The traditional AMC Boston Chapter Mountaineering Committee’s annual Ice Program is an immersive, 40-hour instructional program designed to teach waterfall ice climbing to students with outdoor, multipitch, rock climbing skills, and winter sports experience. We focus on techniques, practices, and equipment useful on the crags and mountains of New England as well as ice climbing areas worldwide. Please see below, and our FAQs page for more information.

Already a skilled ice climber looking to help instruct, see here for more information.

2026 Program Timeline

• Prospective students timeline

  • November 10, 2025: Application Window Opens! Link for submission coming soon!

  • Saturday Dec 6th, 10am-12pm: Mandatory In-Person Meeting and Skills check off for all prospective students (location TBD around Boston)- registration link

  • December 6, 2025: Application Window Closes!

  • Mid December 2025: Student Selections

  • Late December 2025: Student Payments Due

• Program dates for admitted students only (must be able to attend all of these events to be accepted as a student for this year)

  • Wednesday, Jan 7: Lecture #1 (evening, in person location TBD around Boston)

  • Jan 16-18: Instructional Weekend #1 (White Mountains, New Hampshire)

  • Wednesday Jan 28: Lecture #2 (evening, in person location TBD around Boston)

  • Jan 30-Feb 1: Instructional Weekend #2 (White Mountains, New Hampshire)

Application/Admission / Cost

The application period for the AMC Boston Ice Program runs from November 10th to early December each year. A mandatory meeting for all prospective students is held close of the end of the application period. This year’s meeting date is Saturday Dec 6th 10am-12pm, in a location around the Boston area. This mandatory meeting consists of an introduction to the program, a Q&A round, and an interactive meet-and-greet component featuring a hands-on skills evaluation exercise for prerequisite technical skills for the program. Unfortunately, we cannot make exceptions if you cannot attend on this day, and we encourage you to apply next year instead. You can also connect with our ice community by attending our Open Cabin weekends during the winter even if you are not an Ice Program student.

Cost for the 2026 Ice Program: $440 for AMC members and $490 for non-members. (AMC membership costs $50, so become a member!) This program tuition fee includes lodging at a cabin Fri-Sun, and a Saturday night community dinner for both program weekends. You are responsible to get to and from the North Conway area both weekends, and to acquire basic winter clothing and gear, including renting mountaineering boots and ice climbing crampons, as well as pay for or supply your own food for all other meals for the weekend. 

Each year, one student is awarded the Bill Clack Scholarship which covers the full tuition fee of the Ice Program. The recipient is still required to cover additional costs of the program (such as gear for the weekends, and transportation). If you are interested, please apply here by Dec 6th. The recipient of this award will be notified after ice program student selections have been decided. The scholarship applications are considered separately from program applications and do not influence student selections.

Be sure to sign up for our Mailing List to receive Mountaineering Committee updates and reminders!

Questions?

Questions about the AMC Boston Ice Program?  See our FAQ Page or email ice@amcbostonclimbers.com

Interested in becoming an Instructor for our Ice Program? See our Resources Page.

Students: download Ice Program handouts, technique guides, etc. on our Resources Page.

If you are not currently an AMC member please consider joining — you’ll get amazingly awesome discounts on registration fees for AMC Boston Mountaineering activities (like our Ice Program), and lots more perks as well!

Also check this out: A brief history of Boston AMC Ice Climbing

Upcoming Ice Season events for the general community

2026 Open Cabin weekends: keep an eye here for registration links

• December Dust Off: Dec 19-21

• January Jumpstart: Jan 9-11

• February Full Swing: Feb 20-22

• March Meltdown: March 6-8