Glencoe & Course Notes Welcome to your course notes for your scrambling course based in Glencoe & Ben Nevis

SCRAMBLING – GLENCOE AND BEN NEVIS Location: , Highlands of Ratio: 1:2 Length: 5 days WHO IS THE COURSE SUITABLE FOR? This is a week long trip exploring the best scrambling in Glencoe and Lochaber. Over the five days we will team up at a 1:2 ratio to enjoy the best routes that the area has to offer. Classic objectives include the Ring of Steall, CMD Arete, Tower Ridge, Castle Ridge, The , Curved Ridge and much more. You need to have done our intro and advanced scrambling courses and be up for a week of adventure on the best scrambling there is on the Scottish mainland. WHEN DOES THIS COURSE RUN? You can view the dates of all of our courses throughout the year on the diary page. We only run this adventure once a year. WHAT ABOUT ACCOMMODATION? We do not include accommodation with this course. We will base ourselves in Fort William and there is a wide range of accommodation options to suit all budgets from camping to hotels. If people want to share a house then we can put you in touch with other course members to keep costs down. WHO RUNS THE COURSE? I direct this course myself. I hold the MIC and IML qualifications and have many years of practical experience of working with a wide range of clients. I am also assisted by other local Instructors who are good friends of mine and the whole course is run at a 1:2 ratio. Kit List If we are very lucky and have perfect weather there are things that you might not end up using but more likely you will be very glad to have them! There will probably be things on here that seem odd but bear with me - all will become clear on your course!

Rucksack - 35 to 45 litres (room for your kit plus a rope, helmet and harness) Waterproof jacket Waterproof trousers boots Drink Lunch Hat and Gloves Thermal top – do not wear cotton Mountain Trousers – no cotton please Fleece jumper Fleece jacket 1 x spare gloves 1 x spare warm layer Spare food Personal First Aid & sanitary supplies Sunglasses and Sun Cream (weather dependant!) Blizzard Survival Jacket (Emergency kit) http://www.blizzardsurvival.com/article.php/62/blizzard- jacket-active-range/ab47bae9a8eb0f054d84ed3c8b7ae403

We will provide ropes, harnesses and helmets and all other specialised equipment if appropriate. If you have any of your own gear then you are welcome to bring it along although we will only use our ropes.

Jewellery Remove all jewellery before joining your course as it can snag on rocks, trees etc which can be nasty! If you do not want to remove a wedding ring then tape it up at the start of each day – climbers have lost fingers by getting rings caught!

Transport I don’t provide transport as part of the course price and I don’t charge a fee if I give you a lift. This is for insurance purposes. I am always happy to offer people a lift as a friend and if you have a car I may ask you to use it if we have more people than seats. There is free parking all day behind the Pinnacle Cafe so bring your car with you and we can sort out lifts on the day. We also occasionally use public transport so a small amount of cash might be useful. Cancellation Your booking is subject to our terms and conditions. As a small business unfortunately we cannot offer postponements and do stick to our cancellation policy if you need to cancel your course space. The BMC offer a very good insurance policy that will cover you for trip cancellation and personal injury.

What about accommodation? Accommodation is not provided as this allows us to keep the course cost low and you can then arrange accommodation to suit your budget. For a range of accommodation options visit the link on our website. The course meets each morning in Fort William and so aim to base yourselves there if possible.

Insurance: We do not include insurance within our course fees. For all overseas trips you will require an E111 and specialist mountaineering insurance and we will require a copy of the policy. We also recommend insurance for our UK courses. Our approved insurance contractors are: BMC: 0870 0104878 or The Foundry: 0114 2755806

BMC Article on Risk & Safety in & mountaineering.

The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) is the representative body in the UK for hill walkers, climbers and mountaineers. It has produced a Participation Statement for anyone involved in walking, climbing or mountaineering to say that:

The BMC recognises that climbing and mountaineering are activities with a danger of personal injury or death. Participants in these activities should be aware of and accept these risks and be responsible for their own actions.

If you join one of our courses you acknowledge and accept these risks and so we thought a few facts and figures might be useful in explaining what you are accepting.

Injuries Injuries are possible in climbing, hill walking and mountaineering, as in all sporting activities, as a result of over-training, inappropriate training regimes, or poor technique as well as those that might be sustained during a slip or fall, or if something or someone falls on a person.

Risk Risks need to be put in context. There are currently about 5 million climbing wall user visits annually and it has bee estimated that between the 1960s and 2005 there were approximately 50 million climbing wall user visits in the UK alone. During that period there was only one fatality at a wall in England and . There are 13 million young people in this country. Of the approximately 700 fatal accidents that occur every year, there is approximately one child death per year in organised adventurous activities in comparison with 457 land transportation accidents (National Statistics). Risk is an integral part of the activity and can play a vital role in helping young people to acquire these extremely important life skills. Minimising the risk boils down to having the right level of skill and experience relative to the difficulty of the activity. Our courses will help you to understand and assess these risks for yourself. Accidents can happen due to circumstances over which the climber has no control, such as a rockfall, and in these events first aid training can make all the difference.

Accident rates Because experienced climbers strive very hard to know their own limitations, the sport enjoys remarkably low accident rates. Incidents that make news headlines often involve individuals operating in environments for which they were ill-prepared, and this can give a somewhat skewed impression of the dangers involved in the sport. Many of the ‘climbers’ reported in the media as having been involved in accidents, died or got lost in mountainous areas are not dedicated climbers. Often they are tourists who have gone out walking or people who don't have much experience in the mountains. Therefore some of the tragedies that hit the headlines may reflect poorly on dedicated mountaineers who are more likely to be better prepared and not as likely to require mountain rescue. Even on a course there is a need for personal responsibility and self reliance in all mountaineering activities. We will have contingency plans in the event of an emergency and are first aid trained but you should also carry basic first aid equipment as detailed in your course notes. All of our courses aim to teach you to assess the risks for yourself, to make you an independent climber/mountaineer or hillwalker but there are some risks that we cannot completely remove.

If you feel uncomfortable at any time you should say so and don’t be afraid to ask why we are doing what we are doing. There is no pressure whatsoever for you to take part in any activity that you do not want to take part in.

The BMC has produced an introductory booklet for parents of young people who participate in climbing-related activities.