Navigation and planning in winter

11 Mar

Finding your way off the mountain in a winter storm can be the most challenging task any mountaineer faces. Many winter incidents in the mountains involve navigational errors so the planning phase is crucial in foreseeing potential issues in advance of your day out.

Winter hazards

Shorter daylight hours
Reduced visibility
Corniced edges
Risk of avalanches
Ice covered paths
Fewer visible navigation features
Stormy weather
White out conditions

Planning

Given the stormy nature of the weather in the UK and Ireland during the winter months, if we sat around waiting for a settled spell of good weather and conditions we might never leave the house. If we want our winter hit, then we need to be prepared for a bit of a battering!

Keep an eye on the weather forecast and conditions reports throughout the winter period.
Research reports from other mountain users (Twitter hash tags are ace for this: #ScotWinter, #WelshWinter, #LakesWinter).
Start early to make the most of the daylight hours.
Plan ahead to avoid logistical challenges that will eat into your daylight hours eg. stopping to buy more equipment or food at the start of the day – do it all in advance.
Plan a route that gives you a few options depending on the conditions you find when you’re out.

Corniced edges and avalanches

Variable weather (temperature, snowfall, wind speed and direction) means that the strength and stability of the snowpack will be changing throughout each day. Keep a close eye on the conditions throughout the season and during any day out in the hills.

The best resource for this aspect is the ‘Be Avalanche Aware’ campaign that has been developed by the Scottish Avalanche Information Service: http://beaware.sais.gov.uk/

90% of victims trigger their own avalanche.

Ice covered paths

Many of the trails and paths in the lower parts of the mountains can become chocked with ice making for difficult underfoot conditions and often without enough ice to warrant putting crampons on.

Use of walking poles to improve balance and stability can help tremendously.
Micro spikes can be a useful addition for prolonged shallow-angled paths where is the ground is frozen (these should never replace your crampons but are really useful in these conditions).

Navigation in winter

The techniques and features commonly used in ‘summer’ conditions may be reduced in the winter landscape.

Streams, small water features and paths may be covered by snow and invisible.
Ridge edges or cliff edges may be heavily corniced.
Following a bearing may be in white out offering no visible feature to line up on.

Winter navigation techniques

I use the 5 D’s of navigation, which gives a structure to each navigation leg.

Distance – how far to the next point? (shorter navigation legs reduce the amount of potential error)
Direction – what direction? (This may be a bearing if in poor visibility)
Description – describe what features or changes will happen along the way (uphill, downhill, flat etc).
Duration – How long will it take? (Consider having a timing card)
Dangers – Are there any potential dangers along the way? (Corniced edges, avalanche prone slopes etc).

Winter battering

Make sure your kit will stand up to the harsh environment.
Things may break or not work when they freeze up – map cases, compass bezel, buckles, elastic draw cords, velcro, phone etc.
Make sure you have goggles (ideally clear ones) and a face mask/buff.
Attach your map & compass to your jacket/pack to avoid them blowing away.

Making life easier