Avalanche Awareness course with Mountaineering Scotland. We went over theory and equipment the first few hours of the course and went out with the MIC's in groups to go out and get practical training in relation to avalanches. We went to the Cairgorm ski area. There was a lot of snow and moderate wind at the start of the walk. Later the weather turned with heavy snow and an increasing windspeed.
Very early on one member of the group could not keep up with the walking pace of the MIC in charge of our group. the MIC did not seem to notice her struggling so other group members and I kept an eye on her and let her walk in front of us so we would walk at here pace. The MIC was at least 60 meters in front of us and I whistled several times on a few occasions for him to stop and check on her. He didn't hear it initially but eventually he did and we didn't make it to the intended area. He then thought us not far from the area we were in at the time. The struggling group member wasn't checked up on much by him after that but she made a remarkable recovery as soon as it was decided to turn around and not go further. over all it was a good day's learning more about avalanches and what to look out for in winter in order to better assess the risks involved.
Area :
The Cairngorms
The Cairngorms are ‘a little piece of the arctic in Scotland’ according to the SMC Munros Guide and the area contains many of the tallest peaks in the East Highlands. Ben Macdui (1309m), Cairn Gorm (1244m) and Braeriach (1296) are probably three of the better known and the whole area is full of steep corries and high plateaux. Access to the mountains is typically from Aviemore or Braemar.
