UKC

Is anyone on here going to be on the winter mountaineering course on the 23-24th jan?
Also, is there anyone who has done it before as i have no idea what to expect!

In reply to anthonyecc: I'm on the course on the 25th-26th Jan and really looking forward to it, especially as it's Burn's Night on the Thursday night with haggis n' tatties n' neeps washed down with a couple of drams no doubt!

I did it last year, found it a great overview of lots of important winter skills, but alot of it covered too quickly to really get enough from if its somehting new. I improved my use of crampons and axe, and learnt the 'proper' way to move in them, and learnt alot about avalanche risk, which I knew nothing of before. Learnt some really useful snow belays. However the navigation stuff I felt was a bit rushed and I didn't feel confident in navigating in bad conditions just from that, so have had a days tuition just on that since and now feel confident, and have in fact happily put it into practice with goodm results (i.e. getting where I wanted to safely!)

All in all, great fun, and very useful, but if its all completely new to you you might feel a bit overwhelmed and want another couple of days to really have it all sink in. Perhaps worth arranging to stay for a couple of days after the course with someone else on the same course as you, and go out and put it all into practice while it is fresh in your mind. That way you'll be more likely to remember it all in coming winters.

Enjoy!

Julie

In reply to anthonyecc:
I was on the course last year, 19th december ish?? and its one of the best times iv ever had. There is only 2 days to get through everything so some aspects can be a bit rushed i.e the navigation, if you havent read up on it! Theres normally about 1 leader to 6-8 students and they are excellent, if you can get into 'Sammie's' group (Mark Samuels), he is a lot more adventurous and a brilliant laugh., tell him Fraser Campbell from last years group said hi!

The company you are in can make or break it i think, the lads i was with were a great bunch and it gives you a chance to meet like minded people, there were a few older ones there aswell who all had full time jobs (i didnt understand how they got onto the course?).

We ended up staying for another night at Ardenbeg, upstairs and met the next days group (sweet baby jesus they were a miserable bunch, i dont know what was up there arses) and none of them would come out for a social drink so hopefully your team will be up for a laugh.

Also, look out for the bunkhouse owner bacause she is pretty narky. She decided to accuse us of stealing and binning packed lunches (which she found in the bin) when we were leaving. In fact they belonged to a girl from the group who didnt like the food but she wasnt willing to listen to us.Sadly, she ruined it a bit for me but i had a good time up until then.

In reply to FraserCam: Thanks for that, I unfortunately can't stay over for an extra night, work and all that jazz.

I'll certainly look out for all the people you mentioned, especially the narky hag.!

In reply to FraserCam:

I just requested the time off work!

In reply to haydn:

Bloody youngsters!

Any way was on the course that just finished. I had Jonathon (I think that was his name) as my instructor and from what I can gather he was as good as Sammy although possible not so much of a laugh so I don't think you're miss out on anything important which ever instructor you get.

As for the bunkhouse owner she seemed absolutely fine to me and seemed a nice person - no problems what so ever.

I'd agree that navigation was covered quickly on my course but this was because a) he seemed happy with our navigation and b) the weather wasn't the best to be spending a long time looking at the map. The instuctors said at the start that they have to base the course around the weather and so each has a slightly different emphsis although they try to cover everything. For example we did very little crampon work as there was very little hard snow or ice around - however it was covered.

All in all a very worthwile weekend and I think everyone on my course learnt lots of useful stuff so I'm sure you will too.

In reply to anthonyecc: Off tomorrow to Ardenbeg. The snow came just in time i think! can't wait!!!