Australian School of Mountaineering

Katoomba Street runs straight through the middle of the Blue Mountains tourist strip, and ASM's shopfront has sat on it since 1981, making it the oldest climbing and mountaineering school still operating in Australia. The school runs single-day rock climbing and abseiling adventures on the sandstone cliff lines around Katoomba and the wider Blue Mountains, alongside canyoning trips through the area's slot canyons in summer, and courses that build from a first outdoor climb through to multi-pitch leading and alpine skills. Guides are nationally and internationally qualified, and groups are generally small enough that instruction is genuinely one-to-one or one-to-two rather than a queue at the base of a cliff. Beyond the Blue Mountains, ASM also runs snow and ice training and mountaineering trips in the Australian Alps and further afield for climbers building toward bigger objectives. Bookings sell out ahead of school holidays and weekends, so it's worth planning a date rather than turning up hoping for a spot.