The blog has been neglected recently, but now finding extra time on my hands, here’s a whistle stop tour of what we got up to this winter after our Nepal trip in the Autumn…
The Alps
We drove out to the Ecrin on Boxing Day, with the hope of some skiing and ice climbing, lots of good food and time in the hills not working. The ice conditions in the Ecrin and the low level ice options in the Alps in general were non-existent, so that was sadly put on the back burner.. We had a lovely few days skiing and some snow shoe adventures, all in glorious warm sunshine, with a particularly memorable New Years eve skiing at Puy St Vincent under floodlights and fireworks. Snowshoeing up to Dormillouse in the beautiful Alpine air and the natural hot pools at Le Monetier-les-Bains were other highlights..
It was then up to Chamomix for some more skiing before attending the American Avalanche Association Level 2 course delivered by Avalanche Geeks. Over the few days of the course we brushed up on snow and avalanche knowledge, companion rescues and other important skills, as well as skiing some decent snow! I see this as a vital bit of CPD for anyone working professionally in the winter mountains whether walking, skiing or climbing – well worth it. After the course the 4 of us that were there together had an ace day skiing the Vallee Blanche, decent snow under a beautiful blue Alpine sky with Vin Chaud at the Buvette des Mottes before skiing all the way back to Chamonix… A decent day indeed! Back to the UK then for the start of our Scottish season.
Scotland
After last years no-show of Winter, I headed up to Scotland slightly apprehensive! Last year I had my WMCI assessment booked but that obviously got cancelled, and with it re-booked for March I was fairly keen on this winter being a good one!
We had some ace days with clients delivering our own courses, always with small numbers and total adaptability for the conditions, whether we were looking at more in-depth navigation or snow skills or getting a decent winter journey under our belt. Thanks to all that came along to make it fun and rewarding!
I spent some time working for Jagged Globe, who I guided for on Mera Peak back in the Autumn. I was lucky enough to get to work alongside some really experienced instructors and get to do what is essentially WMCI work before I had the qualification – under the watchful eye and guidance of more qualified colleagues. Really great to have the opportunity to do this and we had some really fun days, though the weather often didn’t make it easy! From helping people make their first steps winter mountaineering to teaching skills focused on climbing bigger Peaks, guiding people up winter climbs and teaching them to do it all themselves – not a bad thing to call work!
Personal Climbing
Trying to make the most of every day, time off was saved for the when the wind forecast was over 100mph – this winter really did feel like an uber windy one! Getting out as much as possible personal climbing to feel that I was on tip top form ready for assessment was high on my agenda. Some lovely days were had, but also many truly burly ones when the cafe would have been the far better choice! Thanks loads to everyone that I got out with, you were an important part of the journey towards my assessment!
Mock Clients
Wanting to get slick at getting pairs of people up and down winter climbs efficiently, I spent a lot of time taking “mock clients” out. Sometimes with mates of differing abilities, sometimes people that hadn’t done much before – always good learning and development for me.. Getting to climb some ace routes along the way wasn’t bad either! If you helped me out in this process – thanks so so much, it was massively valuable for me!
WMCI assessment
So glad that the winter had played ball and provided the goods (albeit very windy goods at times!) I still felt super nervous starting my WMCI assessment with PYB. As much as I tell people when assessing them to relax and do what they normally do – WOW its actually pretty hard! I felt ready and prepared but after pursuing it for years I put a lot of importance on it…
We had a really well run assessment and the team at PYB made it as relaxed as possible. Despite some warmer conditions for the week we had 4 great days and luckily I didn’t balls it up too much and managed to pass! The relief of something being realised that you’ve spent years working towards was a big weight off the shoulders!
The next day was bluebird so couldn’t possibly be wasted! A days ski touring and getting laps of great snow on Lurchers before some runs on the empty pistes on Caingorm and red wine with great mates was a fitting end to all the toil of the winter!
Climbing Work!
Before the end of Winter I was lucky to get a few days of work in as a fully fledged WMCI. Return client Stuart had his first taste of winter climbing and Pete was out with me for a couple of days.
It was amongst this time that we were starting to get an idea of the impact of the Corona Virus, so while it was ace to finally be working as a WMCI, it ended a bit bittersweet, with all my future work in doubts and the prospect of hard times ahead… Fingers crossed I’ll be able to get back amongst it soon! Till next Winter Scotland!
