Erik Bradshaw Talk - Skiing the Long White Cloud

Erik Bradshaw has recently returned from the first ski traverse of the Southern Alps and wil be talking about his experiences at the Queenstown Events Centre this Thursday 24th November 7-9pm. If you haven't read some of the press coverage of his trip, as you can image the trip was a huge challenge.  As well as the physical and mental challenges, Erik had to invent his own equipment to deal with the journey. This should be a great talk and I'm sure it will have some superb stories and images from the 800km trip.

Erik Bradshaw - Skiing The Long White Cloud

 

Input Required : Events Centre Community Consultation

Lakes Leisure is currently working on the Queenstown Events Centre (QEC) Master Facilities Plan for proposed developments of indoor and outdoor facilities at QEC to help meet growing demands for sports and recreation in our community. They are looking to get as much input as possible from the local community so please spare some time to do the following :

Open informal drop-in sessions are at QEC on the dates and times below :

  • Wednesday 16 November 1-2pm
  • Tuesday 29 November 5-6pm
  • Monday 5 December 9-10am

Please complete the survey by 5pm Friday 9th December

There are a few main issues they are looking at (Land use, Facilities Development, QEC Hub vs satellite sports fields) however any input will be fed into the Queenstown Lake's District Council Long Term Plan 2012/22.

The club will be representing as much as they can to discuss climbing facilities but please spare the time to contribute on all matters and put your views forward - the more people, the more valuable feedback they get.

Don't forget to read the update re: Kingston weekend below.

Kingston Trip Update : Tomorrow Saturday 19th Nov

Remember there is a club outing to Kingston this weekend.  Here's a few details regarding the trip and a slight change due to the weather forecast :
Due to bad weather on Sunday we will only climb there on Saturday then back in Queenstown on Saturday late afternoon.
We will be meeting in the car park opposite Video Ezzy (Frankton) at 9:30am on Saturday morning ready to go (it is a morning crag so best to be there early).
Bring:
  • Your own climbing gear (although we will have some spare harnesses/ropes/shoes)
  • Food (lunch) + water
  • Warm clothes
This is a great place for people wishing to climb single and multi pitches (grades: 16 to 21) and to become confident climbers.
Hope to see a few of you there.

Trip Report - Kids Climbing Weekend at Wye Creek

Twelve youngsters spent a successful Sunday up on the local rock. Members of the Queenstown Climbing Club took the team of young aficionados to Wye Creek where they learnt the ropes on 10m to 30m long routes. Aged from 7  to 17 years old everyone pushed themselves while having some fun time on climbs always with a view on Lake Wakatipu. Thanks to Sally, Estelle, Niall, Jono, Guillaume for making it happen!
Here are a few pictures of the great climbers: Alicia, Lucia, Sam, Josh, Withney, Megan, Scott, Eli, Christian, Alex, Allegra and Abby!

Climbing Comp at BaseCamp Wanaka - Sat Nov 26th

Wanaka Cliffhangers Climbing Club are having a competition on Sat Nov 26th at Basecamp Wanaka. Registation is at 9am, top rope social comp in the morning and a small lead comp in the afternoon. No stress and lots of fun, spot prizes etc. team and individual entry welcome.

For more info contact cliffhangers (at) basecampwanaka.co.nz.  Pop over the hill and give the Wanaka Club your support for the weekend.

Remember the weekend before that, Queenstown Climbing Club are having our Kingston Outing.

I hope you've been getting out and about enjoying the great weather after the storms!

New Routes on Hawk Wall

There has been some action up the Hawk:
Estelle finished up her new line at Hawk Wall, a long climb going around grade 23.
Guillaume put up a line through a small roof right to the right of the main wall of Hawk Wall named Bond is Back in the early 20, also he added Psycho Girls a much easier climb (17) on a smooth slab. Strong Thomas Van den Berg sent his project: a bouldery climb (26/27) in the bottom right of Hawk Wall.
** NOTE : Some routes are longer than 30m....make sure you have a knot at the end of your rope!!!! **
Keep the new routes coming and we'll put up a dedicated page if we get enough coming through.

Queenstown Climbing Club Calendar

We now have a public Google Calendar for all Queenstown Climbing Club events. You can view the calendar on this website and see upcoming events on the right hand side, and if you are technically inclined, you can integrate the calendar to your own Google Calendar, any 'RSS Feed' application, or any iCal compatible application (I think Macs are good with this?).

The different address for the different formats are below :

RSS Feed : https://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/3llblo9s43geuqed64qo3vg7fg%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic

iCAL : https://www.google.com/calendar/ical/3llblo9s43geuqed64qo3vg7fg%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics

Obviously you won't be able to amend the calendar with these links so if you hear of any events in the area that may be of interest to member's let us know and we may add it on.

Over time we hope to integrate the website more with other things like Facebook so watch this space.

Jardines Bouldering & BBQ this Saturday 29th

UPDATE : Huge apologies from Darren as I posted the correct date, but wrong day on the website...hopefully you all went with the email from the club rather than my web update...unlike me who was ready to go at 12.30pm, one day late.. As mentioned recently in the dates for your diary, and to celebrate the re-opening of Jardine's we're celebrating with some bouldering and BBQ this weekend at Jardines.

Bouldering at Jardines Sat 29th October 2-5pm Halloween Costumes encouraged

Followed by BBQ at Wye Outlet 5 pm onwards Bring $10 cash to pay for food

If you have dietry issues pop me an e mail so we know to cater for you!

If you're feeling like some food another evening, don't forget that for paid up members from a few weeks ago, there are World Bar discount cards with your name on it ready to collect from our friend's at the bar!  Pop along with your ID and they should have a card for you.

PS : Drop an email to queenstownclimbing at gmail.com to let us have an indication of numbers for the Jardine's event this Saturday.

Jardines has re-opened

Great news, Jardines is now open so you can enjoy this great place.
The club has been working hard to keep a good relationship with the owners, please please please respect this place as it is private so definitely not a right but rather a privilege to climb there.  Please follow the guidelines below  :
  • Absolutely no dogs
  • Drive in the tracks....NOT on the grass - If track is muddy...maybe head somewhere else to boulder.
  • Don't party there.
  • Pick up any litter (even if you see someone else's on your trip - earn karma points!).
  • Park in the area next to the sign (underneath the boulders)
If everyone follows this we should be able to maintain the good relationship.  Remember that we can be kept up to date with what's happening in Jardine's but there are probably a lot of visitors passing through as well if they've found out about it, so don't be too proud to pick up that extra bit of trash you may see, or ask someone to keep the noise down.
Have fun!

Website Updates

We're in the process of moving over to the new website.  Currently we are waiting for the internet to catch up with us (or something like that) and hopefully normal service will be resumed soon! There's a few recent updates missing from here right now - I'll try to get onto that once I move house on this weekend that should be a holiday!

Happy climbing!  The temporary few days of winter this week are hopefully behind us!

Events for Your Diary - 2011 / 2012

The Queenstown Climbing Club events calendar for this year is ready for your diaries!  With more helpers than before it's probably even busier than normal, and provides something for every climbing ability - so don't be scared if you're a newbie! So to get your appetite going, get ready for :

(NOTE : Most dates are confirmed but there may be slight changes)

Hawks Wall (Miss it?  See the report below) Fancy Dress Bouldering at Jardines - Halloween October 29th (Guess the theme???) Kids Climbing Camp (parents welcome to tag along) : November 12th (13th if bad weather on 12th) Kingston Outing : November 19/20th (overnighter) Alpine Climbing in Remarkables : January 28/29th 2012 Cross Wye Creek Climbing Marathon : March 2012

There's another couple of events coming up too but they are still being discussed - watch this space for more soon!  We're also hoping to kick off something that can keep you occupied throughout the season, and open to the wider community soon......so start the drumroll on that one and we'll let you know once it's agreed and confirmed.

As well as the above there may be the odd Wye Creek working bee during the season to help out.

When the new website gets up and running we'll have a Google Calendar you can access with club events and local events of interest so watch this space over the next few weeks as there's been some delays with this.

If you are interested in attending any of these events, please send a note to queenstownclimbing AT gmail.com with the outing as the title....don't sit on it - let us know so we can focus on the events that people are interested in.

The summer nights are here already, so if you haven't done this yet, it's time to dust off those shoes, unravel the rope, untangle the harness, polish your nuts* and jump on some rocks!

(!...sorry I forget this is largely Sports  Climbing country but there's always time for a good pun)

Hawk Wall Club Outing

On Saturday 1st of October a group of keen climbers met up in Frankton with one mission for the day: having some good time together and getting to climb as many routes as possible.
The mission was accomplished thanks to 18 eager climbers scaling on average 7 routes each...so more than 120 climbs done!
Hawk Wall became a shelter from the storm as although rain fell on Queenstown it never really reached the Wall.
A good social time up there with people swapping belay partners, sharing their Nutella and Whittakers and eventually living this magical place at dusk tired and happy.
Thank you lots for the good atmosphere to the multinational group of Danish/French/Dutch/Finnish/Irish/English/Columbian/Spanish/Kiwish/Scottish/Doggish: Wim, Anna, Danny, Estelle, Erika, Chris, Cristobal, Vlad, Leonard, Martin, Paul, Livi, Flynn,Maria,Thomas, Dan, Erika, and Moo...guess who is from where!
See ya here or there...on the rock or plastic!



Membership Renewal Reminder

We're now a month into the new membership year of the Queenstown Climbing Club so please remember to renew your membership. Remember that the club is here to help you and any money received by the club all gets ploughed back into local climbing - mostly for the benefit of local climbers, and to help promote Queenstown as an international climbing destination.  This year the club has a much larger committee to 'spread the load' of work, and to expand the club's acitivities.  There's a lot of work went on, and continuing since the formation of it a few years ago :

  • Maintaining access to existing crags
  • Developing new crags
  • Working on access and advocacy issues both locally and nationally
  • Club meets
  • Subsidised courses such as ice climbing in July
  • Bolting Fund to develop and maintain routes
  • Many more outings planned this coming year (see upcoming blog post this weekend)
  • Projects such as the superb Wye Creek toilet
  • Producing guidebooks to the area
  • Working on agreements with organisations such as Department of Conservation
  • The club is also now a registered charity meaning more money can be kept within the club, and provides us the opportunity to apply for funding and grants from local and national bodies

The club is run entirely by volunteers so and all money is ploughed back into local climbing and developing Queenstown's climbing reputation.

You can renew your membership by clicking on the Membership link on the menu and sending us the completed downloaded form.

Club Drinks at World Bar - This Friday 23rd

Its your Social Events Coordinator here inviting all Queenstown Climbing Club members and friends for a drink and a catch up at the World Bar this Friday the 23rd September from 5 pm on. All members will receive a fantastic 50% discount on drinks and a 20% discount on Fat badgers pizzas. So get yourself down there for a spring yarn, some pizza and a drink or two or six.....

Ask around for Dylan when you get there.....

Hawk Wall Outing - Saturday 1st October

The Climbing Club are having their first outing of the season on Saturday 1st October to Hawks Wall. This is a great chance to come out and meet new folk, or catch up with old friends.  Routes range from 13 to 26 so there's something for everyone.

Grab your climbing gear, food and water and meet opposite Video Ezy in Frankton at 11am.

NOTE : This Friday's talk has been cancelled due to it being too short notice for many.

Zimmerman Poster