Take your winter skills to the next level, based from Fort William or Aviemore.

This five day course is for those who want to move beyond the basics. The goal is to perfect your winter hillwalking and consolidate it across a genuine range of conditions, locations and terrain types, rather than a single day or two of introduction.

Your highly qualified and experienced winter mountain leader accompanies you every step of the way, across the full five days. No prior course is required to join. The first two days cover similar ground to our 2 Day Introduction to Winter Skills course, but five days gives far more time to learn each skill, practise it repeatedly, and build real confidence before moving on.

By the end of this course, you will have the confidence and knowledge necessary to begin setting out on your own winter adventures. The final day adds emergency rope skills, taking your training further than a shorter course has time for.

This course is not a logged Quality Mountain Day towards a Mountain Leader or Winter Mountain Leader award, but it is genuinely good preparation if you are working towards one.

Choose your BASE

Fort William

Fort William, beneath Ben Nevis. Based from Fort William, with five days to explore the surrounding hills and glens across a genuine range of winter conditions.

Aviemore

Aviemore, in the Cairngorms. Based from Aviemore, on the edge of the Cairngorms National Park, with five days across the plateau and glens as conditions allow.

What's covered

  • Planning and preparation.
  • Kit and packing tips.
  • Movement and travel on snow and ice.
  • Ice axe and crampon use.
  • Winter navigation, including zero visibility strategies.
  • Avalanche hazard awareness and avoidance.
  • Snowpack analysis.
  • Emergency procedures and snow shelters.
  • Emergency rope skills.
  • Top tips for being efficient in winter.

How the course runs

  • Five full days, building steadily from consolidation of the basics through to advanced skills.
  • Emergency rope skills covered on the final day.
  • Small groups throughout, with personal feedback from your winter mountain leader every day.

This course runs around the weather, we adjust the plan to make the most of whatever conditions we get.

New to winter hillwalking? Our 2 Day Introduction to Winter Skills course covers the basics first.