Ice and snow thrashing my face, I tried to tie my crampons on. I had practiced getting mine on for hours before I headed up to Aviemore for this Winter Skills Course, to make sure I was ready. But doing this sitting in my heated flat on a Thursday night is very different from standing on Cairngorm mountain in the middle of Storm Ciara. I finally got my right boot clip on, after a hefty effort, and it was time for the left. But the gale-force gusts of wind continued to knock me over, again and again. I continually stepped out of my crampon, needing to start over. Pulling up the clip was not an easy feat with cold hands either. Eventually a fellow team member had to come across to do the clip for me, and even he struggled.
Type two fun is my favourite kind. It’s the epitome of all of my expeditions. And a winter skills course in the middle of a very windy storm is nothing short of that. I was part of a group of 7 who were signed up for a Winter Skills Course this past weekend. This course was amazingly provided entirely free of charge through the charity Mountain Aid, and led my an incredible guide, Andy Cloquet. More on them at the end.
Winds were hefty from the start
I travelled up Friday night to Aviemore Youth Hostel, in order to prepare myself properly for the course ahead. I was surprisingly nervous. Despite going along to events on my own and meeting strangers many a time, whether a group day hike or for an expedition, for some reason I was very anxious (and excited!) about this course. But the nerves disappeared as soon I met the group and Andy to head up Cairngorm.
We hiked up into Coire Gas, just short of the summit of Cairngorm. This was going to be our playground for the day. A popular area for a winter skills course, but definitely not a place to take lightly. From the get-go, the winds were tough going. We weren’t long into the hike up before I had to get out my Bloc Eyewear ski-goggles. The wind direction was howling snow drift straight into our eyes. The goggles certainly did their job and saved me wasting my energy on squinting, never mind actually being able to see one foot in front of the other! During the hour-ish hike into the glen, Andy took the time to talk to us all about decision making, touching on navigation and weather preparation.
First skills stop
We took our first longer stop (a “skills stop” if you will) to start looking at our footing. No crampons or ice axes yet. Most people get excited about wanting to practice ice axe arrests all day. But Andy had a very good approach to the course. He wanted to spend most of the time showing us skills that would ideally stop us from ever being in a situation where an ice axe arrest would be needed. The arrest is additional learning for if all goes insanely wrong.
The first skills were ones you would expect: kicking steps correctly. While it’s a skill that comes naturally to many hikers when trekking on icy or snowy ground, it was great to learn how to use our boots to their best when kicking in steps. The small differences that equate to big changes and, importantly, big energy savers.
Along with kicking steps, the ice axe adze can be used for creating the steps too. This was actually a skill a few of us ended up using as the day went on. The wind-freeze over the top of the snow gave some pretty icy conditions, and as we proceeded into the glen we got a wee practice at lightly chiselling steps to make things that little bit easier.
Continuing upwards
As we hit the middle of the glen, reaching around 1,100 meters, the wind really started to howl. Every time it seemed to cease, I would look around and see a mini-tornado of snow drift building up and working it’s way towards us. Bracing myself (on all fours at times!) and putting my helmet towards the wind became my technique. The helmet was a key piece of kit that day, purely as it certainly stopped me getting as much ice blasted in my face!
A top skill we learnt at this point was actually to do with our backpacks. While we prepped ourselves for walking in crampons, we placed all of our backpacks together. We dug small snow shelves to situate them on, stopping the wind from taking the packs into the air. Apparently we didn’t do a great job, as the next thing was my backpack flipping upside down and my water bottle skidding its way at hella speed down the mountain. I had backup water, so wasn’t the end of the world. Andy ran across and sorted my backpack in with the others, and we figured I might find the bottle on the way back down.
Five minutes later, Connie’s backpack detaches from the group and hurls its way down the mountain, following my water bottle. Again, at an epic speed! Thankfully there is a ski lift on Cairngorm, which saved it sliding right down to the car park. A group of Mountain Rescue volunteers who were on their own training day managed to grab the backpack (and my water bottle!) and Andy fetched them for us. Lesson learned: ALWAYS SECURE THE BACKPACK.
Crampons and Ice Axes!
Packs safe and secure, it was time to practice walking in crampons. After the struggle to get them on in the conditions, we set about exploring our area of steep ground. Feet wide to stop impailing ourselves with our own crampons. When headed downhill, making sure all points are on the ground, to prevent a nasty, spiky tumble. How to climb uphill effectively with the least energy. Who knew there was so many considerations when walkin in crampons!
After this lesson, it was time to get super close and “cosy” with the snow and with our ice axes. We had briefly practiced using the ice axe to take our weight lying on the ground. But now it was time to do the famous ice axe arrest. We each practiced sliding down our own patch of snow. On our front with ice axe positioned; sliding when walking; sliding on our back and flipping around. Core and hips played a major part (that’s my ab workout for the week done). It was definitely fun to practice and a skill I am glad to have been taught. I’ll practice again no doubt, but hopefully it is something I will never have to use in a real situation.
There were so many lessons learned over the weekend, it would take me hours to type them all out. We covered avalanche awareness and how to check if the ground is avalanche prone. Andy also introduced us to websites and apps that are worth bookmarking for weather, wind and avalanche checks. Sunday was filled with hurricane force winds, but we still got out. We stayed low and covered many parts of navigation, including pacing, map reading and route-planning.
Windy mountain vs Cosy bed?!
It is now Monday and I was back to the daily grind today, topped with the start of a cold. I am definitely feeling a post-adventure low. For some reason, I would much rather be back on that mountain, hiking through gale-force icy winds than being tucked up in bed at home as I am now! Our group was spectacular and really helped each other out. Hopefully we’ll all meet again to practice our new knowledge. I adore how hiking is a hobby that calls to folk from all backgrounds, ages and lifestyle. We had retirees, mums, dads, various ages, everyone from a different part of the country, with superbly various careers and life experiences. It is definitely a hobby that everyone can and should be able to enjoy.
And that is exactly where Mountain Aid have got it right. I couldn’t have afforded a winter skills course easily – and yet it is a life-changing opportunity for me, allowing me to head out on our hills with more confidence, instead of hibernating until summer. Mountain Aid offers free courses in various mountain skills, and are a charity worth donating to, as well as looking at for your own skill course needs. Our guide Andy Cloquet is an incredibly knowledgeable mountain guide, with 30+ years experience of mountain guiding, including be a volunteer in the Ochils Mountain Rescue Team. His own company, Outdoor Adventure Scotland, offers plenty of skills courses at very reasonable prices. It is evident that Andy is a caring mountain guide who wants to help individuals enjoy their hikes safely, without needing to crank prices up.
I’m still buzzing bout everything myself and the group achieved this weekend. The wind burn on my cheeks has calmed down and I’m looking through the few photos I took (too busy learning!) with a big smile on my face. Here’s to lots of epic snowy adventures to come!
Links:
Mountain Aid: https://www.mountainaid.org.uk/
Outdoor Adventure Scotland / Andy Cloquet: https://www.outdooradventurescotland.com/ (website)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/176620596157050/ (Facebook group)
Aviemore Youth Hostel: https://www.hostellingscotland.org.uk/hostels/aviemore/
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