Winter 2010/2011 with Kendal Mountaineering Services.

Winter has arrived early in the UK in 2010, the earliest, in fact, for 17 years. Whilst many people are struggling with the conditions, it is an opportunity for winter enthusiasts to get stuck in to some winter routes and there is already a fair bit of action taking place.

Kendal Mountaineering Services are ready and available to provide you with the course of your choice and there is certainly scope here in the Lakes right now to take advantage of the conditions and be guided up some winter scrambles such as Jacks Rake seen in the photo right.

Give us a call and we will arrange your day out. Prices start at £90 per person for a full day of Lake District Winter scrambling and if you can turn up with your crampons and axes - we'll provide the rest and make sure you have a great day out! Give us a call to see what we can do for you!




Iain from Kendal Mountaineering Services will be moving to Scotland from January 2011 and can be contacted there where he will be on hand to arrange scottish winter mountaineering days on routes such as Ledge Route, Ben Nevis as in the photo right. You can choose to be guided on other classic routes such as Ledge Route or Tower Ridge or howabout the Aonach Eagach in Glen Coe or Dorsal Arete or Curved Ridge in Glen Coe?

If winter climbing is your thing - then let us then let us guide you up some classic winter climbs such as No 3 Gully Buttress Good Friday Climb or Glover's Chimney on the Ben or some of the easy routes in Glen Coe, Daim Buttress or right Twin on Aonach Mor and of course there are many routes to take your pick from in the Northern Corries of the Cairngorms. Our guided winter climbing days and scottish winter scrambles start from £90 per person per day. Once again, bring your crampons & axes and we'll supply the rest.

If you would like to learn the skills of winter climbing for yourself, then we are happy to teach you the necessary skills such as belaying and anchor/running belay placements and how to move on steeper ground with axes and crampons - In all likelihood you'll be tought the skills on grade 1 to grade two ground and you will be coached by a holder of the Mountaineering Instructor's Certificate (MIC).

A pre-requisite will be that you have already attended a basic winter skills course and are competent winter hillgoers experienced already in crampon techniques and ice axe arrest.

Our learning to lead winter climbing courses can be arranged anywhere in the highlands - in particular Coire An T sneachda in the Cairngorms is a great venue with a lot of easy routes to learn on but we can also arrange these courses on the west coast in Glen Coe or on Ben Nevis.

The cost, again is £90 per person per day and once again - bring your own crampons & axes and we'll provide the rest.

Finally, if you are not ready for any of the above, but want to venture into the winter environment, then prepare yourself by attending one of our Scottish Winter Skills courses. You will learn the basics of moving on snow such as step kicking and step cutting and move on to ice axe arrest techniques. You will be shown techniques such as snow and ice belays including basic ropework for ascending or descending snow slopes and you'll learn how to build snow shelters to survive a night outdoors if you get caught out. You will also learn how to interpret the snowpack for avalanche risk.

We are currently taking bookings for a Winter skills course to be run in the Cairngorms during February 27th & 28th 2011 for the fantastic price of £100 per person, non residential, for the two day course.

We will also be following the Winter Skills course with a two day/one night navigation skills training course on the Cairngorm Plateau at a cost of £90 per person for the two day course and winter climbing days at a cost of £90 per person (minimum of two people per instructor per day), contact us for details.

Typical pictures from our winter skills courses can be viewed here and our winter climbing days here. We look forward to helping you make the most of your winter experiences.

Please note that Kendal Mountaineering services only use appropriately qualified staff to deliver its winter courses. For winter skills courses we use staff holding a minimum of the Winter Mountainwalking Leaders Certificate and for winter climbing courses full holders of the Mountain Instructor's Certificate.