Remarkables Winter Mountaineering Course

The Remarkables Mountaineering Course is based in the Remarkables mountain range near Queenstown. This is a popular venue for year-round mountaineering with easy access via the ski field access road from Queenstown. Courses during July and August focus on winter mountaineering skills, including ice and mixed climbing. From October through to early December, the venue provides a great opportunity to cover introductory snowcraft and mountaineering skills. If the weather allows, it is possible to bivi or camp at Lake Alta.

Location

The rugged Remarkables Conservation Area and the summit of Single Cone and Double Cone provide excellent opportunities for learning skills on this Queenstown based mountaineering course.

If conditions allow, it may also be possible to camp or bivi for a night at Lake Alta. This his requires carrying in your overnight gear for an hour or so to the campsite.

Course Syllabus

The Remarkables Mountaineering Course can be tailored to the participant’s previous experience. Private courses with low ratios are great ways of developing skills and climbing partnerships for bigger objectives.

Course resources can be found on our Downloads page.

For longer courses based on the glaciers around Aoraki/Mount Cook, check out our Summer Mountaineering Course.

Topics can include:

Snowcraft including ice axe and crampons (July to November)
Avalanche awareness
Ice climbing (July and August)
Belaying and abseiling
Equipment selection
Multi-pitch climbing including stance management, rescue, and descent
Alpine rock climbing, scrambling and ridge traverses (December to April)
Wild camping

Remarkables Mountaineering Course Itinerary

Day 1: Meeting in Wānaka or Frankton, we head up the hill. It takes less than one-hour to walk to Lake Alta where (subject to weather) it is possible to camp or bivi for a night during the course. This provides easy access to the mountain terrain to start developing mountain skills.

Day 2 – 3: Continue with the skills. The culmination of the course is putting it all together with an ascent of the summits of Single or Double Cone for magnificent views over Lake Wakatipu.

Fitness and Difficulty

Wānaka Mountain Guides - Remarkables Mountaineering Course

To get the most out of the course, participants should have good fitness. You should have a good head for heights and experience off-track trekking.

Some experience with ropework, including knots and belaying is recommended.

Pricing and Dates

Duration: 4 days

Maximum ratio: 1:4

2025 Dates:
1st – 4th July: COMPLETE
15th – 18th July: COMPLETE
11th – 14th August: COMPLETE
29th August – 1st September: Places Available
1st – 4th September: Places Available
16th – 19th September: Places Available

Get in touch to express interest in group dates or to arrange dates for private instruction to meet your requirements.

2025 Price:
$1950 per person (minimum 3 people)

Price includes applicable taxes, NZMGA certified guide, transport from Wanaka, technical equipment, shared studio accommodation in Frankton. Excludes boot hire (if required)

‘[Our guide] did an outstanding job of creating building blocks of learning – e.g. around crevasse rescue – so each of us was able to assimilate the learning involved at a rate that was appropriate for each of us. He also very skilfully managed and created situations where we could test ourselves at a level at which we were comfortable, without specifically calling this out.

— Ruth, Summer Mountaineering Course

‘Thank you again. That was an awesome day out and I really appreciated how generous [Our guide] was with his time and knowledge. [He] crammed in more than I thought possible in a day.’

— Megan, Remarkables Alpine Rock Climbing Course

‘[Our guide] showed a high level of experience, knowledge, and professionalism in all areas of the course and were also able to convey their knowledge in a logical way that made it easy to progressively learn and practice all the skills. The skills were also taught at a rate that meant I was continually challenged to think about what I was learning and what to do next, but also in a way that made sense and gave us time to absorb all the information so everything came together at the end when we consolidated our learning on the final day on the mountain.’

—Katie, Summer Mountaineering Course