SNOW SCHOOL
Winter in Wales is a fickle season. It’s more likely to be rainy than snowy on the hills. But when snowfall and freezing temperatures coincide, the mountains of Snowdonia become a semi-alpine wonderland – a snowscape that can be as treacherous as it is beautiful. With the right tools, skills and knowledge, it needn’t be a world that’s off limits to walkers.
Navigating in winter conditions; planning routes for limited daylight hours; moving safely and efficiently using an ice axe and wearing crampons. You’ll learn all these skills and more on courses run by Plas y Brenin, the National Outdoor Centre based in Capel Curig at the foot of Moel Siabod. The centre offers two winter walking courses for beginners in North Wales: Welsh Winter Skills (an intensive twoday crammer) and Welsh Winter Walking (a comprehensive five-day programme).
The courses are geared towards experienced summer hill walkers (no prior winter mountaineering experience is necessary). Led by qualified instructors, they cover what to wear and carry, winter weather, avalanche awareness, and what to do in emergencies.
“Our courses aim to provide you with all the necessary basic skills to look after yourself on independent winter journeys in Snowdonia and further afield,” says Dave Evans, Head of Mountaineering & Climbing at Plas y Brenin. “We have been running these skills courses for decades and our highly skilled staff are hugely experienced at helping you build your confidence, at a rate appropriate to your experience and aspirations. They know Snowdonia inside out and select training venues appropriate to you and the prevailing mountain conditions.”
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This season’s courses take place from December to February. There are six places on each course. The two-day course costs £262 for a non-residential place, or £364 with catering and accommodation. The non-residential rate for the five-day course is £361. With bed and board, it’s £616. The necessary extra tools for winter hillwalking – an ice axe, crampons and compatible boots – can be borrowed free of charge from Plas y Brenin’s kit store. See pyb.co.uk or call 01690 720214 for more information.