Great Cairn Instructional Week

Trip Cost and What it Includes

Included in the price of the course

Helicopter access in/out
Exclusive us of the ACC hut for the week
All breakfast and dinner foods
Group Technical equipment
A complete US Level 1 avalanche course
Instruction before and during the week at the hut
Group emergency supplies - vhf radios, first aid, repair, etc
Use of a suite for staging and sleeping in Golden - 1 night

For three students - $1299 CDN per person

This is based on one helicopter trip in and one trip out. Since this hut is not used regularly in winter the helicopter will probably be empty in one direction. So we are paying for unutilized flight time and the cost is not split between many people. This is the cost of using such a great location and having such a small group. Despite these factors the total cost is similar to what many 7-10 day winter courses cost without helicopter access or a remote hut. The Level 1 avalanche course alone has a value of about $250 (more or less depending on where else you would take it).

The cost is pretty much all-inclusive and during the week at the hut there isn't anything to spend any money on. However, there are incidental expenses that are not included. These include travel to/from Golden, meals in Golden and en route to/from, any rental of personal gear required, any out-of-pocket expenses (such as bar tabs, skiing at Kicking Horse, etc), and lunch/snack foods for the week. If we are delayed flying into the hut due to poor weather any resulting expenses are not included (lodging, food, beer, etc).

There is at least one hostel in Golden for any nights spent there beyond the one pre-flight night when we have a suite for staging. Rooms are also very affordable if people pool together for a larger room at a lower per-person cost. In the case of delayed flying we will use the time for some of the instruction we would otherwise do at the hut to the extent it is possible.

Great Cairn Main Page

HTML 4.01 Transitional Compliant - Validate