The Nights are Fair Drawin’ In

Fooled by sunshine streaming through the window this afternoon, I made the mistake of donning shorts and a lightweight top for my 2-hour bike ride out into the Hownam hills. By the time I got home, I hadn’t felt my fingers or toes for ages, and my knees were a weird purple. There’s no denying it - the long, dry sunny summer of ‘25 is officially over. Already it’s properly dark by teatime and for a couple of hours after breakfast, and we’re still a month away from the days starting to lengthen again.

For the local mountain rescue volunteers, this time of year triggers a series of changes. The small summer rucksack is unpacked and the contents transferred to a bigger pack, augmented by a stack of additional kit. A summer night spent on the hills can be an unexpected treat, and doing it unprepared might mean you get a wee bit chilly. Make the same mistake in winter and you can very quickly end up in a whole load of trouble. In go the gloves, spare gloves, hat, down jacket, heavier weight waterproofs, a bivvy shelter, a cut-off of camping mat big enough to sit on, extra hill-food and a couple of head torches. A flask of tea or coffee is a real morale booster on a winter day in the hills. Sometimes, in the rush to get out the door, it’s tempting to skip the flask, but the physiological and psychological benefits of a hot drink on a winter’s night far outweigh the effort of carrying it, especially for a casualty who might have been lying on the hill for hours. I’ve taken to packing a spare cup, because Big Dunk never seems to get round to preparing a flask, and always looks at mine with puppy-eyes.

In addition to packing extra personal kit, there are winter skills and disciplines to be dusted off and rehearsed. Fitting snow-chains to the Landrovers in the dark with the wind howling and snow swirling around your ears can be tricky, and night navigation, moving across steep ground on snow and ice (with crampons fitted to rigid winter boots) and keeping to a bearing in whiteout conditions are skills that are built up over years of experience, but can get a wee bit rusty between the end of one winter and the onset of the next.

It’s also a time of excitement and anticipation among the devotees winter mountaineering. The mountains in winter are spectacular. If you plan and prepare well, they are the best fun you’ll ever have. For some, a night spent on the winter hills is a real treat. There’s a wonderful feeling of isolation and a stripping back to the essentials of staying awake, alert and on course through the long hours of darkness, knocking off mile after mile of hill country while the rest of the nation sleeps.

As always, you can donate to the team and support our essential work on this website. We have now launched a weekly lottery to help raise funds to allow us to continue our work.Select a number between 1-400 for £1 per week for as many weeks as you like. Every week the draw will be made and the winning number will win 50% of the takings that week.

You can buy as many numbers as you like for as long as you like.

If you would like a number please contact fundraising@bordersar.org.uk and our Treasurer Kevin will be delighted to help.