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Snow and Ice Climbing Course
From £855 Grade: Advanced
Snow and Ice Climbing Course
Aimed at those with previous winter climbing experience who want to improve their skills, learn to lead or push their grade (III-V).
Snow and Ice Climbing Course
For those with previous winter climbing experience who wants to improve their skills, learn to lead or push their grade or join one of our Advanced level Expeditions graded 4 or 5 such as: Pobeda, Khan Tengri, Ama Dablam, K2. The course will build on all aspects of the Introductory course plus:
- Routes graded III-V
- Learning to lead (where conditions permit) & retreating safely
- Advanced techniques of ice & rock protection
If you wish to build up to this course, then consider joining:
Intro to Snow & Ice Climbing (level 3)
Lake District Summer Courses: Multi Pitch Rock Climbing
Snow and ice climbing course - Outline Itinerary
During the course our instructors will aim to develop your skills to help make you confident in climbing graded routes at III-V. The exact programme will be dependent on the weather, ground conditions and progress of the group, but typically we would aim to cover the following:
- Snow belays, rock and ice anchors
- Multi-pitch climbing at Grade III-V
- Appropriate Rope Work
- Route choice and avalanche avoidance
- Advanced Movement techniques
Our courses run every week throughout January, February and March, with the format below:
Friday to Monday afternoon (4.30pm) giving three quality climbing days. Or Friday to Wednesday (4.30pm) giving five quality mountain days.
Day 1: The course begins at 7pm on the first evening with a course briefing and the essentials for clothing and equipment. After the course briefing, we will check your personal kit and issue you with any hire kit required.
Day 2:. We have a very flexible program, and your instructor will develop your itinerary based on your previous experience and aspirations for the course and the future. The first day will revisit the skills required to move safely and efficiently on grade II/III ground before moving onto steeper terrain.
Day 3-6: Graded Climbing III-V. Your instructor will pick routes to maximize your learning, introduce you to the different aspects of winter climbing (gully, buttress & ice), develop certain identifiable skills and provide plenty of enjoyment with due regard to weather & avalanche conditions.
Our courses have previously covered the full spectrum of routes including:
- Curved Ridge,II, Glencoe
- Ledge Route, II, Ben Nevis
- Aonach Eagach, III, Glencoe
- Tower Ridge, III, 4, Ben Nevis
- Glovers Chimney, III, 4, Ben Nevis
- Twisting Gully, III, 4, Glencoe
- Green Gully, IV, 4, Ben Nevis
- The Curtain, IV, 5, Ben Nevis
- Smiths Route, V, 5, Ben Nevis
- Point 5 Gully, V, 5, Ben Nevis
Please do not make non-refundable travel arrangements until you have verified that your course is confirmed to run.
This course is Level 4 of our four main winter skills courses. If you have no previous ice climbing experience (but some winter mountaineering experience), we would recommend our Level 3 Introductory Snow and Ice Climbing Course.
Please do not make non-refundable travel arrangements until you have verified that your course is confirmed to run.
Accommodation is booked from the night of your arrival with instruction starting the following morning. Check out is normally the morning of your final day unless you have booked an additional night. This is booked on a twin or double room basis: however single rooms will be provided where there is not a member of the same sex to share with. Single rooms and additional nights can be requested at an extra cost.
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Dates & Prices
Availability
* A deposit of £200 will be required at checkout.
Extras
Extras can be added per-person when you book onto a date
| Item | Price | |
|---|---|---|
| Single room supplement during course 3 nights - £50 per night | £150 | |
| Single room Supplement during course 5 nights - £50 per night | £250 | |
| 1 Extra night B&B - £80 per night on a single basis | £80 | |
| 1 Extra night B&B - per night per person (on a twin basis) | £52 | |
| 1 Extra night DB&B - per night per person (on a twin basis) | £77 |
* A deposit of £200 (or the full extra price, whichever is lower) will be required at checkout for each extra added per-person on this trip
What's Included
- Instruction
- Full board accommodation with three course evening meals & packed lunches, starting with breakfast on the first morning through to packed lunch on the day of departure. Bar meals can be purchased until 8.30pm (Onich Hotel), 9.00pm (Loch Leven Hotel) on the day of your arrival
- Ropes and technical equipment
- 15% off the RRP on clothing and equipment purchases from Adventure Peaks shop
What's Excluded
- Travel to Scotland
- Evening meal on arrival and drinks
- Personal equipment
- Uplift by cable car on Aonach Mor or the White Corries
- Entry to the ice wall at the Ice Factor in the event of severe weather
Reviews
I attended this trip in Feb 24 and it was a really good experience. Although weather conditions were not in our favour as it was unusually warm our guide managed to find some routes which were in condition , it just meant we had to go higher. The course was pretty flexible and was good value for money.
[I'd be very likely to recommend Adventure Peaks to friends and family due to the] quality of the course and guides.
Neil is a great guide, very friendly, experienced and calm. I always felt confident climbing with him in exposed situations and whilst pushing my grade. He offered encouragement and advice when needed and I've taken away quite a few climbing tips. [The highlight was] getting to climb a grade IV winter route on Ben Nevis.
Highly rated top quality instructors, accommodation and organisation. This is my second trip and the staff are always really friendly and helpful...great set up for climbing, great single rooms...both Dave and Neil had excellent client skills. I'd definitely climb with them again in the future. After a long break from more winter technical climbing this was just what I need to regain my confidence and rekindle my motivation
Four really good climbing days and a winding down Friday (which we wanted). Neil was a good instructor, solid and dependable. I felt really secure climbing with him. Twisting Gully [was] a really wild and memorable day.
Great people, great venue
Climbing 1-1 has real benefits for me personally. Coming in to the course I had particular requirements that were able to be achieved due to having Phils complete attention. Having climbed with you last year i was eager to improve my grade of climbs, this was fulfilled.
The interaction of Phil, our guide with the other team members worked particularly well as the emphasis was always on safety and risk management. Judging by the behavior of some on the hill we were fortunate to have Phil as our guide. The other team members widened the scope of experience also.
Feb 15-19/2016
A great week with excellent instruction from Phil and Darren.Comfortable,friendly hotel...good food!
3 'stellar' days on the hills with in condition climbs...good compared to usual Scotish fare!. Avalance risk too high other days..so rock climbing and dry tooling (no Ice Factor now!). Nicholas and I learned a lot from Phil who was inspirational throughout.I would highly recommend this course.
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