Preparing for a Winter Walk in the Snow

Planning Your Route Before You Leave the House

Winter daylight shapes everything else. In midwinter, much of the UK sees the sun set before 16:00, and a hill valley can fall into shadow an hour earlier still. Work backwards from that, and assume you will move more slowly than in summer — a route you would comfortably finish in five hours in July can easily take eight in snow.

Check the mountain forecast the night before and again in the morning, and think about what the last few days have done. Fresh snow followed by a thaw and a refreeze produces the iciest conditions of all. Plan a shorter alternative and be honest about which one the weather deserves. Tell someone at home where you are going: the route, the car park, your expected return, and the time at which they should raise the alarm if you have not checked in.

Study the map for escape routes — a forest track, a valley path, a road — before you need one. A grassy ridge that feels benign in summer becomes a different proposition when a cornice overhangs the north side. Lowland routes deserve the same attention: canal towpaths, disused railway lines and riverside trails turn to sheet ice, and a river in spate can put your path under water.

As a rough guide, allow three kilometres per hour plus a minute for every ten metres of ascent in reasonable conditions, then add generously for snow, ice and short daylight. If the arithmetic is tight, choose something smaller.

Layering Up for Cold, Wet and Wind

Start cold. If you set off warm enough to be comfortable standing still, you will be sweating within twenty minutes, and damp clothing is the fastest route to feeling cold for the rest of the day.

• Base layer: synthetic or merino, never cotton, which holds water and chills you.
• Mid layer: a fleece or light synthetic jacket you can add and remove as the pace changes.
• Shell: a waterproof, windproof jacket with taped seams, sized to fit over everything else.
• Legs: walking trousers or softshells rather than jeans, plus over-trousers with side zips so you can pull them on without removing boots.
• Spare insulation: carry a dry synthetic jacket you never wear while walking — down loses its loft when wet, synthetic keeps working.
• Head and hands: a hat, a buff, and two pairs of gloves — thin liners plus a warmer, waterproof pair.

Carry a flask of something hot and eat more than you think you need; cold burns calories and hunger creeps up on you. Water bottles freeze solid, so use a wide-mouth bottle kept inside your pack, or an insulated one.

Footwear, Traction and the Rest of Your Kit

Well-fitting waterproof boots with a deep tread and a stiff enough sole make the difference between a pleasant day and a miserable one. Gaiters keep snow out of the top of your boots, where it melts and soaks your socks.

For packed snow, icy lanes and frozen towpaths, strap-on spikes are cheap and genuinely useful. Full crampons and an ice axe are a different matter: essential on steep, hard snow, but they demand training. If you are heading onto Scottish or Welsh winter terrain for the first time, a winter skills course is money well spent.

Take two trekking poles with snow baskets fitted — they save your knees and catch you when a foot slides. Carry a headtorch with spare batteries, a map and compass you can actually use, and a phone with the route downloaded for offline use, kept in an inside pocket where the battery stays warm.

The Emergency Kit You Hope You Never Need

Every winter pack should contain:

• a group shelter or bothy bag, which can turn a shivering stop into a survivable hour
• a foil blanket and a spare hat and gloves
• extra food and a spare hot drink
• a whistle — six blasts repeated at intervals is the recognised distress signal
• a small first aid kit with blister plasters and any personal medication
• a charged phone in a waterproof pouch, plus a power bank

If something goes wrong, dial 999 and ask for the police, then mountain rescue. Give a grid reference if you can, describe what you can see around you, and stay put once you have a signal — a moving target is much harder to find.

Reading the Snow and Knowing When to Turn Back

Snow rewrites the landscape. A path that was obvious in October vanishes under a uniform white surface, and the hazards beneath — drainage ditches, boggy patches, broken stiles, the soft edge of a drop — are hidden until you are in them. North-facing slopes hold ice longest, and cornices build along ridge edges. On the higher Scottish hills, check the daily avalanche forecast before committing to a gully or a steep slope.

Set a turnaround time and honour it. Descending is quicker than climbing, but not so much quicker that it rescues a bad decision. Nobody ever regretted turning back early; plenty have regretted pressing on. If someone in the group is cold and cannot get warm, or is moving far slower than expected, that is your signal.

Keep the slowest walker near the front, keep everyone in sight, and check on each other rather than assuming the person behind is fine. Frozen water is not safe to walk on, however solid it looks from the bank.

Small Habits That Keep a Winter Walk Enjoyable

Start earlier than feels necessary. Eat and drink before you feel hungry or thirsty. Add a layer before you get cold rather than after. Turn your headtorch on well before you need it, and tell someone the moment you are back at the car — one short message saves a great deal of worry, and occasionally an unnecessary callout.

Winter walking is one of the great pleasures of the British outdoors: quieter hills, longer views through bare trees, and the particular satisfaction of a flask and a sandwich at a summit you have entirely to yourself. Go prepared, and it stays a pleasure.