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Introductory Winter Mountaineering Course
From £840 Grade: Introductory
Introductory Winter Mountaineering Course
This Course is ideal for the keen mountain walker and scrambler who wants to progress and learn the essential skills of winter mountaineering.
Introduction to winter mountaineering
Ideal for those with no previous winter hill walking or mountaineering experience, or those who want to refresh winter skills. It will provide the skills to enjoy the UK mountains in winter snow conditions, or to join one of our overseas expedition or courses graded 1 or 2 such as Mera Peak, Kazbek, Ecuador Volcanoes, Aconcagua, Lobuche, Mexican Volcanoes.
Previous Experience
For the Introductory Winter Mountaineering Course, you should have a good level of fitness and summer mountain walking experience with the ability to enjoy good long summer mountain walks with a minimum of 3000ft / 1000m of ascent over a mixture of terrain including broken rocky ground in ascent and decent.
If you wish to build up to this course, then consider joining our Winter Skills Weekend course.
Outline itinerary
During the course our instructors will aim to develop your skills to help make you confident in the use of crampons and ice axe combined with some basic ropework to allow you to move safely in the winter mountains. The exact programme will be dependent on the weather, ground conditions and progress of the group, but typically we would aim to cover the following:
- Winter Equipment & Clothing
- Use of ice axe and crampons
- Ice axe arrest
- Basic Ropework and Belaying
- Snow anchors
- Basic winter mountain navigation and route planning
- Winter weather and avalanche avoidance
- Ascent of some classic Munro ridges including Ben Nevis
Typical Days:
may include ascents such as:
- Ben Nevis via the Carn Mor Dearg Arete
- Stob Coire Nan Lochan via the North East Ridge
- Ballachullish Horseshoe
- Bidean Nam Bian
- The North ridge of Stob Ban and the Mamore’s
Please do not make non-refundable travel arrangements until you have verified that your course is confirmed to run.
Accommodation is booked from the night of your arrival with instruction starting the following morning. Check out is normally the morning of your final day unless you have booked an additional night. This is booked on a twin room basis: however single rooms will be provided where there is not a member of the same sex to share with. Single rooms and additional nights can be requested at an extra cost.
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Dates & Prices
Availability
* A deposit of £200 will be required at checkout.
Extras
Extras can be added per-person when you book onto a date
| Item | Price | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Extra night B&B - £80 per night on a single basis | £80 | |
| 1 Extra night B&B - per night per person (on a twin basis) | £52 | |
| 1 Extra night DB&B - per night per person (on a twin basis) | £77 | |
| Single room supplement during course 4 nights - £50 per night | £200 |
* A deposit of £200 (or the full extra price, whichever is lower) will be required at checkout for each extra added per-person on this trip
What's Included
- Instruction
- Full board accommodation with two course evening meals & packed lunches, starting with breakfast on the first morning through to packed lunch on the day of departure. Bar meals can be purchased until 8.30pm on the day of your arrival
- Ropes and technical equipment (excluding personal kit such as harness/crampons, ice axe, and helmet)
- 15% off the RRP of clothing and equipment purchases from The Expedition shop
What's Excluded
- Travel to Scotland
- Evening meal on arrival and drinks
- Personal equipment including ice axe, crampons, helmet and harness
- Uplift by cable car on Aonach Mor or the White Corries
- Entry to the ice wall at the Ice Factor in the event of severe weather
- Hire equipment (personal kit such as harness/crampons, ice axe, and helmet)
Itinerary
Day 1 | The course begins at 8pm on the first evening with a course briefing and the essentials for clothing and equipment. After the course briefing, we will check your personal kit and issue you with any hire kit required. |
Day 2 | The first mountain day will develop your skills to move safely and efficiently on snow covered terrain with the use of crampons and ice axe including ice axe arrest. In the evening there will be a short lecture on avalanche avoidance and prediction. |
Day 3 | A mountain journey over one or more Munros (Scottish mountains over 3000ft) to give you the opportunity to practice skills. |
Day 4 | Today we will introduce the rope as part of a mountain day to cover the basic ropework and belaying techniques required to safeguard the group up steep mountain terrain or a simple gully. This will include the understanding and use of snow anchors to secure the rope. |
Day 5 | We continue to practice skills on steeper mountain days to give a more in depth understanding of how to travel safely on differing Snow & Ice terrain. |