winter mountaineering 2 day

The 2-day winter mountaineering course in Scotland, based in the Cairngorms, is an intensive and challenging program designed to develop advanced mountaineering skills. Here is a sample itinerary for the course:

Day 1:

• Meet with the instructor team and go over the course objectives, safety briefing, and equipment check.
• Discuss the route plan and weather/avalanche forecast for the day.
• Hike to a suitable location for the first day’s activities, such as Corrie an t’ Sneachda.
• Cover essential techniques, including ice axe and crampon use, belaying and rope work, and route-finding in winter conditions.
• Practice these skills in a variety of terrain, from gullies to ridges.
• Return to the the vehicles late afternoon for a debrief and plan for the next day’s activities.

Day 2:

• Review the weather/avalanche forecast and route plan for the day.
• Hike to a suitable location for the day’s activities this will likely be based around Cairngorm still.
• Build on the skills covered on day one, with more advanced rope work and navigation in challenging terrain.
• Discuss the importance of decision-making and risk assessment in winter mountaineering.
• Return to the vehicles in the later afternoon for a final debrief and course conclusion.

Throughout the course, participants will have the opportunity to practice their skills in real-life situations, with guidance from highly experienced and qualified instructors (members of AMI) who are intimately familiar with the area and its unique challenges. The course will be physically demanding, but participants will leave with a solid foundation of skills that will allow them to tackle more advanced mountaineering challenges with confidence and safety.

We pride ourselves on providing as much kit as possible for you.  However, the list below is what we recommend you should bring to your 2 day winter mountaineering course:

• Travel insurance. (We are insured for all our trips, but we recommend everyone has their own travel insurance as well.)
• Transportation to the venue. (We may be able to help with this though – if you need transportation please drop us an enquiry and we can see what we can do to help.)
• Lunch, water.
• Personal medication
• Sun cream, sunglasses
• Clear goggles – we may be able to provide if required please contact us.
• Waterproofs 
• B2 boots (we may be able to arrange hire of these if needed; please contact us if this is the case. But people normally prefer to use their own)
• Rucksack 30 litres or so will suffice
• Compass and ideally a 1:50k map of Cairngorm Mountain

Here at Highland Outdoor Adventures, we pride ourselves on providing as much as we can but you are welcome to bring your own equipment if you do prefer. The list below is what we provide you with on the day.

• All instruction.
• Crampons
• Ice Axes
• Ropes
• Harness
• Helmets
• All Technical Climbing Gear
• All first aid and safety equipment.
• Photographs of the day provided for you at no extra cost! If the weather is good we will have a DSLR professional camera and maybe even a drone, so we can take photos and videos of your adventure and you can look back at the day for years to come. If the weather is less favourable we will bring a GoPro (as it is waterproof) so we will still be able to take photos for you.