CHUGACH BACKCOUNTRY
SKI EXPEDITION
Multi Day
- Ski
SKI MOUNTAINEERING COURSE
- Advanced
- Mountaineering
- Ski
- Multi-Day
Alaska Ski Mountaineering Expedition Training with Expert Guides
Ready to take your skiing to the next level? Join us for an immersive Ski Mountaineering Course in Alaska’s vast and untouched Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. This course is designed for experienced skiers who want to expand their skills in glacial travel and technical mountaineering while exploring some of the most breathtaking alpine landscapes on Earth.
- Explore the pristine, remote wilderness of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
- Learn from expert ski mountaineering guides with years of experience
- Gain confidence in winter mountaineering and glacier travel
- Develop critical skills to tackle bigger objectives on your own
- Complex Alaskan logistics made easy
- Extend your ski season!
Learning Objectives:
- Movement uphill and downhill on steep and complex terrain
- Glacial terrain assessment and navigation
- Anchor building, belaying and rappelling
- Crevasse rescue
- Avalanche safety and rescue basics
- Winter camping and expedition setup
Trip Details
Expedition Length
7 days skiing and learning, 9 days in Alaska
Total Mileage
5-25mi
Total Elevation Gain/Loss
4,000-16,000’
Max Group Size
5
Difficulty
Alaska Grade 1
Rates: Private Solo
$18,075
Private 2 Participants
$10,765/person
Private 3-4 Participants
$7,580/person
Private 5-6 Participants
$6,110/person
Group Trip Dates:
May 21 – 29, 2026
We guarantee the 3-4 Participant Rate for our Group Trip, even if fewer than 4 people sign up.
If more than 4 people sign up, we will lower the rate accordingly so you get the best deal!
Private Trips with custom dates may be available. Schedule a call with our Expedition Coordinator to plan your Private Trip today!
The following is a sample itinerary for this trip. Due to individual abilities and goals, as well as the strong environment swings of Alaska, all of our Chugach backcountry skiing trips are customized as they unfold. Your guide will fluidly make decisions based on weather, conditions, logistics, safety, and group dynamics to maximize each day’s experience. There can be quite a bit of variation, but we always strive to make every trip your best ever!
Wed, May 20th
Thurs, May 21st
Fri, May 22nd
Each day will look a little different and ultimately be dictated by the weather, but when conditions allow, we’ll plan on being outside and splitting our time between outdoor lectures and learning-by-doing (climbing and skiing!).
Mornings will begin with a delicious backcountry breakfast prepared by your guides, and each day will finish with a hearty dinner. For dessert, you can choose between sweet and tasty treats or evening laps just outside of camp. Or both!
Thurs, May 28th
Fri, May 29th
What’s included?
- Customized trip planning
- Van transportation to and from Anchorage
- Lodging in our historic bunkrooms
- Round-trip 40min scenic bush flights between McCarthy and the Chugach Mountains
- Your professional instructor guides
- All the food on the expedition and in McCarthy
- Group gear (ropes, some technical equipment, cookware, fuel, tents, etc)
What’s not included?
- Gratuities
- Personal camping and ski gear
- Lodging and logistics in Anchorage
- Trip insurance (required)
Easy peasy! This ski-mountaineering course is run as a Trip Package so logistics are included.
You’ll get picked up in Anchorage and brought to McCarthy where you can stay at our historic HQ bunkrooms, sleeping on the same bunks that held many of the first explorers of this Park!
Food is included and provided by your guides while in McCarthy and out in the backcountry.
After the backcountry trip, your guide will stoke up the sauna for you and tuck you into bed in the bunkrooms again, providing a van ride back to Anchorage the next morning.
Upgrades to more comfortable lodging or transport logistics are available.
This trip is only for experienced backcountry skiers and splitboarders. It is not appropriate to be learning to ski or ride on this trip.
- Skiers and splitboarders must be very comfortable with off-piste terrain and black diamond-level resort runs
- A minimum of 30 days of backcountry skiing/splitboarding are required, but many more are highly recommended
- Excellent fitness and endurance are highly recommended
- Any climbing experience and familiarity with climbing knots and rope systems (belaying, rappelling, anchor building, etc) is extremely helpful. The more you know to begin, the more you’ll be able to build upon that foundation.
GALLERY
Want to go but not sure if this is the right trip for you? Schedule a call with our Expedition Coordinator at a time that works well for you. She’ll help you narrow down which trip is best for you and answer any questions you have!
GET IN TOUCH
WITH OUR EXPEDITION
COORDINATOR!
FAQ
To decide which Mountaineering trip is right for you, consider your goals for this trip.
If your goal is to learn as much as possible, we recommend a Course. A course-style trip is completely focused on learning and solidifying your mountain skills to set you up for the next big adventure.
Is your goal just to have fun? Although fun is more of a state of mind that you can bring on any trip, a base camp-style trip probably fits you best. On a base camp trip, our goal is to conquer smaller objectives for pure enjoyment, and these trips are less committing. Check out our Chugach Backcountry Ski Basecamp or consider a Private Custom trip, and we can create the perfect fun-filled adventure for you!
If your goal is to conquer a major Alaska summit, you should be looking at our objective-based expeditions: anything with "Mt. ...." in the title. On these trips, the objective is to summit a remote Wrangells giant and then descend safely. Each mountain requires something different, so check out each trip and use the Alaska rating system to determine what level of difficulty or technicality you are ready for.
Remember that whatever your goals are, you can definitely have fun and learn on any trip - that part is up to you!
We pride ourselves on cooking healthy and delicious meals even under the most adverse conditions! Your guide will create a custom menu based on the length and logistics of your trip, and the dietary preferences/restrictions you list in your Trip Application. All our guides are well-trained backcountry chefs and use time-tested recipes from our proprietary cookbook for their trips. We carry a plentiful and varied stock of ingredients and most meals are prepared from scratch (allowing for easy substitutions, additions or subtractions of ingredients). We only use pre-packed freeze-dried meals on summit pushes on our mountaineering expeditions.
On our backpacking and base camp trips, you can expect 3 meals a day, plus snacks of your choice. Breakfasts and dinners are usually hot meals and lunches are served cold. On mountaineering trips lunches consist of a variety of snacks as it can be hard to organize group meals while on a rope team.
We use a combination of fresh, dehydrated, and freeze-dried ingredients to make our delicious meals, however on longer backpacking and mountaineering trips your guides will use more freeze-dried foods than fresh foods to keep pack weights as low as possible.
On our rafting trips, we cook full multi-course meals with fresh ingredients and enjoy hot and cold breakfasts, cold lunches and hot dinners.
Meals for most trips start with Lunch on the first day and end with Lunch on the last day. *
*If you are signed up for a Custom Trip Package with us, it may include more meals. Check with us if you’re not sure. Mountaineering trips also include meals in McCarthy before and after the backcountry expedition.
Likely, at some point or another, at least a little bit, yes.
On a Rafting Trip, you can help the guides unload the boats, set up camp, and carry your dry bags to your tent nearby. After breakfast, you can help take down camp and load up the boats.
On a Base Camp Trip, you will need to carry your gear about 5-20min from the backcountry airstrip to where you plan to set up your camp. You'll carry your gear once at the beginning of the trip and then pack it up and carry it back to the airstrip at the end. Throughout the trip you will hike with a small day pack – this is usually 5-15lbs.
On a Mini-Backpacking Trip you will carry all your gear between the airstrip and your camp, which will be 1-3mi away. This means at least 2 one-way trips with the big backpack (usually 35-45lbs). After setting up camp you will enjoy day-hikes with a much lighter day pack (usually 5-15lbs).
On a Backpacking Trip, you will move camp every night and will need to carry everything you need with you throughout each day. For a trip up to 4 days in length, you can expect packs in the 35-45lb range and for trips in the 6-8 day range, please be prepared for weights closer to 45-55lbs. The burly gear that is required for the Alaskan backcountry isn’t very light so forget “ultralight” and think heavy-duty!
For all Base Camping and Backpacking Trips, the pack weight will really depend on what you bring, so we do recommend having a minimalist mindset. In addition to your own gear, we will be giving you a bear canister full of food and supplies, potentially another item like a fuel canister or a stove, and maybe a part of a tent if you’re not bringing your own (we recommend sharing tents to save weight). Your guides are weight-conscious packers and will never burden you unnecessarily. It’s likely that over the course of the trip you’ll be able to start adding your own things into the bear canister and your pack should get lighter as you eat your food and use supplies.
On our objective-based Mountaineering Expeditions, you will be required to carry all your own gear and some group gear between camps. Depending on the terrain, you may bring sleds with you for all or some of the route. Depending on the route, you may do stretches of the route multiple times, caching gear as you go, so you may not always have the full weight of all your equipment with you at all times. At maximum, you can expect weights of 80-160lbs to be split between a backpack and a sled and at minimum a 30lb bag for single-day excursions.
