ICE GUIDING

There is an ice kit list on the blog, which you can see if you follow the link here.

In the Alps the guide will have a vehicle and will meet you at the start of the week at an agreed location, you may need to get public transport to that location. The guide will then provide any transport during the week. Or in the case of Norway or Iceland we will need to hire a vehicle and the cost will be split between the group.

We will book some valley accommodation for the week. Early morning starts are an essential part of ice climbing to ensure we don't have people climbing above us, but this also means early finishes too.

All guiding is carried out at a max ratio of 1:2, but any long and technical routes are guided at 1:1. If you have a larger team, then more guides will be required.

The daily rate for ice guiding starts at £530. All the guides expenses such as accommodation, food, lifts and transport costs will also need to be covered on top of this.

There is a relatively short season for ice climbing, which makes it all the more special. January and February are prime time with the season extending to March in northern Norway.

You will need to get yourself good travel and rescue insurance. The BMC insurance is very comprehensive and covers both travel and rescue, The Austrian Alpine Club do a basic rescue insurance. Both of these will also get you a club membership discount in the huts. We strongly recommend that you have insurance that will cover any costs in the event that you cannot attend the trip due to injury or illness.

If there has been heavy snow fall then using touring skis for the approach can make things much easier. You will need to be a competent skier with a heavy bag on. If you dont ski then we can hire snow shoes. However in most cases we can approach on foot normally.

Any accommodation and food costs for yourself and the guide.

Occasionally there may be a lift required for access which will need to be covered for yourself and the guide.

Fuel and car parking costs.