Hey guys,

Glenn Pennycook is offering a couple of free alpine courses again this year: 5-6 July (basic rope) and 12-13 July (advanced). See his website here for more details.

I'd highly recommend going on his basic climbing with ropes course, I did it last year and its what really got me into it! He has a great no-nonsense way of teaching you the skills in a practical and simple way - and then chucks you at a climb straightaway!

Unfortunately the basic one clashes with our Mid-Winter trip to Arthur's Pass, but if you're not going on that...

Note however that this is not for newbies to snow - for the basic course you should be confident tramping in snow (using ice axe and crampons on moderate slopes), and for the advanced one you should be climbing Grade 2 (Mt Cook grading system).