When you think of snow, it’s easy to picture adrenaline-filled days of skiing or snowboarding. But what if you’re not a fan of the slopes or simply want to try something different? Scotland offers a winter wonderland full of thrilling alternatives that let you embrace the snow in unique ways.
Here are Scot Mountain Holidays’ top four snowy adventures for non-skiers, perfect for creating magical winter memories.
Hiking isn’t just a summer activity—winter hiking offers a whole new level of magic. With snow-dusted trails and tranquil, crowd-free paths, it’s the perfect way to experience Scotland’s rugged beauty in its most serene form.
Yes, winter hiking comes with challenges, but the rewards are extraordinary. Picture yourself surrounded by glistening peaks, breathing in crisp mountain air, and savoring the quiet that only snow can bring. Just be sure to bundle up and prepare for the elements!
For those craving adventure with a side of learning, Scot Mountain Holidays offers snow skills courses that are as practical as they are exhilarating.
From mastering ice axes to building emergency snow shelters or navigating icy terrain, these courses give you hands-on experience that’s both empowering and fun. Not only will you leave with stories to tell, but you’ll also pick up life-saving skills that every winter enthusiast should have.
Not every snowy adventure needs to be a grand expedition! Sometimes, the best memories come from simple, joyful moments.
Spend an afternoon building a snowman, crafting the perfect snow angel, or engaging in a good old-fashioned snowball fight. If you’re traveling with kids (or just feeling like one yourself), grab a sled and race down a snowy hill.
End your day by cozying up by a roaring fire with a hot drink and a good book. After all, there’s nothing like the warmth of home after a day of snowy fun.
If you’ve never tried snowshoeing, you’re in for a treat! Imagine strapping on tennis racket-like footwear and gliding effortlessly across snowy trails and frozen terrain. Snowshoeing is easy to learn, beginner-friendly, and a fantastic way to immerse yourself in Scotland’s breathtaking winter scenery. However, the snow conditions on the Scottish hills are not always suitable for snowshoeing which lends itself more to the soft powder snow you find in the Rockies or the Alps. It’s far more common to see winter hikers in Scotland out with crampons and an ice axe, than it is to see a group of snowshoers.
From snow-covered peaks to quiet, magical trails, Scotland is the ultimate destination for winter lovers. With Scot Mountain Holidays, you can enjoy a range of activities designed for adventurers who want to experience the snow without strapping on skis or a snowboard.
So, whether you’re trekking through glistening forests, learning new skills, or simply playing in the snow, Scotland promises a winter escape like no other.
Ready to trade the slopes for something different? Let Scot Mountain Holidays help you craft your perfect snow-filled adventure!
Every year there are reports of people getting lost in the snow and ice of winter. Mountain rescue callouts are predominantly about navigation errors. To make winter a safer place, it is a good idea to book a guide to lead or alternatively join a group heading out into the hills. Some groups are organised by companies on commercial trips, others are groups of friends or clubs. Nonetheless there is safety in numbers.
Every year there are winter wilderness expeditions running under the guidance of Andy Bateman of Scot Mountain Holidays in the Cairngorms and Glen Affric. There’s also usually a trip to Knoydart, home to Britain’s most remote pub; however there is a major reforestation project going on there this year which makes it less attractive to visit and all the accommodation will be taken by the forestry workers.
Life will be reduced to basics during the expedition and the only concerns will be: eat – sleep – hike (repeat). The perfect way to clear the mind and return feeling completely refreshed after only a few short days.
This is a rare opportunity to experience one of the remotest parts of the Cairngorms National Park at a time when the mountains are probably at their most glorious. The High Cairngorms are renowned for their wintry conditions yet at this time very few folk dare to do multi-day trips
Celia enjoying her second (or third) winter expedition with Scot Mountain Holiadays
Highlights: winter skills, Monadh Mhor (Munro), Devil’s Point (Munro) Carn a’ Mhaim (Munro), Derry Cairngorm (Munro), Beinn a’ Chaorainn (Munro)
Price: £ on application
Email: SCO@scotmountainholidays.com for full information about this trip.
MINIMUM GROUP SIZE: 3 PEOPLE – Private dates available. Please enquire.
This is Scotland’s ultimate winter mountain journey. The high “plateau” route takes in Britain’s 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th highest peaks on a journey that circumnavigates Scotland’s finest and best known mountain pass, the Lairig Ghru.
Check out the potential avalanche sites on the head wall. You can see how the corrie came to be made
Highlights: winter skills, Cairngorm (6th Highest Munro), Ben Macdui (2nd Highest Munro), Braeriach (3rd Highest Munro), Cairn Toul (4th Highest Munro), Sgor an Lochain Uaine (Munro)
Price: £ on application
Email: CWO@scotmountainholidays.com for full information about this trip
MINIMUM GROUP SIZE: 3 PEOPLE – Private dates available. Please enquire.
Imagine the soft orange light of a winters dawn gleaming down from the snowy celestial heights. Surrounded by snowy peaks and cradling a mug of tea in the crisp air, indeed a stunning winter’s day beckons.
Highlights: winter skills, Mullach Fraoch – choire (Munro), Mam Sodhail (Munro), Carn Eighe (Munro), An Socach (Munro), Carn a’Choire Ghairbh (Munro)
Spotting deer in Glen Affric while on winter expedition in Scotland
Price: £ on application
Email: Shangri-La@scotmountainholidays.com for full information about this trip
MINIMUM GROUP SIZE: 3 PEOPLE – Private dates available. Please enquire.
Or for something slightly different
“Porridge with whisky at 9am whilst warm & dry in my sleeping bag has never tasted better!” Ric Taylor,Bristol.”
Have you ever dreamt of taking a short walk amongst a moonlit snowy wonderland. Amazingly no need for a torch! Imagine reflected flickering candle light giving way to the soft light of a winters dawn as you emerge from you snowy abode. Not a soul about! We’ll have a vast pristine winter wonderland all to ourselves. It’s a remarkable experience.
Highlights: winter skills on Cairngorm, overnight expedition to sleep in a snow cave, creation of said snow cave
how to build a snowhole in Scotland
All digging and cooking equipment supplied by your hosts, Scot Mountain Holidays.
Check full details on the website
Highlights:
Accommodation: Barrisdale Stable (if available) or heated Tentipi
MINIMUM GROUP SIZE: 3 PEOPLE – Private dates available. Please enquire.
Highlights:
Accommodation: Barrisdale Stable (if available) or heated Tentipi
MINIMUM GROUP SIZE: 3 PEOPLE – Private dates available. Please enquire.
Andy Bateman of Scot Mountain Holidays leads at least 3 commercial snow hole expeditions in the Cairngorms Mountains every winter season. He has introduced scores of people to the magic of the winter season. He is also an expert at the skill of building a snow hole for a drip free night out in the mountains. To see what snowholing expedition experience is like for the customer check out our video on YouTube:
Seasonal temperatures on the high hills in Scotland are never as low as those in the valleys. You need to take this into consideration when planning to snowhole. Here in Boat of Garten we get temperatures of around -20oC. The lowest ever recorded temperature on the summit of Cairngorm is -16.5oC. Cold temperatures in the valley always occur under cold settled conditions. This is when the cold air drains off the mountain. The cold air then pools in the bottom of the valley. This means that in the Cairngorms the temperatures are never as low as in Norway.
Enjoying an evening meal in the luxury palace makes the snowholing expedition unforgettable!
In Norway, you need to capture the warm air. Most people learn to build snow caves in Norway. They learn to create features which capture the warm air inside the shelter. In Scotland, however, you are operating much close to the melting temperature of snow so sloping entrances, sleeping platforms and cold air drains become much less important for the snow hole expedition.
Roof sag is a combination of the temperature rising too much, poor ventilation and not having a thick enough roof or having a large area of unsupported roof. A roof and front wall of approx. 1m thick is vital. If daylight can be seen through either the roof or the wall, they are probably too thin. However, bear in mind that a roof that thick will need an adequately thick & strong front wall.
Avoid large areas of unsupported roof by keeping your snow hole more like a tunnel, narrow. Aim for a distance of no more than 2 body widths, side by side lengthwise. This means you can create a steep-angled apex ceiling which helps to avoid any drip points and allows you to channel warm air towards ventilation holes.
Many snowhole sites by virtue of their high snow accumulation and steep slopes are prone to avalanches. To be safe, you may need to pick a slope with a more gentle gradient and spend more time digging into the slope. To maintain a 1m thick roof on a 30 degree slope you will have to dig horizontally 2m from the top of the doorway before widening out.
Make sure there is good ventilation and regularly watch your breath then you will avoid carbon monoxide poisoning. If you see it drifting off to one side, it’s a good indication that ventilation is adequate. Never cook in a snowhole without regularly checking there is adequate ventilation.
It’s a good idea to create ventilation holes in your snow hole because of the Scottish climatic conditions.
Make your snow hole large enough to stand up in so you don’t get back ache from crouching.
One potential hazard of digging a small snow hole is that you don’t have enough space to put the snow when you attempt to extricate yourself in the morning. One of the snowholes Andy built in the Cairngorms involved digging out through 1.5m of fresh, drifted snow to get out in the morning.
Never underestimate how hard the Scottish snow pack could be. At least make sure your snow shovel has a metal scoop and that you are also carrying a snow saw.
Time taken to construct your snow hole is vital. A communal snow hole can take 4 – 5 hours to dig to make sure that you have the best construction possible.
See more about our snow hole expedition!
So you’re planning a high overnight camp and you’re wondering how warm your winter sleeping bag should be?
Likely Ambient Temperature
With a number of recent TV documentaries ‘laying it on a bit thick’ about how low the temperature can drop in Scotland’s Cairngorm Mountains you might be forgiven for thinking you were heading for somewhere akin to the high Arctic! Indeed the temperature in the Scottish Highlands has been recorded approaching -30 deg C (-27.2 to be precise – the official British record) but this has only been on three occasions in 120 years!
Interestingly, Cairngorm summit (1245m) has only ever managed a record minimum of around half of this at – 16.5 deg C (12th Jan 1987) whilst the residents of nearby Nethybridge (210m) at the foot of the mountain claimed the mercury dropped to -31.3 deg C on 10thJanuary 1982, the same night as one of the -27.2’s was recorded. Satellite evidence suggests they were right!
The vital bit of missing information on these – 30ish lows are that they’ve all been recorded as a result of temperature inversions. That is, cold air has flowed off the mountains and pooled in the valley bottoms where it’s cooled further whilst the mountain summits have remained appreciably warmer. These record minima are in no way a reflection of the likely temperature you would find on our mountains, possibly not surprising considering all our mountains are never that far from a relatively warm sea.
So what would be the likely temperature at the main snow-hole sites, let’s say, in the Cairngorms at around 1100m? Well, the seasonal minimum for 900m is usually around -8 deg C which could, at a pinch, translate to -10 deg C at 1100m but far more often in winter it’s around minus 5 and above. The point is, on our mountains we don’t experience anything like the temperatures you might get in e.g.Norway.
Be guided by advice of sales staff in the shop who should have some relevant experience. Ask for shop expert if your sales person doesn’t demonstrate sufficient knowledge of the range on sale.
Most importatly – buy quality for a sleeping mat. In winter, it is most important to make sure you are insulated from the snow beneath you as you’ll lose the majority of your bodyheat this way.
It goes without saying of course you need to be checking the weather forecasts before you head out. A tented high camp in winter needs to be carefully judged. Those who have got it wrong have ended up having their tent destroyed and gear being scatted far and wide by hurricane force winds.
Andy Bateman 14/11/14
USEFUL LINKS
Mountain Weather Information Service
Scottish Avalanche Information Service
A taster of winter skills, but the only way to really learn how to ice axe arrest is to do it yourself under the guidance of a winter mountain leader or other qualified instructor. Imagine taking a tablet or smartphone out in the snow to try and teach yourself … pretty much a lost cause at the end of the day and you’d be terrified of smashing your technology to pieces. Bit the bullet and book a course.
We found this video on YouTube, produced by the MCofS. Here Roger Wild introduces ice axe arrest and explains the basics which you’d learn on the hill with Andy (lead instructor with Scot Mountain Holidays). If you’re comtemplating a winter skills weekend, bear in mind that this is one of the core skills you’ll be learning, which many people have heard about before they book a skills weekend; however, as Roger Wild says: there’s a lot more to the full range of skills to keep you safe in winter and you should consider ice axe arrest to be the last in a series of skills aimed at preventing a sliding fall.
Check out our Top Ten Winter Skills tips: https://scotmountainholidays.com/blog/top-10-winter-skills-tips/
(A synopsis in pictures)
The snow’s back here in the Cairngorms and it’s only 4th November 2014 – plenty of time for the snow to build up for a fabulous Christmas and New Year in the Highlands. Take a look at our selection of winter images below – all taken in during winter seasons in the Cairngorms. Will it be an official white Christmas or just white on the high peaks of the Cairngorms
Photo caption: A day out in the snow – heading home in the sunset,
turning the snow pink and giving life to the Cairngorms –
also known as Mhonaidh Ruaidh (the red hills).
Photo caption: Sometimes a wee bit of cloud can play into your hands
and produce a much more stunning picture than a clear blue sky,
especially in the soft winter light we get here in the Cairngorms,
which is of course enhanced by reflection on the snow.
Photo caption: Unique to the Cairngorms National Park,
Britain’s only reindeer herd, which are free-roaming
across the hills in the winter. You could bump into them
on any of our courses or winter walking holidays.
Photo caption: White Christmas? Wouldn’t that be amazing?
This is the kind of snow laden scene
we’d all like to see, but how many of you would like to
experience it yourselves? When the snow lay round about,
deep and crisp and even …
Photo caption: It’s New Year and it’s Scotland – must mean it’s time for a party –
or as you’re in Scotland let’s give it the proper name and join the ceilidh!
Photo caption: Winter walking holiday across the Cairngorm plateau. Check out the blue skies!
Inspired? Check out some of our winter offerings in the Cairngorms and further afield across the Highlands of Scotland
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Boat of Garten,
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