Hey All,
So I'm a 27 year old mechanical engineer living in New Orleans, LA and wanting to get into mountaineering. I've got very limited experience with climbing...due to obvious geographic limitations, but something about getting into the mountains has always appealed to me. Basically, I get into the closest climbing gym on occasion and have been sport climbing in Northern Alabama once many years ago. I thoroughly enjoy backpacking, camping, hiking etc.
Ultimately I would like to be able to take 2-3 trips a year to climb, to get there, the best route seems to be taking a course next year.
Currently I've narrowed it down to two similar courses, I've got vacation time to use for this so I picked the long duration offerings from each company. The longer courses seem to give the best variety to set me up with a good climbing base to build from.
First, Alpine Ascents International--13 Day Cascades Mountaineering Course.
Second, American Alpine Institute--12 Day Alpine Mountaineering and Technical Leadership 1 course.
Both of these courses seem very similar based on the itinerary, can anyone weigh in on any advantages of one over the other? Anyone with experience on one or both courses would be greatly appreciated as well! Finally, feel free to point me towards other schools, these two stood out with their long courses.
As far as dates, the Alpine ascents course is limited to August, whereas American Alpine spans the whole summer. Weather wise, which dates would be preferable for this course.
Are these courses overkill? Should I try out a summit climb to ensure I enjoy these activities? In my mind the long course seems the best bang for the buck based on information learned and amount of days you're paying for.
I'm in the very early planning stages now and just trying to make sure I'm considering everything. Thanks for the help!