Day 1 - Winter Skills on Aonach Mor

 

Quick briefing about the day, after we had got off the Gondola.

Learning how to stop ourselves if we ever got into the situation of sliding down a mountain.

Libby leading the way up the beginning of the mountain, using a zig-zag method.

The very steep climb on to the ridge

Learning how to secure our bags in the snow and later on, learning how to dig a snow hole for ourselves.

At the top of Aonach Mor, enjoying the view, learning about Cornices and the danger of them.

For our first day, the main objective was the learning valuable skills in order for us to be safe whilst climbing mountains. To start off, we began with testing our Crampons to experiment walking/running/jumping/hoping on different terrains and learnt how to handle and fit them safety. Next, at a steep slope with a large amount of snow, we learnt the skills of being able to stop ourselves in the case of ever slipping over on a mountain. This involved many fun slides down the slope on our backs, fronts and even rolling on our side. After that, we began the walk up Aonach Mor, where at the top enjoyed many beautiful views. It was a great start to the week!

Abi Smith (VI Form)