Published November 13, 2026 12:20PM
On October 22, hundreds of climbers of all skill levels descended upon Yangshuo, China, for the long-awaited 2026 Arc’teryx Climb Academy. Participants say the remarkable thing about the weekend wasn’t just the climbing or even the new skills they learned—it was the magic of the remote, fantastical landscape, and the opportunity to connect with people across cultures and continents.
The Arc’teryx Climb Academy is a roving international climbing school—and one that offers some of the most advanced mountain education in the world. Since 2007, academies have been held in global climbing epicenters like Squamish, Chamonix, and Mammoth Lakes. Some focus on climbing while others offer backcountry or freeride skiing education. Each installment is a complex undertaking, bringing together world-class guides and athletes to pass on their knowledge in a highly efficient, structured format. Dozens of courses—ranging from alpine overnights to big wall workshops to mental resilience clinics—are designed to meet participants where they’re at. At each academy, students can learn skills from scratch, drill fundamentals, or significantly boost their skills, even within just a few days of instruction.
While there are tons of events in the climbing universe, Arc’teryx Climb Academies stand out for just how seamlessly they’re run and how well integrated they are into the local community. Unlike some climbing festivals, which tend to put more emphasis on socialization than education, Arc’teryx has figured out how to nail both without compromising either. All day long, participants of every skill level take hands-on courses on some of the best rock in the world, each one packed with pro-level hacks, technique drills, and actionable tips for continuing your education after the trip ends. Each evening, a five-star lineup of films, speakers, music, and parties makes it impossible to tear yourself away. Every chapter of the event buoys you along to the next. The weekend passes in a flash. And you return home with more phone numbers, more new climbing partners, and more stoke than you could have imagined possible.
In 2023, the series brought this special blend of inspiration and education to the limestone cliffs of Yangshuo, China—and the event was a runaway hit. In 2024, the Academy returned with even more courses crafted specifically for the local community, including rescue and evacuation clinics tailored to China’s uniquely rocky landscapes. The 2026 Academy further expanded the course menu, offering beginner trad clinics, bolting workshops, and masterclasses in big wall climbing. Over four days, hundreds of climbers participated in 37 clinics at more than a dozen crags across the stunning Guangxi region. It was the region’s biggest Arc’teryx Climb Academy yet.
While many of the Academy’s participants came specifically to experience Yangshuo’s world-renowned karst spires, the crags aren’t just a backdrop here; they’re the heart of a thriving and longstanding community of climbers, route developers, and outdoor businesses. Since international climbers first arrived in the late 1980s, the zone has grown to nearly 2,000 routes across 74 crags on world-class limestone.
“Yangshuo means a lot to me,” says Peng Zhou, renowned Chinese mountaineer and Arc’teryx athlete. “I completed both my first 5.12 and 5.14 routes here, and it has left me with many wonderful memories.” He loves getting an opportunity to share this place with newcomers; it’s one of the reasons he comes back to teach year after year.
Given Yangshuo’s robust existing climbing scene, the event offers more cultural exchange than top-down discourse. Here, international visitors learn just as much from their Chinese counterparts as locals learn from the global pros.
Take it from Arc’teryx athlete Quentin Roberts. This year, he taught his third Yangshuo Big Wall Climbing clinic in a row. Each time, he’s astonished by how much the climbing community has grown since his last visit. “Every year I feel like I have had to level up to meet the growing ambitions and skills of the participants,” he says. “It’s exciting to see how eager everyone is.”
But for Roberts, the best part about climbing in China is the profound and indescribable warmth of the Yangshuo community.
“We always have a big, Chinese-style, round-table dinner with all the instructors before the event,” he says. It’s an evening filled with laughter between old friends. Jokes and stories fly across the table like sparks, and Roberts leaves feeling filled up at a soul level. “Many of the people in that room are at the forefront of climbing in China. It’s special to feel that sense of family, and to see the passion everyone has for what they’re doing.”
It’s that sense of connection that makes the Yangshuo event—and the other installments of the Arc’teryx Climb Academy—so invaluable.
“Coming to China over the years and connecting with people through climbing has really reinforced something I believe deeply: we are all more similar than we are different,” says Roberts. “Climbing has an incredible ability to bring people together. Sharing a rope, trusting one another, sharing our experiences—those connections transcend language and culture.”
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