I really mean that I need to let the new winter season get under my skin again.  I need to walk in the winter air on a still night, see the Ptarmigan scuttle around on the snow, watch the sun setting from the top of a mountain, see the stars with no light pollution, throw stones in the loch after a chilly run, ride the Nevis Range gondola (and remind myself to calibrate my altimeter at the top station), see the snow blowing across the summit plateau of Cairngorm and feel the wind at my back as I hunker on a belay ledge and watch my partner climb towards me.

It takes a few days, a few climbs, and a few adventures - but I love the process.  I also feel that each year a new layer is added.  A layer of understanding. Of belonging. Of calm.  Special places these Scottish mountains.

Of course there are clear advantages to it.  Clients can book easily and don’t need to make contact with us.  For us it would help that payments can be received immediately.  Lots of companies use it.  I see all that but I still don’t think it’s right for our business.  The decision has undoubtedly cost us bookings along the way but I’ll live with that.  I am confident the clients that do book benefit from our stance.

Why?  I saw an example of it last week.  A team were making their way up to the North Face of Ben Nevis.  I watched with interest as they snaked their way to the hut and the tail ender was clearly finding it tough going.  His partner was storming ahead and looking more than a little impatient at having to wait so often.

We ended up climbing near them and their adventures continued with the more experienced climber waltzing up the route while his partner struggled determinedly through each pitch.  By the time we topped out they were sitting just next to us and we had a chat.  It turned out the more experienced climber had visited Scotland a number of times and had also climbed for a week at Rjukan.  The less experienced climber explained that this was his first taste of winter climbing.

They both compromised to make the best of the situation but, in my opinion, neither was able to make the best use of their opportunity.  The more experienced climber needed pushing on some harder routes, needed more input on advanced protection placement and movement techniques. The less experienced climber was on ground that was too challenging and he was unable to develop the skills he needed because his sole focus had to be getting up the route.

The team weren’t being guided.  They were friends.  But if they were booking on a course using an online system they might well have ended up on the same course  - we want to try and avoid that at all costs.  Our system works well and, while we appreciate it may be a little more involved than some, we stick by it.  Give us a call on 10433 620283 (our office is manned - or womaned - most of the time), email us at info@peakmountaineering.com or send us a message through our online system.  We’ll get back to you, discuss your requirements, suggest the best option and guide you through the simple booking system.

It’s a system that works, a system that delivers the best client/course match….and we’ll stick by it.  We hope you can see why. 

Mountain epics are great experiences – if you survive them!  All those stories to bore your mates in the pub, that adrenalin fuelled buzz that you have escaped the grim reaper again and even those heroic war wounds to show your grandchildren.  The trouble is, you’ve usually had to suffer some hideous situation to get the experience and in reality there are already enough odds stacked against when you head for the big mountains.  So here’s my top five tips for the savvy mountaineer – provided by a fool that’s been there and blown it more times than I’d like to admit.

Knowledge is power

Alpine season one.  Alpine long route one.  The famous Frendo Spur.  Al and I shivered through a long night at the top of the lower rock buttress then headed on to the famous spur at first light on day 2.  Alpine heaven up crisp virgin snow led us to the upper rock rognon and the start of our problems.  Although we had vague recollections of hearing about an option up the ice to the side, we stuck to our plan and set off up the rock.  There lay our big mistake!  The cracks were filled with ice, the climbing was too hard and soon I was knackered.  It took us a very long day to aid, battle, fight and panic our way up, and we started running out of day before we were running out of route.  Only a superhuman effort from Al got us to the telepherique station in time to avoid a freezing benightment and the inevitable walk of shame down to the valley the next day.

Time spent researching your route is ALWAYS time well spent.  Peruse as many guidebooks as you can, surf the net, talk to as many people as you can who have been there before or put a posting on climbing forums to seek advice.  If you know about your route you’ll be far more confident, faster and more efficient – all ways to increase your safety and avoid the ceaseless ribbing from your mates when you tell them you went the wrong way (although many people have got around this by calling it a new route!).

If in doubt leave it out

Phil and I were kitting up for the Walker Spur but I could have crossed the Antarctic with the sack I carried.  Extra this, more of that, chunky this and bulky that – it was never going to work.  By the end of day one we had only just passed the Rebuffat Crack and the attempt ground to a back breaking halt.  The only way was down.  We abseiled long into the night, shivered till dawn on a glacier bed, then eventually stumbled into camp late the next day with our shoulders by our ankles and our tails well and truly between our legs.

There’s obviously a very fine line between safety and speed.  Make sure you don’t leave out any essentials but try to keep what you do take as light as possible.  Lightweight kit usually costs a bit more and won’t last as long but you won’t be stressing about that when you take your final steps onto that elusive summit.  Don’t scrimp on food but try to pack lightweight calories that don’t need much fuel to prepare (my article ‘mountain food the Ramsey way’ gives more ideas on this).  Read some books and ask around – check how others do it and learn from their successes and failures.  It’s also worth taking a rucksack that is just big enough rather than one with loads of spare room – you are bound to find things to fill all those extra litres.

Personality counts for a lot

Ian had headed home and Jim was long gone.  I had time to spare but needed a partner.  The obvious choice was big Bruce from Bloemfontein.  He’d been hanging around our campsite and eating our food for weeks and I thought he could repay the favour by holding my ropes.  I knew he could talk the talk (his lengthy campsite stories became legendary) but could he walk the walk?  Our chosen route was Majorette Thatcher on the Blatiere and it soon became clear he was well out of his depth.  He spent the day learning new aid tricks to bypass anything he couldn’t climb (which meant aiding just about everything!) and I polished my winching technique.  I still have rope burn scars from his uber lead fall, and the abseil rope getting jammed when he forgot to untie a knot was the final nail in the coffin of our fledgling relationship.

You really can’t beat a partner you’ve climbed lots with.  You will know each others strengths and weaknesses, and good partnerships can play to these and become more efficient as a result.  If you have a big objective in mind it’s worth getting plenty of training time together beforehand.  This will make you quicker and slicker and also give you time to work on any weaknesses before it really matters. Knowing your partner well also enables you to gauge how they are feeling and allows you to support each other when the chips are down.  The good and bad are all part of the crazy big route experience – just make sure you find the right person to share it with.

Make time to acclimatise

Bob and I arrived in Chamonix and found our friends festering happily on a squalid campsite behind the railway.  They told us they had just climbed Mont Blanc and Bob and I got inspired.  We packed by candlelight and headed up confidently at first light.  It was all fine until day two when altitude sickness struck Bob below the Vallot Hut (and the fact I completely failed to recognise any symptoms suggests I was probably losing it too). We pushed on and Bob started spontaneously falling asleep whenever I wasn’t looking, but still I prodded and cajoled him upwards.  I finally realised there wasn’t enough time left to summit safely at about the time Bob became incomprehensible, and I finally had the common sense to prod and cajoule him down to safety.

Bob and I were so lucky that day.  I can only imagine what would have happened if we’d gone any higher, but I’m pretty certain it wouldn’t have had a happy ending.
At the very least acclimatising will allow you to enjoy your altitude experience whilst at its most important it will be a lifesaver.  It’s beyond the scope of this article to give detailed information on safe acclimatisation but luckily a world of knowledge is only a click away.  Have a look at www.netdoctor.co.uk or search for ‘acclimatisation’ on www.thebmc.co.uk and you’ll head to the heights well informed and confident – unlike Bob and I!

Tales of the unexpected

Everything conspired against us that day.  Andy and I were climbing in New Zealand’s Southern Alps and some of routes we’d tackled had already pushed our route finding skills well out of their comfort zone.  Trouble was that this was our most ambitious climb so far and by the time we found it we had already blown two valuable hours fumbling on a neighbouring route.  Pitch followed pitch and we began to claw back time until my sloppy belaying on pitch 9 allowed the rope to slip behind an evil looking flake.  After 3 hours we had only salvaged a 25 metre length and a couple of scraps – it was going to be a very long day.  At 25 metres a pitch we were soon resigned to our fate - one very cold night and a partner who hasn’t let me forget my blunder 7 years later!

It’s a simple one really.  Leave some contingency time and then if something crops up you’ll have time to deal with it.  If nothing crops up you’ll be back in the valley drinking celebratory Stella’s that bit quicker - which simply leaves you time for more celebratory beers!
So that’s it.  Five pants experiences for me to save you five epics – and if it leaves you short of tales to tell your mates feel free to use one of mine.  Just promise not to mention my name!
Obviously this information is only my opinion and if you choose to follow it you do so entirely at your own risk.  If you are in any doubt of the techniques or issues described please check before you do anything dangerous.  I should also just point out that all these epics happened very early on in my climbing career – of course I NEVER make mistakes nowadays!!!!   Happy climbing.

This year has been typical of a Scottish winter.  Typical only in that it is completely unpredictable!  I always listen with interest as the various forecasters start hypothesising in the lead up to the season...'It will be the coldest winter on record'......'Prolonged arctic conditions expected'.  I've stopped listening too much and, evidently, so has Scotland.  The best strategy here is to see what happens, carefully plan according to the conditions and be ready to go for it when the opportunity arises.  Stay flexible and the Scottish winter will always deliver.

So far this year, as is usual, I've split my time between the Cairngorms and the Western Highlands.  I've had groups out in some gnarly weather and some blue sky days but either way we've had many life affirming days.  There have been clients who have never worn crampons before right through to seasoned campaigners wanting to further hone their already honed skills (if that makes sense?!).  We've dodged blizzards, occasionally battled through blizzards, climbed high, stayed low, climbed gullies, buttresses and ridges and everything in between.

As I write this we await 8 more clients heading up for next weeks 5 day winter skills course.  The snow is currently falling thickly outside the lodge but the week ahead looks very changeable.  No problem.  We'll find plenty of suitable venues, we'll have lots of laughs and the team will leave having learnt lots of new skills.  It's just a good old Scottish Winter.....and it doesn't get better.    

Over the last few months we've had various discussions and a few weeks ago a RTM representative flew over from Holland and we spent a day on a location scouting tour. We always knew why the Peak District is the ideal UK Envirotrek location and we are delighted to say that today we officially heard that Respect the Mountains and Keen can see it too!  So, we are really proud to announce that Peak Mountaineering will be organising the UK's very first Envirotrek event which will run in the Hope Valley on Sunday, August 5th 2012.

Participants are simply asked to spend a couple of hours collecting litter from various Peak District locations before they meet up for a scrummy BBQ lunch.  After a good feed they are invited to try a range of the world class outdoor activities that make the Peak District National Park such an adventure mecca. Throw in a goody bag (which includes a t-shirt and some other cool stuff) and you can see why we know this is going to be a very popular day.

We'll be keeping the website regularly updated with event news and you'll be hearing loads about this in the local and national press. Envirotrek will be a fantastic event and it's right in the centre of the UK's busiest national park. We are so happy to be involved.

If you want to register your interest just email us on info@peakmountaineering.com or give us a call on 01433620283 (online booking will be available nearer the event but we expect demand for places to be very high). We really hope you'll help us clean us our wilderness areas in 2012.

Envirotrek 2011 from beetproductions on Vimeo.

After a few meeting we are delighted to have a number of exciting projects in the pipeline - but a starting point is the 'Great Ridge at Night' walk we are running to raise funds for FOPD on May 5th.  Priced at the bargain price of £15 per person (or £40 per family) this is a great way to enjoy one of the park's most iconic walks.  Even better.........every footstep will be helping to protect the park for the future.  Full details can be found on our Peak District Walking and Outdoor Festval page at http://www.peakmountaineering.com/courses/peak-district-outdoor-festival/.

Suitable for anyone and everyone, we have run our multi activity courses with…..

• Families - better than housework and playstations.
• School groups - outdoor learning at its best (for school groups we only provide activities outside the scope of the Adventurous Activities Licencing Service requirements)
• Stag and hen parties - better than Ibiza and we promise to take good care of the bride or groom!
• Small companies - extreme team building!
• Teams from large corporations - more achieved that your average conference!
• Groups of friends - maximum fun, minimum fuss.
• Mixed singles groups - great experiences to share.

We can run anything from an activity day to a full week and often a couple of activities can be fitted into one day (depending on what you choose).  Many people ask us to help by booking accommodation for these courses – no problem. Just tell us your budget and we will find you somewhere to relax after a tiring day.  We also provide all the equipment and you don’t need any prior experience for any of the activities.

Our current favourite choices are…….

• Indoor or outdoor rock climbing - going up a rockface.
• Abseiling - coming down a rockface – in control!
• Kayaking – great fun for everyone.
• Coasteering & tyrolean traverses - wet and wild adventures around the coast.
• Gorge scrambling – more wet and wild fun following a mountain stream.
• Problem solving - perfect for business groups who like a mental challenge.
• Orienteering- a mental and physical challenge navigating a marked course.
• Archery – shoot an apple off your bosses’ head.
• Mountain biking – great scenery, great fun and a great workout.  

If something you want to do isn’t listed let us know and we will organise it for you.

• Duration and dates to suit you.
• Minimum number of participants 3
• Maximum number of participants 8 (If you have a larger group please contact us and we can organise a bigger event)
• Cost £65 per person per day

On this page you'll find activities for hikers, bikers, climbers and learners of all levels.  There's also loads of family friendly options and even an outdoor preparedness course to help you cope if the unexpected happens.

All the events have been priced as competitively as possible to make it accessible for all - but we know from experience that demand for places will be very high. 

If you see a course that interests you but don't know if it's suitable for your requirements don't hesitate to get in touch and we'll happily advise you. 

Please give us a call on 01433620283 or fill in the booking form (and send a deposit) through this link www.peakmountaineering.com/booking-form as soon as possible.
 

Mountain Biking

Adult Introductory Mountain Bike Skills

Sunday 22nd April & Sunday 6th May

• Starting point: Fairholmes Car Park in the Derwent
• Start time: 9.30am Finish time: 4.00pm
• A day of essential skills for those new to off road riding – all delivered in a supportive, fun and friendly environment 
• Suitable bike and helmet needed (can be hired)
• £40.00 per person

Adult Intermediate Mountain Bike Skills (2 days)

Thursday 3rd May to Friday 4th May

• Starting point: Woodbine Café, Hope
• Start time: 9.30am Finish time: 4.00pm
• Progressive skills course for mountain bikers who wish to take their riding to the next level
• Suitable bike and helmet needed (can be hired)
• £80.00 per person

Family Mountain Bike Adventure

Saturday 28th April & Saturday 6th May

SUITABLE FOR ALL THE FAMILY

• Starting point: Fairholmes Car Park in the Derwent Valley
• Start time: 9.30am and 1.00pm Finish time: 12.30pm and 4.00pm
• A morning or afternoon session of fun mountain biking for families
• Suitable bike and helmet needed (can be hired)
• £20.00 Adult, £10.00 Child, £50.00 Family of 4

Navigation and Hillwalking

Right Way in a Day – Navigation Course

Sunday 22nd April, Saturday 28th April & Saturday 5th May

• Starting point: Fairholmes Car Park in the Derwent Valley
• Start time: 9.30am Finish time: 4.00pm
• A one day navigation course looking at all the key skills to get you navigating off the beaten track confidently and competently
• £30.00 per person

NNAS Bronze Level Navigation Course (2 days)

Tuesday 24th – Wednesday 25th April

• Starting point: Fairholmes Car Park in the Derwent Valley
• Start time: 9.30am Finish time: 4.00pm
• A 2 day navigation course for anyone new to navigation for those who wish to improve on basic skills
• £80 per person

NNAS Silver Level Navigation Course (2 days)

Tuesday 1st – Wednesday 2nd May

• Starting point: Hathersage
• Start time: 9.30am Finish time: 4.00pm
• A 2 day navigation course for anyone with some navigational experience or those who have completed the NNAS Bronze Level Award
• £80 per person

The Great Ridge at Night

Sunday 22nd April, Saturday 28th April & Saturday 5th May

SUITABLE FOR ALL THE FAMILY

• Starting point: Woodbine Café in Hope
• Start time: 6.00pm Finish time: 10.30pm
• The best way to walk one of the Peak District National Park’s most famous landmarks – at night!
• We've also teamed up with our great friends at The Cheshire Cheese Inn at Hope (which conveniently is situated right at the end of the walk) to offer an optional post walk feast of tasty sandwiches and chips at only £5 per person - the perfect way to celebrate our acheivement (please let us know at the time of booking if you wish to take this option)
• Don't forget a good torch and spare batteries.
• £15.00 per person, child £7.50, family of 4 £40
• WE ARE VERY PLEASED TO BE USING THIS WALK AS A FUNRAISING OPPORTUNITY FOR 'FRIENDS OF THE PEAK DISTRICT'.  THE WORK THIS ORGANISATION DO TO PROTECT THE PEAK DISTRICT NATIONAL PARK IS AMAZING - WE ARE DELIGHTED TO HELP THEM CONTINUE.

Rock Climbing

Adult Lead Climbing Course (2 days)

Saturday 5th & Sunday 6th May

• Starting point: Windgather Rocks near Whaley Bridge 
• Start time: 9.30am Finish time: 4.00pm
• A course for anyone that has outdoor climbing experience and now wants to learn the skills required to lead climb
• £160 per person

Resin to Rock Adult Climbing Course

Saturday 28th April

• Starting point: Windgather Rocks near Whaley Bridge
• Start time: 9.30am Finish time: 4.00pm
• A course designed for anyone who has learnt to climb on indoor walls and is now keen to make the transition to outdoor climbing or inexperienced outdoor climbers keen to further their crag skills
• £35.00 per person

Classic Climbs of the Peak District

Saturday 28th April & Saturday 6th May

• Starting point: Hathersage
• Start time: 9.30am Finish time: 4.00pm
• Here's yor chance to be guided around some of the best climbing routes in the area - a unique tour that should be compulsory for all climbers!
• £50.00 per person

Family Climbing & Abseiling Day

Sunday 29th April

SUITABLE FOR ALL THE FAMILY

• Starting point: Windgather Rocks near Whaley Bridge
• Start time: 9.30am Finish time: 4.00pm
• Climbing is the perfect family activity - children love it, adults love it, children and adults love sharing it
• £20.00 Adult, £10.00 Child, £50.00 Family of 4

Other Skills

Dealing with Outdoor Emergencies

Monday 23rd April & Monday 30th April

• Starting point: Fairholmes Car Park in the Derwent Valley
• Start time: 9.30am Finish time: 4.00pm
• Luck favours the well prepared…. A day of training for the unexpected run by mountaineering instructors and first aid trainers with extensive wilderness experience… surely a course you just can’t afford to miss?
• £30.00 per person

Come and join in the fun!

However, like all things in a Scottish winter, it's very easy to be deceived.  Friends that have gone out today are likely to be facing 80 mph winds with a high wind chill factor and higher avalanche risk due to the rise in temperature - but I've no doubt they'll be safe because they've got the knowledge, equipment and skills to look after themselves.

The participants on last weekends 3 day winter skills course had a real taste of the best Scotland can throw at them but I'm confident they headed home more confident about how to enjoy the winter mountains safely.  They certainly left with big smiles on their faces!

We have another busy training course starting this weekend and I've got a rare play day to enjoy tomorrow but for now it's back to the admin.  Scotland in winter really is a great place to be :)