UCD Mountaineering Club

This area of mountaineering is huge and brings together the other areas into a place where the budding participant begins to describe themselves as a "mountaineer". Some people consider themselves hikers or climbers, people who play on snow and ice generally use the term "mountaineer".

The Irish winter scene is rapidly running into decline due to climate changes over the last few decades on the island. In the past, Powerscourt Waterfall and Howling Ridge were popular winter climbs, sadly, they are now rarely, if ever in winter condition.

For a budding Irish mountaineer, the first port of call is often very close at hand: Scotland. Scotland lies very far to the North, and you may be surprised to know that Scotland gets a large amount of seasonal snow usually coming into condition around February and March. It is possible to do some very serious winter routes in the various "hotspot" areas. You can do technical mixed rock and ice climbing, as well as icy scrambles, gully climbs and snow plods across vast expanses of cold, cold snowy highland. The main areas are Fort William, Glencoe and the Cairngorms.

Unfortunately, Scotland is getting warmer and snow conditions can be disappointing and unpredictable. The more wealthy amongst us will typically venture towards the high resorts in the Alps to seek out long mountain routes, glacier traverses as well as all of what can be found in Scotland. The Alps are huge and the variation of areas to go to is even bigger. The best way to find out where to go is to talk to some of the club members.

In order to improve your skills as a mountaineer, two courses come highly recommended to the members. Scottish Winter Skills and Introduction to Alpine Mountaineering. These courses are organised by MCI on an annual basis and both excellent and popular among the members of the club, if you are interested then you should read our Going to the Alps Page. Equipment lists for snow & ice areas are available in the equipment section.