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Uclan Winter skills Scotland Fort William 2016


Day one – Sunday
Our First Journey day!

“On Sunday we hiked up towards Buachaille Etive Beag, before turning and heading towards Stob Coire Raineach, learning the basic skills of walking in snow, using crampons and ice axes. Overall it took 5-7 hours, in snow and poor visibility the higher we got up, as well as moderate wind that seem stronger due to the snow and cold. One each took different turns in leading the group and practicing how to walk in snow as it’s different to walking normally. I learnt so many skills for the first time that first day and really enjoyed the day, I know that the others did too.”
-Marianne Wilson

Day two – Monday

Our 2nd Journey day!

“For me, Monday was one of the main highlights of the unforgettable trip, we were all pretty equip and knew how to use our crampons and ice axes by then. We also knew how to judge the weather and make sensible decisions on what to do. The instructors kindly gave us the choice of journey or skills, we all choose a journey and it definitely payed of! The scenery was truly stunning, we all agreed that we couldn’t believe that there was that kind of scenery in the UK, and one of our instructors said that many of her clients say that too!. But it truly was breath taking.
 We also got to do a lot of scrambling with crampons on, allowing us to use them on rocky terrain and crags. We led the group one by one helping our leadership skills, focusing on our pacing and keeping the group together (as well as checking up on everyone using encouraging language when needed).
We all reached the summit of 1115 m (Stob Coire nan Lochan), this was a huge accomplishment, we all felt very proud of each other and had a great team spirit. For most of us it was the highest peak we’ve reached so far and has inspired us to want to accomplish more and more in our spare time.  The good weather also made us feel very lucky! Which carried on throughout the week.”
-Gabrielle Smith


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