The Auckland section of the New Zealand Alpine Club run a range of summer courses in the North Island. The courses are available to be booked by club members through email and the sections Whatsapp Community.
The details for the Summer Courses including updated course cost, dates and process for registration is announced in October each year. Expressions of interest open from November 1st with confirmation of acceptance onto the course by end of November.
If you have missed the dates above, you can complete this form to be notified as soon as the following years course is announced. Please note, active club members will be prioritised when shortlisting for courses.
Basic Navigation
The Basic Navigation course takes place in and around Auckland. This course is an ideal introduction into the basics of navigation and will run through this in the context of being in the mountains. The course is designed to give you the confidence to take bearings, read and interpret coordinates and give you some practical tools to use when route finding.
The elements of the course are:
Theory night - On zoom
Theory night - In person
Practical day - Outdoor Auckland location
Minimum requirements for the course are:
Be a club member.
Have some experience in backcountry tramping.
Have the fitness required to enjoy a day out walking whilst route finding.
Be enthusiastic to learn new skills.
Meet the gear requirements.
Gear requirements - Compass which must be appropriate to be used in the Southern Hemisphere
First aid
This First Aid course takes place in Auckland. This course is an ideal first step in knowing how to administer first aid should there be an accident in the mountains. The course is run with the context of the outdoor environment in mind with practical exercises to put the skills into practice. The course is run by Peak Safety for the Auckland Club over 2 days if it is your first course and over 1 if it is a refresher (Recommended to do every 2 years).
The elements of the course are:
Theory and practical day 1 and 2 - Auckland location
Minimum requirements for the course are:
Have some experience in backcountry tramping.
Be enthusiastic to learn new skills.
Leading outdoor sport routes
This course will take place in Auckland at Maungarei Springs crag. This is an ideal course if you are feeling confident in leading in a gym and are looking to make the transition outdoors for the first time. The course will run through practicalities of leading outdoors, what to do at the anchor and cleaning a route once you have climbed it. The course is designed to give you the skills you need to safely make the jump from leading in the gym to leading outdoors.
The elements of the course are:
Theory night - On zoom
4 practical evenings - Maungarei Springs Crag
Minimum requirements for the course are:
Be a club member.
Be comfortable leading an indoor route of grade 16 or above.
Be comfortable belaying a lead climber indoors.
Have the fitness required for the practical evenings.
Be enthusiastic to learn new skills.
Meet the gear requirements.
Gear requirement: Climbing shoes, harness, helmet, belay device and carabiner, personal anchor system, 3 locking carabiners, 12 quickdraws and a prussic loop.
Leading outdoor Trad routes
This course will take place in Auckland at Maungarei Springs crag. This is an ideal course if you are feeling confident in leading sport routes outdoors and are looking to transition to trad climbing for the first time. This course will run through the practicalities of leading a trad route, the gear, placements and anchor building. This course is designed to give you the skills you need to safely make the jump from leading sport routes to leading trad routes.
The elements of the course are:
Theory night - On zoom
4 practical evenings - Maungarei Springs Crag
Minimum requirements for the course are:
Be a club member.
Be comfortable leading an outdoor route of grade 16 or above.
Be comfortable belaying a lead climber outdoors.
Have the fitness required for the practical evenings.
Be enthusiastic to learn new skills.
Meet the gear requirements.
Gear requirement: Climbing shoes, harness, helmet, belay device and carabiner, personal anchor system, 3 locking carabiners, 12 quickdraws and a prussic loop.
additional courses
Additional courses are run across New Zealand by the National team. Details for these courses can be found here.