What I learned on my winter climbing course

Last week I went on a two-day Introduction to Winter Climbing course at the National Outdoor Training Centre at Glenmore Lodge, at the foot of the Cairngorms. I'd done a few winter routes before, but I wanted to fill in my knowledge of the basics: I had a few specific questions I wanted answered, but I was mostly worried about the unknown unknowns. There were three of us on the course: a geologist from Heriot-Watt called James, who had lots of stories about teaching sailing in Belize and drinking with government officials in Tajikistan; a nurse and former merchant sailor called Brian; and me. James had done a bit of rock climbing but not much winter mountaineering, and so he was given an instructor (called Al, who I'd met on a previous visit to the Lodge) to himself to go over movement on steep ground, ice-axe arrests and so on (but by the end of the course he'd seconded the grade III route Hidden Chimney - good effort!). Brian had soloed some winter routes up to grade III and seconded The Message (grade IV), but wasn't confident with the ropework; he and I were grouped together with an instructor called Bill, who took us out for two fantastic days' climbing in perfect conditions.


Day 1: walking in

The course was great fun, and I learned a lot; here, in no particular order, are ( some of the lessons I learned. )