Kirsty McGovern, Buyer at pet supply specialist Millbry Hill shares her top five tips for taking your dog on a trek during the colder winter months. Read on to find out more. When the temperature drops, trails get muddy, and everything ices over, enjoying a nice, long walk with your dog can get tricky. To …
If you want the ultimate winter challenge then get out and build a snow hole this winter… You’ll need.. Snow. One shovel (or the more the merrier) Survival bag (you many need to place this on the floor in order to pull snow away from the hole?) Plenty of time! Find a drift of snow …
You may well be ready for your first winter walk, but there are some things that you may or may not have expect on the hill in winter. It’s also an excuse for us to churn out another page full of lovely snowy pictures! 1 Sunburn – You may well have packed the summer kit …
Five Things You Might Find Surprising on Your First Winter Walk Read More »
It’s December already, and while there’a nary a flake fallen on the Welsh hills it doesn’t hurt to prepare for all that lovely snow we’re sure to have in the coming months! So here’s a run down of some of our winter themed articles from the archives to get you started. You know, a bit …
What You Need To Know Before Heading to the Hills This Winter Read More »
You often read that you’ll need this, that or the other on a winter walk in Snowdonia. We even put a list together – Essential Winter Hillwalking Checklist– saying just that. What we forgot to mention is that it’s never that straightforward. You usually set off from the bus stop / car park / village …
Winter’s upon us and walking the hills at this time of year is a totally different proposition to the summer. Here’s a run down of our Mud and Routes Winter Skill Posts to get you started. You’ll need to start by knowing exactly what to take with you, so here’s our Winter Gear kit list …
With winter upon us, if you’re lucky, you may have to set out in the snow. Here’s a run-down of the kit you’ll need in addition to the basic summer kit. This is typical kit for a typical winter in Snowdonia, and you will need to be more prepared for avalanche risk if you venture into …
Thanks to Tryf – Tryf’s Blog – for this idea. Finding himself needing to carry a spanking new pair of crampons on a walk, he realised that he had no way of carrying them without them damaging his kit inside the pack. He improvised by using a stud bag as a crampon bag, and does …
The Beast’s Tip of the Week – Improvised Crampon Bag Read More »
Another of those little things that can easily cause a bit of head scratching. Ideally, if you’ve never done this then you probably should ask someone to show you how to do this. If you’ve done it and need a reminder (my first winter trip every year sees me fixing my crampons incorrectly! I’m hoping …
One of the more difficult things for winter walking is getting used to walking in crampons again. Unless you’re lucky enough to get up to Scotland over the winter, then walking with crampons further south is something you may only wear for a few hours on a day trip and only rarely all day. So …
To some of you, this may well be stating the obvious but if you’re ready for your first trip out in the snow with a group and you’ve packed your flask and sandwiches. Then you’ve a pack in one hand and an axe in the other and you realise you haven’t a clue how to …
Winter Skills – Attaching your Axe to your Pack Read More »
Taking an ice axe on your winter trip is all well and good but you need to know how to use it for stability and, if you do slip, for self arrest techniques. Walking poles just don’t cut it. This is just a useful reminder video and it’s recommended that you get shown the ropes …
With Winter officially here and the clocks turned back to perpetual darkness for another five months, the only good thing we’ve got to look forward to is mountain biking on Snowdon and the possibility of loads of lovely snow. Before you get out there it might be worth watching the Snowdonia National Park’s video to brush …
Diogelwch ar y Mynydd Amodau Gaeafaol- Mountain Safety – Winter Conditions Read More »
It’s not officially winter, but it’s definately start of the winter season as far as the mountains are concerned, so we’ve put together a small series of articles in order for you to make the most of any snow we may be lucky enough to fall. We’ll have a few articles on winter skills, videos …
Setting out for a winter walk you’ll need to make sure you’re properly dressed, but if you’re not then you’re from as much risk from overheating as you are from the cold. You need to be comfortable.. This means that it’s no good whacking on that down jacket at the start of the walk, unless …
You may think we’ve finally lost it but now’s the time to buy all the stuff you need for winter! Following the heavy snow last year, you may remember the difficulty in getting hold of those essential items that you didn’t think of until the white stuff had fallen! Here are some thing that you may need …
This is the second part of our article on wild camping in winter snow. Rest of the stuff. I carried all the gear in the OMM Villain pack. This isn’t really big enough for this sort of trip. The sleeping bag is a bit on the bulky side, and the down mat takes up the …
Some have emailed asking what gear you can use for a winter wildcamp. Here’s my selection of gear. I’ve split it into two posts – one for the ‘big 3’ of shelter, sleep and cooking and the other for the rest of the stuff. Freezing conditions were expected and the gear below kept me comfortable …
Of course, it should go without saying that you’ll need to know how to use the gear properly! Walking in crampons and making proper use of the ice axe are both essential skills. Get a mate to show you, join a club or pay for a course. If you’re going to pay for it, I’d …
Hill Walking Winter Skills 2 – The Equipment You’ll Need Read More »
Well, I’d like to think it was. I’ve been looking at the freezing levels since the end of August when there was a forecast for Yr Wyddfa to almost freeze. Since then, I’ve managed to wild camp 600m below the only snowline we’ve had this winter, the 3rd of October. Rain during the night soon cleared any …
Hill Walking Winter Skills 1 – Clothing for Hill Walking in Snow Read More »
