From 21 Feb to 2 Mar 25, the Army Mountaineering Association (AMA) held its annual Scottish winter mountaineering and winter climbing meet. It was based out of Norwegian Lodge, a fantastic (MOD owned) hut on the edge of the Cairngorm National Park not far from Aviemore.
21 members of the AMA took part, from across the Army and Defence. We were also joined by two civilian (veteran) climbing instructors. All attendees were keen volunteers but for some this was their first taste of winter climbing – climbing in crampons and with ice axes for the first time. For others, this was an opportunity to hone mountaineering skills and challenge themselves in the notoriously challenging Scottish winter environment.
Throughout the week, we broke down into small teams, with some winter mountaineering (i.e. hill-walking but in winter conditions, with an axe and crampons) and some winter climbing (i.e. climbing roped together with 1 or 2 others and using two axes). The greatest challenge was the weather (relative lack of full-on winter conditions) which made the instructors earn their money! Locations used ranged from Munro-bagging and multi-day trips in the Cairgorms, to long climbing routes on the NE Face of Ben Nevis, to shorter routes in Coire an’t Snaechda, and even some ‘dry tooling’ and indoor climbing when the weather was truly inclement. The Ulysses Trust grant enabled us to be more flexible with choosing suitable venues and two rope-teams stayed in the CIC Hut (Ben Nevis) for most of the week.
The greatest benefit was in getting together some of the Army’s most enthusiastic winter mountaineers with some relative novices (to winter climbing), to learn from each other and get out on the hill together and embrace everything that AT in the military has to offer. One attendee, Capt Tyler, had passed his Winter Mountaineering Foundation shortly before this exped and particularly enjoyed the introduction to ropework on winter ridges, commenting that Fiaciall Ridge “struck the perfect balance between challenge and enjoyment, offering valuable experience in movement, decision-making and winter mountaineering skills”.
This meet was the AMA’s principal winter exped for the 2025 winter season. Its aim was to build bonds between AMA members from across Defence, conduct challenging AT commensurate with an Army-level exped, and spark a passion for winter mountaineering in the novices that attended. The AMA is extremely grateful to the Ulysses Trust for the grant which enabled this exped to go ahead.
