Q: What is the refund policy?
A. None. By signing up to a course, you are becoming a member of the Expedition Climbers Club, and all club memberships are non-refundable.
Q: Are club memberships transferable?
A. No. Our event is administered by hard working volunteers (since 2012) and we do not have the capacity to handle transfers. Whilst the Festival is a club event, we note that this is a similar policy to other outdoor events e.g. most if not all running races.
Q: Which clinic should I sign up for?
- Have you ever used ice axe and crampons? Do you have any winter mountain climbing experience? If the answer to either of these is no, or you have a small amount of winter climbing experience then you should register for the Snow Craft 1 clinic. This will cover use of ice axes, self arresting, walking in crampons, avalanche rescue etc.
- If you’ve done some grade 1-2 mountaineering and looking to progress to more advanced mountaineering, consider the Snow Craft 2 clinic. This course refreshes basic snow & avalanche skills and covers steeper snow climbing technique, snow & rock anchors, pitching, abseiling and glacier travel.
- Do you have basic mountaineering (ice axe & crampon) skills, and want to learn how to climb ice and mixed terrain, but are not comfortable leading? Sign up for Ice and Mixed Climbing Clinics.
- Do you want to learn how to ice & mixed climb with a bunch of psyched chicks? If you have basic mountaineering and rock climbing experience, you should sign up for Chicks ‘N Picks.
- Looking to start back country ski touring? Then our Back Country Ski Touring clinic is for you. We will also cover basic avalanche awareness on this course.
- Have you tried the Ice and Mixed Clinics in a previous year and want to learn the basics of traditional protection, and multi-pitch ropework out on the mountain? If so then our Learning to Lead Clinic would be a great way to start.
- Are you confident being the leader of your party and know how to climb placing your own protection, can you look after yourself, make decisions and assess the terrain on your own? If so, you should sign up for General Climbing, and come along to the social evenings.
Q: Are your clinics run by professional mountain guides?
A: No. This is a volunteer-led club event. All of our instructors are highly experienced climbers, skiers and alpinists who are psyched to share their skills. Some have formal qualifications (including guiding quals), but if so they are attending fully as a volunteer. The idea is that they are out to share skills and knowledge with you. If you are uncomfortable with the risks being taken, you should make the appropriate decisions for your personal safety. If you are after professional guiding or instruction we would refer you to one of the numerous professional guiding outfits.
Q: Where can we stay?
A: AirBnB and Bookabach is a good place to start, or try one of the Queenstown Backpackers such as Black Sheep Backpackers.
Q: Where does raised money go towards?
A: Money raised via our Expedition Capital Fund Charity Auction goes towards running the event and the Expedition Capital Fund. The festival takes many hours of work from around 20 dedicated volunteers. We manage to get all of our work done by volunteers who support the concept. The Expedition Climbers Club is keen to maintain the volunteer aspect of our clubs membership. We have three levels of member. Training members are those who might need some extra help in the mountains from more experienced members, i.e. people who might like to register for one of the Festival clinics. Associate members are those who are experienced enough to climb unassisted in the mountains and might like to attend things like the General Climbing section of the Ice and Mixed Festival or join a club expedition. Ordinary club members are those people who are both fully skilled in mountain climbing and in addition to this are prepared to offer a annual volunteer service back to the club. For example they might take a clinic at the Ice and Mixed Festival, organise an annual expedition, take less experienced club members out for weekend climbing etc.