Mountaineer training on snow and ice
a personal perspective

by Martin Pickles

Perhaps you are a hill walker who occasionally ventures onto the white stuff? You yearn for more, yet you know your limitations, so it would be unwise to overstretch your abilities? Then it's time to skill up and book onto an AAC(UK) training course.

Our club offers a variety of training opportunities, but which course best suits the needs of an aspiring winter (UK) or summer (Alps) mountaineer? Two AAC(UK) courses, the WELTbewegend Foundation Alpine Skills and Scottish Winter Mountaineering seem most appropriate, yet these are very different offerings. I've been fortunate enough to participate in both courses and hopefully can provide an insight that might help you decide which fulfils your requirements.

The Foundation Alpine Skills course runs over seven days while the Winter Mountaineering training lasts five days. Two courses covering similar topics will undoubtedly have overlap in content. While not an exhaustive list, both courses introduce and refine similar skills - how to put your helmet, harness and crampons on correctly, how to hold and stow your ice axe, techniques for moving safely on snow/ice (kicking steps, cutting steps, ensuring crampon points make contact with the ice surface, front pointing), ice axe usage (placement and arrest), ropes, knots, belaying, belays, abseiling, navigation, and weather. Another similarity was the level of instruction which I found to be excellent on both courses. In Austria we had one instructor for the whole week (1:6) while in Scotland the ratio was 1:3 initially then 1:2 for the last three more technical days. Regardless of the course the instructors were clearly knowledgeable, patient and friendly.

Despite the similarities there are differences between the courses. One obvious difference is the locations which underpins the contrast in content. The Alps have glaciers, so you need to know how to operate safely on and around them. Scotland does not have glaciers but does have amazing graded gullies, exposed ridges, snowed-up rock, ice and mixed climbs in abundance. The Foundation Alpine Skills course concentrates on glacier travel - roping up, taking coils, moving on the glacier, crevasse rescue, prusiking and hauling systems. The Scottish Winter Mountaineering course concentrates on safe movement over much steeper snow/ice-covered technical ground; daggering, bucket seat belay, snow and ice bollard belays, rock anchor belays, kicking in ledges, abseiling down gullies from snow/ice bollards, climbing communication, belay building with multiple anchor points, avalanche awareness. Additionally, the course provided one day of winter climbing.

The variation in location also accounted for the difference in pace between the courses. The Foundation Alpine Skills course is based at the Braunschweiger Hutte (2759m) in the Otztal Alps, just a short walk from the Karlesferner. Consequently, you can enjoy a relatively late start, head out onto the glacier to practice skills, retreat to the hut for coffee and cake in the event of bad weather, and then return to the glacier when the weather improves. By contrast, the Scottish Winter Mountaineering course was delivered at a much faster pace. Not being based at altitude means walking in and out to your objective daily. To make the most of the limited daylight and to avoid the crowds, early starts were essential. Every time we stopped, we fuelled up. There were no leisurely lunches in Scotland! Another important distinction is the accommodation. Being based at the Braunschweiger Hutte the accommodation and meals (excluding lunch) were included in the course fees, whereas no accommodation was included in Scotland. Undoubtedly cost is a factor when considering these courses. Generous grants are available for qualifying AAC(UK) members. Using a rough calculation, and only considering course, travel and accommodation costs, I made the per day cost to be similar between the two courses.

So which one will suit your individual needs the most? To my mind you need to consider at least two factors. Firstly, what skills do you need to gain to help you achieve your mountaineering goals and, secondly, which course will put a smile on your face. What do I mean by that? If your mountaineering goal was to skill up so you could safely tackle a classic grade I ridge route in winter conditions, then either course will supply you the necessary skills. But if you aspire to glacier travel then the Foundation Alpine Skills is more appropriate. Similarly, if you want to tackle steeper technical ground and need to know how to protect yourself then the Scottish Winter Mountaineering course seems apt. But if alpine vistas and hut life will put a smile on your face then the Foundation Alpine Skills is for you. If you are not bothered about alpine vistas but prefer the adrenaline rush of steep technical ground, then perhaps the Winter Mountaineering course is most appropriate.

As a final note, don't be put off by attending alone. On the courses I attended almost all participants were there individually. If nothing else you have at least one thing in common, mountains. Everyone was friendly, supportive and encouraging.

So, give it a go and book onto a course. Whichever one you choose I'm sure you will have an amazing adventure, make new friends and learn vital new mountaineering skills.

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