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Winter Mountaineering Course – Glencoe
Guide: Mark Scales
Course: Winter Mountaineering Course
Day 1
Alan, Alex, Fergus and I went up onto Buachaille Etive Beag to cover a range of basic skills including navigation, movement, avalanche awareness and what to do in the event of a slip. The weather was great and snow plentiful and varied.
Day 2
Today we climbed the NE ridge of Stob Coire Nan Lochan, after looking at some snow belays and simple mountaineering rope work. Another amazing weather day, with sunshine, blue sky and a cold breeze.
Day 3
Today we climbed the Dragons tooth ridge up to Sgorr Dhonuill. It was another fantastic weather day and there were several other teams out and about on the ridge. We looked at some simple mountaineering ropework, and an abseil off one of the tops along the ridge.
Day 4
Today Rob joined us, so as a team of three and a team of two, we traversed the classic Aonach Eagach ridge. Conditions were excellent and the weather a little cloudy but otherwise perfect. There were a few other teams on the ridge so we had a nice trail to follow.
Gallery
About Mark Scales
Mark is an MIC who spends his winters running courses in Scotland. He is an active climber both in the UK, Europe and further afield. He is passionate about introducing and coaching people in all aspects of climbing and mountaineering.
Comments
Hello,
I recently attended a 5 day Scottish winter mountaineering course 21/02/2016 -26/02/2016.
Mark Scales was our course guide & instructor.
He delivered an experience that just got better every day, and that far exceeded my expectations, he had a relaxed manner and his instructions were easy to follow. I have learnt a lot from the five days, and I have gained new skills & knowledge, one of the first being how to properly (and finally) use my compass with a map. then use of crampon's & ice axe, how to move over the terrain, self arrest in case of a slip, condition & types of snow, belaying techniques, reading weather forecasts and understanding avalanche reports and so on. All these i hope to practice again on the lakeland fells in the coming weeks.
We had for the five days outstanding weather, the thursday was a little cloudy, but was no hinderance to the experience, in fact it was probably a big help on that day as we tackled the Aonach Eagach ridge, which i have planned to do over the last 4-5 years, but in dry and spring/summer conditions, I never thought I would get the opportunity to do this in winter, so when it was talked of as being one of the possible routes we could do I was excited at the prospect and a little apprehensive I have to admit, but on the (4th day) 25th February we did it, and also what makes it so memorable for me it was my 40th birthday :))), so a big thank you for that.
Each day was fantastic, starting with Stob Dubh on day one,
Day 2 we did Stob Coire nan Lochan.
Day 3 we tackled The Dragons Tooth (amazing if a little scary on the way up), followed by a fine ridge experience & on up to the summit of Sgorr Dhonuill.
On the final day we went up Curved Ridge to Stob Dearg on Buachaille Etive Mor, this I scrambled on 12/06/2015 in dry conditions, but the winter climb of the ridge was a totally different but all together an amazing experience.
I would like to say thank you very much indeed to Mark Scales & Rob, what amazing jobs you have !, the only down side was that i was on a tight budget and could not leave you fellas a tip for all that you delivered.
I am more than interested in other courses in the future once I have built up some savings again.
I would highly recommend a winter mountaineering course through Adventure Peaks to anybody interested in stepping up from general hiking & scrambling interests to gaining new skills and knowledge from professionals that would help you to enjoy and be safe on mountain adventures through the winter.
Thanks very much Adventure Peaks.