Winter hazards
THE CHALLENGES and rewards of winter days in the mountains feed the soul. But there are some significant additional hazards posed on such outings compared to the summer. Snow and ice interact with weather, terrain and a team’s skills and experience – and should all be factored in to decision making. Anticipating and avoiding hazards in the mountains can be made both in the planning stages as well as from observations during the mountain journey. Weather and avalanche forecasts, plus maps and route descriptions, provide much of the information needed for planning a route; but equally important is reacting to observations made while in the hills.
In Parts 1 and 2 of this skills series, we looked at planning and the mountain journey. In this, the third part, we will look at the subject of winter hazards. As with the other skills articles we will consider this in a context of a specific mountain journey to give a real-world example and help make the advice more concrete. This month the route we will discuss is Ben Nevis via the Carn Mor Dearg Arête
THE ROUTE: A BIG DAY OUT
Ben Nevis via Carn Mor Dearg involves a long mountain day: 17.5 kilometres (11 miles) with around 1506 metres (4920 feet) of ascent if starting from the North Face car park – a big undertaking in winter conditions. The route also involves
