Lecture was delivered by Neil Johnson and James Thacker (IFMGA British Mountain Guides) and is set to inspire any would-be winter warriors. Neil and James brought you up to speed on the skills required to explore the winter mountains by covering the following topics: Equipment and clothing Navigation Footwork Route planning Avalanche awareness Climbing and much more.

1. BMC Winter Lecture Series
Neil Johnson and James Thacker

2. Areas
 England & Wales - generally more
approachable up to 1000m
Scotland - variety of areas, generally a lot
more remote, a lot of ground

3. Winter Challenges
Understand the environment and hazards
 Scale
 Weather
 Remoteness
 Avalanche

4. Skills
“Don’t fall over…”
 Don’t fall over
 Solid movement skills
 Good use of axe & crampon technique
 Practice, practice, practice

5. Skills
Using crampons
 Bend knee to keep all 12 points on the surface
 Roll your ankles
 Make a V with your feet to change direction
and change hands with your axe
 Walk as if you are sneaking up on someone

6. Weather
“Right place, right time”
 http://www.wetterzentrale.de/ - 9 day forecast
 http://www.mwis.org.uk/
 http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/loutdoor/
 http://www.sais.gov.uk/

7. Avalanche
“If in doubt, turn back…”
 Snow | Terrain | Weather
 Timescale - Before | During | After
 Trigger is often us!
 Gather info and compare with forecast
 Happens on slopes 30°-40º
 Avoid slopes where snow has accumulated
 Weather contributes to instability

8. Navigation
“Practice being scared…”
 Bearing | Distance | Terrain
 Attention to detail
 Accept that it’s scary and practice
 Head torch - a good beam
 Cut map down, laminate or case
 GPS - used in conjunction with map
 Goggles - double lens and not orange

9. Equipment
“Every ounce counts…”
 Best you can afford
 Multi-use items
 Do you really need it?
 Consider the essentials
 Waterproof trousers and top, rucksack, belay
jacket, gloves (3 pairs), helmet, crampons, axe,
shelter, first aid kit, crampons, goggles, boots
(stiff to take a crampon), food

10. Tactics
“Epics start the night before”
 Preparation planning
 Ever changing environment, conditions can
change
 Guide books