We love skiing. It’s that simple. If you can relate, the Backcountry Season Pass is for you. This is our way of rewarding your love of skiing and providing what we think is the best deal going to get you out there! Whether you are looking to develop your backcountry skills, or just want to get the powder goods when it's going off, this program gives you the flexibility you need to make the most of your winter.
Stevens Pass is home to some of the deepest snow and best tree skiing in the Pacific Northwest and is located only one and a half hours from downtown Seattle. North Cascades Mountain Guides offers traditional backcountry skiing trips, “Out-of-Bounds” skiing at Stevens Pass Mountain Resort and Snowmobile-Accessed backcountry trips out of Stevens Pass, Lake Wenatchee, Leavenworth and Blewett Pass.
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).
Rescue skills are perishable, and like first aid skills, they should be refreshed every few years. This program is designed for graduates of an AIARE Level 1 course who want to ensure that the rescue skills learned during their course are still fresh in their minds. This is also a great way to keep abreast of best practices in the rescue world, new gear on the market, and insuring that you and your partners on on the same page with this life saving skill set.
Whether you have just taken your first avalanche course or have been skiing avalanche terrain for decades, this course can help take your terrain assessment skills to the next level. Terrain assessment is the most important skill for moving through avalanche terrain safely and being able to choose the right slope to ride given the avalanche conditions of the day.
The AIARE 2 is for those who have taken an AIARE 1 and Avalanche Rescue and have had at least a year of backcountry travel experience. The AIARE 2 provides backcountry leaders the opportunity to advance their avalanche knowledge and decision making skills.
The AIARE 2 is a three-day/24-hour course that provides backcountry travelers an opportunity to advance their decision-making skills in more complicated situations such as being a leader within a small travel group, traveling in more complicated terrain, and/or developing a travel plan where resources are scarce.