Winter skills training opportunities – walking in snow with crampons and ice axe, this is limited to 6 people. The participants will stay at our Muir Cottage over the weekend.
Note this is currently full – however there is a wait list, and all our other winter day meets have the opportunity for some short sessions of winter skills learning from a qualified winter mountain leader.
Contact Garry
Take your pick of a Night Hike up and over Millstone Hill and surroundings, enjoying the silent forest lit only by the stars and your headtorch (Moonset 19:43) finishing back at the car park for 10 pm..
.. Or gain confidence Navigating in darkness on this peer led Night Navigation session. Spending about 3 hours on and around Millstone Hill, practicing various techniques, facilitated by Club Member and Mountain Leader Garry Wardrope.
Meet in the Bennachie Centre car park (NJ 698216) at 1845.
Please dress for the weather on the night, bring (fully charged) head torch and, for the Night Navvies, a suitable compass.
If you’re interested, please contact Garry, indicating which session you would like to join.
Fourteen of us made an evening ascent of Bennachie with 5 choosing to hike and the rest to practice their night navigation skills. Temperatures were below zero but Storm Bert had well and truly past so we had a clear night. A thick frost on top had a few wondering if microspikes were in order. Some good stargazing in the clear skies, and a tip on astro-navigation noted (how to find polaris).
Recces earlier in the winter hadn’t revealed much snow depth, but a window of good weather after a late snowfall had a party heading out to the norther corries. Although a suitable spot was found at a popular location, they decided to explore further and after carefully navigating through a white out, the weather cleared and a great location was found and digging began on the east side of Ben Macdui.
After completing a good-sized abode, they headed out for a night hike under the kind of starry skies you only get deep in the mountains.
They headed off on a scenic tour under blue skies the next morning: first to “all the zeros” then Loch Etchachan for lunch. Next was Loch Avon and a visit to the shelter stone before an ascent up Coire Domhain and Cairn Gorm before heading back to the ski centre.
A video has been made with some further information:
Our accommodation for the winter skills weekend was the spacious rooms of Rothiemurchus lodge, where we assembled and prepared equipment before tucking in to a communal feast.
Next day, the trainees headed off first into Coire an t-Sneachda, then over to Coire na Ciste to practice ice-axe arrests, under the expert eye of Everest and seven-summiteer Di Gilbert.
Non-trainees attending headed out too – Snowboarding on Friday, up Cairn Gorm into a storm on Saturday, then in better conditions on Sunday there were various trips – to Braeriach, Meall a Bhuachaille and the Lairig Ghru, before folk headed off after a most enjoyable winter weekend.
