I've done a number of searches and not found anything specific enough to satisfy my inquiry.

I want to take an extensive introductory course to mountaineering. I'm currently signed up for the nols Waddington course, but I'm also considering the yamnuska mountain semester.

I have fairly extensive backcountry and cold weather experience, but only very basic technical climbing skills. What I'm looking for in a course is an intensive acquisition of skills that would enable more remote and extreme backcountry travel in the future. I don't foresee pursuing a career of particularly technical accents. i more desire a well-rounded skill set that will enable me to access remote areas without limitation from difficult terrain - in general, I'm willing to take the easiest way up, as long as I can in fact get to the top or across unpredictable country. I would put much less emphasis on the "experience" and more on the practical progress obtained.

I understand that the yamnuska semester covers a wider range of mountain skills, but a composite of several NOLS classes could cover approximately the same subjects for comparable time and price. so what I'm asking for is a comparison of the quality, intensity, and nature of the 2 organizations.

I'm specifically looking for the input of people who have a good comparative understanding of the two programs. I know that both are well respected in their own right, but since both are considerable investment, I would really prefer to choose the one that better suits my needs. I know this is an incredibly specific request, but considering the knowledge base here, I'm hoping at least one or two people can give me some insight.

thank you in advance for any consideration and responses

I'm a NOLS Alaska grad, and while I've eventually been able to acquire a large volume of technical skills and climb mixed alpine and big wall routes, NOLS is not the place to learn those skills. I can't speak for Yamnuska, but NOLS wastes huge amounts of time on very basic backcountry skills even in their mountaineering course. Another program to consider... I took a friend who did the American Alpine Institute's mountaineering program with me to Chamonix, and he performed very competently on technical mixed terrain. I would not have been able to do anything remotely close to that after my NOLS course.

Another vote for American Alpine Institute. I have a couple of climbing partners who started out with a 21 day alpine climbing course from AAI and they are both very competent and strong climbers. I also have a number of partners who guide for AAI, and I can say they are a top notch outfit.

I met a couple of guys with no previous climbing experience who did the yam mountain semester and they highly recommended it. I ran into them atop a multipitch ice route, so they must have been comfortable enough after their course.

Plus it's based in Canmore (I think) which is as close to the mountains as you can get. Yam also has a pretty good reputation around town. And the meals are great!