2 Day - Winter Walker Essentials

2 Day Winter Walker Essentials

Next Courses:

Please note: Depending on conditions and interest, we may put some courses on in late January!

The next Scheduled open courses in winter 2025 are:

• Thursday 20th - Friday 21st February

• Saturday 22nd - Sunday 23rd February

To sign up to any of these courses, please scroll down toward the bottom of the page for the booking links.

Where they are run:

The Cairngorms

These courses are run primarily from Aviemore in the Cairngorm National Park, Scotland.

The area is generally filled with instructors running winter courses as well as skiers. The area is brilliantly amenable to running winter skills courses. We can drive pretty much straight up to the snow line and get started immediately. There is a good mix of terrain all within easy reach. Aviemore is on the main rail network from pretty much anywhere in the UK. There are good road links, and Inverness airport is just over an hour's drive. There are also a huge array of places to stay - from youth hostels, B&Bs through to more expensive hotels. It gets booked up very quickly in winter however, so getting accommodation sorted is essential.

We tend to meet in Tiso in Aviemore or The Cairngorm Cafe on the mountain before heading out. It's a chance to ensure everyone has the right kit, and I can fit crampons to boots if needed. There is a large cafe upstairs in both venues.

Glencoe

I also run courses in Glencoe on the west coast. Glencoe is famed for it's spectacular scenery as well as bloody history! It is well served by road and coach from Inverness or Glasgow. Fort William or Tyndrym / Bridge of Orchy are the nearest railway stations, all about 45-60mins drive. There are few places suitable to meet beforehand indoors but we'll let you know where to meet up.

What the Courses Involve:

These courses will provide you with the foundation skills and knowledge to be able to get out in winter to enjoy the majesty of this season.

These are not climbing courses. The aim is to enable you to use the additional winter tools effectively and appropriately, and gain some experience out in the winter mountains as a walker.

We will not be covering winter navigation on these courses unless anyone specifically wants to and is able to navigate with a map and compass in summer. For a more detailed course to allow you to be more independent of guides, please see our 4 day Full Independent Walker Course.

The weather and conditions, ever fickle in Britain will have a big impact on what we can cover. This will be true for every provider of winter mountain courses! There is no guarantee we can cover everything.

On the two day Winter Walker Essentials we cover:

• Avalanche and weather forecasts - Even with a high avalanche forecast, there are plenty of routes you can follow safely. For anyone going ou t in the mountains in winter, whether with a guide or independently, being able to understand the avalanche risks is part of the journey.

• Equipment and clothing - You will very likely need a bigger rucksack than you would have in summer. You won't want anything attached to the outside of your bag!

• Efficiency in packing and planning

• Personal movement skills which is essential to deal with different snow packs at different altitudes

  • Efficient use of your boots in different terrain

  • Walking in crampons

• Use of the ice axe

  • Self-belay

  • Step cutting

  • (Ice axe arrests - if time allows. This is an advanced technique requiring a lot of practice!)

• Using axe and crampons on steeper ground (in a walking, non climbing context)

For any practical skills course, repetition is critical and we aim to give you as much opportunity to practice the new skills as we can. The instructor:client ratio is 1:6 with a minimum of 3 clients to ensure that everyone gets the most benefit from the course. Peer-experience and sharing is an important aspect.

12-18 year olds are welcome if accompanied by a parent or guardian also on the course. Even if you have attended a previous intro to winter course, if you haven't practiced recently it is never a bad thing to have a full refresher.

Equipment:

You will need to ensure that you have all the essential winter equipment beforehand. We can provide a walking axe, helmet, walking crampons that will fit sturdy leather boots, and ski goggles (we are not climbing but learning to swing axes around so best be safe!). If in any doubt please get in touch.​ We do recommend that you hire B2 boots and Grivel G12 crampons but it is not essential. Mountaineering boots are as much of a tool as your ice axe is. For courses in the Cairngorms, we recommend hiring equipment from Tiso (Aviemore) or Ellis Brigham (Aviemore or for Glencoe courses - Fort WIlliam).

Resources:

I've put together a range of resources. Some videos I've created covering the Be Avalanche Aware process, some great videos covering the more practical aspects by the British Mountaineering Council, as well as some pdf document downloads which can be useful. Please click here to view the content. These can also act as a great refresher for after the course.

The Tutor:

Fabian is the tutor for our Intro to Winter courses. Apart from during the Covid winters of 2020-2021, and the barely existent winter of 2023, he's had every winter season in the Scottish Highlands as well as working for 6 months in Antarctica as a research scientist since 2001. He will teach you the basic skills that have not only kept him alive throughout but also enabled him to absolutely love and look forward to winter in the mountains.

Please Note:

In recent years the winters have been very hit and miss even in the Cairngorms. We always aim to provide a quality all round course that has depth and variety. This has become increasingly difficult in recent years as the climate has warmed. Should the winter of 2025 prove as bad as 2023 / 2024, we may decide not to run courses if we feel they would be substandard. In such cases you will be offered a refund.