Winter Skills Course Scotland

2 Day Introduction to Winter Skills | 5 Day Winter Skills Course

Looking to get out safely into the winter mountains?

Why not join us for a Winter Skills course? We will help you develop your current walking skills and prepare you for the Scottish (and UK) mountains in winter.

These courses cover the basics of movement in winter boots, the use of crampons and an ice axe, avalanche awareness, winter navigation and plenty more. We offer a 2-day Introduction to Winter Skills and a 5-day more comprehensive winter skills course in Scotland.

2 day vs 5 day Course?

Our 2-day courses aim to introduce you to winter skills. Across the two days, we will cover a bit of all essential skills. This will give you a good start to developing personal skills and avalanche awareness to help you get out safer in the Scottish & UK winter mountains.

The 5-day course allows us to cover the skills in more depth and repeat them through the week. Allowing further consolidation of learning and more time to look at avalanche awareness and planning across the 5 days. Seeing the development of snow conditions as they change and what we see in the mountains. The extra time will give you a more rounded view of winter, the skills it entails, and the navigation required, and hopefully, it means we can do some more mountain days to practice what you have learned on the go in context, compared to more skill introduction based days.

More info and booking below.

2 Day Introduction to Winter Skills Course in Scotland

Join us for our 2 Day Introduction to Winter Skills Course. Over the 2 days, we will introduce you to the basics of winter. This should give you the personal skills to get around safely in the mountains in winter. Below is a rough outline of what we will aim to cover on a 2-day Winter Skills. There is a lot to cover in a 2-day course, and this will be fitted around the weather and snow conditions across the 2 days.

 winter skills we cover on the 2 days

• Briefing – Introductions & kit checks

• Winter boots & walking techniques – footwork & techniques for snow

• Ice Axe – holding & using the axe

• Self Belay / Ice Axe Arrests

• Crampons – fitting, use & movement in them

• Avalanche Awareness – Be Avalanche Aware process

• Navigation (based on groups current navigation level)

Fitness: To gain the most from the 2 days, you will want to have a good level of fitness. Winter days can be tougher than summer, both in ground condition but also with carrying extra kit.

Location: SYHA Aviemore (10% Discount if you stay at SYHA when attending any of our events with code - AP10)

Meet Time - 8am

Max 6 People

5 Days Winter Skills Course

The 5 Day Course gives you much more time to develop your skills in winter, both in learning and consolidating them through practice. You will have more time to look at a few extra skills and more contextual journeys. Using the mountains locally to go different environments with different challenges. It also gives us the freedom to work the week around the weather and avalanche hazards as they change and develop and give you insight into this and planning required with that.

What will we cover on the 5 day course?

• Briefing – Introductions & kit checks

• Winter boots & walking techniques – footwork & techniques for snow

• Ice Axe – holding & using the axe

• Self Belay / Ice Axe Arrests

• Crampons – fitting, uses & movement in them

• Avalanche Awareness – Be Avalanche Aware process incl. planning your trips & using it throughout the week

• Navigation – Winter specifics building on current level of group & individuals

• Basic anchors

• Practice time

What will the week look like?

Our 5 day course may look something like this, however it is subject to change based on the weather and forecasts. Days will be adapted around conditions to give you the best possible learning experience.

• Day 1 – Journey to introduce Skills

• Day 2 – Journey to continue developing skills & looking at (SOMETHING MISSING HERE)

• Day 3 - Mountain Journey - Looking at Avalanche forecast / Weather and Be Avalanche Aware, to plan a day and execute.

• Day 4 – Mountain Journey – same as Day 3, potentially practising skills such as Ice axe arrest or adding in basic anchors in a situational context.

• Day 5 – Consolidation – practising & repeating learned skills.

Fitness: To gain the most from this week, you will want to have a good level of fitness. Winter days can be tougher than summer, both in ground condition but also with carrying extra kit.

Location: SYHA Aviemore (10% Discount if you stay at SYHA when attending any of our events with code - AP10)

Meet Time - 8am

Max 6 People

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