Nothing may beat the spontaneity of a day out in the local hills that you know like the palm of your hand. In Scotland in particular the need to seize the hour while the snow is there, or the sun is out, can be compelling. Moreover, for the experienced practitioner of any outdoor pursuit, the equipment and knowledge appropriate to such a trip is already, methaphorically if not actually, by the front door, or in the boot of the car. Experience has created both a set of questions to ask and the knowledge which allows us to answer those questions without too much thinking. Safe and appropriate behaviour in familiar surroundings is a habit, a routine that serves us well in normal circumstances. Such habits, however, are built on a basis of prior gathering of knowledge and experience.
When planning a trip in different circumstances, and most interesting trips will have some new dimensions, these questions need to form an explicit and formal framework. Especially if you are planning trips for youngsters, increasingly you will berequired to carry out a formal process of risk assessment. Adults may be equals and individually responsible for their own actions, but to leave it until you are on the hill to discover individual tastes and skills are non compatible is irresponsible. To accompany someone in the hills means to accept responsibilities towards them. This does not mean they are not responsible for their own safety, no adult should join a party in the hills unless they are personnally happy that the answers to the following questions are appropriate for them. Making the questions and answers explicit is one way to ensure that mutual responsibilities are met. Some questions answer themselves easily.Others take more research. Others require making transparent assumptions we often leave implicit.
This list has a logical structure, but the answers to the earlier questions should be reviewed in the light of the answers lower down the list. If you establish that the proposed party has neither the physical stamina, the skills, or the equipment for a high level trip in winter, you would not, for example, seek to tackle the HRP in the Pyrennes with them. You would need to change either your party or your chosen venue and objectives.
Use the list iteratively, and with intelligence, not as a simple checklist with boxes to fill to satisfy the needs of someone else. Making sure the answers to these questions are comfortable for you and other party members is a precondition for a satisfying trip. You don't want to rule out the unexpected, but you do want to be ready for the challenges you anticipate.
1. Where are you going to go for your trip
Different locations offer different opportunities. The commercial ski and walking brochures recognise this and make recommendations in terms of the scope for people with different skill levels and different tastes. Does your chosen region offer a broad or narrow spectrum of activities?
2. Who will you be going with, what are their capacities and skills
Different people have different skills, physical capacities and tastes. Your trip will be successful only if you recognise the contributions individuals can make and the limitations people bring. Make sure everyone in the group accepts the limits of others and will not threaten the group by disappearing too far in front or too far behind. Make sure that the leaders will not take the followers into terrain which is outside their capacity. Stretching comfort zones, a laudable objective in itself, should never result in forcing people to tackle terrain they cannot handle. If you don't know the capacities of indiciduals in the group, plan initial activities which allow people to demonstrate what suits them best before you embark on more ambitious and committing activities. Any key skills needed for group safety should not be unique to one person. One compass, one map, one navigator are all risks to avoid.
Individuals with health problems should always carry their own personal medicines. Formal leaders are expected to know if anyone in their group has special problems and know what to do in appropriate circumstances, and the growing problems of asthma and allergies amonst the young and heart problems amongst older groups should not just be ignored.
3. What will it cost, how will you get there, where will you stay
Someone needs to establish a realistic budget framework which covers all the costs of a trip. Common costs like accommodation, travel, transfers, equipment carriage, food, ski passes, National Park entry fees etc need to be established. Arrangements for sharing common costs should be clear, are communal meals planned, is alcohol part of the common weal. The groups intentions to eat out, take side trips etc should also be indicated. The Club has established a clear framework for standard Club meets that deals with these issues, but for other activities the members' obligations need to be clearly stated. It is tempting to assume lowest common cost should be the organising principle, but this may not always be appropriate.
Which way will you get there
The Club operates a Car pool for Scottish events and in general
this operates effectively to facilitate cost sharing and access.
On overseas trips, however, the permutations and combinations
become greater, and the event organiser has to seek to compromise
between cost, convenience, and taste. Car hire is often the
most economic solution but it depends on the willingness of
individuals to hire and drive in unfamiliar circumstances.
Holidayautos and other specialist holiday hire companies absorb
the insurance excesses. If fully comprehensive insurance is
not taken, drivers must be willing to accept the risks individually.
Flying with equipment is fraught, skis on ski flights are usually
alright, but otherwise "Sod's Law" invariable operates. Other
things being equal the simplest method of travel is usually
the most reliable, with fewer chances of missed connections,
lost luggage etc.
Watch out for restrictions on the carriage of skis and charges.
You can usually double up touring skis within the weight limit,
but it is best not to mention this some checkin staff can be
immensely bureaucratic.
Where will you stay
The Club uses huts for a number of meetings. They have many advantages related to their fitness for purpose, their cost, their locations, and their ability to facilitate club communal eating. However, huts can be cold, require the carrying of food and camping equipment, and may lack the creature comforts that some people prefer. Similarly, wilderness camping has unique advantages for exploring areas where there are no alternatives, but it has risks where the weather is unpredictable and people like to be dry and warm after their exertions.
There is no single right answer to where to stay. It depends on where you want to go, why you are going there, and what the tastes of your group are with respect to comfort and ease. If you want to tour and explore the wilderness there are inevitable some compromises to be made, unless you can afford to heli tour!!
4. What are the objective you have set for the trip, why have you chosen the particular location.
It is important to know what are the objectives of the group you are out with, because this is likely to determine, how long the trip will be, what sort of territory you will enter and what are the risks. The more specific the objective, the more, as an individual, you need to be sure it meets your needs and , as a planner the more you need to be sure everyone else understands the way intended activities meet their needs. A Munroist seeking to pick up the Inaccessible Pinnacle is not necessarily a suitable companion for someone looking for a first time experience of the Cuillins and the opportunity to look down into Loch Corusk. A telemark ski tourer is unlikely to want to stay below the tree line on pisted trails all the time, but rather will be seeking at least some opportunities to find some steeper open space in which to put in some tele turns. You need to make sure that the chosen location and the objectives set for a trip are appropriate to the skills and aspirations of all members of the group., otherwise the group may fragment.
Most locations offer a range of alternative trips in terms of strenuousness, time, exposure, snow conditions. The single most important cause of accidents in the hills is navigation error leading directly to being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or indirectly to fatigue and errors stemming from that fatigue. It is critical therefore to plan routes which are within the capacity of the group members, have a built in margin of error, and offer opportunities for escape routes if conditions turn nastier than expected. There are a number of rules for calculating the length of a walking trip, and these need further modification to calculate ski or bike times.
Essentially time to cover a particular route is a function of a number of variables;
A simple rule, based on Naismith, allows for four kilometres an hour in unchallenging hill territory with an adjustment by adding 1 minute for every 10 metres climbed on steeper territory.Peter Cliff advocates using only height gained to estimate time climbing in the mountains. While either works quite well with a reasonably fit group in the Scottish hills, they need considerable adjustment to allow for variation in the other variables. Steep rocky ground in descent needs as much time allowance made for it as ascents, and wet and slippery grass may be worse. For most people, when allowance is made for breaks etc., 20 to 25 kilometres in the Scottish hills with 1000-1500 metres height gain is a very full day. It is impossible to take account of all the factors until you see how the group functions on the day in the particular circumstances, and a good route plan includes contingency planning, this may be a simple extension for good conditions or it may include longer or shorter breaks for refreshment and other activities, but it should also include planning for cutting short the route and escaping early if conditions deteriorate.
Spontenaiety, Route Cards and Responsible Planning.
You have no right to be rescued and you may owe it to nobody to account for your own safety. However, most people do want to come back safely and many have people waiting to know they have safely returned. If you have formal responsibility for a party, you are expected to leave Route Cards with appropriate people and to inform them when you have returned. You are expected to know the personal details of members in your party and who should be informed if anything goes wrong.
6. What information do you need before you start out
Access restrictions
The MCofS pages provide good guidance on where you can go in the Scottish uplands. Access in England and Wales is built on different principles, with most access restricted to "rights of way", but a process is underway to define upland areas where there are broader rights of access.
http://www.mountaineering-scotland.org.uk/access/
The new legislation is looking to create responsible access, both walkers and land managers are enjoined to reasonable compromise to ensure the maximum benefit. The site below is a good entry point to the debates and consultations.
The hillphone scheme provides a simple first point to establish where stalking activities are ongoing. Restrictions are normally only widespread from August to 20 October. Remember the grouse season starts on 12th August and you should seek to avoid disturbing shoots.
Hill weather forecasts
Most outdoor shops, rangers centre, camp sites etc post five day weather forecasts on their bulletin boards. Nevisportlive currently provides the best portal site for weather information for British mountain activities
an alternative is
http://www.scotlandonline.com/weather/
Five day weather forecasts for all Scotland with specific mountain forecasts for the East and West Highlands
but don't forget the Radio Scotland bulletins for last minute updates
Avalanche warnings
Sports Scotland provide avalanche warnings for the main areas of winter activity in the Scottish mountains
Road conditions
http://www.rac.co.uk/travelservices/scotland/
http://www.theaa.com/travelwatch/travel_news.jsp
How to get help
The Police are responsible for activating Mountain Rescue. If you know the number of the local station you can ring direct, otherwise you should phone 112 and ask for police. 112 is the international number for emergency services 999 will continue to work in the UK for the foreseeable future.
http://www.mountaineering-scotland.org.uk/leaflets/rescue.html
A little exploring on the WWW will find similar sources of information for most areas where you might be planning a trip. Starting points might be:
Canada/USA
Europe (especially France)
Europe especially Norway
7. What equipment should you carry
Too much equipment becomes an unnecessary burden, but not having the appropriate equipment for foreseen conditions is irresponsible. Each individual must take responsibility for their own safety and comfort, but not everybody has to carry everything when a group goes out together. One group shelter, one first aid kit, one repair kit, one spare ski pole, one spare map, shared spare clothing, food etc., one spare GPS or compass may be more than adequate.
Anyone entering steeper and higher ground in winter conditions needs to carry additional equipment. Backcountry tourers should carry spades, probes and avalanche transceivers and have received training in their use. Each morning the party should ensure that all transceivers are switched on and working with adequate battery strength for the planned activity. It is important to remember it is no good your transceiver working unless others are working as well. Avalanche transceivers underline how individual safety can depend on responsible collective behaviour. Anyone entering glacial territory should carry ropes and have the necessay skills to resue people from crevasses.
The link below indicate good guidance on what you should take for a winter weekend. There are similar lists on other sites and in the basic books on hill walking and mountaineering activities.
What to bring on a Winter Weekend.
8. What risks will you be taking and how should you prepare for them
If you have gone through the steps above you should be well prepared to carry out a formal assessment of the risks you may encounter en route and how well prepared you are to meet them. Risk is not bad when it is recognised, accepted and planned for, it is irresponsible when it involves others who have not chosen those risks and are ill prepared to cope with them.
9. What costs are you imposing on the environment, other people, etc, and how can you mitigate them.
The ethos of the outdoors calls for responsible access, in other words a use of the mountains which respects the rights of others, which leaves the environment as little changed by our presence as possible. We should plan all our activities with this in mind. The upland environments are not fast to regenerate nor breakdown human and food wastes. If in doubt bring it out, remember the snow only lasts till spring. The more frequented a place in the mountainsthe more care and respect for others is needed.
10. Who needs to know where you are going and when you will be back
You have no right to be rescued and you may owe it to nobody to account for your own safety. However, most people do want to come back safely and many have people waiting to know they have safely returned. If you have formal responsibility for a party, you are expected to leave Route Cards with appropriate people and to inform them when you have returned. You are expected to know the personal details of members in your party and who should be informed if anything goes wrong. If you are a member of a party you also have a responsibility, if you are separated from the party, for letting others know you are safely back.
Backcountry_Resource_Center by Paul Richins, Jr.
© Copyright Edinburgh Ski Touring Club 2007. e-mail: webmaster@estc.org.uk Last updated October 2010