Home Courses Mountain Sport Winter Mountain Skills Courses Introduction to Winter Mountaineering

Introduction to Winter Mountaineering

Course Overview

You will usually be in a group of no more than four with one instructor. Meeting your instructor on the first morning provides an opportunity to discuss everyone’s experience and aspirations enabling the instructor to plan the programme based around these. The main topics to be covered are:

Re-visiting core winter movement skills using axe and crampons in ascent and descent.
Movement over grade I/II winter snow and ‘scrambling’ type terrain.
Basic rope work and belaying using the rope alone as well as with a sling and krab,
Constructing and using snow anchors (such as buried axe, snow bollard and Deadman)
Selecting and using natural rock anchors
Abseiling using snow anchors
Avalanche awareness and risk assessment and it’s implications for safe route choice.
Winter navigation
Evening sessions may include a winter hazards talk and avalanche awareness talk.

The programme is fairly flexible taking into account individual needs and aims, weather, etc.

Duration & Cost

2 Days at £285.00

The majority of our courses include full board, accommodation, use of specialist equipment, course transport and instruction. Exceptions to this include international courses, one day courses (no accommodation) or specialist courses. Please check the course notes below for details.

Dates

none set

Pre-requisites

Experience of travelling with ice axe & crampons essential, summer scrambling useful.

Course Notes & Equipment List

Click here for more details on the course and for a full equipment list. If you have any equipment missing our retail partner Ellis Brigham have a store in Aviemore.