Mazama is one of the best places in Washington to learn to rock climb or improve your climbing ability by focusing on technical skills. We create a safe, positive, and effective learning environment for climbers of all abilities. There are a number of routes in the beginner to moderate grades to chose from, which we have used to help hundreds of climbers find their way in this vertical environment.
NCMG guide and author of the Supertopo guide to Washington pass, Ian Nicholson, calls this area “the best alpine rock destination in North America.” With scores of classic climbs covering the full spectrum of difficulties, there is truly something here for everyone. Offering an all snow approach in the early season, these climbs can have a distinctly alpine feel in the Spring and early Summer. Later in the Summer, the approaches become snow free and most of these climbs can be reached in a pair of approach shoes in only an hour or two. This allows us the unique opportunity to spend the
A short and fun snowmobile ride up the spectacular North Cascades Highway provides access to the best backcountry ski and splitboarding terrain in the state. With the annual closure of the North Cascades Highway in the late fall thanks to heavy snowfalls, the season for backcountry skiing adventure starts lasts well into April. The touring opportunities in this zone are plentiful, and superb by any measure.
NCMG Owners Jeff Ward, Larry Goldie, and Josh Colle are instructors and examiners for the American Mountain Guides Association guide training and certification programs.
We often get requests from guides going through the AMGA training program for either additional training for advanced courses or structured preparation for an exam. If you would like to prepare for an upcoming course or exam please get in touch with us as soon as possible. Their schedules fill up quickly, especially right before the alpine and ski exams (late summer and late winter).
This 2-day course is designed to teach you all the basic skills necessary to climb an alpine summit, and then put them to the test on day 2 on a summit climb at Washington pass. This is an ideal program for those wanting to get into climbing, as it will set a solid foundation of skills that you can continue to build on as you continue your development as a climber. It is also a great program for those that just want to climb an iconic peak such as Liberty Bell or South Early Winter Spire and do it comfortably and with a high margin of safety since we limit the group size to 2:1 or 1:1 - and