Winter to Summer in Less Than a Week

What a turnaround in our weather these last few days.  We had a week off recently and got out for three days on the hills.  Corbetts to be more specific.

Tuesday 15th and Wednesday 16th we were in the Glenfinnan area and managed to take in 5 Corbetts.  Sgurr Ghiubhsachain and Sgorr Craobh a' Chaorainn on the Tuesday and An Stac, Rois-Bheinn and Sgurr na Ba Glaise on the Wednesday.  We enjoyed some sunshine and fantastic views, but it was cold, there were a number of snow showers and the snow was lying to below 2,500 feet.

By Sunday 20th we were down in Dumfries & Galloway and had a very enjoyable walk/run around the circuit of Hart Fell in wall-to-wall sunshine.  The transition from winter to summer had taken place in a matter of a few days.

And now on Friday 25th I find myself at work putting out messages warning of the dangers of hyperthermia, heat stroke and dehydration; oh and adders as well.

Something we have started doing over the last few months is putting out messages on a Friday via Twitter, Facebook and our website, warning of the main danger or hazard that hillgoers are likely to face over the coming weekend.

From the retweets we are getting and the occasional message reaching the BBC Scotland news webpages, we are confident that we are reaching a wide audience with these messages.  By getting these messages out to increasing numbers of walkers and climbers we feel that we should be contributing to improved levels of mountain safety awareness.

Although we will never know it, one or more of these messages may well prevent a mountain rescue incident at some point.

If you do read this blog then do look out for our "Something for the weekend" messages in the future.  Follow us on Twitter and/or Facebook and look out for our postings on Fridays.  Our Twitter Friday safety messages will have the hash tag #sftwe.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to anyone tuning in and reading this. I hope you had a good festive period, found some outdoor gear in your stockings and managed to get outside for some fresh air.

I had an interesting weekend just after new year. On Saturday we needed to wear crampons just to walk out of our driveway, then on Sunday we climbed the Glen Falloch Corbett Meall an Fhudair and our ice axes and crampons stayed in our packs for the whole day. It was surprising how little snow and ice there was in that part of the Western Highlands.

Nevertheless, we were pleased we carried that winter gear with us. Better to have it and not need it than to leave it at home and wish you had it with you when conditions turn out tougher than you expected. I'm sure the MCofS Winter Lectures will be full of useful tips like that.

I hope to be at one, if not both of the Perth talks, so if you're around I may see you there. Don't forget, our Winter Safety Lectures this season are in Glencoe, Aviemore, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perth and Inverness. Check out http://www.mcofs.org.uk/winterlectureseries.asp for full details of the Winter Lecture Series.