Overnight stay at Mazama Lodge

Activity Notes

We have been given permission to snow camp on Friday night at the back of the Mazamas Lodge.  We will do this on the evening before our Snow Skills session.

Snow Camping is COMPLETELY OPTIONAL.  Not attending this will not count against you graduating BCEP.  We prefer you to try to snow camp in a safe environment, and if you have any issues you can simply come inside to a nice warm Mazamas Lodge and get a good night's rest there. 

Conversely, if snow camping holds no interest for you, we still invite you to come spend the evening with us inside the lodge as well, as we will be hanging out inside most of the night anyway :)  YOU ARE WELCOME TO SLEEP INSIDE THE MAZAMAS LODGE no issues there.

Snow camping is an absolutely essential part of mountaineering.  However, most new climbers have never experienced tent camping in the snow before, and it can be a miserable, sleepless night if you do it wrong.  Our snow camping experience will help you with the do's and don'ts.  We don't expect you to have all the necessary gear to snow camp, but we have MANY assistants with practical experience and a lot of gear we can let you borrow.  So don't feel you need to go out and buy a ton of gear right away.  However, you will need the following:

Tent (3-season is fine, 4-season is also fine but not necessary), sleeping bag, 2 sleeping pads (1 foam & 1 inflatable or two foams), Nalgene water bottle for hot water to keep your sleeping bag warm.

Other Information
Driving Distance from Portland 60 miles
Driving Time from Portland 1 hours