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A climber in a red jacket climbing a steep frozen waterfall, placing tools into vertical blue ice

Ice climbing / Advanced ice climbing

Small group · fixed dates · Jan–Feb

The advanced ice climb.

Six days from top-rope coaching to leading on ice — gear school, three days of top-rope craft, then two days of anchors, protection and lead climbing under an instructor team in Shuangqiao Valley. Lodge nights at 3,200 metres; fixed January–February dates from CNY 7,200.

  • Duration6 days
  • Nights5
  • Climbing days5
  • Starts & endsMt. Siguniang
Ask about this itinerary

Lead day on a Shuangqiao icefall

VenueShuangqiao Valley

frozen waterfalls at around 3,500 m; lodge nights at 3,200 m

EndgameLead climbing

anchors, protection placement and lead climbing by days 5–6

Group size2–30

a join-in course; you share the ice, the lodge and the meals

Shared gearIn the price

ropes, screws and anchors; personal gear rents separately

Why this course

From top rope to lead, in one winter week.

The step that separates ice climbers is leading — placing your own protection as you climb, building the anchors, and managing the risk that comes with them. This six-day course is built to take a climber through that step properly: three days of top-rope craft to sharpen movement and judgement, then two days of anchors, screw placement and lead climbing, finishing with the lead itself.

Shuangqiao Valley is where it works. Dozens of frozen waterfalls hang along its 38 kilometres, the teaching walls sit minutes from the lodge, and the winter climate is a gift — sunny days between 0 and 8 °C, nights at −10 to −15 °C that keep the ice hard. Climbing runs on the cold, in a window from about 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. that the instructors set each morning against ice and weather.

It runs as a join-in group on fixed dates from early January to early February. No previous ice experience is strictly required, but come honest: the lead days ask for solid top-rope competence and a real tolerance for exposure. A private course runs on request.

Route Briefing

You make your own way to Mt. Siguniang by 3 p.m. on day one; the course covers everything from the lodge check-in onwards. Five climbing days, one lodge, and a lead by the end.

  1. Day 01Arrive → Shuangqiao lodgesign up at the park office by 3 p.m., check in at 3,200 m, gear school after dinner
  2. Days 02–04Top-rope daysmovement craft and coaching on the teaching lines, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  3. Days 05–06Anchors and leadprotection placement, anchor systems, then lead climbing; ends late afternoon day 6

Along the way

The lead is the point — the week is the rest of it.

Six days in one valley, on one wall system, with one lodge — a rhythm that makes the learning stick. Around the climbing, these are the things worth knowing are coming.

The ice

The teaching walls · the lead lines

Walls for every stage of the week
Shuangqiao carries dozens of frozen waterfalls along its 38 km — low-angle teaching lines for the first days, steeper full-length routes for the lead days, all minutes from the lodge.
Screws you placed yourself
The lead day's point is not just height: it is climbing behind your own protection, building your own anchor, and knowing exactly why each placement holds.
Winter sun on blue ice
Sunny days between 0 and 8 °C, nights at −10 to −15 °C — the cold that keeps the ice fat, and the reason the season is only ten weeks long.

The line mix shifts with the season's ice; Jiesi valley is the fallback when conditions in Shuangqiao are thin.

The rhythm

The lodge · the evenings · the last debrief

One lodge, one rhythm
Basic twin-share rooms and lodge dinners keep the week simple: climb, eat, dry gear, sleep. Everything runs on the ice's clock, roughly 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Company at every grade
The beginner course runs the same weeks — pairs and groups can split levels and share the lodge, and the bigger walls carry both courses at once.
The debrief
The last afternoon closes with gear returned and an honest read: what you led, what you placed well, and what the next grade would ask of you.

What to pack, how the lead days run and the health questions to clear first are covered above.

Day by day

The six days.

The first half sharpens movement; the second half teaches the craft that leads go on — screws, anchors and the climb itself. Every session runs inside the cold window the instructors set each morning.

  1. Day 01

    Arrive, check in, gear school

    Arrive Mt. Siguniang → Shuangqiao Valley

    You make your own way to Mt. Siguniang and sign up at the authority office before 3 p.m. — the bus from Chengdu arrives in time; we can book it for you. From the office the course transfers into Shuangqiao (or the Jiesi valley, depending on ice conditions) and checks into the lodge at 3,200 metres.

    After dinner, the first session: helmet, harness, boots, crampons and ice tools fitted and handled until they are yours, and a run through the six days ahead.

    • OvernightLodge, 3,200 m
    • Arrive by3 p.m. at the park office
    • EveningGear school after dinner
  2. Day 02

    First day on the ice

    Shuangqiao Valley

    The cold window opens around 9 a.m. Gear drills first, then movement on low-angle ice — feet, then tools, then both — with the instructor team coaching placements and rest positions. By mid-morning the group is on its first top ropes.

    Climbing stops when the ice softens or the window closes, around 4 p.m. Evenings are for rest and drying gear; the course keeps its own rhythm through the week.

    • OvernightLodge, 3,200 m
    • Climbing windowAbout 9 a.m.–4 p.m.
    • FocusGear use, movement, first top ropes
  3. Day 03

    Top-rope craft

    Shuangqiao Valley

    A climber in a red suit climbing the middle of a tall frozen waterfall, tools set into vertical ice
    Steeper lines as the movement settles

    A full top-rope day on the teaching lines: laps with coaching on footwork and tool placement, steeper lines for those ready, and the wall moved each session to follow the ice. For most of the group this is the day the movement becomes automatic.

    It is also the day the instructors are quietly assessing — the top-rope competence the lead days will lean on.

    • OvernightLodge, 3,200 m
    • Climbing windowAbout 9 a.m.–4 p.m.
    • FocusTop-rope climbing, technique coaching
  4. Day 04

    The last top-rope day

    Shuangqiao Valley

    The third and strongest top-rope day: the longest lines in your range, and coaching aimed at the skills the lead days need — reading ice quality from below, planning rests, and the discipline of placements you can trust.

    By the evening the group has usually climbed itself quiet. Tomorrow the ropes move to the sharp end.

    • OvernightLodge, 3,200 m
    • Climbing windowAbout 9 a.m.–4 p.m.
    • FocusLong lines, movement under load
  5. Day 05

    Anchors and protection

    Shuangqiao Valley

    The course changes gear: ice screws, anchor systems, and how protection sites are built and taken down. After a morning of placement practice — screws into sound ice, angles that hold, anchors that equalise — the group rigs the lines it will lead tomorrow.

    The instructors run this day strictly: every anchor checked, every placement questioned, every why answered. It is the day that makes the lead day safe.

    • OvernightLodge, 3,200 m
    • Climbing windowAbout 9 a.m.–4 p.m.
    • FocusScrews, anchors, protection systems
  6. Day 06

    The lead

    Shuangqiao Valley

    A climber in a red jacket climbing a steep frozen waterfall, placing tools into vertical blue ice
    The sharp end · tools set, screws placed

    Lead day. One at a time, each climber leads a line within their range on a top-rope backup — placing screws as they climb, building the anchor at the top, and managing the head game that comes with the sharp end. Risk management is the thread: what to place, when to commit, when to back off.

    The course ends by late afternoon with gear returned and debrief done. Back in Rilong the same evening works by bus or shared car, or stay a night and let it settle.

    • EndsLate afternoon
    • The leadOn top-rope backup, your range
    • To ChengduSelf-arranged bus or shared car

Fixed departures

Ten courses through the ice season.

The course runs on set dates through January and early February 2027, overlapping the beginner course so families and pairs can climb the same weeks at different levels.

Six days, five lodge nights. Prices are per person, twin share. Some January dates sell out — the booked-out ones are removed as they fill.
DepartsPer personChoose a departure
2–7 Jan 2027 CNY 7,2006,000 3 months ahead
5–10 Jan 2027 CNY 7,2006,000 3 months ahead
8–13 Jan 2027 CNY 7,2006,000 3 months ahead
11–16 Jan 2027 CNY 7,2006,000 3 months ahead
14–19 Jan 2027 CNY 7,2006,000 3 months ahead
17–22 Jan 2027 CNY 7,2006,000 3 months ahead
20–25 Jan 2027 CNY 7,2006,000 3 months ahead
23–28 Jan 2027 CNY 7,2006,000 3 months ahead
26–31 Jan 2027 CNY 7,2006,000 3 months ahead
29 Jan–3 Feb 2027 CNY 7,2006,000 3 months ahead
Early booking
CNY 6,000 per person for a seat confirmed 3 months before departure; a CNY 1,000 deposit secures the spot.
Sign-up deadline
7 days before the course starts; bookings inside 7 days only by arrangement.
Group size
Two to thirty climbers — a join-in course where the ice and the lodge are shared.
Rentals and extras
Personal gear (helmet, harness, boots, crampons) rents at CNY 700; boots cover EU 36–45. Single room supplement CNY 900.

If none of these dates fit, ask anyway — the same course runs privately on your dates. How that works

What's included

What is included, and what is not.

A taught course with a certified instructor team: lodge, park fees and shared climbing gear — including the screws and anchors — are in the price.

Included

Arranged and paid for before you arrive.

  • AHA-certified instructor team

    Licensed guides who set and check every anchor the course climbs on.

  • Lodge nights

    Five nights, basic twin share, at the foot of the climbing.

  • Breakfasts and dinners

    Basic lodge meals; lunches are the one meal on you.

  • Shared climbing gear

    Ropes, ice screws, anchors and the protection systems the lead days need.

  • Park and climbing fees

    Entrance fees and climbing permits arranged ahead.

Not included

Yours, or yours to ask us about.

  • Personal climbing gear

    Helmet, harness, boots and crampons — rent for CNY 700, or bring your own (boots EU 36–45).

  • Getting there

    Transfers to and from Mt. Siguniang and any local transport are not in the price.

  • Lunches

    On climbing days; the lodge shop and Rilong town both work.

  • Single room supplement

    CNY 900 if you want the room to yourself.

People with cardiovascular or related conditions should not sign up; ask your doctor first, and tell us any surgery history. Waistlines over 90 cm need their own harness.

Enquiry

Ask us about this one.

Tell us which dates you are looking at and what your climbing background is — plainly, including what you have not done. We will come back with availability, the gear list and an honest read on whether the lead days fit where you are.

Response time
One business day
Season
January – February
Private option
On request, your dates

Trip details

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