Kristin takes a Winter Mountaineering Course

I love REI. Yes I do. I love REI. How about you 😂? But really though, I could probably live at there. And I’m starting to feel like I do because I’ve been there three times in the last three days…honestly with all the pandemonium that’s been going on with home repairs at my house, I prefer to be there. Or in the mountains. Either way, somewhere where pipes aren’t exploding 🤦🏼‍♀️.

I am slowly but surely trying to expand my knowledge base when it comes to all things hiking and really want to focus on increasing my preparedness in general. When I saw that REI offered a free winter mountaineering course I figured I would give it a shot. After recently taking their landscape photography course and absolutely loving it I was sure that I would learn a thing or two and at the very least spend a couple hours with some other outdoor enthusiast.

The class was held at the Greenwood Village location in their classroom where I took the landscape photography course. This class was much fuller and probably had about 30 people in attendance. The class itself was about and hour and a half, with the last thirty minutes open for questions. The instructor was clearly very knowledgeable and passionate about mountaineering.

The presentation part of the class went over some winter basics like avalanche equipment, layering (cotton=BAD), the importance of navigation and map, winter additions to the 10 essentials, winter dangers, and ensuring you have a solid plan. The next part of the class involved the instructor literally going through his gear bag, which was kind of cool to see. Also, I am glad to know I’m not crazy for having three pairs of gloves with me on winter hikes 😂.

Do I feel prepared to tackle a winter fourteener this year? HAIL NO. I know my limits and that is not something I’m in any kind of rush to do. But do I feel more knowledgeable regarding preparedness and the winter gear I’ll be investing in soon? YEZZIR.

Taking advantage of free/cheap courses like this is something I’ve been taking advantage of lately and I definitely plan to continue to do so. I like to research online, but when it comes to learning new skills, there’s just something about person to person interaction that I find to be a better experience. If you haven’t checked any of their course out, hit up REI.com and I’m sure you’ll find something (or several somethings). Happy (prepared) hiking, everyone ✌🏼❤️🥾.