If you’re planning to walk anywhere there’ll be snow and ice on steep ground, yes, you need a winter skills course. That means the Scottish Highlands for most of the winter, and the higher fells of the Lake District and Snowdonia when they’re properly white. Nothing you can read, watch or practise at home replaces a day with an instructor learning to use an ice axe and crampons on real snow.
But there’s a catch most people miss. A winter skills course assumes you can already navigate. It teaches the winter bit. It doesn’t teach the map and compass, and winter is the worst possible time to be learning them.
So we’ll go through who actually needs one, what you’ll learn on it, and the things worth getting solid before you book, so the day goes on axes and snow rather than on the basics.
Do you need a winter skills course?
It depends entirely on where you’ll be walking and what it’ll be like underfoot.
You need one if you want to walk in the Scottish Highlands between roughly December and April, or on the high fells of England and Wales once there’s proper snow and ice. Ground that’s an easy summer walk can become a slope where a slip doesn’t stop, and the skills that deal with that are physical ones you learn by doing.
You probably don’t, yet, if your winter walking is low-level, on paths that stay clear, or if you’re happy to turn round where the snow starts. Plenty of people walk all winter without ever needing an axe, by choosing their routes and their days.
The honest middle ground is the one that catches people. A route you know well in summer, a forecast that says a bit of snow up high, and a slope near the top that turns out to be hard, icy and steep. That’s the situation a winter skills course is really for.
Why I’ll send you to someone else for this one
I’m a summer Mountain Leader. Leading and teaching on winter hills is a separate award, the Winter Mountain Leader, and winter skills are taught on the snow, not on a screen. That’s exactly why this is a piece about what to learn before you book, rather than a pitch for doing it with us.
What do you learn on a winter skills course?
Courses vary with the conditions on the day, but a typical one or two-day course covers the same core. As one example, Glenmore Lodge’s introductory course lists kicking steps, walking with an ice axe, self-belay, cutting steps, using crampons going up and down, and self-arrest, along with avalanche awareness, route choice and winter navigation. Mountaineering Scotland’s winter skills courses cover much the same, with no rope work.
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Moving on snow
Most of the day is about not falling in the first place. You’ll learn to kick steps into snow, to use the axe as a walking aid and a brake as you go (self-belay), and to cut steps where the snow is too hard to kick.
Crampons
How to walk in them without catching a point and tripping yourself up, how to move up, down and across a slope, and when to put them on. Put them on too late and you’re doing it on the steep bit.
Self-arrest
Stopping yourself with the axe if you do fall. It’s the skill everyone’s heard of and it’s usually taught last, because it’s the backup for when everything above has already gone wrong.
Avalanche awareness and route choice
How to read an avalanche forecast, which slopes to avoid and why, and how to pick a line that keeps you off them. You’ll also learn about cornices, the overhangs of wind-blown snow that build up along edges and can collapse under you, which is why you give a snowy edge a wide berth. In Scotland, the Scottish Avalanche Information Service (SAIS) publishes daily avalanche forecasts for six areas through the main winter season: Lochaber, Glen Coe, Creag Meagaidh, the Northern and Southern Cairngorms, and Torridon.
Winter navigation
Navigating when snow has covered the paths and the features you’d normally use, and when cloud and snow merge into a whiteout. This is where your summer navigation either holds up or doesn’t.
What to learn before you book one
This is the bit that makes the course worth the money. Course providers generally expect you to arrive with summer hill walking experience and the fitness for consecutive days on the hill. Here’s what that means in practice.
Navigation in poor visibility
If there’s one thing to sort before winter, this is it. On a winter skills day you want to be thinking about your feet and your axe, not trying to work out a bearing for the first time.
Before you book, you should be able to:
- Take a bearing from the map and walk on it, accurately, without having to think through every step.
- Measure distance and time a leg, so you know when you should arrive somewhere you can’t see. Our guide to Naismith’s rule covers the timing.
- Relocate when you’re not sure where you are, using the shape of the ground rather than the path.
That’s all summer navigation, and it’s exactly what winter puts under pressure. Mountaineering Scotland’s own winter navigation course expects you to have done a winter skills course first, which tells you how the pieces fit together: basic navigation, then winter skills, then navigating in winter conditions.
Reading a mountain forecast
Your phone’s weather app won’t tell you what you need. Get used to reading a proper mountain forecast before winter, the Mountain Weather Information Service (MWIS) or the Met Office mountain forecast, and in Scotland the SAIS avalanche forecast too. Look for the wind at summit height, the freezing level and how much visibility you’ll have.
Short days
In midwinter the daylight is short, and everything on snow takes longer than it does in summer. Get into the habit now of setting a turnaround time and sticking to it. If your timings are honest in October, they’ll be honest in January.
Your kit, and how it works
A winter course will tell you what you need, and many providers hire out axes and crampons. What’s worth knowing beforehand is whether your boots will take crampons at all. Boots are rated B0 to B3 and crampons C1 to C3, and the two have to match. A flexible B0 walking boot isn’t made for crampons at all: the boot bends, and the crampon can come off. Check before you buy anything, and ask the course provider what they recommend.
The rest of a winter kit list is mostly more of what you already carry: spare gloves, because a wet pair is useless, a head torch, goggles for spindrift and wind, and a group shelter. The course provider’s kit list is the one to follow.
Your fitness
Winter days are long and hard work. A course that runs two days back to back needs you to arrive with something left in the legs on day two.
Is a winter skills course worth it if you only go once a year?
Yes, and probably more so. Winter skills fade if you don’t use them, which is the real argument for doing the course and then using the skills the same season, on easier ground, rather than booking it and leaving the axe in the cupboard until next year.
Repeating an introductory course after a winter or two away is a perfectly sensible plan for that reason. So is a course followed by a few easy winter days with friends who already have the experience. Either works. What doesn’t work is a single day three years ago.
| Before you book | On the course | After the course | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Navigation | Bearings, timing and relocation, solid in summer | Navigating where snow hides the paths | A winter navigation course, if you want more |
| Snow skills | Nothing yet | Steps, self-belay, crampons, self-arrest | Practise on easy ground the same season |
| Planning | Mountain forecasts, turnaround times | Avalanche forecasts, route choice | Check SAIS every time in Scotland |
| Kit | Check your boots will take crampons | Hire if you’re unsure | Buy once you know what suits you |
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a winter skills course to walk in Scotland in winter?
If you’re going onto the hills when there’s snow and ice, yes. Scottish winter conditions can turn easy summer paths into steep, hard snow where a slip won’t stop on its own, and using an ice axe and crampons safely has to be learned in person. Low-level walks below the snow line are a different matter.
What do you learn on a winter skills course?
Typically kicking and cutting steps, walking with an ice axe, self-belay, using crampons on different angles of slope, and self-arrest, along with avalanche awareness, route choice and winter navigation. Content varies with the conditions on the day, and introductory courses don’t usually involve ropes.
How long is a winter skills course?
Introductory courses are usually one or two days. Two days lets you cover more ground and practise the skills in different snow conditions, but you need the fitness for consecutive long days on the hill.
Can you learn winter skills online?
Not the physical skills. Ice axe and crampon technique, step kicking and self-arrest have to be learned on real snow with an instructor. What you can learn online or at home first is the navigation, forecast reading and planning that winter relies on, so your course time goes on the snow.
What should I know before a winter skills course?
You should be a confident summer hill walker who can take and follow a bearing, time a leg and relocate when unsure. You should be fit enough for long days, know how to read a mountain forecast, and have checked whether your boots will take crampons.
Get the navigation solid first
The single most useful thing you can do before booking a winter skills course is make your navigation automatic, so in winter your attention can go on the snow. Our Mountain Navigation Course takes you from map basics through bearings, timing and relocation to navigating at night and in poor visibility. It’s £97, paid once.
Not sure where your navigation stands? The free Nav Skills Quiz takes a couple of minutes and shows you where the gaps are. Ask any questions in the comments below.
