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Winter skills in the Cairngorms
Winter hillwalking skills course over 2 days
Join us for a winter skills course based in the Cairngorms and around Drumochter, where you'll learn the hill skills needed to go winter hiking with us in the Scottish mountains.
At a glance
- A winter skills course designed for the summer walker keen to aim onto the Scottish hills in winter.
- Over two days we'll introduce and develop the basic winter skills required to get the most out of mountain hikes with snow and ice.
- Winter navigation, forecasting and safety are amongst the many topics covered.
- Learn how to use an ice-axe and crampons and the techniques of self arrest.
- Find out how to deal with wind-chill and snow injuries.
- Discover how avalanches happen and examine snow and ice structures.
Dates and booking
General info
Moderate hillwalking days.
A winter skills course based in the Cairngorms and held over two days with one of our experienced and qualified leaders.
The course aims to build your knowledge and give you confidence to hillwalk in the Scottish Highlands in winter conditions.
Your friendly guide will have a thorough knowledge of the snow covered areas that we'll be hiking and working in and be able to give you insight into the flora and fauna.
Our maximum guide to client ratio on this event is 1:6.
Outline of event »
Day 1 : Winter introduction
Learning new skills on Cairngorm's snow covered slopes
| Summits : | n/a |
| Grading : | 'moderate day' |
| Stats : | Classroom 1 hour, on the hills in snow and on ice for 4-5 hours |
We'll start the day off with a classroom session where we'll get to know each other and we'll discuss 'winter-ising' your hillwalking kit and the gear you should buy.
We'll also have a look at how planning a winter day is considerably different from planning a hike in summer.
Off to the hills in search of snow and ice next, we'll look at how we progress on snow and ice, gradually introducing ice-axes and crampons.
Onto a slope, we'll try out different self arrest techniques.
Day 2 : Winter mountain hike
Consolidation day on high Cairngorm mountains in winter
| Summits : | tbc |
| Grading : | 'demanding day' |
| Stats : | Winter hike for 6-8 hours in Cairngorms or Drumochter |
Our second day is designed as a lead-on from Saturday and will consolidate skills, whilst having some fun.
The location of our second day will be confirmed after our skills day and will be determined primarily by the weather - we'll try and find a few Munros with some great winter conditions.
We'll look at snow and ice structures in detail and examine how avalanches happen and, most importantly how to avoid them !
Experience & fitness needed »
Moderate hillwalking days.
To join this guided event, we ask that you :
- have a good level of fitness and stamina
- have done some hillwalking
- are comfortable hiking for 7 hours plus
- had exposure to British mountain weather or similar
Saturday's day getting to grips with winter skills basics is classed as 'moderate'.
Sunday's hike is classed 'demanding' primarily due to the possible effort required hiking through snow.
To join this guided hiking weekend, we ask that you have a decent level of fitness, have done a good few summer hillwalks and had exposure to 'British mountain weather'.
More information is detailed on our
Events Grading page.
Have a look at
how we grade our events or
contact us for more information.
Gear you'll need »
You'll need your winter hiking and hill-walking gear approriate for the conditions.
More details and some helpful advice along with a checklist and specific suggestions on a Pinterest Board are on our
Winter Gear page.
Should you need to hire some gear, we can arrange this. Cost of an item (ice-axe, crampons or helmet) is £5 per day.
Your guide »
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Richard Kermode
MLS, MLW qualified and more, Richard loves taking people on adventures whether through wild mountains or wandering looking for wildlife !
Leading the event on 12-13 January'19, 26-27 January'19 and 9-10 February.
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John Walker
MLS and MLW qualified, John is passionate about the Scottish mountains, and enjoys taking people to new places and helping them to share the experiences that fire him.
Leading the events on 19-20 January'19 and 2-3 February'19.
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Emma O'Shea
MLS, MLW qualified and more, Emma is also a member of Tayside Mountain Rescue team and happiest when in the outdoors, frequently accompanied by her collie cross, Moss.
Leading the events on 16-17 February.
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More information on your guide can be found on our
About Us page.
Location & accommodation »
We'll be based in the Northern Cairngorms or possibly around Drumochter depending on the weather conditions.
These areas are easily accessed from Aviemore, Kingussie and Newtonmore which are all situated close to the A9.
There are good transport links, all of these towns have bus and rail links between Inverness and the Central Belt.
We may able to offer pick-up from Aviemore.
Below is a list of accommodation that previous guests on our trips have recommended.
Other accommodation can be found at
Visit Scotland.
Around a month prior to an event taking place, we hope to set up a 'Whatsapp' chat group for the event. This will hopefully help participants find out where others are staying and organise car-share.
Please note that our expertise lies in offering you great guided days in Scotland's mountains and not providing transport or arranging your accommodation. Please see our
FAQs for more information.
Previous events »
Below on our Blog or on Flickr are some previous trips similar to this one.
