Winter Mountaineering Course Dec '15

On day 1 Mark covered clothing and equipment and crampon fitting with Ben and Peter before heading out to do some winter skills on Ben Nevis.  The snow line is quite high at the moment so it was a long walk up to Coire na Ciste.  We looked at some personal movement, use of the axe, route finding and navigation.

Day two was a much more wintery day, with snow showers down to the CIC hut.  We ascended Number 4 Gully, looking at use of crampons and axe on steeper snow, snowpack analysis and judging different terrain.  We descended the same way for the extra crampon practice..

Day 3 saw us on the Ben again, this time in Observatory gully.  We spent time looking at winter mountaineering rope work, including waist belaying in a bucket seat, and buried axes.  After a bit of practice abseiling from a snow bollard, we headed down, this time staying dry!

Day 4 was spent looking at multi-pitch rope work, stance management, gear placement and retreating from a multi-pitch route.

Gallery