Experience the amazing rock and ice climbing areas in and around Thunder Bay with Outdoor Skills And Thrills!
Fully Certified & Insured - No Experience is Required - From New Beginners to Seasoned Experts - All Equipment is Included -.It's Time to Climb!
01/13/2025
Nipigon Ice Fest - March 1st, 2025
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Canada's longest running ice climbing festival features ice & mixed climbing clinics, presentations by outdoor adventurers, gear swap, fun games, and our legendary gear raffle.
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Stay tuned for more & get stoked 😎
Keep an eye on the Nipigon Ice Fest page & on the website for more details.
01/08/2025
Get outside and experience the magical world of ice climbing in Northwest Ontario! There's still a couple of spots left in this weekend's Beginners Ice Climbing clinic with Outdoor Skills And Thrills 😋👍
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Visit the website for more info and to register: www.outdoorskillsandthrills.com
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If you have any questions just shoot me a DM or email [email protected]
01/06/2025
It was so nice to see Outdoor Skills And Thrills was voted as Thunder Bay's # 1 'Best Guided Outdoor Experience' 😎, as well as the 2nd edition of my Thunder Bay Climbing guidebook was voted as # 2 in the 'Best Book of 2023-2024, in this year's The Walleye Magazine Best of 2024! 🤗🎊
Thank you to everyone who voted 😊💘
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12/31/2024
Today is Summit's 7th birthday 🤗🎉
From the day I adopted her at 3 months old and every day since, my life has been completely enriched. We are a good team together, always psyched for an adventure outdoors 😎🐕. Cheers to her and her cute fluffy self 😋
12/21/2024
Need a last minute holiday gift idea or looking for something fun to do outdoors in the area?? We've got some awesome options for you!
• Come ice climbing or snowshoeing over the holidays.
• Get that special someone a customized gift certificate to a guided adventure or course rock climbing/ice climbing/hiking/snowshoeing.
• Grab a copy of the Thunder Bay Climbing guidebook.
Mission accomplished 🤗💥 climbed some ice today!
Although it's a much later start than usual for things to form up in the region, I feel like it's going to be a good season ahead with lots of good ice to climb. 😉
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📸's by Aric Fishman ()
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11/30/2024
Put up a really fun new drytooling route today, I call it: Teacher's Lounge - M5+/M6 😋
FA: Aric Fishman & Erik Paton - Nov 23, 2024
FFA: Aric Fishman - Nov 29, 2024
Thanks to Erik Paton for the belay, and to Mike Hyer for snapping these rad photos!
- .paton - .w.w.h
11/28/2024
Heyooo, drop us a vote in this year's 'The Walleye Magazine's Best of Thunder Bay 2024 Readers’ Choice Survey' 😁
Question #63, in the 'Best Book 2023-2024' category, you can vote for the Thunder Bay Climbing guidebook.
Question #122, in the 'Best Guided Outdoor Experience' category, you can vote for Outdoor Skills And Thrills.
Voting closes on November 30, 2024 at 11:59 pm and results will be published in the January 2025 issue of The Walleye.
I went out today to check up on how the climbs 'Child's Play', 'Chucky's Revenge', 'Nanibijou', and 'Feavers Falls' are shaping up, in case anyone was curious here's some shots. It was nice to see icicles again, so pretty 😊
I'm planning to go to Orient Bay this weekend to hoooopefully climb something, or at least do a recon mission if things don't look formed up enough yet to climb. I'm optimistic though and hoping for the best haha.
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📸's by Aric Fishman ()
11/20/2024
I think that's a wrap for the 2024 rock season! It's been a stellar season, and want to thank everyone who came out for a guided adventure or a course this year 😎🤘
This past summer Outdoor Skills And Thrills celebrated its 10 year anniversary serving the Thunder Bay region, and I'm feeling very proud of all that's been accomplished over the last decade! I want to give a special thanks to all the friends, family, volunteers, employees, local businesses and organizations, who have helped and supported me over the years to pursue my passion. To name everyone would be a massive list, but you all know who you are, and I thank you with all my heart for helping me to make this dream possible 💘
My mission has always remained the same: I strive to help grow a larger community of climbers and adventure seekers who are safe, skilled, knowledgeable, and also passionate to share their love for the outdoors with others. I founded Outdoor Skills And Thrills in Thunder Bay as a way to provide people professional courses that teach safe climbing practices while provide exciting adventures in a thrilling and breathtaking environment. I'm also incredibly passionate about giving back to the community, and contributing all that I can to help develop the climbing scene in the region to being a world-class destination for locals and visitors alike. I'm really looking forward to the next phase, I see good things in the future ahead and am very excited for what's to come 😋
The ice season is now just around the corner, so get ready for an awesome winter everyone!
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📸 1, by Tim Banfield ()
📸 2, by Aric Fishman ()
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Visit Thunder Bay
Gripped Climbing Magazine
Wilderness Supply Thunder Bay
11/13/2024
💥GIVEAWAY ALERT!💥 Win a free guided ice climbing or snowshoeing adventure for you and a partner with Outdoor Skills And Thrills in Thunder Bay, Ontario!
To Enter the Giveaway:
👌 LIKE this post and TAG a buddy in the comments below to enter you both in for a chance to win! Each comment = 1 entry. No limits on the number of entries.
👉 FOLLOW Outdoor Skills And Thrills on Facebook
🤟 SHARE this post on your page or story (make sure to tag us too!)
• Contest closes November 24th, 2024 at 11:59pm.
• Winners will be randomly selected and contacted on November 25th, 2024.
• Only tags and likes on original post will be entered to win.
• Open to all Canadian and USA residents.
• p.s. the same contest is running on the Outdoor Skills And Thrills Instagram page as well (), so double your chances of winning this prize pack by visiting that page and entering there as well!
It was such a blast getting these students out on the rock earlier this week for a super fun, exhilarating, and safe experience climbing at Pass Lake 🤗 I truly love what I do, and was thrilled to spend the day showing this class the wonderful world of rock climbing outdoors in this beautiful region ❤️🔥
Huge props to Mr.Birch for making it happen for his students, to the school for letting them get after it, and a big thank you to Ryan for helping me with guiding this awesome crew for the day 😎🤘
- Aric Fishman, Outdoor Skills And Thrills
10/21/2024
Had a great day yesterday climbing a couple of fun new routes that I developed at The Outbreak Wall along with my buddy Andy. The weather has been so stellar this season! Becca joined us for the adventure up the first free ascents of these lines as well, even though she wasn't feeling super well, she pushed through and made it happen 😎🤘
FFA's: Aric Fishman, Andy Noga, and Becca Niemi.
The new routes are called 'Osprey' & 'Bear or Beaver', and will add the details to the New Routes & Updates page on my website within the next couple of days. So many rad new lines this season!! It's been a good one 🤗
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Photos by Aric Fishman (), Andy Noga (), Becca Niemi (), and Patrick Martel () 📸
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Outdoor Skills And Thrills
Gripped Climbing Magazine
10/03/2024
Happy Rocktober! It's gonna be a good month 😁🤘
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📸 by Aric Fishman () of Teresa Ann Harris () climbing 'The Little Spoon' at The Outbreak Wall 💘
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09/13/2024
Hope you all have a stellar weekend ahead!
Climbing conditions are absolutely perfect right now in TBay 😎🫶 Great temps, no bugs, and the leaves are slowly starting to change colour, what could be better!?
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📸 by Ryan Benjamin (Ryan Asher) of Aric Fishman () at The Outbreak Wall.
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08/02/2024
July was quite an eventful month guiding almost every day! From technical climbing courses to group outings, from Dorion Tower adventures to Sleeping Giant hikes, from a kids summer camp to youth climbing programs, from friends to couples to families and everything in between... We love what we do and are always psyched to help get people outdoors in a fun, safe, and engaging environment! 😎🫶
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📸's by Aric Fishman, Outdoor Skills And Thrills ()
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06/06/2024
A really fun new mixed route that climbs an awesome corner crack on some beautiful rock! I call this one 'The Jungle Book', found at The Outbreak Wall, is a 35 meter 5.10c. This engaging climb took a lot of time to clean and develop, but was so so worth it and I had tons of fun doing the first free ascent (FFA) this past weekend. I added 7 bolts in sections that needed them, and the rest is all bomber gear placements. Nestled right between 2 new 5.12 sport routes that my buddy Dane Latimer developed (which I'll post photos & details of shortly), this new zone is well worth checking out. It's found about 30 meters to the left of the route called 'I Can See The Light' which is already described in the 2nd Edition of my guidebook, and which I also now finished developing as a fully bolted 2 pitch 5.11 sport route btw. I'll be updating the New Routes & Updates page again on my website in the coming days with an additional dozen new climbs recently developed. A huge shoutout to Dane Er Rang () for snapping these awesome pics, to Erik Paton (.paton) for the great belay, and Ryan Asher () for the mega stoke. It was a really fun day out that I won't soon forget!
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📸's by Dane Latimer of Aric Fishman () on the FFA of 'The Jungle Book'.
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Videos
A window into a waterfall becoming an ice climb 🤗
Mount Olympus at Orient Bay, Ontario...impeccable stone 😁
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📽️ by Aric Fishman (@outdoor_skills) of Sandro Daniele (@sandernator) and Joey Vrzovski (@vrzovski9) at the top of Mount Olympus. If you look reeeal closely, you can maybe also spot Dustin Johnston-Jewell (@dustin.jj) and William Tam (@willtam85) climbing on the bottom left side of the wall.
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#outdoorskillsandthrills #grippedmagazine #climbing #rockclimbing
Shere Khan, a proud new sport route developed and climbed by my buddy Dane Latimer 😎🤘. Sitting directly to the right of The Jungle Book, this super rad face climb goes through a continuous series of small bouldery crimp edges broken up by good horizontal rails with decent rest stances. It's a really cool climb, and a great new addition to The Outbreak Wall, going at 5.12b, 33 meters with 14 bolts. It was awesome getting to watch and film him doing the first free ascent (FFA) this past weekend after seeing him spend so much time developing this line this season. Here's a short film I put together quickly of some clips to share with y'all while I work on a longer version to come soon.
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📽️ by Aric Fishman (@outdoor_skills) of Dane Latimer (@dane_er_rang) doing the FFA of 'Shere Khan' at The Outbreak Wall.
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#outdoorskillsandthrills #grippedmagazine #climbing #rockclimbing
Tried out Instagram Live for the first time, coming at you from Pass Lake today with Keegan (@keegan_tremblay), Ben (@@ben_bohemier_), along with Summit & Echo the doggies.
Here's 3 solid tips that are scientifically proven to drastically improve the mental health and wellbeing of 99.8% of individuals above the age of two who do these 3 things 😊👍
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📽️ by Aric Fishman - Outdoor Skills And Thrills
- Fully Certified & Insured - No Experience is Required - From New Beginners to Seasoned Experts - All Equipment is Included -
Rock and Ice Climbing Guided Adventures & Courses - Northwest, Ontario
Whether you’re a beginner or a veteran, big or small, young or old, the Outdoor Skills And Thrills team is always committed to providing a safe and fun environment to anybody and everybody! You will always be guided by our fully certified & insured, professional, friendly and passionate guides through an exciting and enjoyable experience in the best rock and ice climbing areas around Thunder Bay.
Aric (owner and lead guide) has been instructing and guiding professionally in Canada for well over 15 years and is a very experienced, highly skilled Climbing guide and Wilderness Survival instructor. He founded Outdoor Skills And Thrills in Thunder Bay, Ontario as a way to provide adventure seekers with exciting adventures & professional courses that teach safe climbing practices while provide exciting adventures in a thrilling and breathtaking environment. Not only an accomplished climber and guide, Aric Fishman is also the author of ‘Thunder Bay Climbing: A Guide to Northwestern Ontario’s Best Kept Secret‘, the latest comprehensive rock climbing guidebook for the region.
If you’re a novice ready to learn the fundamentals and eager to enjoy the life-changing experience of climbing, an intermediate looking to improve your climbing skills on world-class routes, or an expert trying to find the hidden secrets, a first ascent, or the best climbs in Northwestern Ontario, join Outdoor Skills And Thrills for an unforgettable experience in one of the most up-and-coming climbing destinations in Canada!
All of the rock and ice climbing locations we will take you to have been specifically chosen for their breathtaking views and world class climbs! Outdoor Skills And Thrills guides are also some of the most energized in the region and truly enjoy working together with people of all ages and abilities.
Not only passionate about instructing and climbing, we are also working hard to develop the climbing scene in Northwestern Ontario by helping to maintain trails, replacing old anchors, developing new routes for everyone in the region to enjoy, helping to build up the climbing community through public initiatives, and much more.
