Overview
If you haven’t climbed in winter before or have only done a little and are ready to develop your skills to the next level, this is the ideal springboard. We’ll help you develop all the skills you need to be safe and feel capable, gaining confidence as a winter climber while enjoying some inspirational routes. Since all our courses are designed specifically for you then we can help you develop well beyond the outline scope of this course – we offer our courses this way we because we don’t want any restrictions on what we can deliver for you.
Course Duration
Recommended Course Duration: 2 – 5 days
The way we work means you can choose to run this course for any number of days – we work on a day-rate which we use to calculate the course cost and, however many days you choose, we’ll put everything into giving you as much value out of those days as we can.
Our recommended minimum for these courses is 2 days, since time is the main limiting factor and if you’d like to learn the course content we’ve described it’s likely we’ll need 2 days. If you have the luxury of a bit more time to dedicate to this course it’s something we’d recommend since it allows us to work around any poor weather better, fit in a lot more practice and climb many more routes.
Location
If you’re not familiar with Scottish climbing areas and/or don’t yet have a preference, our recommended location for this is Aviemore, in the Scottish Highlands. From here we’re well placed to take advantage of the selection of superb mountain areas in the Cairngorms National Park. The winter climbing here is nicely accessible and offers high-quality routes at a variety of levels of challenge which are perfect for beginners.
We are very happy to run this course anywhere you’d like – just let us know this when you enquire and we’ll make plans for you accordingly.
Previous Experience
Previous winter hillwalking and rock climbing experience ideal but not essential, since our courses can be tailored to any level of previous experience. If you’ve never climbed or been out in winter before we can ensure that you’re safe, we’ll just have to start easy and teach you the essentials before getting stuck into any more challenging ground to begin introducing the winter climbing skills.
Course Content
Since all our courses are private there’s really no limit to what we can teach you except the time we have and the conditions on the day. We’ll teach whatever you’d like to learn and adapt every course accordingly – we start every course by getting to know you and discussing what you’d like to get out of the day/s, then we set out to do exactly that. If you’re not sure what you’d like to learn we always start with the basics and work up from there.
This particular Discover Winter Climbing course is pitched at people who don’t yet feel ready to start learning to lead climb but are keen to learn all the skills associated with winter climbing in safety. Topics covered will include;
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Winter Climbing Grades;
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Equipment Selection and fitting;
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Rock/ice/snow gear;
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Winter navigation, route-choice and route-finding;
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Avalanche Awareness & Avoidance;
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Movement Technique on Ice, Snow and Mixed terrain
A 4 day course in 5 days; a course with a rest-day option
We’re interested in giving you maximum flexibility and the highest quality. Courses like this can be tiring and conditions can be variable so we find a day off at some point (or at least having the flexibility to go climbing on the 4 best days out of the 5 booked) can help make for a great course.
If you’d like this option just book a 4 day course and let us know the other day that you’d like to be included in the booking.
Accommodation
We don’t provide accommodation on our courses as some of our clients would like to stay in luxury accommodation, some in B&B’s, some in Bunkhouses and some like to camp. Therefore we feel our clients benefit from being able choose the accommodation they personally prefer in relation to their budget.
We are more than happy to recommend places to stay and after completion of your booking you will receive a course information pack which will contain further information about your course and a selection of local accommodation options. We’re always on hand to help advise since we know the areas well, so drop us an email or call us if you’d like any advice.
Price
Price: £300/day for 1 person, £330/day for 2 people
Our guiding is private, ensuring we can deliver exactly what you’re looking for and pitch everything at a level that’s right for you. Simply choose dates that suit you then we’ll arrange everything and send you the details. Our all-inclusive prices are competitive but are indicative of the fact that you’re getting the UK’s highest qualified instructors.
Included in your price is the hire of ice axe/s, crampons, harnesses, helmets and we can arrange boot hire for you too. We work on the basis that if there’s anything you need, we’re here to help.
