Part of the chat last week at Red Goat touched on avalance risk – I don’t contribute too much as my pizza was distrcting me somewhat.
If you’re interested in such matters and want to know more about the risk, it’s very much worth reading’A Chance in a Million?’ by Bob Barton and Blyth Wright. It’s almost twenty years old, can be picked up quite cheaply and is recommended by the Mountaineering Council of Scotland. It is a great read, highly informative and gives a cracking insight into the risk.
Remember that avalanches in the UK are not just a Scottish problem – if the conditions are right, snow can avalanche. The avalanche with the most fatalities ever in the UK was in Sussex…
For snow skills, ‘Winter Skills’ by Andy Cunningham and Allen Fyffe is the official handbook of the Mountain Training winter scheme (it’s been my bible every winter for last few years!) and is comprehensive. ‘Mountaincraft and Leadership’ by Eric Langmuir is superb, is a great mountaineeringclassic and has a lot of guidance on winter technique.
Please don’t think that I’m trying to set anyone homework but the risk in winter is more so than in summer. The moist British weather, the challenges of navigation and the problems (and opportunities) given by the snowpack means that key techniques must be understood and practised.
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