Page 56 - 2018 AMA Winter

FINALTHOUGHTS
THERE’S NO BUSINESS LIKE SNOW BUSINESS – GET LIKE A SCOUT AND BE PREPARED!
By Kev Mitchell, Ochils MRT and Vice Chair Scottish Mountain Rescue
Rod Stewart once sang ‘it’s late September and I really should be back at school’, now, on the hills every day is a school day so it’s not hard to imagine that little tinge of excitement when, in the third week of September, we saw snow on the Cairngorms – fantastic!!
We all know about the joys of walking and climbing in the winter and a good number of us will have finished climbs in the dark and been bollocked by loved ones when we get in at 1am!! (sorry dear...) This is known as ‘an experienced climber’ until you need to be rescued and then you become ‘dangerously irresponsible and risking rescuers lives’, the reality for most of us is somewhere in between the two and winter is an exciting time to be in Scotland’s wild places but you need to give it a wee bit of thought and preparation before venturing out!!
I was on my way to the Scottish Mountain Rescue AGM at Carrbridge and the early snows set me thinking about preparing for winter, even in mid September we have already a number of call outs throughout the country for hillgoers who have been benighted, lost, torchless, jacketless and clueless!! So what can you do to avoid becoming a Winter Wally or worse....
Most Scottish Mountain Rescue team members start with ‘winterising’ their rucksack and equipment, although probably not in the Oxford English Dictionary (at least not in this context!!), ‘winterising’ is vital to get a head start when venturing into the white and crispy stuff.
‘ARE YOU AWAY FOR A FORTNIGHT!’
What additional stuff do you need to stick in your rucksack, I have way too much, but I am carrying things for a casualty (at least that is my excuse...), so in no particular order - spare gloves, at least 2 pairs one thiny and one winter pair, buffs are fabulous for using as scarfs, hats etc so take a few with you, they weight very little and a dry hat is a lovely feeling at the top of a wet climb!! Make sure you have new head torch batteries and spare batteries and most MR carry a spare torch – do NOT rely on your mobile phone light... A belay jacket rolled up and put into a waterproof stuff sack can go into
the bottom of the sack for when it gets colder than you expected, dig out the ice axe and crampons and make sure they are sharp, also have a few goes at putting on your crampons and make sure they still fit properly – if using step ins the front of your boot wearing away from a good
56 / ARMY MOUNTAINEER
Searching No 4 Gully Ben Nevis