The 2027 Ice Program application window will open on Nov 10th 2026! It will close on Dec 6th.

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.

2027 Program Timeline

• Prospective students timeline

  • November 10, 2026: Application Window Opens! check back here for link then!

  • Saturday Dec 5th, 10am-12pm: Mandatory In-Person Meeting and Skills check off for all prospective students (location TBD around Boston)-check back here for registration link

  • December 6, 2026: Application Window Closes!

  • Mid December 2026: Student Selections

  • Late December 2026: 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 20: Lecture #1 (evening, in person location TBD around Boston)

  • Jan 22-24: Instructional Weekend #1 (White Mountains, New Hampshire)

  • Wednesday Feb 10: Lecture #2 (evening, in person location TBD around Boston)

  • Feb 12-14: Instructional Weekend #2 (White Mountains, New Hampshire)

• Program weekends have full days of instruction, events, and climbing on Saturday and Sunday. Friday evening is the arrival day to the student cabin in NH, and there are no formal events for the program that evening, though many students need to arrive to NH by 5pm on Friday if they are renting their mountaineering boots from an outfitter in North Conway.

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 to the end of the application period. This year’s meeting date is Saturday Dec 5th 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 2027 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 The Harvard Outing Club Low cabin Fri-Sun, and a Saturday night community dinner for both program weekends. Participants are responsible for the additional finances to get to and from the North Conway area both weekends, and to acquire basic winter clothing and gear, including renting mountaineering boots and vertical ice climbing crampons, as well as paying for or supplying 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 look back here for the registration link on Nov 10th and apply 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

2027 Open Cabin weekends: keep an eye here for registration links

• December Dust Off: Dec 18-20, 2026

• January Jumpstart: Jan 8-10, 2027

• February Full Swing: Feb 19-21, 2027

• March Meltdown: March 5-7, 2027