What makes a winter quality mountain day (Winter QMD)?

The results of decades of experience of assessment courses has shown that the key element in the making of a good candidate is the quality and quantity of their personal winter hill walking and mountaineering experience. The unit of measurement of mountaineering experience is termed a winter quality mountain day (QMD), albeit that the definition of this unit is imperfect.

There are a number of common characteristics that can be said to contribute substantially to a winter quality mountain day, although it is impossible to provide an exact definition as every day out will vary. The adversity of weather conditions, the changeable nature of the underfoot conditions, the requirement to navigate accurately and carry greater amounts of equipment etc., all affect speed of movement and distance travelled. However, winter quality mountain days are likely to be strenuous and reasonably demanding and will involve over five hours walking and/or climbing.

Winter quality mountain days should require elements of planning, exploration of an unfamiliar locality, map reading/navigation, more than likely require the use of ice axe and crampons for security and involve the ascent of a significant peak. Navigation is likely to require skills and techniques applicable to winter and be more difficult and demanding than needed in summer conditions. Above all the experience should lead to feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction, even if enjoyment may occasionally be questionable!

Days acting as an assistant leader, while valuable experience, do not count as QMDs. Why? While assisting a qualified leader/instructor they are the one ultimately making the judgements and decisions and having overall responsibility.

The time of year alone, such as a January day when no snow or ice is present, or the presence of snow patches ( e.g. on the Cairngorm plateau) on a sunny day in May, do not qualify as winter quality mountain days, even though the day may satisfy the elements of length, navigation and exploration. As the Winter Mountain Leader does not include any technical climbing and should be regarded as a mountaineering qualification, any skills training or climbing should be part of a longer mountain day and not the sole reason for the day.

While foreign experience can be useful these day should be in similar conditions to those found in the UK and Ireland in winter to be truly relevant. The use of an axe and crampons on snow or ice does not necessarily constitute a Winter Quality Mountain Day.

In summary

Winter QMDs make a positive contribution towards a person's development and maturity as an all-round mountaineer.

As with ‘summer’ quality mountain days, the quality of a winter QMD lies in such things as the conditions experienced both overhead and underfoot, the exploration of new areas, the terrain covered, the skills deployed and the physical and mental challenge. They are more demanding than a ‘summer’ QMD as candidates continue to develop their experience, fitness, technical competence and decision making skills while simultaneously dealing with winter weather and conditions.

The Scottish Highlands in winter conditions present a wide variety of hazards that need to be managed and the physical effort required to complete a winter quality mountain day is substantial. Other areas such as North Wales, the Lakes and Ireland have winter conditions, but you are often never that far from a road or habitation offering a fast and comparatively easy escape from the mountains. That is not always the case in the Scottish Highlands which is why at assessment, 50% of the minimum required number of winter QMDs must be in Scotland.

All the following criteria should be fulfilled:

The individual takes part in the planning and leadership.
Navigation skills are required away from marked/well used paths.
Experience must be in terrain and weather comparable to that found in UK and Irish mountainous terrain.
Knowledge is increased and skills practised.
Attention is paid to safety.
The journey is five hours or more.
Conditions encountered should be in terrain and weather comparable to that found in the UK and Ireland in true winter conditions.
Ascent of a substantial peak would normally be included in the day.
An ice axe and crampons are likely to be required.

These criteria mean that days as a course member under instruction, practising winter skills, or summer days in Alpine areas are very unlikely to meet the requirements of a Winter Quality Mountain Day. However, these days can be recorded in the appropriate place in your logbook even though they are not suitable for registration purposes.

Winter Quality Mountain Days for registration

The intent of the registration application process is to ensure candidates have sufficient and appropriate personal experience and competence as a winter walker/mountaineer to safely attend training, and ensure they attain maximum benefit from their training experience.

For registration purposes, experience gained in other areas can also be recorded if similar conditions to those found in the UK and Ireland in true winter conditions were encountered. However, at least 75% of the minimum requirements should be in the UK and Ireland.

A simple approach when logging winter QMDs for registration is to use the description section for the day to evidence each of the criteria.

Not a Winter QMD

The following are examples of days that do not constitute Winter QMDs:

Days as a course member under instruction (for example on a training course or military exercise), whilst valuable personal development do not count as a QMD as the qualified leader/instructor running the day is the one ultimately making the judgements and decisions and having overall responsibility.
Days acting as an assistant leader, while valuable experience, do not count as QMDs. Why? Because the qualified leader/instructor is the one ultimately making the judgements and decisions and having overall responsibility.
The time of year alone, such as a January day when no snow or ice is present, or the presence of snow patches (such as on the Cairngorm plateau) on a sunny day in May, do not qualify as Winter QMDs, even though the day may satisfy the elements of length, navigation, and exploration.
Teaching winter skills or winter climbing should be part of a longer mountain day and not the sole reason for the day. As this is a walking qualification the bulk of your days should be winter walking days. Whilst some teaching winter skills and/or winter climbing days may be acceptable they should still meet the criteria of a Winter QMD.

While foreign experience can be useful these days should be in similar conditions to those found in the UK and Ireland in winter to be truly relevant. The use of an axe and crampons on snow or ice does not necessarily constitute a Winter QMD. However, these days can and should be recorded in the appropriate place in your DLOG even though they are not suitable for Winter Mountain Leader personal winter experience registration purposes.