Heather Morning, who took over as head coach at Glenmore Lodge, Scotland’s national outdoor training center, earlier this month, urged visitors to “think about winter” this spring, as Scottish police revealed on Friday that mountain rescues have increased by 40% in recent weeks, with climbers misreading insidious conditions on peaks. Seven people died in the hills this month alone. Morning, based in Aviemore, 50 miles northeast of Fort William, said: “Until March, we have longer hours of the day, and down in the glen here it’s a lot like summer. “People are not interested in the fact that they may need another ice ax and crampons high.” With snow still falling in the Cairngorms, the hottest days and icy nights combine to make conditions even more dangerous, with molten water turning to hard ice. “Inevitably, we see deadly people stepping on old hard snow, flying and jumping on rocks or cliffs. Losing a life is complicated, but there are definitely some trends. Almost all deaths in the mountains of Scotland are men. “Men over 60 are the demographic that faces difficulties.” In her previous position as a mountain safety consultant in Mountaineering Scotland, Morning analyzed data covering a period of seven years until early 2019 and found that women accounted for only 10 of the 114 deaths. He said: “You make generalizations about male and female risk-taking traits and it obviously does not reflect everyone, but from the many years I have spent training people, men tend to overestimate their abilities and give opportunities to things. . and do not think that they need formal skills training, while the ladies tend to turn in the opposite direction. “ Women, in Morning’s experience, have much less confidence in their own abilities and are more willing to attend, for example, a navigation course, “which some people think is irrelevant when it is the ultimate cornerstone of safety in mountains “. He estimates that about 25% of mountain rescue incidents are the result of “basic navigation misplacement of people in the wrong place”. This reluctance of men to learn about navigation coincides with the assumption of many young people that all they need is an app. “As a younger person, your whole life revolves around your cell phone, so it seems very natural to carry it in the mountains, while a map and compasses feel outdated,” he said. It is an additional challenge to educate people who do not feel that outdoor resources are relevant to them. “If we take the classic example of someone driving downhill to climb Ben Nevis – I suspect most of the people you meet on the main track will never have even heard of an avalanche forecast.” Morning, who was originally trained as a typist before joining the Mountain Leader program and volunteered at a local youth club, believes that while women are embracing outdoor adventure as much as men, this equality does not translate into qualified people. leadership. He has advised Bonnie Boots, the Glasgow-based group that organizes women-only hiking sessions for ethnic women, and has further plans for a training program to encourage more Bame women in leadership. Her decades in the mountains taught her to never make assumptions about a person’s climbing abilities, and this extends to dogs. She remembers her initial surprise when a “tiny chihuahua” arrived with its owner to attend a navigation class running in Ochills. “My God, it was as hard as nails. The thing came out of the hill dirty, having a ball and has become something like 18 Munros. “So never judge a book by its cover,” he said.
