Courses

About Our Courses

Aimed at the general membership, from total beginners to the more experienced individuals seeking to increase their skills, the Ottawa Section offers a number of basic and specialized courses during the year. Most courses are held in the area, usually in Gatineau Park. Courses focus on the core activities organized by the Section, including rock and ice climbing, mountaineering, hiking/navigation, and skiing. General outdoor and safety courses are also offered such as wilderness first aid, avalanche rescue, leadership training, etc.

The Section’s training program is comprised of four different categories of instruction: Courses; Clinic/Workshops; Beginner Days; Leadership Development Series.

Courses are taught by local (or external) qualified instructors and tend to involve higher costs. Clinics/Workshops and Beginner days (including intro to mountaineering) are usually supervised by experienced Section volunteers and are intended to be a more informal way for members to share knowledge amongst themselves. Clinics/Workshops usually involve minimal costs, and are intended as compliment to courses; they are a great opportunity to review knowledge learned in courses. With the recent success of women climbing outings, the Section is also looking to offer some women-only clinics.

One of the benefits of being a member is having access to subsidies in order to hone your skills. The Ottawa Section budgets a considerable amount of money in order to help out members who agree to give back to the club (usually by leading outings).

The Ottawa Section owns a variety of climbing equipment that is used during Section training activities and can be borrowed by members who want to try out an activity (in the context of a club sanctioned event) before purchasing specialized gear.

Getting Started – Beginner Climbing Days

Rock- and ice-climbing “Beginner’s Days” are a great Ottawa Section tradition. These introductory courses consist of an equipment orientation evening, followed by a full day at the cliffs where you can climb with the help of a group of experienced volunteers on nearly a 1:1 basis. Learn and practice the basics of climbing safely, and become familiar with the equipment used in rock and ice climbing. A group pizza party or barbecue provides a fitting end to a great day.

For those at a higher experience level, the Ottawa Section periodically offers more advanced climbing courses, including rescue courses, climbing instructor certification and leadership courses taught by certified instructors.

Getting into the Mountains – Introduction to Mountaineering

While the Ottawa Section area activities are centered on rock and ice climbing, our mountaineering roots show through each summer. As part of our annual section camps in Western Canada, members can take advantage of “Introduction to Mountaineering” days. These skill-building events provide an opportunity to get into the high alpine, travel on a glacier, or scramble up a peak. Depending on the location and terrain, these courses are led by volunteer leaders or professional mountain guides. If you’ve always dreamed of standing on a mountaintop, this is a great way to get started. For more information, visit the website page on “Section Camps”.

NEW –Leadership Development Series

As some of you may be aware, the Section has seen a very important growth of new members in recent years. While this is definitely a good sign and a cause for rejoice, the Section is now faced with the challenge of recruiting more trip leaders capable of organizing lots of interesting outings for our growing membership.

The Alpine Club of Canada is a volunteer-based organization that can only flourish with the involvement of people like you: no need to be intimated and think that you aren’t able to contribute! To facilitate the recruitement of trip leaders, and in order to better prepare actual and potential leaders, we have decided to put together a leadership development series.

The goal of this series of offered training opportunities is to train fully capable trip leaders. The courses that fall under this series will be heavilly subsidized and registration priority will be given to members who have already volunteered with the Section and those who agree to contribute in the future. The series will be comprised of a general leadership course; specific skills courses (especially for climbing); navigation course; and wilderness first-aid couse.

Alpine Club of Canada - Ottawa Section

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