Safety in the Hills

The Scottish mountains in winter can present certain risks. You should be prepared to overcome possible difficulties:

The Mountaineering Scotland website has a number of pages on skills and safety in the mountains.

Route Cards

Leave a route card with the meet organiser. You must let them know you have got off the mountain safely at the end of the day. See the Mountaineering Scotland Route Cards page for further advice.

Rescue Services

If you can reasonably get off the mountain in daylight you should do so. If you are properly equipped to survive a night on the hill think carefully before calling help. If not:

If you have to call Mountain Rescue make sure you have the most accurate information including:

Be ready to provide the following additional information:

If you don’t know where you are, there is still a lot of information you can give within your message:

​The standard distress signals

​The standard distress signal is six short blasts on a whistle or flashes on a torch repeated at intervals of one minute.

​If you see some one signalling you should not reply to their signal, as you, or the rescue team, may rely on them continuing to signal to help locate them.