Overview
Our Next Level Winter Skills course is ideal for anyone who already has some basic winter skills, but would like to build on these and gain much more confidence. We’ll refresh and refine all of the the fundamental skills whilst going on some great mountain journeys and cover all the more advanced techniques you need to look after yourselves and others in harsh conditions, including skills such as movement techniques for steeper terrain, poor visibility winter navigation, avalanche awareness and snowpack analysis and emergency ropework skills.
Since all our courses are designed specifically for you then we can help you develop well beyond the outline scope of this course and focus on whatever goals you have – we offer our courses this way we because we don’t want any restrictions on what we can deliver for you.
Location
This course is based out Aviemore, in the Scottish Highlands. From this location we are ideally placed to take advantage of the wide selection of superb mountain areas available throughout the Cairngorms National Park.
Other locations are available upon request, just let us know when you enquire.
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.
Course Ratio
We deliver this course at a maximum ratio of one instructor to two clients. This enables us to easily tailor the course to your ability and aspirations and ensures that you will receive a large amount of individual input from your instructor so that you can develop your skills swiftly and safely.
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Courses for 6+ people
We regularly run winter skills courses for 6 or more people, but please just get in touch with us first. We’d like to discuss what you’d like to do before you book, discuss the options and be sure that we can deliver what you want.
Price
£300/day for 1 person + £30ppn for each additional person (Max 6)
All our courses are 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.
Course Content
On this course we will cover the following topics;
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Avalanche Awareness & Assessment
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Route Selection
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Mountaineering/Climbing Grades
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Equipment Selection
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Snow & Rock Anchors
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Mountaineering Rope work
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Navigation
Previous Experience
Previous winter walking experience, and the ability to walk in the hills for 6-8 hours each day.
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 therefore 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.
