Build your own backcountry trip
The Backcountry Ski Custom Tour with Guide is the Mountaineering School's most flexible offering. You tell the school what you want — a specific objective, a personalized pace, a multi-day route, a focused skill day — and they build the trip with a guide matched to the objective. Pricing is custom and depends on group size, duration, and complexity.
Common custom tour requests
- Specific objective tours — a particular peak, ridge, or backcountry destination not covered in the standard tour menu
- Skill-focused days — avalanche education, ski mountaineering skills, transition refinement, crevasse rescue in snow conditions
- Multi-day route plans — point-to-point traverses, longer-than-three-day expeditions
- Private group bookings — family, friends, or a club booking a guide for just your party
- Photography or filming logistics — guides who can pace and route for visual goals rather than maximum miles
How booking works
The custom tour is a quote-based product. You'll book through the FareHarbor flow to initiate the inquiry; the Yosemite Mountaineering School will follow up to discuss your goals, propose a trip plan, and finalize pricing. Plan ahead — custom tours typically need 2-4 weeks of lead time to plan and permit, longer for multi-day expeditions.
When this is the right product
You have specific goals that don't fit the standard tour menu, or you have a private group that wants its own guide rather than joining a public tour. If you just want to ski the backcountry for a day, the Out & Back Day-Trip is faster to book and significantly cheaper. The Custom Tour is for the cases where customization actually matters.
