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Winter mountaineering course around Fort William and Glen Coe
5-day winter mountaineering course with Ken, a MIC certified guide, to improve your winter climbing skills while admiring Fort Williams and Glen Coe area.
Description
Are you a fit hillwalker looking to step it up a notch? Then this Winter Mountaineering course is the perfect opportunity to learn more technical aspects of the sport!
During this 5-day course I will teach you a diverse range of skills to increase your confidence when in winter adventures:
- How to move efficiently over steep and exposed terrain.
- Advancing through low grade gullies and ridges.
- Revisit central winter skills like the use of the ice axe, crampons or rope gully.
- Introduce climbing techniques such us ropework, avalanche awareness and winter navigation.
I’ll be teaching these techniques while touring around the admirable scenery that surrounds the Fort William and Glen Coe Area.
Therefore, some of the routes we’ll have as an objective will be Ledge Route and No.2 Gully in Ben Nevis; and Aonach Eagach, Curved Ridge, Buachaille Etive Mor and School House (ENE) Ridge of Sgorr Bhan in Glen Coe, among other options.
So this 5-day winter mountaineering course will offer you a wide range of activities. Learn more about snow and ice climbing, walking with little visibility and winter survival techniques. Also I’ll explain daily climate, avalanche and ascent condition judgement.
And if 5 days is too much for you, I also offer a 4-day New year course. This could be the perfect adventure to start a fulfilling Year!
Therefore, whatever your preferred option is, keep in mind that these winter mountaineering courses will help you improve your skills. So you’ll move around the endless scenery of the Scottish highlands much better!
So please contact me to bring your mountain level up and become a Scottish Winter Highlander! And if you are looking for something else around Scotland I offer other possibilities like the Cuillin Hiking or the Cuillin ridge traverse.
More info The 4-day New Year course is £425. Level: Regular summer walkers with a good level of hill fitness. Previous winter walking, easy summer scrambling, and some rock climbing is a plus, but not mandatory. Equipment: -Socks. A medium to thick pair of synthetic or wool/synthetic blend socks. -Thermal/Base Layers. A couple of thermal layers are useful, along with thermal leggings. -Fleeces. At least one fleece layer for your upper body. Having an extra fleece top or synthetic layer in a waterproof liner at the bottom of your rucksack is essential. -Walking trousers -Warm Hat & Waterproof Gloves -Waterproof jacket and over trousers ( Outer shell clothing) -The trousers should have at least a knee length zip enabling them to be fitted over boots/crampons. -Rucsac. A medium volume sac (35-50 litres) is best for winter climbing, with ice axe carrying loops. -Bivvy Bag -Gaiters or Stop-tous -Head Torch -First Aid kit -Compass/Map -Whistle/Watch Flask -Lunch & Spare Food -Boots. For climbing courses, stiff, crampon compatible boots are required. They should have a stiffness rating of B2 minimum and ideally B3. -Crampons. They should have 12 or 14 points and be compatible with your boots. -Ice Axe -For winter climbing, two technical climbing axes (40-50cm) are required. -Helmet. Please bring one along if you can. We have DMM helmets available. -Harness. Make sure it can be put on over boots and crampons. -Belay device, two HMS Carabiners and one 120cm sling. We can provide you with these if you don’t have your own. |
Photos
Itinerary
Day 1: Kit check and basic skills
Kit checks – Essential skills – Step kicking/cutting – Ice axe arrest – Walking & scrambling in crampons – Snow belays – Guided ascent of a graded gully or ridge.
Day 2: Moving together
Essential skills – Using previous skills to ascend a simple graded ridge or gully (Grade I/II). Introduction to ‘moving together’ roped and basic winter belays.
Day 3: 1st technical ascent
Essential skills – Ascent of simple ridge or gully followed by Navigation, Map & Compass, Pacing & Timing.
Day 4: Client leading ascent
Ridge climbing day led by clients under supervision of instructor (Grade II).
Day 5: Client choice
Client choice depending on conditions and fitness level.
About the guide
I gained a good insight into the instruction and guiding of mountaineering activities whilst working as a member of the domestic team at Glenmore Lodge in the summer of 2003. Since then, I have skied, climbed, trekked and mountaineered across the length and breadth of the UK, from Cornwall to the Orkney Isles, and overseas, having sought adventures in China, Mongolia, The Indian Himalayas, New Zealand, Japan, Southern Africa, The Swiss, Italian and French Alps, The Pyrenees, Southern Spain and Norway. I enjoy climbing in all it’s forms, whether it be bouldering at Fontainebleau, sport climbing at Rodellar, trad and winter climbing in the UK or alpine climbing in Switzerland. I have also put up a couple of new routes, Mint Sauce E1 5c in Glen Nevis and Feathered Friend V,5 on Creag Meagaidh.
I have completed my Mountaineering Instructor Certificate (MIC), the highest instructional qualification in the UK, which enable me to work both in summer and winter conditions, whether it’s walking, mountaineering or climbing, and is a full member of both the Association or Mountaineering Instructors, and The Mountain Instructor’s Community. I have also completed my International Mountain Leader Summer Training and have worked as a contracted instructor for Abacus Mountain Guides, Martin Moran, Glenmore Lodge, Mountain Motion, West Coast Mountain Guides, Ardroy Outdoor Education Centre, Adventure Peaks, The Outward Bound Trust, Ryan Glass Mountaineering, Hike Pyrenees, World Challenge Expeditions and Outlook Expeditions.
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Prices per person
Group of 1 | GBP 1135 each |
Group of 2 | GBP 681 each |
Group of 3 | GBP 495 each |
Want a different number of travellers?
Price includes
• Guiding fee
Price details
• Prices include: guiding and instruction and the use of a harness and helmet. You will also need to take accommodation, food, uplift, personal equipment (including hiring of crampons, ice axes and boots) and insurance costs into consideration.
What people are saying about this trip
Laura June
5.00
March 2020
Andy Paterson
5.00
June 2019
Ken immediately made us feel welcomed and we had a good chat on the walk in before gearing up for the ridge ascent. Both my son and I had a fantastic experience thanks to Ken\'s calm, expertise in leading us over Tower Ridge and then descending via Ledge Ridge to round off a great day. Highly recommended!
Nick Battams
5.00
February 2019
have just come back from completing an ascent of ledge route and a descent via no4 gully, guided by Ken. absolutely fantastic day and Ken was friendly, professional and very confidence inspiring. cant recommend highly enough and I\'ll definitely be back next season!
Phil Lloyd
5.00
October 2018
Ken took me and my son up the north face ledge route to the top of Ben Nevis. It was a challenge in places - particularly with the snow and ice - but it was an unforgettable experience! Ken was a great guide.
Catherine Hockley
5.00
September 2018
Ken was a fantastic guide, safe, experienced and took us on an incredible adventure!
Eva Kaeppel
5.00
September 2018
I made a booking request for a one-on-one guided trip less than a week before the date and was lucky enough to get a guide (Phil) without problem, who did a splendid job and made this a very enjoyable, instructive and safe first scramble for me. Communication was great before the event, too. I‘d recommend this company without hesitation and hope to hike with them again in the future.
Elizabeth Luchars
5.00
August 2018
Ken was a wonderful guide! He was thorough in assessing our experience and picked the right hike for us. He was full of knowledge and easy to talk to as well. We\'d definitely recommend him and hope to hike with him again ourselves.
H Shindle
5.00
August 2018
On short notice, while traveling through Scotland, we booked a Private Guide to Ben Nevis through Explore-Share.com. We much enjoyed the climb to the summit with our Guide Stuart Mapp; Stuart was the consummate professional and his concern for both our safety and this experience cannot be understated. His direct knowledge of Ben Nevis’s Route, History, Flora and Stories made this trip the highlight of our 17 days in Scotland and Ireland for us. Our success to the summit, and back down, was directly supported by Stuart and made it very much more enjoyable . Thank you again!
Claire Parsons
5.00
May 2018
I usually do these things with my Husband, but we currently live in Singapore and I’m back visiting family and didn’t want to miss out. I was doubly anxious because our usual guide was unavailable, but Ken quickly put me at ease. For me that’s about feeling like I have all the information I need, being reassured that I’m making good time and having a few scheduled breaks for snacks etc. We also had a good chat, which made the walk in fly by. A very enjoyable day, I felt safe and comfortable throughout. I hope to be back in the future for more adventures.
Alberto Canete
5.00
April 2018
It was a great experience. It fulfilled all my expectations to have a first approach to winter mountaineering. My guide was great teaching me all the basic stuff related to crampons, ice axe and winter hiking, plus he was a great coach supporting me to make it to the summit.
Noam Gati
5.00
February 2018
Hannah the guide was very professional. She came on time, she gave us the equipment and very good and clear instructions. I\'ll definitely recommend this trip. Thank you very much
Dave
5.00
January 2018
Been climbing for several years but had never used climbing axes so aim of this trip was to gain experience using two tools. The routes Ken chose were a perfect selection making the climb challenging and very enjoyable. Already looking at dates when more ice is present to climb with Ken again. Ken was great company, has a great knowledge of the highland area and is clearly a very skilled climber. Explore and Share made the whole process very simple and effortless, would highly recommend. Thank you. Dave
Michael Hellyer
5.00
March 2017
Private Guiding on the classic Tower Ridge, Ben Nevis North Face On two previous winter trips up Ben Nevis via the CMD route, I had marvelled at the majestic North Face and dreamt of fulfilling a route on it\'s flanks. This season, Ken helped me fulfil this dream by guiding me on the classic Tower Ridge (IV, 3). The whole experience was absolutely fantastic and Ken made sure to attend to every detail; from communications, equipment provision, weather and condition assessment and climbing advice on route. Ken\'s professionalism certainly enabled me to push my limits, as I felt completely safe within his guiding ability. I was fortunate to have moderate conditions on the day, and this enabled a fairly rapid and highly enjoyable ascent of the ridge in true Scottish conditions. I will definitely be back for more winter adventures
Will definitely use West Coast Mountain Guides again. Organising and booking was made easy with Kens help and guidance, offering us a few dates and responding quickly to emails. We had a great four days with two very accommodating and highly competent guides, Niels and Mike who made sure we got the most out of our trip for our skill level. Highly recommend.