WinterSkills.Scot

The following kit will help you avoid getting into an emergency situation or will aid you in an emergency situation.

Worth noting that if you do find yourself in trouble take a moment and think what you have with you. It’s not uncommon for people to call Mountain Rescue for help, wait around and get very cold and uncomfortable. Later realising that they’ve had extra clothing with them that they forgot about in the moment of drama and adrenaline. All this kit only works if you use it.

It’s also worth noting that it’s not very likely you die in the hills, particularly if you carry the kit in this list.

Emergency Kit for Winter Mountain Running

✅ Have an extra battery for your primary torch and carry at least one spare torch.

✅ Have a back up Map.

✅ Take a Walking Pole

✅ Always have spare Synthetic Insulation.

✅ Carry a spare set of Mittens with elastic leashes.

✅ Carry a Blizzard Bag

✅ Carry a Bothy Bag

✅ Take a Whistle.

✅ Take a spare Buff

✅ Carry some First Aid options

🟩 Consider a Satellite Communicator

Spare head-torch

In mid winter it’s usual for me to need to navigate in the dark with a head-torch, either first thing or coming off the hill. I don’t view my primary head-torch as an emergency piece of kit, as I plan to use it. The cold saps energy and shortens battery life so I always take a back up light.

Backup mapping

My primary map is very unlikely to blow away as I have it tethered to me in a map case. But as paper ins’t very heavy I have a spare map just incase. To be honest, I rely on my phone as my backup map way more often than my extra paper map. I’m always careful to download maps onto my phone before I leave home as it’s not always possible to do in the mountains.

Walking Poles

I take a folding trekking pole with me, it packs down small and is very helpful for river crossings or challenging snow.

In the event of a leg injury a pole might make the difference between me being forced to endure a long cold wait for help or being able to self evacuate.

If I think I can self-evacuate I’d still alert Mountain Rescue to my predicament, just in case something went wrong. It would make Mountain Rescues coordination that bit easier if they know they might be needed.

Insulation

One fairly concrete rule for winter mountain running is always carry an extra layer or two. Your insulation could literally save your life.

In my view if you don’t carry something to keep you warm if you are forced to stop then you are placing yourself in excessive risk. Not the fun kind of worthwhile risk like climbing a challenging route or running fast down a ridge. Boring illogical risk, like not wearing a seatbelt.
You will feel like such a fool (if you survive at all) when Mountain Rescue find you hyperthermic because you didn’t have any extra layers to keep you alive.

In Scotland we get a lot of damp weather. Feathered down jackets don’t really work that well when wet so get a decent synthetic belay jacket. They are light, work when wet and could save your life.

Depending on the day’s forecast and my layering system I might carry a light and mid-weight jacket to combine or one full spec belay jacket, it depends on what’s going on.

This is an emergency layer so I wouldn’t plan on running in my jacket. It doesn’t need to breath well or fit under my waterproof. But if I was forced to stop I’d be very glad I had an emergency layer with me.

There are lots of great synthetic belay jacket options available. I have a Rab Generator Alpine Jacket or on warmer winter days I carry a Patagonia DAS Parka Light. I rate them both.

Mittens

I always carry a set of emergency mittens.
I’ve been on the hills when peoples hands start shutting down, it can happen shockingly quickly. Getting gloves on can quickly become a very difficult task with numb hands. Having some mittens you can shove your paws into in an instant can much eliminate on the onsetting panic watching your hands ceasing to functioning. It’s also easy to put a heat pack into a mitten.

Mittens help keep your hands warmer than gloves as they keep all your fingers together, reducing heat loss by minimising surface area.

Don’t let mittens blow away. It’s easily done. Gone are the days when children had two woollen mittens joined on a string, threaded through their clothing, it’s too dangerous. But you’re an adult, you can do what you want.

While I wouldn’t recommend a conjoined mitten system I do rate elasticated leashes that sit on your wrists. The leashes mean the mittens can’t blow away and save you time as you don’t have to stuff them into a pocket each time you want to take them off to do something fiddly.

Blizzard Bag

If you’re forced to become stationary on a snowy mountain and want to survive hypothermia while you wait for Mountain Rescue (if you can even call for them) then a Blizzard Bag could make the difference.

Blizzard Bags are far warmer and robust than a light foil blanket or emergency bivi bag. I carry an emergency bivi bag in the summer but feel it doesn’t offer a large enough safety margin for me in winter.

Bothy Bag

Imagine you’re out with pals on a winter run and one has a trip and breaks their ankle. You manage to get them partially inside a blizzard bag and you’ve made the call to Mountain Rescue. You put on all the layers you have and sit on your bag to help insulate yourself from the cold ground.
Now you wait.
Even with your extra layers on you’re now at risk of hypothermia and becoming a casualty too. A bothy bag pulled over the top of you is going to really help you retain heat by reducing windchill and exposure to rain and snow. They are also great if you just want to stop and have some lunch out of the wind.
Bothy bags come in different capacities so if you’re going out in a group you could share out one persons personal kit and carry a bigger bothy bag. Or you could make sure you have enough Bothy bags to cover everyone.
There are two person bothy bags that weigh 200g.

Whistle

Has been used plenty of times in emergency situations as the method of getting attention and being found. The sound from a whistle carries much better than your croaky voice tired from shouting for 2 hours.

Buff

I carry a spare buff for just in case.
I keep my goggles wrapped in a merino buff (in a dry bag). That way the goggles keep clean and unscratched and I have an extra layer option too. A buff is light and has so many uses (hold a broken wrist, help stop a bleed, keep my face from getting frost nip, use to wipe goggles etc.)

First Aid Kit

I’m not a medical professional. This is not my area of expertise. However I have done various outdoor first aid courses and reading around the subject. Here’s what I’ve learned…

The most important things to note is there’s not much point in carrying items you don’t know how to use.

One of the best gifts you can give your friends who you go out on the hills with is for you to do an outdoor specific first-aid course.

What goes in your first aid kit is a very personal decision.

Many people don’t take anything. I’m not sure this is wise.

You are aspiring to run. You can’t carry a trauma ward with you.

On my personal days out in winter I carry:

• A light bandage
• A bandage for a serious bleed (in winter we are playing with sharp metal objects)
• A splint (you could get creative here)
• 2 Compeed
• Pain relief
• A small knife
• Gaffer tape
• Two small heat packs
• An emergency gel

All are light and will make many emergency scenarios slightly more survivable.

For the courses I lead I take a heavier, more versitile first aid bag.