Winter hillwalking, mountaineering and climbing in Scotland, and in particular on Ben Nevis, is world famous. We offer courses for everyone, whether you are just starting out or have years of experience under your belt.
Scotland is renown for its challenging conditions, which we are grateful for as they are essential to build up the ice and rime which makes winter climbing here so unique. Winter mountaineering, ice climbing and hillwalking activities are invariably affected by the weather and the current snow and ice conditions. To enjoy this challenging environment it is just as important to develop your skills and understand the hazards as it is to experience your dream route or develop your climbing technique.
All of our guides and instructors that work on our Scottish winter courses have excellent local knowledge accumulated over many years of personal winter walking and climbing. They are able to ensure that the most is made of every day in the mountains meaning anyone attending with us will gain useful insights on how to plan your day and get the best out of it, even during the most challenging weather.
Winter Cimb of Ben Nevis Great experience with a great guide (Will). I appreciated his skill, patience, kindness, knowledge, flexibility, and passion for the hills. Would highly recommend this guide and company for Ben Nevis.
Great winter climbing course with Sally We had an amazing day with Sally from West Coast on the winter climbing course. From initial contact to finals plans the night before we felt like we were in good hands. She provided the gear and took three of us up the hill and had great patter. Once we reached the snow we were led through the training with the ice axes and crampons before tackling the climb full... read more
Great Mountain Guides - Recommended Fantastic experience with West Coast, from the initial booking and correspondence through to the guiding from Simon. Everything was brilliant. Highly recommended.
5 day intro winter climbing Alex is genuinely the best instructor I've had the pleasure of learning from. I wasn't sure what to expect from the 5 days, but would have been happy coming away from it feeling I'd learnt something and having ticked off a few routes. I ended up having the most enjoyable and educational experience I've had since getting back into climbing. I feel Alex perfectly balanced getting us up the routes... read more
Introductory winter climbing course I completed the 5 day intro to winter climbing course with west coast mountain guides Our guide Alex Kay did a great job, he tailored each day to suit the groups aims and we learnt a lot in the short space of time whilst still keeping it really enjoyable. I'd highly recommend this to anyone who's thinking about it, just get it booked in, you won't regret it!
Winterising climbing skills Our guide David Whiteley was fantastic, fantastic teacher and made a great effort to find good routes in less than ideal ground conditions.
Awesome intro to winter climbing Awesome intro to winter climbing over three days with David and Dave. Learnt the basic safety and technical skills and managed to do some challenging climbs as early as the second day
Winter summit of Ben Nevis Awesome day with guide Craig who was knowledgeable, friendly and good fun. In great conditions we made it to the summit with some expert nav from our guide!
