Novice to winter conditions - safe/good hills?

[russellpepper]

Hi,

I'm fit and can easily(ish) walk all day on steep hills etc, but am a novice when it comes to hill-walking in winter conditions.
Provided the weather is decent, what hills would people recommend as a) stunning and b) good to get to grips with winter walking (i.e. relatively safe)? As an idea, we climbed Ben Vrackie at the weekend there (Sunday) and managed fine, albeit without crampons.

Cheers!

[jmarkb]

I'm fit and can easily(ish) walk all day on steep hills etc, but am a novice when it comes to hill-walking in winter conditions.
Provided the weather is decent, what hills would people recommend as a) stunning and b) good to get to grips with winter walking (i.e. relatively safe)? As an idea, we climbed Ben Vrackie at the weekend there (Sunday) and managed fine, albeit without crampons.

Can you narrow down your request to a particular area, please? Will make recommendations a bit easier.....

[Border Reiver]

Rather than describing any particular hill as "safe" or "dangerous", it's probably better to refer to the walker/climber in such terms. A steep, icy snow covered mountain will probably be perfectly safe to an experienced climber, yet an inexperienced walker could injure themselves on a small patch of ice on a relatively gentle slope. Many avalanches occur on these relatively gentle slopes and are often triggered by people walking across them.
Your best bet is to get experience by walking with experienced people and learn all the skills necessary for winter walking (should be referred to as mountaineering). Once you've got the skills, equipment and experience you'll be able to judge for yourself what hills you can safely climb. Treat the hills with respect and you will have some fantastic winter days out.

[Caberfeidh]

A steep, icy snow covered mountain will probably be perfectly safe to an experienced climber, yet an inexperienced walker could injure themselves on a small patch of ice on a relatively gentle slope.

Indeed. I've been winter mountaineering for years but recently fell with a clatter in the car park outside Caberfeidh Towers. I''d trod on a puddle which covered a sheet of ice. My Katoola Microspikes were in my pocket. What an embarrassment...

[walkingpoles]

There is not such a thing as a safe hill. Not even in summer. Well, there is Ben na Lap;) I imagine you have to be quite gifted to create a tragedy up there, even in winter.

I don't see the no crampon thing as a problem as long as you turn back before it becomes a problem. Also stay away from scrambles. But many people disagree with me here. Most will agree with me that 'nothing can happen to me because I am wearing crampons' is a dangerous approach, though. If something on the hill feels stupid, don't do it, go around or back.

There are classes out there. Probably a very good thing if you want to go on your own or if you take even less experienced friends to the mountains.

In my view the most important skill in winter is navigation and planning. I still remember the news, when a couple of students froze to death 500m next to the carpark. I don't recommend learning to navigate in winter. Whiteouts are kind of frequent. Also, on many accounts I ve seen people going on even though they should have turned back. Nightfall is serious in Winter. So start early. Plan the descent on the same side as the ascent, so that you can turn back anytime.

[NickyRannoch]

I had a fall once on a hill where i lost my footing on snow and ice and went skiting down the hill for what must have been a good 50m, getting airborne once and luckily walking away with nothing more than a bruised arse and ego.

That was Ben Cleuch so I would strike that from the "safe hills" list.

[Robinho08]

Usual health warnings as already covered by others. But the Drumocther and Glen Shee Munros make for good winter beginner territory.

Easier summer hills are usually easier in winter but that has pitfalls as well if the usual approach is prone to more snow, i.e. north facing slopes.

Do a bit of research on avalanche awareness and learn how to understand the pizza charts on the Avalance Information Service website and if any loaded slopes affects your route: https://www.sais.gov.uk/

[Caberfeidh]

Read up on the subject - this is an excellent book; Hillwalking and Scrambling by Steve Ashton, available from Amazon books for much cheapness.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hillwalking-Scrambling-Steve-Ashton/dp/094628458X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1516791907&sr=1-1&keywords=hillwalking+and+scrambling+by+steve+ashton

[gld73]

I've been up a couple of Corbetts in the Aviemore area in the snow in the last couple of weeks - as i was on my own I wanted to stick to nice safe ridge-free ones, not too far from civilisation and with relatively clear routes to follow even in the snow - though obviously all the safety advice in the above posts still applies!

So a couple for you to consider are Meall a’ Bhuchaille from Glenmore ( you can extend the route rather than just doing the hill itself) and Geal Charn Mor from Lynwilg. Meall Chuaich, one of the Drumochter munros, was also fine for me in the snow.

[Border Reiver]

As others have pointed out, it's important to remember that before venturing onto snow covered hills, you should have both ice axe and crampons and the knowledge and skill to use both, as well as good navigational skills. That nice easy walk up your chosen hill in soft snow can become a huge challenge on the way back down if the temperature suddenly drops and the snow turns rock hard and icy, It's happened to me a few times. To emphasise the need for good navigation, I once climbed Ben MacDhui in the snow in perfectly clear skies, yet in the space of less than an hour a bank of thick cloud rolled in from the west reducing visibility to less than 20m.

[russellpepper]

Can you narrow down your request to a particular area, please? Will make recommendations a bit easier.....

OK, I live in Dundee and can travel to Cairngorms, Loch Lomand and Trossachs, Fort William area without much bother.

[russellpepper]

Rather than describing any particular hill as "safe" or "dangerous", it's probably better to refer to the walker/climber in such terms. A steep, icy snow covered mountain will probably be perfectly safe to an experienced climber, yet an inexperienced walker could injure themselves on a small patch of ice on a relatively gentle slope. Many avalanches occur on these relatively gentle slopes and are often triggered by people walking across them.
Your best bet is to get experience by walking with experienced people and learn all the skills necessary for winter walking (should be referred to as mountaineering). Once you've got the skills, equipment and experience you'll be able to judge for yourself what hills you can safely climb. Treat the hills with respect and you will have some fantastic winter days out.

Great, that's good advice, thank you

[russellpepper]

Nightfall is serious in Winter. So start early. Plan the descent on the same side as the ascent, so that you can turn back anytime.

Yeah we always start early for that reason - good idea with the linear route, thanks. Also will only go on very good weather days to avoid whiteout, cheers.

[russellpepper]

I had a fall once on a hill where i lost my footing on snow and ice and went skiting down the hill for what must have been a good 50m, getting airborne once and luckily walking away with nothing more than a bruised arse and ego.

That was Ben Cleuch so I would strike that from the "safe hills" list.

Yikes. Sounds fun though...

[russellpepper]

Usual health warnings as already covered by others. But the Drumocther and Glen Shee Munros make for good winter beginner territory.

Easier summer hills are usually easier in winter but that has pitfalls as well if the usual approach is prone to more snow, i.e. north facing slopes.

Do a bit of research on avalanche awareness and learn how to understand the pizza charts on the Avalance Information Service website and if any loaded slopes affects your route: https://www.sais.gov.uk/

Good stuff thanks, will check them out. Thanks for the avalanche advice