This page contains links to external resources club members often use to plan their trips and learn new skills, whether it's finding a fun place to climb on the weekend, checking avalanche conditions, or refining your abseiling techniques.

Also check out the club library for a range of awesome guidebooks, maps and instructional books.

General

  • General Rope Sports Manual V2 - Made by UNSWOC, this manual is teaches the basic ropework skills used on our trips.
  • UNSWOC Trip Leader Skillsets V3 - The skills required for at each level of trip leader.
  • NSW Topographic Maps - Allows you to download and print high quality topographic maps for NSW.
  • National Parks - Good for checking for any closed areas within National Parks, or relevant alerts.
  • BOM - Bureau of Meteorology. The main source for weather forecasts in Australia.
  • Windy - Weather app which lets you compare multiple weather models, ideal for making assessments of forecast pessimism.
  • PACI Knots Guide - The Australian Professional Association of Climbing Instructors. Comprehensive compilation of knots used in life critical applications,  includes test data and tying methods.

Backcountry

  • MSC Conditions Report - Current snow and avalanche conditions.
  • The staff at Wilderness Sports Jindabyne can also provide details on the latest backcountry snow conditions for popular areas in Koscuiszko National Park (eg Main Range) if you give them a call

Canyoning

  • Canyoning Training Manual V7 - Made by UNSWOC, this resource teaches the skills we use on trips.
  • OzUltimate - Where we get most of our track notes for canyons around Sydney.
  • Workshop Wednesday - Videos from the Australian Canyoning Association.
  • Canyoning Australia forum - Relatively new, but contains track notes for some lesser-known canyons and a variety of other canyoning discussion.
  • V7 Academy - Mostly offer paid courses, but their Level 1 course is available for free and covers the most important skills for canyoning.

Caving

  • SUSS Beginner's Handbook - From the Sydney University Speleological Society. Great intro to caving and caving areas around NSW.
  • CaveDiggers - Detailed guides to caving skills and equipment.

Climbing

  • theCrag - A global guide to crags and climbs. Use the filter function to find high-rated climbs within your grade.
  • VDiff Climbing - An excellent collection of well-illustrated guides to learn rope work and climbing skills.
  • AlpineSavvy - More advanced climbing skills and tips.

Cycling

  • TrailForks - A global guide to mountain biking trails.
  • Komoot - Great for finding cycling routes that can be filtered by distance, difficulty and public transport links.

Hiking

  • WildWalks and bushwalk.com- Detailed guides for day and overnight hikes around the Sydney region and beyond. Includes interactive maps.
  • Bushwalking NSW - Hiking route guides and some sketch maps.

Kayaking

Camping

  • WikiCamps app - Great for finding free and paid campsites within Australia. Has an excellent range of filter options to find the perfect site.

Apps

Mapping Apps

  • Gaia GPS - Detailed topographic map with lots of trails and features not included on other apps. Allows you to cache maps but not download them for offline use in the free version. For a small subscription maps can be downloaded and overlayed on each other.
  • Organic Maps - Fully free less detailed topographic map also with lots of trails and features not included on other apps. Allows downloading areas for offline use and importing GPX tracks. Similar to MAPS.ME except no advertisements and up-to-date.
  • Avenza Maps - Advanced mapping app that allows you to import your own maps (e.g. PDFs from SIX Maps) or choose from a store.

Emergency Apps

  • Emergency + - MUST HAVE for anyone heading into remote areas. Contains emergency phone numbers and easily displays your current GPS coordinates to let a 000 operator know your exact location.
  • First Aid - Step by step instructions for how to treat a first aid emergency, and more detailed information for non-emergency situations.
  • Australian Bites and Stings - First aid instructions for identifying and treating a bite or sting from most Australian venomous animals.
  • Fires Near Me - Up to date information regarding fires in bushfire season, and the ability to set alerts for particular areas.