Winter walking in Scotland and the Lake District

A winter walking or mountaineering day is a combination of guided walking and winter walking skills training in the snow covered mountains of Scotland or the Lake District. Having a guide in Winter makes sure you have an enjoyable day out in the mountains and gives you confidence to know that there's someone skilled and experienced to deal with the quite different and often changing environment that the winter brings. It is very sad that people often underestimate the mountains in winter and suffer injury and worse because of it.

Learning skills will also help you be able to enjoy winter conditions safely on walks in the future. The range of skills taught on any particular day will be tailored to the groups requirements and the prevailing snow conditions or they can all be taught over a few days - winter skills include: how to walk in snow safely, how to assess the environment, when to where crampons, different ways of using an ice axe in walking, making descents using axes, ropes, with and without crampons, avalanche assessment , emergency procedures and more.

All winter walking takes place on ungraded ground and does not include any ice climbing. Winter mountain days are more strenuous than a summer mountain day and often require early starts especially in Scotland. Fitness is therefore important - if you are unsure if you are capable, call and ask to discuss it with an instructor. There is generally a walk to the snowline to start with that is not in snow

Lake District: Winter walking in the Lake District is generally on the Helvellyn Massif. This area holds the snow far more than any other which is why there is a ski tow there. As well as being less far to travel to, the Lake District also offers the advantages of shorter climbs to get to the snow and a ski hut to shelter in for lunch. For more information on the ski hut see the ski club website.

Scotland: Routes are around the Cairngorm and we recommend you stay in Aviemore. Scotland offers lots of different routes including Cairn Lochan, Ben MacDui, Ben Neivs, Cairn Gorm and many more, making it especially good for Weekends and 5-day courses. Our guiding in Scotland will be headed up by Mark Scales who spent last summer with us in the Lakes and has made 3 trips to Nepal since then. Days can be between 5 and 8 hours and between 5 and 18km.

What is the difference between Winter Walking in Scotland and the Lake District?

Scotland has more routes and area to explore but also requires more effort with longer distances to cover and greater heights to climb. The lake district conditions can vary more but here we do have the luxury of the mountain hut.