Winter Skills 2026

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Winter Skills Trip 2025

So this is our annual winter skills trip! Running from the 9th-11th January! There's lots of important info here; please have a careful read through before you grab a ticket.

Tickets

Tickets will be released on the 20th November, at 8AM. This will be a single release to confirm your space on the trip. Because we hire instructors to run winter skills, this is an expensive trip, with different people paying different prices. The courses have been subsidised substantially by the club.

Total Prices: Walking: £98.73, Mountaineering: £141.65, Climbing: £211.98, No course: £60.98, No course and make your own way there ~£24.55. As normal, drivers get a small discount.

Payment Breakdown

• Deposit: This one releasing 20th Nov 8 am - to confirm your space on the trip and reserve a slot for you on your chosen course. This will cost £24.55.
• Accommodation & Fuel: The middle payment which covers the fuel costs of the trip. This will cost £36.44 for passengers and £11.08 for drivers.
• Course: The remaining cost of the trip. £36.75 for walkers, £79.67 for mountaineers, £150 for climbers.

If you want the opportunity to pay in more instalments, need to organise a payment plan, or need a discount to be able to afford to attend, please get in touch with our treasurer, Tom Johnson, or apply to the access fund, before purchasing a ticket!

Please fill in the info form once you've bought your ticket!!! Link here: https://forms.gle/xJt3u1ncqUvQd7bb7

Prerequisites

In order to attend this trip, you must have attended the Avalanche talk that will occur on Friday 21st of November, 6:30pm, Faraday LT. If you miss this, please get in touch as it contains important safety information. We'll share a recording of it in the coming weeks.

Leaving times will be sorted at a later date. We'll leave from campus across a range of times. We'll email you closer to the date with more information.

We also have the hut booked for the Sunday evening, so some cars may choose to head back on the Monday morning. Let us know on the form if this could work for you.

Courses

There are 3 different courses available this weekend: winter walking, winter mountaineering, and winter climbing.

• Winter walking: An introduction to safely moving around the mountains during the often adverse conditions found in winter, teaching important skills around the use of an axe and crampons, alongside vital avalanche awareness and navigational skills. It's taught in a 1:8 ratio, and is open to anyone. We recommend some experience with summer hill walking for a better experience.
• Winter mountaineering: This course moves onto more involved terrain such as gullies and ridges, using scrambling techniques and basic ropework skills. Prerequisites include familiarity with basic climbing and winter skills, using an axe and crampons, and lead belaying. If you're interested but cannot lead belay, please reach out before buying a ticket.
• Winter climbing: The most advanced course, tackling steeper, mixed faces. Prerequisites include experience with an axe, crampons, and summer trad leading. Tickets are limited and taught in a 1:2 ratio.

We also have a fourth option: you can climb on your own with no course. You must be competent and experienced - potentially having already completed all courses - and be able to accurately assess the day's conditions and adjust your plans accordingly. LUMC will only be responsible for providing accommodation and transport over the weekend, and as such, you must be willing to take sole responsibility for your safety and actions. You must adhere to the club's Code of Conduct (found here), even when doing your own thing, and keep things sensible and within your limits. Any sketchy antics will mean we bar you from future Winter Skills trips. 

If you have questions about which course is right for you, please reach out to James Parsons or Charlie Douch (lumcclimbing@gmail.com) before buying a ticket.

Accommodation & Info

We will be staying at the Kincraig Community Hall, which is near where we'll be doing the activities.

Food will be provided over the weekend, with veggie evening meals on Friday and Saturday nights (with vegan options), alongside basic lunch materials for sandwiches. If you have any dietary requirements, please include them on your form.

There will be a quiet room for those who need a break away from the chaos, please note on the info form if you'd like a spot. This will be sent out at a later date.

We aim to be an accessible and inclusive society, so please tell us about your needs so we can help support you and enable you to make the most of the trip. The courses offered are run by Mountain Training qualified instructors, so if you need physical adaptations to the activities involved, they can make reasonable adaptations to the plans for the day. Nevertheless, this will be a physically demanding weekend. Toilet facilities (and a cafe!) are available at the car park where we'll start & finish from, but throughout the day, wild wees will be the name of the game.

Kit List

Kit list: The kit list is below. If you're missing something, mention it on the event form or drop us a message and we'll try and fix you up. Get in touch!

Whilst this may seem obvious, it is likely to be very, very cold, so please bring lots of layers. It’s also likely your clothes will get wet, so bring changes of clothes too!

 Compulsory:

• Sleeping bag & mat
• Thermals or suitable under clothing
• Insulating layers (At least one mid-weight and one warm fleece layer)
• Thick socks (at least 2 pairs)
• Insulated jacket / spare fleeces
• Waterproof jacket
• Waterproof overtrousers or salopettes
• Gaiters
• Hat 
• Gloves  a thin pair, 2 thick pairs
• Ski goggles
• Clothes to be indoors in the evenings
• Hiking boots/sturdy trainers to wear when not out on the course
• Snacks and Drinks
• Toiletries
• Water bottle (s) & Flask
• Any personal medication 

Compulsory but can be borrowed from the club:

• Headtorch (and batteries/charger)
• Rucksack(40-50l)
• Crampons
• Mountaineering/Walking Ice Axe
• Climbing Helmet
• Harness
• Belay kit

Compulsory, can be rented from our Instructors: (£20 for the weekend):

• Mountaineering/Winter boots. We reccomend hiring our instructors' B3 boots, if you want to use your own, they should be at least B1 for the walking course. (If in doubt, ask!)

Optional:

• Walking Poles
• Compass
• Blister kit/personal first aid kit
• Whistle 
• Map
• Camera
• Games to play in the evening

In addition, Mountaineers and Climbers need:

• Harness & belay kit
• Climbing hardware (not required unless you wish to use your own)

Refunds are available upon request under certain conditions.

We are aware that there is a high expense to all of the gear needed on this trip, while it is possible to borrow much of it from the club and other members, if you would like to buy your own gear (particularly layers) have a look at the sites below for discounted or second hand things:

• https://www.magic-mountain.co.uk
• https://mountain-kit.co.uk
• https://www.alpinetrek.co.uk
• Vinted, Depop, and Facebook Marketplace also frequently have layers. Looking specifically for brands such as Rab, Mountain Equipment, Montane, etc. will likely show better results!