Winter Mountaineering Courses

Scottish Winter Walking, Mountaineering and Climbing Courses Overview

Winter walking, winter mountaineering and winter climbing in Scotland is an amazing experience.  Sometimes you will experience blue skies and sunshine with views to rival the Alps or greater ranges. At other times, the onslaught of snow, rain and wind requires that you have the right winter mountaineering skills just to survive.  Either way under our careful and friendly  instruction, winter is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.  If it is just the blue skies you want with your winter walking & mountaineering check out our Morocco trips!

Whether you are a summer walker thinking of wielding an ice axe for the first time, a seasoned winter walker looking to take things steeper on a winter mountaineering course, a beginner winter climber or a winter climber wanting to make your first leads we can help you achieve your aims.

We have a range of winter mountaineering courses which we broadly split into:

Introductory winter mountaineering, which tends to be called winter skills or sometimes winter hillwalking.  These 3 day or 5 day winter skills courses are all hillwalking rather than snow or ice climbing and ideally suited to those venturing out in winter for the first time – learning the skills to be safe on the winter mountains!

Intermediate winter mountaineering, which we imaginatively call winter mountaineering! This bridges the gap between hillwalking and climbing and introduces the skills to move on steeper terrain and along narrow ridges – think Grade I, II and occasionally grade III gullies and ridges such as Aonach Eagh, Curved Ridge etc.  Summer scrambling but with ice axes and crampons…

Advanced winter mountaineering or winter climbing.  Summer rock climbing, but with snow! You will already be familiar with using a rope in summer and probably winter, happy to belay and confident with ice axe and crampons and having already completed several Grade I Scottish winter climbs.

Often people will start on winter skills, move onto winter mountaineering and then on to winter climbing, or if steep snow and ice is not your thing, do a a Scottish Winter guided walking course or head out on one of our overseas adventures. If the standard winter walking, mountaineering and climbing courses don’t fit what you have in mind, just contact the office and we will help you make a plan.

Our Scottish winter walking, mountaineering and climbing courses are delivered by friendly, highly qualified and experienced instructors who will create a supportive environment to guide you at your own pace in learning new skills. Our Scottish Winter courses are also great for established groups who are looking to upskill themselves. We split our Scottish winter mountaineering courses between the beautiful Cairngorms and the famous heart of Scottish winter mountaineering – Glencoe.

We can be hired to privately instruct these courses at a specific location or on a specific date to suit your requirements. Private guiding in winter is £275 per day.  Simply contact the office to enquire.