Winter skills courses

If you already have some summer hill walking experience, two days is a reasonable duration for a basic winter skills course. It’s just enough time to figure out how to look after yourself on a winter hill – what clothing and kit to take, how to use an axe and crampons, what to do in an emergency and, most importantly, how to plan a winter mountain day.

A three day course lets you put new skills into practice on an interesting winter journey. We’ll define ‘interesting’ together, so that we can come up with a mountain day that’s challenging and enjoyable but also stays sensibly within our ability. In essence, an additional day is an opportunity to put it all together and gain invaluable winter experience before you go it alone. It can also be useful if you’d like to learn more about winter navigation techniques or better your understanding of avalanche awareness.

Courses are normally run in the Northern Cairngorms, using Aviemore, or one of the nearby villages, as a valley base. Not only are the Cairngorms stunningly beautiful, they are consistently the most wintry mountain environment in Scotland. The Northern Corries of the Cairngorms, along with the hills above Glen Feshie, are very easy to access, and in most weather they provide the perfect winter skills training ground. If you’d prefer me to meet you in another part of the Highlands, this can be arranged too.

Guided winter hill walking and winter Munros

If you’d like the reassurance of having me accompany you or your group up a Scottish winter hill, this can be arranged anywhere in the Highlands. Just get in touch and I’ll give you a quote for any winter hill you have in mind.