Our Mountain Rescue Scotland winter rigging course started with myself, Ron and John getting picked up at TISO in Inverness by Jim and Em but instead of going to Carrbridge we went for a bit of sustenance in the form of a BK, probably as part of Emily’s nutritional training for the Celtman. We then headed to Carrbridge and were allocated our rooms. John and Em were given rooms with other MRT team members and Ron and I shared. At this point I realised I hadn’t packed my wet suit!

After a quick beer, the intro started, with Stuart; Bill, Andy and Jim explaining the plans for the weekend. Stuart gave a power point presentation on various types of snow anchors e.g. bollards, deadmen, stakes and also their strengths and load capabilities. From here we were split into 3 teams and given a rescue scenario where we had to work out the best way to evacuate a casualty with only a limited amount of gear, which was really interesting especially when afterwards we were told the scenarios were from real rescues. After this we were then forced into the bar to socialise.

Got up on the Saturday morning very tired due to Ron’s teeth grinding all night and beer intake but still glad my feet were dry, so every cloud…and after a good fry up we were taken to Coire na Ciste and like our last training day, were shown how to build snow bollards, place dead men and build bucket seats as well as hauling techniques at various stations across the hill-side.
Back at the hotel that night after dinner we were then shown by Andy ways to fit a bridal to a stretcher and Bill showed in great detail the uses and good tips about the Petzl ID. Then it was Guinness time.

Sunday morning, again quite tired due to the strong winds, this time from outside the hotel room and after another hearty breakfast we all went to Coire an Laoigh Mor to practice our lowering techniques. After a 45 min walk in we split into 2 teams and made our way up into shoulder of the corrie and practiced a single person lower then a single person lower with the stretcher, haul back up using a walking haul which wasn’t that great, then an arm over arm haul which worked much better. To finish we then conducted a multi pitch lower, which involved 2 change-overs. At this point the wind got really up and sent spindrift every-where but not enough to drown out Em’s infectious laughter. This involved 4 anchor points rigged into a BFK then an I.D was used with prussics to lower the stretcher to the next pitch and so on to level ground. The 1st pitch was quite slow in getting set up but each pitch thereafter got quicker and quicker as everyone got familiar with the set-up and threw themselves into it especially as Bill was hurrying us along. When this was finished we had a wee debrief with where Bill mentioned mostly good points but the odd bad point (note to self, never leave your ice axe at the pitch when you go to do a walking haul). We then had a nice walk back to the car park then back to the Cairngorm base to drop off their kit.

All in all this was a great course with very good instructors and brilliant company, Thanks Guys.

Graham Wilson

The plan for the day was to further the techniques of constructing and using snow anchors learned last month and put them into practice carrying out a multi-pitch stretcher lower down an extended snow apron. However after 36 hrs of heavy rain and rising temperatures the crux of the day was looking like finding enough snow on the hill. Thankfully Coire an Laoigh on Beinn Eighe can usually be relied upon to hold any lasting snow and on this occasion did not disappoint. The characteristic bowl shaped corrie offers a range of aspects from NE through to SW and had good accumulations despite the high ground around being all but stripped. Given the heavy rainfall the previous day we were expecting a stable and consolidated snowpack albeit with small and localised accumulations on lee slopes from an overnight dusting. This was the situation as forecasted by the local Avalanche Information Service with the resulting avalanche category given as low for the day. Despite this, given the number of people in the group and we headed out with full personal winter kit in addition to a stretcher, multiple ropes and hardware.

We were joined by 4 members of the Kintail team who were keen to share some practices, see first-hand how Torridon team manage a lower / hoist scenario and perhaps just as importantly as a joint team building exercise. We do when necessary carry out joint rescues with our neighbouring areas, so any opportunity to get to know these team members is worthwhile in itself.

The exercise was split initially with a refresher given by our in house Drill Sergeant Sutherland into the finer points of constructing snow belays from dead-men, buried axes and snow pickets. Meanwhile those who had covered this in last month’s training were deployed to the top of the corrie with the stretcher in order to build the first stance from which we would be commencing the lower. Ron and Graham were tasked with being stretcher attendants – there to guide the stretcher down and be on hand to monitor the casualty during the descent. Andrew and Jenny took over control of the first lower while myself and Arjan, and later accompanied by the rest of the team, were tasked with chasing down the hill ahead of the stretcher constructing belay stances as we went. The aim being that the stretcher could then be ‘passed’ seamlessly from station to station with minimal delay or disruption to the downward progression of the casualty.

For the purposes of the exercise we were using 50m ropes, forcing multiple changeovers on the descent. In a real situation we would undoubtedly be using the long ropes and most probably tying multiple ropes end on end to give us maximum lowering capability without delay. However, shorter ropes were ideal for the exercise and certainly highlighted the importance of accurately estimating the distance between stances. I for one was responsible for attempting an ‘over-ambitious’ 50m pitch which required a small amount of stretcher bearing to get us back on track. The other point to highlight was the importance of getting each belay stance offset to the line of the lower.

Of the many differing types of snow belay used, certainly dead-men are the quickest to place although have limitations as we found out in soft snow. On testing a couple just pulled straight through the snowpack highlighting the importance of testing anchors are well seated before being used to bare load. Of the horizontal buried axes and snow stakes the latter out-performed the former in soft snow every time.

After a successful lower we demonstrated converting a lower to a hoist. A simple process when using the Petzl ID and one which Kintail were keen to see first-hand. A quick bite and a short trek back to the road saw the exercise over and back to base for the de-brief.

Mark Edmonds

Team training in February was, for me, a home fixture, on Meall Gorm, Applecross. Thirteen team members attended. Conditions were not ideal – a not unusual Scottish winter mountaineering cocktail of drizzle and soft wet snow. How do you keep your hands functioning in such conditions when your gloves are soaked?. The view from the team’s winter climbing buffs was that the only answer is to carry multiple pairs of gloves. Paradoxically, colder, sub-zero temperatures, make keeping warm much easier.

Most of the session involved working in small groups on 3 different belay building techniques under the tutelage of head teacher, Mr Sutherland, deputy head, Mr Johnston and head boy Duncan MacLennan. I started in Duncan’s class looking at waist belays from a bucket seat with a buried ice axe as back up. Learning points: make the bucket deep, don’t weaken it by standing on the snow below it, the sling should be clove hitched round the ice axe at its balance point, after taking up your seated position ensure there is no slack in the system. A second vertical axe could be used for reinforcement in front of the horizontal axe.

So far so good – on to Mr Johnston who was teaching on snow bollards. His first group of pupils had built a typical bollard of about 5 foot diameter which failed under load, reflecting the poor snow conditions. We therefore built a massive bollard of about 10 foot diameter which proved resistant to our combined efforts to destroy it. Bollards can be reinforced with axes, rucksacks etc but this removes their greatest asset – the fact that they can be abseiled off without leaving any kit behind. Given our success with the snow bollard, Mr Johnston rewarded us with further instruction on “stomper” belays. Learning points: karabiner can be round the shaft of the axe rather than clipped in to the hole in the axe head, the rope should run over one shoulder to the climber so that any force is downward and, most importantly, in soft snow, the buried axe can pull through the snow, as we found. Beware!

Finally, on to our head teacher, Mr Sutherland. Was he in a good mood? He did seem to be shouting a lot. He was on his special topic as a onetime Maths teacher – “dead men”. The key to success is to get your geometry right. The angle between plate and snow must be 40 degrees. How do you measure 40 degrees without a protractor? Stick the shaft of your axe in at 90 degrees to the slope – use the plate in your hand to bisect the angle between the axe and the slope above – the plate is now at 45 degrees to the slope (you knew that, of course) – now simply lower it a “wee bit” and you have it at the magic 40 degrees – stick it in slightly at that angle, then using it as a visual guide, use your axe to build a slot at the same angle. Once you’ve got the plate in the slot put the shaft of your axe through the eye of the leash and tug from below to bed the plate in. My first effort failed at this point. Mr Sutherland was very understanding – he thought the snow was probably not deep enough. Having moved laterally, my plate, and I, both passed the test.

By now the wind was up and it was getting pretty unpleasant. I hoped that school might be let out early but Mr S is a hard man. We were going to do a multi pitch stretcher lower without a stretcher. Lucky me was chosen to simulate a stretcher, hitched to “Dark Horse”, John Moffat. After, a chilling delay whilst multiple anchors were set up in 2 locations, the “stretcher” was lowered down 2 pitches – a kind of test of trust in your classmates. John and I certainly felt very close! But all went seamlessly, including the tricky transition between belay systems.

Top tip from the day: folk who persist in remarking that, “it wasn’t like this in Norway” could become rather unpopular.

Gerry McPartlin