Winter Skills Training Review

When you stand on a mountain’s top, look down over the wide fields below you and see other Bens not far away you know you have reached your goal for the day. The last few metres are the best ones, when you get into “summit fever” and know, soon you can have your last chocolate bar because you have finally made it!
However getting to this point can be complicated. It is a lot of work, from reading maps to find the right path up to putting in physical strength to get to where you want. Though everybody who gets there will agree- it was worth it.
However, this is even more difficult and dangerous in winter as the area is snow and ice covered which sometimes goes up or even over ones knees. Strong winds with up to 50mph that carry snow with them make both rise and decent more dangerous and strenuous. On top avalanches are constant threats.
To ensure that the members of the GCU mountaineering club are well-prepared for those difficulties, know what to do in case of an emergency, but first of all, know how to avoid getting into dangerous situations in the first place, we held a Winter Skills Weekend from the 18th to the 20th of January.
Our members (Eleven in total in two groups) went out into the Cairngorms with instructors to cover the essentials from learning how to read avalanche predictions in combination with weather forecasts, to using crampons (metallic spikes at the end of the boots) in order travel over frozen areas. On their two-day seminars they learnt how to dress themselves appropriately for winter and what to pack (that is dress with three to four layers initially and pack lots of extra stuff), how to use ice axes correctly and how to prevent themselves from sliding (and in case that didn’t work how to stop this slide). They learnt a lot about navigating in a total white-out (when you can’t see anything because of falling snow), how to analyse and check layers of snow (because snow is not just white and fluffy) and that, if one does not want to get into danger, one best stays inside with a blanket and a hot chocolate or tea (with or without milk).
However, because our members are adventure seekers and you can’t have adventure without a little bit of risk, this course prepared them essentially for the fantastic trips that we have planned this winter (and spring considering we live in Scotland and snow starts to fall in October and only clears in early May).

So far!