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Leading the way...
Directed by Jon Tierney internationally recognized IFMGA guide with 25 years of local and worldwide experience.
• Since 1994 •
one of the earliest climbing schools in the US to become AMGA accredited.
• Since 2007 •
Accredited to the highest standards of the Professional Climbing Instructors Association who require all staff to be individually trained and certified.
AMGA accredited Climbing School!
Course Descriptions>Ice Climbing Courses and Trips
Half Day Ice Climbing Taster
Do you want to give ice climbing a try or take your family out for a different kind of winter activity? The Taster focuses primarily on movement skills and will get you out on the ice and moving about.
Available in the following locations:
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Acadia National Park, ME
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Bangor, ME
Gear Required: Clothing appropriate for the day.
What's Provided: All the technical equipment including double boots.
Full Day Introductory Ice Climbing Experience
This is an excellent introduction to waterfall ice climbing for those with little to no experience. In this course you will gain confidence, knowledge and a proper foundation of skills for climbing frozen waterfalls. You will learn to read the ice and begin to understand its many textures and strengths. Also, you will become familiar with the use of crampons, technical ice tools and basic rope skills such as knots, belaying and rappelling. If you a rock climber and already familiar with some of these skills we will move on to more detailed skills.
Emphasis will be placed on efficient movement over diverse ice terrain, awareness of objective hazards, rope management and understanding the demands of winter climbing.
One day courses typically cover either low angle or steep angle ice climbing techniques depending upon your preference.
Two day courses offer comprehensive instruction in the above and upon completion of this course participants should be a reliable and confident second for an experienced leader.
Or combine any number of days to create the perfect personal experience with each day building on the last.
Available in the following locations:
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Mount Washington Valley / North Conway, NH
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Sunday River/Grafton Notch, ME
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Sugarloaf, ME
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Acadia National Park, ME
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Camden, ME
Gear Required: Clothing appropriate for the day.
What's Provided: All the technical equipment including double boots.
Full Day Intermediate Waterfall Ice Climbing
Sharpen your tools and learn to climb more complex and challenging climbs. Vertical ice takes on many varied and beautiful forms. Descriptions include mushrooms, bulges, cauliflower, candlesticks, chandeliers, pillars, curtains, smears, and flows. Even the color of ice varies with climate, time of day, temperature, and location. Imagination and experience are the keys to efficient and confident movement on this awe-inspiring terrain. Efficient placement and use of tools and crampons, resting techniques, placement and removal of ice protection, and incorporating rock climbing movements into your ice climbing are all part of the day's events. In this course you will be introduced to the placement of ice screws and the construction of ice anchors.
Combine any number of days to create the perfect personal experience with each day building on the last.
Available in the following locations:
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Mount Washington Valley / North Conway, NH
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Sunday River/Grafton Notch, ME
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Sugarloaf, ME
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Acadia National Park, ME
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Camden, ME
Gear Required: Clothing appropriate for the day.
What's Provided: All the technical equipment including double boots.
Learn to Lead Waterfall Ice Climbs
Cut years off your learning curve by learning to do it right the first time (aka: Save your ... Take a Class!). Climbers who are already competent at following Grade 3 climbs may take this class. The course addresses the many details that can change leading a climb from a death defying experience to an enjoyable experience with predictable risk. The course covers placing protection, building anchors, belaying partners, rope management, getting down, and basic problem solving for when you are in a pinch. We will take you through a skills progression that culminates in you actually leading a climb if you and your guide feel you're ready for it. Some people take this course multiple times.
Combine any number of days to create the perfect personal experience with each day building on the last.
Available in the following locations:
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Mount Washington Valley / North Conway, NH
-
Sunday River/Grafton Notch, ME
-
Sugarloaf, ME
-
Acadia National Park, ME
-
Camden, ME
Gear Required: Clothing appropriate for the day.
What's Provided: You are welcome to use your own tools and boots. If you need additional gear from us we are happy to provide what you need at no charge.
Alpine Snow and Ice Climbing on Mount Washington
Pinnacle Gully, Yale Gully, Damnation Gully, Odell's Gully ...
Spend a day in the alpine zone climbing a famous snow and ice gully in Huntington Ravine. You don't have to be an expert to enjoy some of the best alpine climbing in the east but you should have completed at least an introductory ice course prior to this one. Huntington Ravine has long been a training ground for alpinists who are seeking to climb in the greater ranges. Here you can "put it all together" combining snow and ice climbing along with avalanche awareness and winter travel skills. As with any winter mountaineering venture, this course is subject to mother nature's variables.
Optional Early Start: Add a late afternoon and evening to your trip and awaken only a few minutes from the base of your climb. Following classic European style, we will spend the night in the warmth of the Harvard Cabin at the base of Huntington Ravine where climbers have long spun tall tales of climbing adventures around the world.
Combine any number of days to create the perfect personal experience with each day building on the last.
Gear Required: Gear list provided.
What's Provided: You are welcome to use your own tools and boots. If you need additional gear from us we are happy to provide what you need at no charge.
First Ascents Ice Climbing In China
Now is the time to plan for your next Expedition!
A unique opportunity to participate in the development of a new ice climbing area - akin to the Canadien Rockies but without the extreme cold. In 2002 AMG guides Jon Tierney, Craig Luebben and Peter Doucette journeyed to China to survey a mountain area that had seen very few climbers. What they found was featured in Climbing #133, Great Walls of Ice. With difficulties ranging from mellow Grade 2 to as hard as imaginable, this area in the Sichuan Province of China is destined to become a legendary ice climbing area in the future and leaves plenty of opportunity for first ascents of both water ice and alpine routes at a variety of ability levels. We again visited the area with clients in 2007. While more routes had been done, we left over a hundred routes still untouched. On this trip we will stay with a host family in the village of Rilong and travel daily to the climbing areas. Once you get to China, the approaches are easier than most New England climbs, often climbing through mountain meadows. Just stay away from the "friendly" Yaks. Next winter we are seeking 2 - 3 motivated individuals to join us on another adventure. Let it be you!
