“Ice climbing in Australia?” you may ask. Yes! As much as we are famous for our amazing rock, there’s also some climbable ice on offer Down Under.

Blue Lake, down in the Snowy Mountains, is one of the few glacial lakes found in Australia. Surrounded by towering granite cliffs that, come winter, turn into quality ice climbing training grounds perfect for taking your first steps into this demanding sport or to hone your skills before a more ambitious goal overseas.

Ice climbing, though not a specialty of our club in any way and only limited to a relatively short season between July and September, is nevertheless a crucial skill in the arsenal of any budding mountaineer, as well as simply an awful lot of fun to practice!

OAC ice climbing trips usually happen in August and take 3 to 4 days (an extended weekend), during which time we drive down to the “Snowies”, hike in to Blue Lake with all required gear and hang out in the amazing unspoiled Australian alpine environment. Besides learning the ice climbing basics the experience also involves snow shoeing, camping in the snow with “leave no trace” ethics, as well as fundamental mountaineering and alpine “survival” skills.

If you find rock climbing fun, but deep inside dream of scaling big remote mountain faces, this could be your first step into the “real deal” climbing!