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winter walks - any advice please

winter walks - any advice please


Postby Mike Bell » Thu Oct 23, 2014 6:14 pm

Hi im new to walkhighlands,

Ive been hiking for just under a year and a half and got 24 munros under my belt:
Ben vorlich
Stuc a'chroin
5 of Ben lawers
5 of lochnagar
An caisteal
Beinn a'chroin
Carn liath
mayar
dreish
2 of liathach
2 of bidean nam bian
meall nan tarmachan
schiehallion
beinn narnain
My main thing now is winter walking, i have done ben lawers (and beinn ghlas) and schiehallion in the winter plus a failed attempt at beinn a'ghlo only summiting carn liath due to very bad conditions. Im looking to improve my winter skills and start pushing myself a bit more, what hills would you recommend for a decent walk thats more demanding skills wise but not too long, such as ben alder for the time it takes to approach etc.

I have been looking at ben vorlich (ben lomond), ben cruachan, 2nd attempt at beinn a'ghlo, ben lomonds tarmachan ridge, ben macdui, devils point etc...

Im not seasoned in rock climbing or ice climbing so im not looking to go too into it at thge moment as im looking at winter courses through glenmore lodge or elsewhere if i find something more suitable.

Any advise would be helpful and much appreciated,

Mike
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Re: winter walks - any advice please

Postby alanhid90 » Fri Oct 24, 2014 12:30 pm

The main thing you need to do is learn how to be comfortable in crampons and how to use an ice axe to self arrest....to do that you need to practice, so stick to some "easier" hills until you are confident. A winter skills course would be great, never done one myself but would like to and having done other other courses at Glenmore Lodge I can highly recommend them as a provider.
If we are lucky to get the weather......snow, then see if you can team up with others more experienced...always people on here willing to go out.
The hills in the Glenshee area would be good to be out on as a winter novice, plenty of safe slopes to practice self arrests and always plenty of people on them...just in case, though make sure your navigation is up to scratch! Im no winter expert myself, been out a few good winter walks and always in company, always check the weather and avalanche warnings and only do what Im comfortable with. Winter makes even the dullest hills an enjoyable day out so dont feel you need to traverse the anoch eagach in full winter conditions as a starting point.

Bring on the snow........ :thumbup:
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Re: winter walks - any advice please

Postby gman » Fri Oct 24, 2014 1:48 pm

Plenty of routes in Glen Coe starting from the A82, worth doing Bidean again in the snow and the Buachaille is popular - you'll see folk on winter skills courses on the hills here. Wee Buachaille is fairly easy & short in the snow. Check the avalanche forecast before heading anywhere, last year was pretty dodgy. http://www.sais.gov.uk/ I think Ben Vane is a bit more interesting than Vorlich, with or without snow. CMD arete is amazing on a clear winter day.
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Re: winter walks - any advice please

Postby Mike Bell » Sat Oct 25, 2014 6:45 am

alanhid90 wrote:The main thing you need to do is learn how to be comfortable in crampons and how to use an ice axe to self arrest....to do that you need to practice, so stick to some "easier" hills until you are confident. A winter skills course would be great, never done one myself but would like to and having done other other courses at Glenmore Lodge I can highly recommend them as a provider.
If we are lucky to get the weather......snow, then see if you can team up with others more experienced...always people on here willing to go out.
The hills in the Glenshee area would be good to be out on as a winter novice, plenty of safe slopes to practice self arrests and always plenty of people on them...just in case, though make sure your navigation is up to scratch! Im no winter expert myself, been out a few good winter walks and always in company, always check the weather and avalanche warnings and only do what Im comfortable with. Winter makes even the dullest hills an enjoyable day out so dont feel you need to traverse the anoch eagach in full winter conditions as a starting point.

Bring on the snow........ :thumbup:


Thanks for the advice I think I'll be booking the winter skills course for January or February, been looking at glen more and tiso for the best options and availability. Will prob be looking at ben vane, glenshee and the wee buachille. Got myself my crampons now and ice axe on Tuesday don't think will be needed for another month or so looking at the long range forecast but hopefully it changes for some powder haha.
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Re: winter walks - any advice please

Postby Mike Bell » Sat Oct 25, 2014 6:51 am

gman wrote:Plenty of routes in Glen Coe starting from the A82, worth doing Bidean again in the snow and the Buachaille is popular - you'll see folk on winter skills courses on the hills here. Wee Buachaille is fairly easy & short in the snow. Check the avalanche forecast before heading anywhere, last year was pretty
I think Ben Vane is a bit more interesting than Vorlich, with or without snow. CMD arete is amazing on a clear winter day.


Thanks for the advice I've been looking at the little buachille and creise ill prob be trying the buachille first as sron na creise is meant to dodgy at the best of times!!
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Re: winter walks - any advice please

Postby IamAJMiller » Sat Oct 25, 2014 8:32 am

I did a one day course through Tiso, taken by Climb MTS & Stuart Johnstone out of Aberfeldy. I thought it was a great introduction and gave me confidence to go out there and try things for myself. Well worth the money, so book the earliest one to get the most of the winter!
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Re: winter walks - any advice please

Postby Mike Bell » Sat Oct 25, 2014 10:36 am

IamAJMiller wrote:I did a one day course through Tiso, taken by Climb MTS & Stuart Johnstone out of Aberfeldy. I thought it was a great introduction and gave me confidence to go out there and try things for myself. Well worth the money, so book the earliest one to get the most of the winter!


Thanks for the review bud I was really not sure what was best to go with but aberdeldy is much more suitable for me than glenmore purely for the distance, If it's good courses then I'm definitely going to get that booked. Thanks for the help
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Re: winter walks - any advice please

Postby Gareth Harper » Sat Oct 25, 2014 4:08 pm

Plenty of routes in Glen Coe starting from the A82, worth doing Bidean again in the snow and the Buachaille is popular - you'll see folk on winter skills courses on the hills here. Wee Buachaille is fairly easy & short in the snow. Check the avalanche forecast before heading anywhere, last year was pretty dodgy. http://www.sais.gov.uk/ I think Ben Vane is a bit more interesting than Vorlich, with or without snow. CMD arete is amazing on a clear winter day.


Whilst I go out in winter I don't claim to be a winter expert. But........

Not yet been up Bidean nam Bian but it's probably not going to be a hill for me in winter. Best to get some winter experience on straight forward walks first.

Buachaille Etive Beag on a good forecast day in winter is spectacular and yes straight forward.

Buachaille Etive Mor I've walked in summer and yes it's straight forward in summer. Once it has a bit of snow on it it's a different ball game. The obvious usual approaches and exits hold snow and are prone to avalanche. So again not for me, and I'd say best to get experience elsewhere before considering it.

CMD arete I hope to do one day. But in my mind that's not winter walking, it's mountaineering. Don't think I'll ever be heading round there in winter - maybe getting too old to try even if I wanted to anyway!

Creise, did that last winter, it's good fun, but you are climbing the last bit if coming from Meall a'Bhuiridh and careful navigation is required if the cloud comes down.

But there are loads of straight forward winter walks. Do the easy relatively safe stuff to get experience. Think very carefully about anything that mentions a scramble. It really is different in winter! Don't forget the Grahams and Corbetts, it does not have to be a Munro.

Make sure you have what you need to stay warm. Go out with others by all means, but if you don't like their decisions speak up. Study weather forecast and avalanche forecast before making the decision to head out, and remember they are guides not factual statements.
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Re: winter walks - any advice please

Postby Mike Bell » Sat Oct 25, 2014 5:41 pm

Whilst I go out in winter I don't claim to be a winter expert. But........

Not yet been up Bidean nam Bian but it's probably not going to be a hill for me in winter. Best to get some winter experience on straight forward walks first.

Buachaille Etive Beag on a good forecast day in winter is spectacular and yes straight forward.

Buachaille Etive Mor I've walked in summer and yes it's straight forward in summer. Once it has a bit of snow on it it's a different ball game. The obvious usual approaches and exits hold snow and are prone to avalanche. So again not for me, and I'd say best to get experience elsewhere before considering it.

CMD arete I hope to do one day. But in my mind that's not winter walking, it's mountaineering. Don't think I'll ever be heading round there in winter - maybe getting too old to try even if I wanted to anyway!

Creise, did that last winter, it's good fun, but you are climbing the last bit if coming from Meall a'Bhuiridh and careful navigation is required if the cloud comes down.

But there are loads of straight forward winter walks. Do the easy relatively safe stuff to get experience. Think very carefully about anything that mentions a scramble. It really is different in winter! Don't forget the Grahams and Corbetts, it does not have to be a Munro.

Make sure you have what you need to stay warm. Go out with others by all means, but if you don't like their decisions speak up. Study weather forecast and avalanche forecast before making the decision to head out, and remember they are guides not factual statements.[/quote]

Thanks for the advice bud I had been looking at creise (avoiding sron na creise if weather ain't great) and or little buachille in the mild soft winter and sticking with basics like ben lawers range and blair atholl area for harder and colder winter
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Re: winter walks - any advice please

Postby PeteR » Sat Oct 25, 2014 5:57 pm

Don't forget the Corbetts :wink: They can provide a good days walking in winter, especially when the daylight hours are at a premium.

The Cobbler, Beinn an Lochain in Arrochar are (in my opinion) two good winter walks. Auchnafree Hill is good too, if you can get the car up the single track road to the starting point :roll: Perthshire Corbetts too are good winter objectives :D Also, why not revisit some of the Munros you've already done and where you might feel more comfortable, having been there already.
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Re: winter walks - any advice please

Postby Gareth Harper » Sat Oct 25, 2014 9:54 pm

Yup summer is good for checking out hills, if you've walked it in summer you'll ken if you want to do it in winter, or not.
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Re: winter walks - any advice please

Postby Mike Bell » Sun Oct 26, 2014 11:25 am

Thanks for the ideas and opinions guys. The idea of re-tracing my steps and going over the ones I did before gave me the idea of going back to beinn narnain and also fitting in beinn ime and the cobbler for a bit of scrambling if the weather permits. Doing little buachille next Sunday with a non-member anybody is welcome for a meet if you are free. Then doing the above mentioned trip to arrochar alps at end of November
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Re: winter walks - any advice please

Postby simon-b » Sun Oct 26, 2014 11:03 pm

Hi Mike,

I did a 2 day winter skills course in the Cairngorms in January 2011, and have plenty of winter experience in the Lake District. Are you planning on winter hill walks with companions, or solo? I'm very wary about being on my own on Munros in winter, but it can be done with care. The one area where I have climbed Munros in winter conditions is around Drumochter and Blair Atholl (although I gave Beinn a' Ghlo a miss; the weather wasn't quite just right). Meall Chuaich and the Drumochter hills are definitely things you could be looking at doing, and probably safer than Glen Coe under snow and ice. But get down safely off the featureless plateaux if you experience white out. Carn a' Chlamain and Beinn Dearg (Atholl) are also good ones, but more remote so perhaps better for March daylight hours if winter conditions persist, rather than December or January.

I had beginners luck when I first started winter walking in the Lake District, with the good, firm neve of January to March 2010. But it's inevitable that at some point you'll be plodding through soft snow.

Enjoy the white wonderland, but stay safe!
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Re: winter walks - any advice please

Postby Mike Bell » Tue Nov 04, 2014 6:48 pm

It just depends really I could be going myself but usually I do go with at least one person. If it cane to be being on my own I would be deciding very carefully what hills to be going up. Blair atholl has been in my mind for a while considering a long weekend up there to do beinn a'ghlo and others so might look at that for march
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Re: winter walks - any advice please

Postby IanEzzi » Thu Nov 06, 2014 10:08 am

Beinn Narnain was one of my favourite winter walks, heading up the front beside the Spearhead Buttress was just technical enough to be fun without really being difficult, there was even a little ice tunnel between some rocks to get through. Required some careful navigation off the top though as we were almost in white out, but we quickly found the trough left behind by everyone else who had taken a bearing off the summit! :D

Beinn Vane was great also, slightly more technical though, lots of micro terrain and one or two steps where the main route isn't obvious. I ended up scrabbling up some icy rocks because I had missed the path (which was under snow of course). I also fell prey to my ascending footsteps filling with snow so had to navigate down as well. Great fun though, would have been a perfect day had it not been for the five hour wait for my bus home after The Rest and Be Thankful landslipped...
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