The places I’ve looked at are all Aviemore/Cairngorm based. Won’t need food etc
At this point it looks like accommodation and facilities are the differentiator. Instructors are likely a shade above but given the indifference to accommodation/facilities (in my own circumstances), GL is looking pricey
my advice would be to grab a couple of books as well, as you’ll need to keep reminding yourself of stuff every winter, particularly winter navigating techniques, but also ice craft and even little odds and sods like interpreting the SAIS reports etc etc.
Best books I have are:
Martin Moran, Scotland winter mountains (or something like that)
Eric Langmuir Mountain Craft and leadership (think it might be the text book for the MLA or scouts or someone)
Peter cliff, Mountain Navigation
Was a gamble doing one in the Lakes with it’s fickle winter conditions. Our instructor let us know us Thurs that Sat was looking good but Sun was going to be wetter and warmer – had option to either postpone the WSC or just hire him for Sat only or still do 2 days – 1 WSC and one doing something like nav.
Decided do hire him for WSC on Sat – 4 of us did it for £180 so £45 each. He picked us up from Grasmere YH and gave us an overview of what the day would entail – did we want to top out on Helvellyn or max out on the training aspect? – we went for the latter.
What a superb day. Went and played around on Browncove Crags on the Thirlmere side of Helvellyn. A very full day involved explaining avalanche risk, types of snow, reading the conditions of the snow, using axe, traversing slopes, arrest technique, crampon technique (shredded a pair of nice Goretex trousers!)…then going up one of the gullies using new found skills. I was well out of my comfort zone here but really enjoyed it (and shat myself – metaphorically). We are doing a 2 day nav course in the summer with him.
If anyone is interested in a WSC or any other aspect of being in the hills then I would recommend Paddy Cave 100%. Excellent instructor who explains things so easy to digest without overloading you. Thoroughly top bloke to boot and prolific climber in his own right. Owns and runs MountainCircles from Appleby nearby. He does a lot of work on the Ben too. We bunged him a few extra notes too as we were so pleased with our day.
2 of our group are also hiring him out in the summer for some crag climbing.
If anyone fancies walking throughout the year then I’d def recommend doing a WSC…especially Paddy.
