Intro to Winter Climbing in Scotland
Learn essential skills in the Ben Nevis massif - the birthplace of UK ice climbing
What's Included?
Small Like-minded Groups
Solo-friendly by design, join our small n’ sociable groups of up to 8 like-minded, active and outdoorsy people…
…
What's it like?
Don your crampons and ice axes and head to the Scottish Highlands to master ice climbing and winter mountain skills
Tackle an epic winter ascent up Tower Ridge, the crown jewel of Ben Nevis and one of the longest routes in the country
Learn from local expert instructors, with a guide-to-climber ratio of 1:2, side-by-side guidance and soft words of encouragement
Key Information
Day 1
Meet up and gear check
Your Scottish climbing adventure begins. Meet your guide at the Ellis Brighams store in Fort William and have a full kit check to make sure that you’ve got everything you need. Any hire equipment you need for the trip will be sorted in the shop. You'll chat through your experience and aspirations with your guide to make sure you get the most out of the trip. All that’s left to do now is settle into your accommodation, grab some dinner with your fellow adventurers and get ready for the challenging days ahead.
Day 2
Gone climbin'
Hiking
Ice Climbing
Shoulder your pack and walk up through the trees, catching your first glimpses of the north face of Ben Nevis en route to the Charles Inglis Clark (C.I.C.) hut - the highest mountain hut in the British Isles and steeped in winter climbing lore. Layer up at the hut before starting the ascent to the base of your climbing route. You will be coached in how to use your ice axes and crampons properly as you transition from steep winter walking into climbing terrain. Your first pitch is an icefall at the base of the route, you’ll climb the frozen waterfall under the watchful eye of your instructor. Next up, tackle a tricky rock corner above, learning how to use ice axes to hook and torque your way upwards. Once at the top it’s a hike back to the car, and then off to the pub for a well-earned pint and some grub.
Day 3
National Ice Climbing Centre
Ice Climbing
Head over to Ice Factor in nearby Kinlochleven - the National Ice Climbing Centre and home of the largest indoor ice climbing wall in the world. You will have some coaching on the 14m high ice wall, giving you lots of time on steep ice using two tools to really focus on your movement skills. Spend the rest of the day learning how to build belays and create anchors to progress your climbing further, as well as doing some 'dry tooling' - using ice axes on climbing holds. Come away from today with a really good mix of climbing techniques to take back into the mountains tomorrow.
Day 4
The big one - climbing Tower Ridge
Hiking
Ice Climbing
Repeat your hike-in from day 2 to get to the CIC hut before gearing up at the Tower Ridge, the crown jewel of Ben Nevis, if not Scotland itself! You will test everything you have learnt on the previous days, from how to climb frozen rocks, belay your climbing partners, build anchors and how to navigate safely down. It’s a long day but when you’re back down and looking up at Ben Nevis you’ll be grinning from ear to ear. Time for a hot toddy before you head back to Fort William to bid farewell to your new climbing buddies. Note that depending on conditions, you may be climbing an alternate route to Tower Ridge, since snow and ice conditions in Scotland are notoriously unpredictable!
The Area
Logistics
Starts
Ellis Brigham Mountain Sports store in Fort William
17:30 on Day 1
Ends
Ellis Brigham Mountain Sports store in Fort William
18:00 on Day 4
Transfers
The start and endpoint of this trip are at the Ellis Brigham Mountain Sports store in Fort William; you'll need to make your own way there. The group will meet here at 17:30 on Day 1, although you are free to check into your accommodation from 14:00 onwards.
Travel options
Regular trains run to Fort William from across the UK. You can also drive directly to the accommodation in Fort William if you wish. Inverness is the closest airport, with Glasgow Airport also an option. There are regular city link buses from Glasgow and Inverness to Fort William, these are quicker and more frequent than the train. If you're travelling from Southern England, the sleeper train from London is a great option. The adventure finishes in time on the last day if you need to catch the sleeper train for your return trip south.
Day 1
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 2 – Day 3
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 4
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
What is the food like?
For breakfast expect a typical Scottish buffet-style cooked breakfast. You will be able to sort packed lunches out before heading out each day and dinner will be in the town where you can find a good cosy pub and local ales. Most dietary requirements can be accommodated, including vegetarian and vegan diets.
What is the accommodation like?
Fort William
You'll be staying in a small hotel or local guesthouse in Fort William such as The Nevis Bank Inn, a modern hotel on the banks of the River Nevis in the centre of Fort William, which is locally renowned for its restaurant. As this part of the highlands can be very busy the exact accommodation will be confirmed closer to the time of departure. Rooms are allocated on a twin-share basis wherever possible but on occasion you may be in a triple, depending on availability and the group split.
Upgrades
For solo travellers looking for their own space, an optional private room can be booked for an extra charge. Prices start from £45 per person per night but can be as high as £200 for last-minute requests. Please request this when booking.
We’re still waiting to collect any reviews from other travellers on this trip. However, all our hosts go through an extensive vetting process to ensure that your adventure is awesome.
Guides
Local, certified mountain guides (1:2 ratio)
Accommodation
3 nights in a guesthouse or hotel
Meals
Proper breakfasts to fuel you up the mountain
Equipment
All technical equipment, including helmet, harness and ropes, ice axes and crampons
Our trips are hassle-free by design. We include all the activities and equipment, as well as many of the meals, so you can simply rock up with your rucksack and share the adventure with your new pals.
Personal Expenses
You know your own spending habits best, so please budget an appropriate amount for things like optional meals and drinks, shopping, optional activities, and laundry.
What's included?
- Pair of climbing crampons c2-3 rated
- Pair of technical climbing axes
- Leashes or lanyards
- Belay device and carabiner
- Ropes and all other climbing gear
- Climbing harness and helmet
- B3 rated winter boots
Your host will carry essential group equipment such as a first aid kit and a group shelter.
Please bring your own helmet, harness, B3 rated boots, crampons and ice axes if you have them. Always best to use your own gear where possible.
What do I need to bring?
- Rucksack (we recommend 40 litres) with liner
- Waterproof hiking boots (not shoes)
- Thermal base layer
- Fleece top – not cotton
- Polyester, fleece or woollen trousers and tops (no jeans)
- Heavy-duty waterproof jacket and waterproof over trousers
- Hat without bobble so helmet can fit
- Ski goggles
- At least 3 pairs of warm ski type gloves or mitts
- Thin gloves
- Neck buff plus spare
- Head torch (not handheld) and extra batteries
- Flask or water bottle
- Energy snacks
- Whistle
- Sunglasses and sun cream (seriously!)
- Towel
- Emergency survival bag (6’ by 3’ orange poly bag available from any outdoor store)
- Walking poles (if you like to use them for hiking sections)
- Approach shoes (these will be useful if you have them already, if not your hiking boots alone will do)
Pre/post trip accommodation in Fort William (Single) From:
Payable Before Departure
Pre/post trip accommodation in Fort William (Single) From:
… Per night
Pre/post trip accommodation in Fort William (Twin/Double) From:
Payable Before Departure
Pre/post trip accommodation in Fort William (Twin/Double) From:
… Per night
We partner with the World Land Trust to ensure this trip achieves Net-Zero emissions. We also support their Buy an Acre program, helping local communities to buy and protect natural habitats in perpetuity.
What's the number?
It works out on average at 111kg of CO2 emissions per person, including all local transport, accommodation, food, activities, guides, staff and office operations.
The only thing it doesn’t include right now is flights and travel to the destination. We do make an overall estimate across all our customers separately, but as we don’t book flights, have customers from all corners of the world, and no way of reliably knowing their travel plans, we simply can’t include an individual number in the figure on display here. We’ve got a goal to fix that, so that when you book, there is a way to measure and mitigate the carbon emitted by your flight too.
But what does the number mean?
Yep, hard to picture eh? To give you an idea:
- Driving 1000 miles/1609km would be approximately 281kg of CO2 in an average car (or 140.5kg per person, if there were two of you in it).
- A return economy class flight between London and New York would be approximately 1619kg (1.66 tonnes) per person.
- 10 trees in a temperate forest are estimated to remove approximately 250kg of CO2 from the air in a period of 5-10 years.
What are we doing about it?
Our trips are relatively low-carbon by design, and we're working with all our hosts to develop long term carbon reduction plans. We partner with the World Land Trust to ensure this trip achieves Net-Zero emissions. We also support their Buy an Acre programme, helping local communities to buy and protect natural habitats in perpetuity, ensuring the protection of the reserve and its wildlife.
Want to know more?
Amazingly, no international travel company has ever publicly published their carbon measurements before, as far as we know. We believe that must change, quickly. So we’re openly sharing the method we used in the hope that other companies will be able to more easily follow suit and build on what we've done so far. You'll find it all here.
There is a preferred route if the conditions are fine, however, as the mountain weather in the highlands is very unpredictable, your guides will be making constant decisions regarding alternative routes to take and which climbs to tackle based on safety considerations. The itinerary is totally flexible and the routes are not fixed.
Nope! This trip is perfect for people with no experience, as well as for anyone progressing from summer rock climbing or from climbing indoors.
This adventure is also a perfect follow on from two of our other Scotland climbing trips: Summit Ben Nevis and Learn Winter Mountain Skills and Intro to Mountaineering on the Isle of Skye
Each guide holds the Winter Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor Certificate - having been assessed and approved by the British Mountaineering Association. This is the highest professional certification for Mountaineering in the UK. They all hold First Aid certifications as well.
Sure can! Over 70% of our travellers travel solo, it’s a great way to meet like-minded people.
Our team of Adventure Hunters co-create exclusive adventures which are run by highly vetted, specialist hosts. The trip is run by our trusted host partner in the destination. We only work with independent, local, in-destination experts who know the very best places to explore and how to stay safe. Read more information about the local teams we partner with. You’ll be introduced to the host straight after making a booking via the Much Better Adventures platform.
Much Better Adventures refer to the UK Government’s official travel advice when designing trips and monitoring trip operations. We recommend that all customers review the practical information available on the UK Government’s FCDO website, where you can find up-to-date advice by searching for your destination(s).
If you are based in the United States, you can also check the latest travel advisories from the U.S. Department of State.
For customers joining from other international locations, we recommend checking the official travel advice issued by your country of residence, as guidance may vary.
We recommend checking out the country-specific information and also talking to a travel nurse.
We automatically convert prices from the local currency that a host receives to your chosen currency. We update our exchange rates daily, so prices displayed on the site are subject to currency fluctuations, which is why you may see them change over time.
If you wish to change the currency you pay in, head to the bottom of the page.
All of our group adventures are specially designed for adults to enjoy as we want these adventures to bring together outdoorsy people who are truly like-minded. You must be over 18 to join one of our trips.
You're always in good company on one of our adventures.
Our trips typically consist of a mix of solo travelers and small groups of 2 or 3 friends, with most in their 30s-50s.
Our sociable adventures are solo-friendly by design and naturally attract outdoorsy people with a shared mindset; a love for adventure, a desire to push themselves, and meet awesome, like-minded people along the way.
It’s this camaraderie that has so often turned a great adventure into a life-changing one.
Don't just take our word for it:
- 95% of people rate the group dynamics on our trips 5/5
- 90% of people recommend joining a trip to make new friends
- 75% of people have met people on our trips that they would now consider friends
See here for more info about the Much Better Adventures tribe.
Reviews
Alice February 2023
Lara February 2022
James December 2021
Arthur January 2022
"Cannot recommend this trip highly enough. This was my second MBA trip through Conor and his team, I did the Isle of Skye Mountaineering Course in August, and both have been faultless. The guides were very knowledgeable and able to accommodate everyone's different abilities and goals. The fact that the trip is left open to changes meant that even though there was a lack of good snow in most areas, we still got to do 3 good winter routes. I was originally disappointed that Tower Ridge wouldn't be possible but its replacement, 3 Gully Buttress, was an amazing adventure in the mountains so that disappointment did not last long."
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