Feel free to ask what skills they cover off, how they teach them and how much time they dedicate to that training. Some of the most important skills are often overlooked, like the rest step, pressure breathing and pacing amongst the more hands on skills like self arrest, efficient cramponing, and roped glacier travel.
CTSS dedicates a significant portion of our schedule for training on the mountain. Your guide will also help you implement and continue to coach you in these skills throughout your climb.
In our 5-Day Alpine Academy your training will form the backbone of our schedule every day. We start with the fundamentals of efficient movement in the mountains and build your skills up to more advanced techniques such as snow anchors, crevasse rescue, and running belays.
Values & Philosophy
Does an operator have strong values?
This is sometimes a little harder to identify as it’s more a feeling than a sales pitch, but you should get a feel for a company through their little interactions, their care factor, their attention to detail, their corporate social responsibility, their responses to you.
Mountaineering can be high risk and stressful so pick an operator who has strong core values and a team mentality that aligns with yours so that when things get challenging you can rely on open lines of communication, knowing they will do what they can to support you.
It is this team cohesiveness that flows through to each individual climber and helps them stand on top.
