Frozen – Module 2: Equipment & Trailcraft (Scotland)

For this practical module we will travel to the Highlands of Scotland to learn and refine the fundamental winter skills required for trekking in mountains and snow laden forests. This is not winter mountaineering, however we will cover the foundation skills of basic avalanche awareness and using crampons effectively and safely using ice axes. 

This course is about developing confidence and feeling comfortable in the cold. Understanding the limits of your kit and how to care for it. How to improvise equipment and make expedient shelters. Navigation is also covered as finding your way becomes more challenging when the landscape is obscured by a blanket of snow, so requires some specialist skills. 

Be prepared for an action packed course that develops new skills and provides you with the basic skills of classic winter camping and staying safe in the hills. It is Burns night during the course, so fun will be had 🙂

• Days: Thur PM – Mon PM (4 Nights)
• Location: Cairngorms, Scotland
• Food & Accommodation: Fully catered and includes camping fees
• Activity: Winter Hill & Survival Skills
• Group Size: 8
• Physical Rating: Hard
• 2023 Dates:  19-23 Jan 

• Winter-proofing personal & group kit
• Crampons
• Ice-axe safety & self-arrests
• Ascending, descending & traversing slopes
• Kicking & cutting steps
• Emergency procedures, rope work, etc
• Emergency shelters – snow holes & drift caves
• Water disinfection in the zeros
• Avalanche awareness and avoidance
• Emergency group kit, locators, etc.
• Lost & search procedures
• Route planning 
• The nivean landscape
• Winter navigation 
• Cornices, white-outs & other hazards
• Navigation kit & location beacons
• Natural & astral navigation
• Cold tent camping
• Wildlife tracking
• Hygiene & sanitation

• TBC