Winter Mountain Adventure
Key Information
Dates:
2 Feb - 8 Feb 2025
Duration:
5 full days, 6 nights
Accomodation:
Self Catered
Physicality:
hard
Group Size:
5 clients
Price:
£1600 (£600 Deposit)
This workshop is fully booked. Please sign up to the mailing list or email me.
What to Expect
In February of 2025 I will once again be teaming up with Winter Mountain Leader Rich ‘Mountain’ Pyne to offer a photography workshop like no other. This trip is half photography workshop half winter skills course. Not only will you expand your photographic horizons but you will also learn how to travel safely in the winter mountains. We'll have a small group - 5 clients, 2 leaders. The trip includes 6 night accomodation at a very well appointed house in Ballachulish, complete with hot tub and sauna! We will plan to spend 5 full days out in the winter mountains.
The winter skills portion of this course will teach you all you need to know to become a confident winter walker. This will include: boot and crampon technique, ice axe use and self-arrest, winter specific equipment advice, weather interpretation and avalanche awareness. Rich has a stellar professional reputation and, aside from his extensive experience, he's a lot of fun!
Photographically Glencoe is the place to be in winter, and if snow wasnt enough to go beyond the usual cliches, we will of course be visiting hard to reach locations that are little photographed. We'll be planning to hike a few mountains in the area and timing our ascents for sunrise or sunset if the light looks like it will be in our favour. This will likely mean a bit of hiking in the dark.
Itinerary
The itinerary will be entirely flexible with no set plan for the trip. The description below gives you an idea of what might typically happen. There is almost always a couple of days of bad weather and the shooting opportunities can be hard to come by, but when they arrive they are well worth the effort. You'll notice that very few of my winter images are taken at sunrise and sunset, partly because you have to be lucky to get them and partly because stormy light is often preferable anyway!
Sunday: Meet for dinner and go over plans for the coming day, with a vague idea of how the week might proceed! (We might meet Rich for dinner, or see him the following morning)
Monday: Early start to go for a mountain hike - bad weather sets in so we get up to the snowline and do some winter skills - return before dark.
Tuesday There's a good forecast from noon so we focus our attention on sunset and getting up a mountain with plenty of time. We meet for coffee and head off at 10am. We stay for twilight and head down in the dark.
Wednesday: Terrible weather - we head out anyway for a low level walk. The weather is so bad we turn back. In the afternoon and evening I run a series of 1-to-1 processing sessions.
Thursday: The bad weather continues but with the winds much lighter we get up to the snowline and practice more winter skills. When the cloud breaks we get some incredible glimpses of the mountains with occasional glimses of sunlight making for dramatic photographs.
Friday: We get lucky with the weather forecast and meet at 4.30am to do a mountain hike before sunrise. We shoot in broken cloudy conditions in the afternoon. The photography portion of the trip ends, but we have a final night in our accomodation.
Fitness and Experience
You should have done a mountain or two in the past and have reasonable overall fitness but you don’t need to be an athlete. More important than fitness is enthusiasm and a sense of adventure. We are likely to be out all day in the cold and if rolling around in the snow practicing self-arrest techniques sounds like fun this could be the trip for you!
Equipment
Clothing should include baselayers, mid-layers, a down jacket, possibly synthetic insulation for when its a bit wetter, full waterproofs (jacket and trousers), hat, thin gloves, thick gloves and B2 boots (stiff winter boots that take a crampon). B2 boots are required because they are MUCH better on snow whether using crampons or not, the lack of flex means that they can be used to kick steps and take your weight without bending and sliding out of the slope (to be explained on the course!). Walking poles are extremely helpful, and goggles are a necessity if we are walking in the snow in strong winds.
Crampons, ice axe and helmet can be rented cheaply from myself or Richard and in Fort William. However these items will last a lifetime so if you think this is something you'll be interested in long term you might choose to buy! B2 boots may be something you want to look into buying, but again they can be rented relatively cheaply at outdoor shops.
I would recommend keeping camera kit simple – an SLR, a wide-angle lens, a telephoto lens, filters and a tripod. A 24-70 or 24-105 can be particularly useful on challenging days where there may be excellent photographic opportunities but its difficult to change lenses!
Transport
I may be able to assist with transport from Fort William (definitely) or Glasgow (possibly) as long some of the group are driving. Please let me know when you book if you need a lift! Once you're at the accomodation transport will take care of itself!
Accomodation
Accomodation is included. We will be staying at Island View House in Ballachulish. There are 4 double rooms (£1600 single occupancy) and a twin room (shared with me, £1200). If you would like to share a double with a partner then the couples rate is £2600.
Payment
This workshop is priced at £1600 for a double room (single occupancy), or £1200 if you are willing to share a twin room with me (I don't snore!). A £600 deposit is required to book your place.
This workshop is fully booked. Please sign up to the mailing list or drop me an email.
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