“Ice Walls Soaring, Freedom in My Heart” – The 2013 Siguniang Mountain Ice Climbing Festival, supported and sponsored by outdoor brands such as KAILAS, VAUDE, and MEINDL, organized by the Siguniang Mountain Scenic Area Administration, and featuring training courses provided by the Leading Climb Mountaineering School, is set to grandly take place from December 30 to January 5 in the Shuangqiaogou Valley of Siguniang Mountain.
Dance freely among the world-famous ice walls of Shuangqiaogou, learn ice climbing skills from professional coaches from both China and abroad, and experience an extraordinary icy New Year with fellow ice climbers from across the nation: extreme challenges on 4000-meter ice walls, supercharged feelings of fear and confidence, alternating experiences of heaven and hell… All this awaits you at the 2013 Siguniang Mountain Ice Climbing Festival.
This year’s ice climbing festival will feature a variety of activities including beginner and advanced ice climbing training courses, difficulty-level ice climbing experiences, introductory ice climbing sessions, ice climbing knowledge lectures, an Ice & Wine exchange gathering, and a New Year’s Gala. As a world-renowned ice climbing destination, Shuangqiaogou boasts uniquely abundant ice wall resources—with over a hundred ice walls in total, including more than 30 suitable for beginners and the rest offering medium to high difficulty levels—making it the only ice climbing paradise in China with diverse, varying-difficulty walls and convenient access.
2012 Ice Climbing Festival – Ice Walls at Shuangqiaogou
As everyone knows, ice climbing is an exciting extreme adventure sport, which is why safety is a crucial aspect of enjoying this thrilling activity. Ensuring safety and providing technical support for this year’s ice climbing festival is the highly capable Leading Climb Mountaineering School. Unlike typical mountaineering schools, it adopts a specially designed Western teaching method, with course content tailored specifically to China’s mountaineering environment and the needs of Chinese outdoor enthusiasts, focusing on cultivating independent and self-reliant climbers. The school boasts a strong faculty, inviting elite climbers from both China and abroad to serve as instructors and guides. Among them, the training instructors for this year’s ice climbing festival include renowned climbing coaches such as Jon Otto (曾山), Liu Yong, and Bao Yifei. Their extensive climbing experience and excellent teaching abilities will provide solid support for this year’s ice climbing training. The festival offers a range of courses tailored to different groups and needs, including beginner classes, advanced classes, ice climbing experience sessions, and difficulty-level ice climbing sessions. For specific training details, please visit the official 2013 Siguniang Mountain Ice Climbing Festival webpage (http://www.kailas.com.cn/iceclimbing/index.html).
2013 Ice Climbing Festival “Ice & Wine Night”
Beyond ice climbing, the festival offers plenty of other activities, and the nightly “Ice & Wine Night” is definitely not to be missed. Not only will KAILAS climbing team members and renowned civilian climber Zhao Zhongjun be present to share their legendary climbing stories, but the latest extreme climbing films will also be screened. Additionally, cutting-edge ice climbing gear will be available for you to test and experience. In short, the “Ice & Wine Night” theme party will take place every evening, offering a free and open atmosphere for all ice climbing enthusiasts to come together, enjoy ice night drinks, experience an authentic Tibetan-style lamb roast and song-and-dance performance, and take part in exciting lucky draws and mystery prize giveaways.
Since the first Siguniang Mountain Ice Climbing Festival was held in 2010, this year marks the fourth edition. As another major event promoting the development of public-interest ice climbing in China, this year’s festival will continue its efforts to advance the growth of amateur mountaineering and exploration sports. As a professional climbing brand, KAILAS has made it its mission to “actively promote the development of amateur mountaineering and exploration sports.” Since 2003, it has supported numerous public welfare initiatives, including the “KAILAS Outdoor Coaches Development Program,” “KAILAS Climbing Team,” and “KAILAS Mountaineering and Exploration School,” helping to cultivate a large pool of key reserve talent for China’s climbing and outdoor sports community. Moreover, KAILAS has sponsored a wide range of professional outdoor events, including mountaineering, rock climbing, ice climbing, and cross-country challenge races, making significant contributions to the popularization and development of climbing and outdoor sports in China.
Registration for the 2013 Siguniang Mountain Ice Climbing Festival is now officially open. For registration and more information about the festival, please follow KAILAS’s official website at http://www.kailas.com.cn, its official Sina Weibo account: http://weibo.com/kailas, or the festival’s dedicated Weibo page: http://weibo.com/u/3092958791.