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Structured Online Mountain Skills Courses

The MSO Library is always growing and ALL of these courses below are included with your monthly or annual subscriptions.

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Trad Climbing Course

 

Take your climbing skills to the next level with our Trad (Traditional) Climbing Course, designed for adventurous climbers looking to move beyond sport climbing. This course teaches you how to safely place gear, assess anchors, and climb multi-pitch routes with confidence.

 

Through a combination of step-by-step video lessons, practical exercises, and expert feedback, you’ll learn:

Proper placement of nuts, cams, and other protection

Building secure anchors and belays

Route reading and risk assessment

Rope management and efficient movement on multi-pitch climbs

Essential safety and rescue techniques

 

Whether you’re training for your first trad routes or aiming to refine your skills for more challenging climbs, this course gives you the knowledge, techniques, and confidence to climb safely and independently.

 

All lessons are designed for flexible learning, allowing you to study at your own pace, practice in the climbing gym or on the crag, and upload videos for instructor feedback.

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Scrambling Course

 

Learn to move confidently over exposed, rocky terrain with our Scrambling Course, designed for climbers and hikers who want to safely tackle steep, rugged routes without ropes. This course teaches you how to assess terrain, choose secure handholds and footholds, and manage risk in alpine and mountainous environments.

 

Through step-by-step video lessons, practical exercises, and expert feedback, you’ll develop skills including:

  • Techniques for moving efficiently over mixed rock and mountain terrain

  • Assessing route safety and managing exposure

  • Using hands, feet, and basic climbing techniques effectively

  • Understanding mountain hazards and how to mitigate them

  • Building confidence on multi-step, challenging scrambles

 

Whether you’re aiming to confidently tackle your first alpine ridge or improve your ability on more technical terrain, this course equips you with the knowledge and skills to scramble safely and enjoyably.

 

Lessons are designed for flexible learning, allowing you to study at your own pace, practice on local crags or mountains, and upload videos for instructor feedback.

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Mountain Navigation Course

 

Master the essential skills to navigate safely and confidently in the mountains with our Mountain Navigation Course, designed for both summer and winter conditions. Whether you’re planning a summer ridge walk or a winter snow-covered route, this course teaches you how to read the terrain, interpret maps, and use a compass and GPS effectively.

 

Through step-by-step video lessons, practical exercises, and expert feedback, you’ll learn:

  • Map reading and compass skills for precise navigation

  • Route planning and terrain assessment

  • Navigating in poor visibility, including fog, snow, and low light

  • Winter navigation techniques, including using GPS, tracks, and natural features

  • Safety strategies and risk management when traveling in remote terrain

 

This course is ideal for hikers, climbers, and mountaineers who want to move confidently across mountains in any season, enhancing both safety and enjoyment.

 

Lessons are designed for flexible learning, allowing you to study at your own pace, practice in the field, and upload videos or questions for instructor feedback.

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Core Mountain Skills Course

 

The Core Skills Area provides essential skills and techniques that form the foundation for all our climbing, scrambling, and mountaineering courses. These lessons are designed once, so you won’t find them repeated across other courses, but they are relevant wherever those skills are needed.

 

Through step-by-step video lessons, practical exercises, and expert guidance, you’ll learn key skills including:

  • Correctly fitting helmets, harnesses, and other climbing gear 

  • Choosing and understanding the right ropes and slings 

  • Efficient rope coiling, handling, and storage 

  • Basic knot-tying and safety checks 

  • Equipment preparation and management across a range of activities

 

This area is ideal for climbers, mountaineers, and scramblers who want a solid foundation in essential gear and rope skills before progressing to more advanced techniques in other courses.

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Tara

I can’t say enough good things about this phenomenal course!  The value to any paddler is beyond measure.  Not only is the course beautifully filmed, but it’s so well-organized with lots of graphics at just the right places.  I really appreciate that the approach used has only one person at a time teaching – no unnecessary back and forth chit chat, humor or distracting music when people are talking.  Lavalier microphones were used so even when someone is narrating from their boat or the shore, the rapids aren’t drowning out the speaker’s voice.  Thank you for creating this amazing course and for making it so affordable.

Brian

What a huge help Online White Water has been to us. We learned drills to help us roll, its working. We learned drills to help us edge better, paddle better, read the water better, improve our fitness further, and a lot about safety and rescue. Having clear, easy to understand videos to watch again and again has been priceless. We have been able to learn in baby steps and progress very quickly. If we forget something, which we all do, we just go back to video and watch it again. 

Lee

Videos are brilliantly shot, simple to follow. Love the use of multiple angles, really helps to understand the full picture of a movement. Great resource, amazing!

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