studying for winter ml

Tue, Jan 13, 2009

They say Winter ML, ML(W) is the hardest qualification you can go for, especially if you come from a walking background. The years of commitment, skill levels and initiative required are an order of magnitude greater than Summer ML, ML(S), although ML(S) is a tough enough qualification in itself. On the last night of a three day exped into remote mountains, 1am in the morning, howling gale and heavy rain, you can wonder what on earth you’re doing there and being grilled into the bargain by a tough assessor saying “ok, you’re not where you thought you were, you’ve got 5 mins to sort it”. However, move forward a few months, increase the wind speed by 50mph, chuck in blowing snow and rub out the rest of the world in a whiteout and you get the picture for ML(W). Add in the requirement to have winter climbing experience (minimum of 10 Grade I routes and above) and it puts it at the extreme end of most walkers’ experience. It’s a real achievement to aim for and one that will give you fantastic days out and experiences you’ll never forget, while turning you into a competent winter mountaineer. Although it’s not designed to cover graded winter climbing, being a walking award and climbing is out of remit, you still need to demonstrate your comfort level on steep ground, hence the Grade I requirement. The thinking being that a lot of winter walking is on Grade I type ground such as open, steep slopes, although not specifically graded and in really bad weather a Grade I gully could get you out of trouble as a descent route.

Which leads nicely on to the next topic specific to ML(W). Avalanches. They happen all the time. On my ML(W) training, we passed avalanche debris at the foot of several gullies on Creag Meagaidh. I’ve been caught in a fairly big avalanche while climbing on Liathach in Torridon and the great slab in Coire an Lochain slides spectacularly. In fact, any slope over about 25 degrees can avalanche. So you need to know how the snowpack behaves throughout the season and follow the reports from SAIS. Follow the weather reports and the freeze-thaw cycles to get an idea of where to go and where to avoid. In this country, the wind is the major factor in all this, as it blasts the snow around, destroying the crystal structure and building up dangerous windslab on lees slopes, even on the sides of burns, known as crossloading. A hard packed coire headwall one day could be loaded by a violent SW gale the next, producing windslab buildup and the increased weight of new snow on old hard snow could trigger a major slide. In these conditions, ridges are your friends.

Once you’ve got past the major difficulties, you might find yourself popping out of a sheltered corrie into the full force of a Cairngorm blizzard, with miles of featureless white wastes between you and your car. A reliable knowledge of your step length (pacing) and how long it takes you to walk in different types of snow is essential. Not to mention having map and compass and spare ones too. Plus the mental capacity to cope with extreme weather in remote terrain, especially if leading a party of novices.

So in recognition of all these required skills, the Scottish Qualifications Authority have accredited ML(W) at Level 9, Ordinary Degree.