Winter Mountaineering

15th March 2023

Winter Mountaineering

Sip has just returned from almost 3 weeks in Scotland conducting winter mountaineering, firstly with Polaris Mountaineering Club (PMC) and then straight on to his Winter Mountain Leader Training course with Scotch on the Rocks Guiding. Even though he already holds the military equivalent, it is now important to transfer all these skills to civilian award schemes, a journey which has been five years in the making. Hopefully with two more winter seasons he will be ready for assessment in 2025.

For anyone who has ventured into the hills, winter conditions are 100x more serious and committing. There are so many things to consider, especially avalanche risk and potentially life-threatening weather conditions. But, with the right level of training and experience, winter mountaineering is 100x more rewarding than trekking in the summer. If you are considering venturing out into the hills in winter conditions you would be advised to receive the appropriate training and become familiar with extremely helpful tools, like the SAIS Be Avalanche Aware.

Extreme Weather Conditions

Due to weather conditions effecting the snow pack, the right decision was made not to stay out in snow holes overnight. Instead of wasting valuable time we dug in three man emergency shelters, and then spent more time on the hill conducting night navigation under assessment style conditions.

Winter Quality Mountain Day

Amazing winter QMD on Creag Meagaidh, especially as James has not worn a set of crampons for over 10 years. Bit of coaching, nav in poor visibility on the plateau having climbed up The Window and ascended via the 70m ramp on the North Face. 15.5km with long approach walks in and off. Top tip, place your B3 in your pack and walk in wearing approach shoes.

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