Club Events

Climbing at Slider, scrambling up Logan's Ridge, canyoning at Kinnanes, a few days hiking in Girraween... We run more events than you'll be able to choose from! Our varied adventurous activities include day hikes, multi-night hikes, rock-climbing, bouldering, canyoning, bike packing, rogaining, kayaking and birding!

Here we break down all the things you need to know about a trip :)

If you think we are missing things here, get in contact with us via our email (uqmountainclub@gmail.com).

All About Hiking

Who wouldn't want to get out and explore the beautiful, varied landscapes and biomes of South East Queensland!?

The club runs hikes throughout the year, typically single day or overnight trips, with trips on most weekends. We also run multi-night expeditions during mid-semester breaks, as well as extended trips to places such as Hinchinbrook Island and Tasmania in the winter and summer holidays. Club hikes are a great way to make new friends <3

Other hiking related trips we run include:

Trail running: take your regular hike, throw away the backpack and go ultra-light attempting to run the entire trail. Fantastic for the fitness fanatics out there.
Rogaining: Using only a compass, pen and the supplied map, you must selectively navigate to checkpoints in attempt to maximise your score. It's great team fun! For more info and events check out QLD Rogaining's site.
Orienteering: typically an individual event, you must navigate over a set course as quickly as possible.

For club trips, your trip leaders will take care of most of the logistics, but as an attendee you should make sure you are as well prepared as possible. Read the trip description carefully, make sure you have the required gear, and ask questions if you are unsure.

Don't forget to pack light! If it's your first hike packing trip, remember that everything you take you will have to carry, and hills are unforgiving. So maybe leave the ugg boots at home and focus on the essentials - a lighter pack will make for a more enjoyable walk and reduce risk of injury.

Pack List for a Day Hike

Hiking backpack
2-3L of water
Sunscreen
Hat
Food for the day (lunch)
Snacks
Enclosed shoes
Warm clothing and rain jacket
Head torch

Pack List for a Multi-Day Hike

Sunscreen and Hat
Camping Gear(Mat; Sleeping Bag;Tent)
Cooking gear and utensils (stove)
Enough food for all meals and snacks
Enclosed shoes
Warm clothing and rain jacket
Swimmers
Head torch/ other lights
Hiking backpack
2-3L of water per day
Insect Repellent

All About Climbing

Rock climbing is one of the most popular activities in the club. The club offers a broad range of opportunities to get involved in this sport no matter what your experience or abilities. Brisbane is a particularly great place to live, as we are extremely lucky to have tons of outdoor climbing pporiuntiies both in the city itself, as well as within a short drive.

Bouldering

Outdoor bouldering is a great sport for all levels of experience, where you can pick a route (with very low commitment) fit for your skills. To Boulder in the club, you need your Orange tape, which you can get on a bouldering trip (just ask the Activity Leader!).

Some Bouldering Locations nearby are: Cedar Creek, Toohey Forest, White Rock Conservation Area, Karawartha Forest, Passchendaele, Noosa and Lake Leslie

Top Roping

Top Roping is a great way to start to explore some more vertically challenging routes, with the safety of a rope the whole way! To be able to tie in and belay independently in the club you need to obtain your Yellow Tape, which includes a theory and practical test. The theory can be found on our website, through the Online Programs.

Lead Climbing

You've topped a fair few routes on top rope, so it's now time to learn some lead climbing skills! Lead climbing is a more advanced type of climbing, where you bring the rope up with you as you climb. We teach these skills on club events, and at organised Green Tape Courses. You can start learning some Green Tape skills through the Online Programs.

Some Top Roping/Lead Climbing Crags are: Kangaroo Point, Pages Pinnacle, Mt Ngungun, Mt Ninderry, Mt Greville, Flinders Peak, Dwarfland, Mt Tibrogargan (Slider and Candy), Mt Coolum, Serpent, Mt Tinbeerwah, Mt Cooroora, Brooyar and Urbenville.

Trad Climbing

Lead Climbing is too easy? You need to add Jigsaw puzzling to your climb? Well then it's time to start Trad Climbing. Trad stands for Traditional, and is one of the most advanced sports we offer in the club. To attend a Trad Trip you need to have your Green Tape, and ideally be working towards your Red Tape (Experienced Lead Climber). Trad Trips are usually small, due to the additional skills and equipment required, with a White Taped member overseeing the event.

Some Trad Crags are: Mt French (Frog Buttress), Mushroom (Carney's Creek), Mt Maroon, Mt Ngungun and Mt Tibrogargan

What about Indoor Climbing?

UQMC typically focuses on outdoors activities, however we do venture indoors for rainy days and social events! If it rains on a Kangaroo Point night (Tuesday or Thursday), we usually head to Urban Climb or Rocksports. We'll supply limited number of free entry passes to whichever gym we are going to.

Discounted indoor climbing to Urban Climb (all Brisbane Locations) is available to all club members at all times (just tell them you are a club member, and they will look up your details).

Pack List for a Climb

Harness
Helmet
Climbing Shoes
Chalk
2 Screwgrate carabiners
12 Quickdraws
Slings (1 or 2)
Rope (at least 60m)
2 Personal Anchor Systems (PAS)
Prusik (1 or 2)
Belay device (ATC or Grigri)
2-3L of water
Suffcient food for the day (Lunch and Snacks)
Enclosed shoes
Sunscreen
Hat
Jumper

All About Canyoning

Canyons form when a river or creek runs along a weakness in the earth, and erodes a deep chasm in the bedrock. Canyons themselves can be luscious micro-climates, filled with ferns, mosses and plenty of water.

Technically, canyoning involves swimming, crawling, scrambling and abseiling down waterfalls and creeks with huge cliffs on each side of you. Canyoning is the ultimate combination of outdoor rock sports: lots of abseiling, scrambling and climbing, and crawling like in caving.

Canyoning is one of the harder sports to describe - you have to go out and experience it for yourself, photos cannot do these places justice.

The gear required for canyoning is similar to what you would take on a day hike. However in addition to this gear, you will require other items depending on the type of canyon.

Pack List for a Canyon

Daypack
Water (At least one 1L bottle per person)
Snack food/trail mix
Lunch (something more solid than the snack food)
Sturdy water shoes (Dunlop Volleys are good if you are on a budget)
Woolen or neoprene socks (Explorer woolen socks are great)
Dry set of warm clothes
Wetsuit (may be necessary depending on the canyon)
Dry bag or plastic bags
Whistle (for communicating with the group)
Head torch (in case you end up taking longer then anticipated...)
Mobile phone (turned off with full batteries)
Lilo (for lilo canyons)
Floatation (wine bladder etc)
Beanie or balaclava
Helmet
Harness
Prussik loops and self-rescue kit (essential, something will always go wrong in canyons)
Locking carabiners
Descender (A Figure 8 is suggested, otherwise modified Figure 8's)

Objective Dangers in the outdoors

These are the type of dangers that you do not have control over. A rock fall, breaking of trees, bush fire, sudden deterioration of weather, avalanche and the list goes on and on…

Even though you do not have much control over these things, you can definitely take measures to mitigate these dangers. We all know there is a high level of danger in our chosen sport and that is one of the challenges we all relish. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take measures to save ourselves from injuries or fatalities.

One of the best things you can do to prevent yourself from these dangers is to plan ahead and plan well. Study the climbs you are doing. Is it safe to climb it in the current season/weather condition and the time of the day? If not, find another climb. Check to see if there is anything out of the ordinary. Has there been a heavy rain? Is there a chance that there is any debris collected at the top of the crag ready to drop on climbers? Has the crag face recently been exposed to extreme temperatures (unusually cold or hot temp, bushfire on/near the rock face)? If so, chances are the rock may have cracked and logic will demand that it will be at the crux move… So, look for telltale signs to tell you the story.

If you see something that concerns you, share it with an experienced friend. The judgement of two people can be better than one person’s. If you see an inexperienced person standing directly below a climber on a difficult climb, ask him/her to move away and take cover from falling rocks or gear.

The level of judgement in reducing danger goes up with the technicality and difficulty of the climb/ terrain. And the art of understanding the dangers will come with experience. Just keep your eyes and ears open, use sound judgement and if things go haywire (as they do at times) just use your imagination and cool to bring yourself and your party out of it. And don’t forget, you are there to have fun. So have fun! Don’t let a small incident take the fun out of the whole trip.