Here’s an overview of the trekking and mountaineering skills you’ll need if you want to go hill walking in winter.
The winter mountains offer us hikers a whole new world to explore, full of new challenges and rewards. But it’s an activity that depends on a wide skillset, good judgement and a decent level of fitness. Much more so than summer hiking, in fact. To get an overview, see the Winter Hill Walking post, otherwise, read on to learn more about specific skills for winter hiking.
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How to begin hill walking in winter
- Learn about winter weather and avalanche
It is vital you know where and how avalanche hazard develops.
- Winterise your navigation
Navigating in a whiteout can be scary – get some practise first!
- Plan winter routes carefully
There’s less room for error in winter, so grab the maps and forecasts and do your homework.
- Gear up for challenging hiking
Winter conditions are a big test for your gear, so don’t pack too light.
- Work on your snowcraft
You will get security from good bootwork and ice axe and crampon skills.
- Learn emergency and survival procedures
Constructing a simple emergency snow shelter could save your life.
- Build winter experience gradually
They say ‘experience is the thing you get just after you need it’. So avoid big risks.
- Attend a winter skills course
Learn from a pro to give yourself a solid foundation.
Whether you are a winter mountaineering novice, or a winter mountaineering expert, you will be relying on similar skills. But these abilities need to be up-to-date and well-practised to keep you safe. Read on for an overview.
Winter weather and avalanche
Mountain weather has a massive effect on our winter hill walking plans. How windy will it be? Where is the wind coming from? How cold is it? What’s the visibility going to be like? All these and more are factors we have to think about whenever we go out. But the weather also plays a major role in avalanche hazard. Thankfully, good forecasts and learning resources are available. Both weather and avalanche risk are super-complex and ever changing (this is especially the case with avalanches in Scotland). Therefore, we need to first learn the basics, and then continually add to our knowledge and understanding.
Navigating in winter
Navigation is an absolutely fundamental winter mountaineering skill. That’s why I always highlight it for all mountaineering ability levels. Accurate navigation will help you complete your route in good time and avoid avalanche-prone slopes. Navigating well in winter is a lot harder than in ‘summer’ conditions. This is due to many factors, such as worse weather, limited daylight, cold fingers and snow covering landmarks. To ‘winterise’ your navigation, you will need to adjust your pacing, reorganise your map and compass, get ski goggles and practise with a GPS.
Planning a winter hike
Hill walking in winter is more complex – and potentially more serious – than in summer. Shorter daylight hours, harsher weather and avalanche risk are just some of the extra challenges we face, compared to summer. So plan carefully. Collect weather, snowpack and route information and consider alternative routes. Don’t rush this, because it is easy to stray onto avalanche-prone slopes without realising. This is definitely not a 5 minute job!
Gear for hiking in snow and ice
To tackle the mountains in winter, it helps to be slick and well organised with your personal clothing and gear. For a start, check you have all the personal and emergency gear you will need for the conditions.You will benefit from a well-organised winter mountaineering kit list. In addition, you will need to pay close attention to what to wear for winter hiking. Know how to stay warm and hydrated so you can handle harsh weather and challenging terrain. Another tip is to choose mountaineering gloves carefully – you need your hands to work even in subzero conditions!
Snowcraft
‘Snowcraft’ describes various snow and ice skills essential for winter mountaineering. Firstly, we need good bootwork – that is, being able to use our mountaineering boots to efficiently kick steps in snow. Secondly, ice axe skills are essential for security, as well as for dozens of other tasks en route. Thirdly, we will need to know how and when to use crampons . Get these right and we can walk up almost anything, but get them wrong and we will end up in a heap at the bottom of the slope! Snowcraft also includes tasks such as constructing ledges, belays and anchors, but these are skills which are more suited to intermediate-level winter mountaineers.
Ropework for winter hill walkers?
Do you need a rope for winter hill walking? Hopefully not, but it depends on how well you have planned your route! Hillwalkers may use a rope for protecting a short, awkward step. Mountaineers, on the other hand will often use a rope to ‘move together’ on a narrow ridge or provide safety near crevasses.
Emergency and winter survival
Changing snow and weather, plus shorter daylight hours, mean survival techniques are important skills for winter mountaineers to learn. Building an emergency snow shelter is excellent winter survival practice! In addition, it can be a big help knowing what to do in an emergency – for example how to contact mountain rescue and look after a casualty.
Building winter experience
Travelling in the mountains in winter conditions requires good level of fitness, plus sound judgement. However, these are two qualities that take time and effort to develop. If you are a winter mountaineering beginner, start easy, with routes you already know from summer conditions. Then gradually increase the distances or difficulty of your routes. Always inform someone of your route and be prepared to cut a day short if things turn out worse than expected. Join a club, go on a course, or go out with experienced friends that you trust. It is important that you build up experience gradually and also get involved in planning and reviewing your journeys.
Intro to Winter Mountain Skills (1 day)
Get the basics of winter mountain travel dialed-in on this tailored and expert-led 1 day winter skills course in the beautiful Cairngorms.
Winter skills courses
Winter hill walking and mountaineering will always involve some risk – but that is one of the main reasons we enjoy it! Learning to manage risk is vital – which is why a winter skills course is such a good idea. Many recreational walkers do a basic winter skills course to learn about avalanche hazards, equipment and planning. These courses are also popular for search and rescue, military training and alpine or polar preparation (see client Polar Preet‘s adventures for inspiration).
So, to learn winter mountaineering, you will need to practise a wide range of techniques within a challenging and often hostile environment. However, basic training in winter skills, together with careful practise and good judgement will hopefully result in many enjoyable days on the winter mountains.
Ice axes, crampons and famous scenery
