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This nationally recognized program is designed to help develop and then certify leaders in outdoor education with a career specialty of teaching in the mountain environment. The curriculum and the certification covers both soft and hard skills for both non-technical and technical terrain. The program is created from the combination of the Alpine Mountaineering and Technical Leadership program of the American Alpine Institute (AAI) with the National Standards Program (NSP) of the Wilderness Education Association (WEA). The NSP is a 30-day program geared for participants with a beginner to intermediate level of backpacking experience; however, for those with a high level of experience, a 14-day Professional Short Course (PSC) is also available.

The WEA program offers hands-on learning opportunities to those who have interest in working as professional leaders in the field of outdoor education. Throughout the program, participants analyze, practice, and assess the effectiveness of different leadership styles, educational methodologies, and approaches to risk management. Participants also develop the skills needed to create effective lesson plans in all soft and hard skill areas, and they employ their own plans as the field expedition progresses.

As a foundation and context for the development and practice of a full range of leadership and program management skills, participants receive comprehensive technical training in all the skills required for travel through and climbing in the alpine environment. This training ranges from non-technical forms of scrambling and climbing on rock, snow, and ice-covered terrain to technical climbing on rock, snow, and ice. We also spend significant time on glaciers, developing skills for safe travel, route finding, hazard assessment, self-rescue, and efficient climbing.

This combination of leadership, management, and technical skills training makes this course unique in the world of professional development programs. It serves as thorough and direct preparation for those whose professional interests include working as instructors for outdoor and experiential based organizations such as Outward Bound Wilderness (OBW), the Wilderness Education Association (WEA), the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), and technical mountain guide services such as AAI.

Founded in part by American climbing legend Paul Petzoldt in 1977, the Wilderness Education Association's mission includes the promotion of "the professionalism of outdoor leadership to improve the safety of outdoor trips and enhance the conservation of the wild outdoors." The WEA was formed after Petzoldt worked as the Chief Instructor for Outward Bound and after he founded the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS).

WEA found its place within college and university academic recreation programs by offering courses which create outdoor leaders who are competent in both the humanistic and technical aspects of trip leading and who possess a strong enough research-based pedagogical foundation to be effective educators.

WEA Certification as an Outdoor Leader has become the standard credential for outdoor professionals and individuals desiring a career in outdoor education with camps, colleges, and university outdoor programs. The credential has achieved this status because WEA Certification is recognized as providing an objective standard for evaluating competence in outdoor leaders. WEA programs provide a realistic setting for the education and evaluation of participants being trained in the variety of roles necessary to safely lead outdoor trips while minimizing impact upon the environment.

AAI was founded in 1975 with a focus on helping climbers understand, assess, and successfully climb in, and protect complex alpine environments. With climbing courses, guided ascents, natural history treks, rescue training, hazard assessment programs, Leave No Trace courses, backcountry and glacier skiing programs, leadership programs, and high altitude expeditions in six states and sixteen countries, the Institute offers the most comprehensive curriculum available in the world of international climbing. Numerous reviewers and members of the media have termed AAI the top training center for mountain leaders.

• National Standards Program (NSP) - A 30-day comprehensive course in outdoor education, Leave No Trace training, and technical alpine climbing skills that takes place in the North Cascades, beginning on Glacier Peak and traveling through the North Cascades to Mount Baker. (see below)
• 14-day Professional Short Course (PSC) - A condensed version of the NSP designed for professionals with significant previous outdoor leadership experience. This is the fast track to earning Outdoor Leadership Certification. Takes place on the Mount Baker and the will finish on the western flank of Mt. Shuksan. Read more...

The glaciated peaks of the North Cascades offer an ideal environment to experience and practice leadership in a non-contrived setting. This 30-day expedition includes ascents of Glacier Peak and Mt. Baker - two of Washington's major glaciated volcanoes - and includes travel between the two peaks. Participants on this program must be prepared to be challenged both physically and academically throughout the course. Physical conditioning prior to arrival in Washington is essential.

Planning Skills
We will spend the beginning of the expedition focusing on logistics, food packing, and other preparations for the trip. These are essential skills an outdoor leader must possess, regardless of the mode of transportation - be it a climbing, backpacking, or water based trip. Skilled outdoor leaders are able to adequately plan, package, and cook rations for a multi-day experience. Knowledge of food cost, nutritional value, weight, and how to purchase food are critical for outdoor leadership. Emphasis is placed on reasonably priced, nutritious, and personally selected foods which allow for variety in self-planned menus.

Technical Mountaineering Skills
We will spend the next six days learning how to travel safely and efficiently on glaciated terrain. We will focus on crampon and ice axe technique, crevasse rescue, and the finer points of rope team travel. The focus here will be on the development of expedition skills to ensure our subsequent success during the student-led travel days on technical terrain. Upon completion of this phase, you should be qualified as a technically competent rope team member capable of making alpine mountaineering ascents on routes of intermediate difficulty.

Our instructors on the WEA Expedition are seasoned outdoor educators who have worked extensively in both academic and technical alpine environments.

Sample Itinerary:

Days 1 - 2: Logistics and food packing in Bellingham, WA. Thorough preparation and attention to detail will aid in our success as we meet the other members of the course and prepare to begin our expedition.

Days 3 - 9: Spent on the glaciers of Glacier Peak including a summit attempt. Weather in the North Cascades can be fickle so we will maintain flexibility in order to maximize instructional time during this phase of the course.

Days 10 - 22: The expedition will progressively shift from instruction to practice. During the latter portion of the course, students will be provided opportunities to develop and deliver their own lessons, manage group dynamics, and practice making decisions in technical glaciated and non-glaciated environments. This phase of the course will take place in the Glacier Peak Wilderness and conclude on the southern slopes of Mount Baker as we prepare for a student led expedition.

1.Teaching and leadership

• Teaching methods – an overview of learning theory and lesson planning
• Teaching practicum – participants will present at least two lessons ranging from 20 - 45 minutes each
• Leadership styles and methodologies
• Situational leadership – theory and practice
• Group dynamics and the concept of “expedition behavior.”
• Leadership practicum – A minimum of two days in a leadership role facilitating the decision making process, group dynamics, programming, and risk management through proper route planning and finding, hazard assessments, travel techniques, and situational leadership.
• Self-assessment – over range of skill competences including educational, humanistic, and technical skills
• Risk management – assessment and mitigation of hazards through objective techniques as well as the physical positioning of the instructor and positioning within interpersonal relationships.
• Nutrition and Rations planning - food planning for the trip; how to cook nutritional meals utilizing the “pantry system.”
• LNT Training and Certification – teaching methodologies
• WEA 18-point Curriculum (download pdf)

2. Alpine Travel and Climbing Skills

• selection & use of personal equipment
• selection & use of ropes, knots, & harnesses
• design concepts, selection, & use of technical equipment
• the uses of map, compass, & altimeter
• principles of glacier travel & route finding
• belaying techniques on rock, snow, & ice
• the concept and application of the self-belay
• self-arrest from all positions
• free climbing technique on rock, snow, & ice
• French, German, and American cramponing techniques
• interrelationship, choice between, & application of all principal ice axe positions
• rappelling & prusiking
• glissading for speed & ease of descent

3. Objective Hazards Evaluation and Self-Rescue Skills

• evaluation & prediction of mountain weather
• introduction to the assessment of natural hazards
• individual & team crevasse rescue techniques

4. Environmental Skills

• Glaciology – Introduction to the physics of glacier formation & movement for use in route finding, route evaluation, and hazard analysis
• Ecology – Assessment of the fragility & vitality of several ecosystems
• LNT Training and Certification - Comprehensive coverage of Leave No Trace travel, camping, & climbing skills and methodologies

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