Whilst guiding for Hike Pyrenees through the summer we are often asked ”what do you do through winter?”

Many of you know we live in Scotland and as the days draw in and the temperature starts to drop, many people begin to feel a little sad, but not us; winter is our favorite season when in Scotland! Not only do we both enjoy ice climbing, winter walking and skiing personally during the winter months but we also run West Coast Mountain Guides.

Through West Coast Mountain Guides we offer coaching and guiding in the Scottish mountains in summer and winter but our busiest period is definitely winter.

Throughout winter we run a range of courses from ‘Introduction to Winter‘ through to ‘Advanced Winter Climbing‘. We also take Private Guiding bookings if for example you’d like to reach the summit of Ben Nevis, our highest mountain or if there’s a group (2 or more) of you who would like us to design a bespoke itinerary for you, we can certainly do that.

Mike and Andrew standing proudly on the summit of Ben Nevis

On top of private guiding, the two courses we run that I thought might interest you are;

‘Winter Skills and Summits‘ – during this course you learn how to use an ice axe and crampons whilst going on a journey through our beautiful Scottish winter wonderland. The following day we would be putting our skills into more practice by reaching the top of one of Scotland’s many fine summits. This course is likely to be run by myself, Hannah.

‘Winter Mountaineering‘ – if you have experience in walking in winter using an axe and crampons and would like to challenge yourself, this course introduces you to the more technical aspects of Winter Mountaineering. During this course you will tackle some of Scotland’s easier gullies and ridges which often give some extremely memorable winter days out. This course is likely to be run by Ken.

I appreciate winter and being out in the cold stuff isn’t for everyone but if you ever hear of someone interested in Scottish winter we’d both be really grateful if you’d be happy to recommend us.

If you’d like to know more about us and what we provide, please have a look at our web site , facebook page or email me at –

hannah@westcoast-mountainguides.co.uk

If you’ve ever considered coming up to Scotland to explore it’s beautiful mountains, we’d love to hear from you!