‘People come up here because they’ve seen it on social media – it becomes chaotic quickly’

Jack Rear takes part in a Winter Walking Skills day course in the Lake District
Jack Rear got more than he bargained for during a winter walking skills day course in the Lake District - Andrew Fox

Before I joined a hiking masterclass, I considered myself fairly experienced. I am handy with a map and compass, I’ve hiked many of Britain’s great peaks, and I take walking holidays every year. I sneer at have-a-go hikers moaning about sore ankles as they climb in trainers. Perhaps I shouldn’t be so smug though.

The winter skills course I’m on is meant to educate hikers and prevent them getting into trouble on the hills. Run by the Lake District National Park Authority, it’s a chance to learn from the pros while tackling England’s third highest mountain, Helvellyn.

“It’s rare I don’t help someone on the hill, whether that’s a word of advice or helping carry them down,” says my instructor, Zac Poulton. He climbs Helvellyn daily as a part of Weatherline, an assessment service which feeds into Met Office forecasting and provides reports to hikers. Poulton believes he’s climbed the hill more than 200 times over seven years.

I still had lots to learn. My boots, which have seen me up countless peaks, through forests, across rivers and moors, are “summer boots”, not fit for winter walking, Poulton explained. The soles were too flexible – comfortable for walking but useless if I needed to put on crampons to navigate over ice. And on Helvellyn in February, crampons are essential.

Winter Walking Skills day course in the Lake District.Telegraph writer Jack Rear puts on his crampons at the foot of Helvellyn.
'On Helvellyn in February, crampons are essential,' says Jack - Andrew Fox

From the cosy confines of the Glenridding Information Centre at the foot of Helvellyn, Poulton spent the first hour talking to me about kit.

“The most important thing is this: when you can’t be bothered – be bothered,” says Poulton. “If you catch yourself thinking ‘I should do this, but it’s a faff’, that’s a red flag.”

“It’s a cascade effect,” says Poulton. “Your foot is rubbing in your boot, but your plasters are at the bottom of your bag, so you muddle through. That slows you down and the sun sets. You’re climbing down in the dark so you twist your ankle. It’s cold, dark and by the time the rescue team finds you you’re in the early stages of hypothermia. All from a blister you could have dressed hours earlier.”

Hiking backpacks have got smaller and more organised, but a small, densely packed bag is a pain to get things out of. You have to take everything out, put it all down. For winter hiking, bigger is better.”

A rule of thumb is to get a 30-litre pack for summer hikes, 50-litre for winter. Inside, Poulton recommends coloured coded dry-bags – one for gloves, one for food, one for first aid etc.

Speaking of colour, it’s a good idea while winter walking to dress brightly. “We Brits love black, blue, and green outdoor clothing – that makes it almost impossible for mountain rescue to find you,” Poulton advises. “Wear unnatural colours if you can.”

Winter Walking Skills day course in the Lake District
Packing and pacing were among the first skills taught on the course - Andrew Fox

Other must-have items include a first-aid kit (“as a minimum, you need tape and painkillers”), spare socks and gloves, extra layers, a whistle for calling for help, a portable charger, compass and map – preferably 1:40,000 scale which makes it easier to spot big landmarks than a 1:25,000 in the snow.

“My number one piece of kit for winter hiking is a plastic survival bag,” adds Poulton. “It is the best £3 you’ll spend. It’ll keep you warm like a sleeping bag. You can use it as a sled to drag someone who can’t walk. It’s big and orange which makes you easy to spot. If you’re out on the hill overnight, it may keep you alive.”

Packs planned (and boots replaced), Poulton took me onto the hill for his first lesson: pacing.

I counted 163 steps as we covered our first hundred metres. Then it was time for a challenge: keep walking and stop 400 metres further on. Happily, four of the five of my group stopped in the same place, only one person was out by about 20 metres. “If you’re hiking as a group, it’s helpful to have a couple of pacers who can correct each other,” says Poulton.

Winter Walking Skills day course in the Lake District
Hikers learnt how to use walking sticks to scramble up slopes - Andrew Fox

Next, avalanches. Though rare, especially in England, they’re possible. Around 150 are reported in the UK every year. Being caught in one is no joke. Poulton lost a friend in an avalanche when the falling snow swept them over a cliff-edge, and he has experienced one while cross-country skiing in Sweden, breaking several bones.

Seventy per cent of surviving an avalanche is what happens before your hike begins: checking the weather and avalanche risk before setting off and planning a safe route. “That sounds easy but most people rescued on mountains convince themselves they’ll be okay,” says Poulton. “If you’ve booked time off work, travelled somewhere, paid for an expensive hotel, it’s easy to convince yourself it’s now or never and keep going.”

The next 25 per cent is what you do on your climb – avoiding fresh snow, staying away from ridges and convex slopes where the snow can move more easily.

The final 5 per cent is doing whatever you can while an avalanche is happening.

Though the day I attended the course wasn’t particularly snowy, we found a patch of powder near Helvellyn’s summit where Poulton showed us how to walk in hard metal crampons (trickier than it looks) and use an ice axe.

The latter can be a mini walking stick to scramble up a slope, or, when the gradient is steep enough, one can slam it into the snow and use it to haul themselves up. But at a pinch, it can also be used to prevent you sliding down a hill during an avalanche.

Winter Walking Skills day course in the Lake District. Telegraph writer Jack Rear clambers up snow to the top of Helvellyn using an ice axe and crampons.
On a patch of snow near Helvellyn's summit, the group learnt how to walk in hard metal crampons and use ice axes - Andrew Fox

Pressing the top of the axe into a shoulder and holding it across the body, knees to the ground, feet in the air (“to avoid catching on rocks and flinging you onto your back,” says Poulton) is the “safety position”.

Then we were left to make our way up the final 15 metres of snow, at an angle of around 35 degrees. If I had any confidence left, it evaporated. I tried to focus on keeping a grip on my axe and not looking down as I clambered up, Spider Man-style to the top.

Wind speeds on the summit were 40mph and a swirl of dark clouds threatened rain. Yet even now there were tourists in trainers. “The lure of an Instagram picture of Striding Edge,” Poulton commented, rolling his eyes.

In fact, that iconic route down was too dangerous in the wind, decided Poulton, who took us down Swirral Edge on the other side of the mountain instead. It was a challenging climb, involving scrambling and shuffling over rocks.

Winter Walking Skills day course in the Lake District. Course leader Zac Poulton watches Telegraph writer Jack Rear practising using crampons on a rock at the foot of Helvellyn.
The course teaches walkers how to navigate tricky terrain - Andrew Fox

The sheer number of climbers bordered on dangerous. At one stage our group was held up behind an ill-prepared fellow hiker who had climbed in cotton shorts and a hoodie with no gear but a Tesco bag full of sandwiches and got stuck on the descent. It sounds comic but waiting, clinging to the ledge above a sheer drop, I wasn’t laughing.

“Sadly this is common,” Poulton told me. “People come up here because it’s iconic or because they’ve seen it on social media. They do it when they’ve got a free weekend or a half term, but fail to realise how different a walk it can be in winter versus summer, rain or snow versus sun. It becomes chaotic quickly.”

Eventually, our ill-prepared hold-up was coaxed down and we made it back to the bottom of Helvellyn. By the time I got back onto solid lowland ground (and more importantly, into the hot spa pool at the Brimstone Hotel where I stayed) I reflected that perhaps I wasn’t so different from the Tesco bag man.

Though I’d joined the course to build my hiking confidence, I came away more aware of the risks too. I won’t be afraid to tackle hills like Helvellyn in future, but I’ll certainly put some of my bravado aside before I do. In the end, perhaps that’s exactly what I needed to learn.

Essentials

Lake District Weatherline winter skills courses run until Easter, starting at £125 for a full day. For more information see lakedistrictweatherline.co.uk/winter-skills-courses.