Hello,

As above I am locking for any recommendations for organisations who provide Winter Mountain Skills in Scotland. I have tried to use the search function to no avail as I recall seeing this discussed about a year ago.

I am looking for dates in December, either with or without accommodation and have a good grounding in summer mountain skills, scrambling and indoor climbing.

Thanks

Best place in the UK by far: http://www.glenmorelodge.org.uk/

The English and Wales National Outdoor centre also decamp to Glen Coe for the winter: http://www.pyb.co.uk/

Lots of videos by Glenmore Lodge on YouTube – should give you a good flavour of what they do.

https://www.youtube.com/user/glenmorelodge

[video]http://youtu.be/yIaEZoTSAIU[/video]

Glenmore Lodge +1

The facility itself is great. Good pub/food/accommodation.

I’m gonna do this this winter. Jagged Globe courses have been recommended to me as well as Glenmore Lodge. With Glenmore Lodge though I think of you’ve not done any winter walking/scrambling before they would want you to take the winter skills course which covers navigation, avalanche safety etc but not really mountaineering.

Another +1 for Glenmore Lodge.

Great staff, great facilities (shop, kit hire, gym, climbing wall, pub). And the accommodation is also great, and about £25 a night.

With Glenmore Lodge though I think of you’ve not done any winter walking/scrambling before they would want you to take the winter skills course which covers navigation, avalanche safety etc but not really mountaineering.

I did everything in one course with Glenmore Lodge (about 25 years ago).

However, the most important skills by far are navigation and avalanche safety. If you can’t navigate across the Cairngorm Plateau in a complete white-out with 100 mph winds occasionally knocking you off your feet in the gusts, you really shouldn’t be out in the hills in winter in Scotland.

I used to teach students winter mountaineering in the Cairngorms (a long time ago), you’d see complete fear on their faces when we took them up onto the Plateau in zero visibility and made them navigate about blind; but after a few hours they could find their way about and realised it wasn’t that bad if you just kept your nerve (and knew what you were doing).

Glenmore LOdge. Great place, great atmosphere, you’ll enjoy yourself.

As above, much winter safety is about keeping your head and understanding the dangers.

+1 for Glenmore Lodge.

If you’re feeling especially tight/adventurous, there’s a cracking wild camp spot I found a couple of seasons ago that I may be willing to divulge. It’s 3 mins walk from the Lodge, completely hidden and you won’t need to dig out much snow before pitching. I use it every time I’m up that way and it’s well sheltered in bad conditions.

Where are you most likely to get the right conditions? The Cairngorms. Glenmore Lodge it is then.

Not done winter skills, but if the kayaking courses are anything to go by (and judging by comments above they are) you won’t go wrong at Glenmore Lodge.
Accommodation, scoff and general vibe about the place are excellent.

Glenmore again here…
(They employ the people I would have suggested anyway…)

Something like this course would be a good starting point:

http://www.glenmorelodge.org.uk/cat-18-winter-mountaineering-winter-climbing/course-223-winter-mountaineering-5-days/

Thanks for the great replies, I do have some winter experience having spend a week at Fort William last year with a number of trips out in winter conditions and an ascent of Ben Nevis in about 1m snow. Navigation wise, I’m not too bad usually but would certainly appreciate developing the necessary skills to navigate safely in white out conditions.

but would certainly appreciate developing the necessary skills to navigate safely in white out conditions.

Very wise.

Many moons ago, when we had good winters, you’d have more climbers die from falling down Five finger gully walking off the Ben after an ascent of the North face than from climbing up the various gullies / ridges…

I have given the guys at Glenmore a ring and they suggested that some people like to do the Intro Winter Skills (2 day) followed by the Winter Mountaineering (5 Days) as this provides a good base to further develop skills. I have actually booked both of these with accommodation (which seemed reasonable), and am doing the 2 day intro on 8th & 9th January, with the 5 day between 12th-17th January.

EDIT: The only issue with this is that I will need to find a place to stay for the 7th, and the 10th and 11th, any recomendations?

Sounds like we are in a similar boat OP – I’ve emailed them but will probably end up doing what you’re doing too (can’t do your dates though 🙂 )

Quite excited now 🙂

If you’re desperate there is always Loch Morlich Youth Hostel. Used to be run like a prison camp though…

In Aviemore itself we stayed in a reasonable bunkhouse with a decent pub attached.

http://www.oldbridgeinn.co.uk/bunkhouse.html

I did a winter skills course last year and found it cheaper to sort my own accommodation and food out separately then booking on an all inclusive course like at Glenmore. Ended up staying at the Old Bridge Inn in Aviemore as well and can recommend as a good cheap option!

I went on the weekend winter skills course with Mountain Independence who I can thoroughly recommend, they were reasonably priced, friendly and we learned loads despite the wild conditions we had on the course! Spent a bit of time in the pub on the Saturday night chatting through a bit of theory stuff as well which was pretty cool.

I’m quite keen to head up there again this year, might do another course if anyone else is interested?

Ended up staying at the Old Bridge Inn in Aviemore as well and can recommend as a good cheap option!

very nice, they have a good whisky collection if I recall correctly…..

Like Footflaps said a long way up there if you can’t use a map, compass and pacing to navigate to a spot on a contour line in a white-out don’t go up there.
I did my navigation with the Fraoch Lodge people, Mountain Innovations. Good food and company a little less institutional than Glenmore. Rebecca can be a bit fierce though 😉

I’d recommend this book to whet your appetite, if you’ve not already got it:

Also has the story of the 1986 storm involving instructors and trainees from Glenmore Lodge. 😯

Did the Glenmore Lodge course decades ago through local club. Can’t recommend it highly enough in terms of experience, terrain, knowledge passed on. Top guys doing it – our instructor was Andy Nisbet IIRC.

+1 Glenmore Lodge.

I’d recommend this book to whet your appetite, if you’ve not already got it:

+1 Great book.

Hi all, you’ve got me excited about winter again and keen to go on another course. I need to do it on the cheap though, would anyone else be interested in booking on one of these Winter Skills courses? I’m relatively easy as to when I can get time off, considering maybe one of the week long courses this time.

Does anyone else know of anything cheaper, I went with these guys last time and quite keen to book them again but cost is definitely a factor. Could look at sharing accommodation as a group to keep costs down.

Lots of Glenmore recommendations I see… if you do end up there, and staying in the centre, beware the ‘lodge-podge’. The food is good, and there is lots of it, many people go home a bit heavier than they arrived!