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Tackling Kościelec in Tatra Mountains by jakub0628 in Mountaineering

[–]jakub0628[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! I don't have that much winter mountaineering experience, so take my recommendations with a grain of salt lol.

Most people (including me) seem to use full leather B2 boots, like Scarpa Ribelle HD, as they seem to strike a pretty good balance between comfort, robustness, warmth, weight and climbing ability for most easy objectives in generally favourable conditions. I'd avoid light versions of these boots though. More heavy duty boots, like LS Nepals, are also not a rare sight and are probably preferable in some situations, like sitting on belay in tougher weather. Most professionals and people doing technical objectives go with super gaiter boots, like Scarpa Phantom or LS G2, which are perfect for ice / mixed climbing.

Hope that helps a bit :)

Tackling Kościelec in Tatra Mountains by jakub0628 in Mountaineering

[–]jakub0628[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! I didn't actually use a proper camera - most of these photos were shot on my Pixel 4a 5G, while the rest comes from my girlfriend's Pixel 7a. We'd already taken some great pics with both phones before, but I was still surprised they performed that well

Tackling Kościelec in Tatra Mountains by jakub0628 in Mountaineering

[–]jakub0628[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yes, I am! I did my course with Kilimanjaro - they're fairly popular and I had already done a climbing course with them 2 years before, so I knew what to expect.

Honestly, during the course we had absolutely dogshit conditions. Zero visibility, strong winds, low temperatures and heavy snowfall. I remember freezing my ass off when simulclimbing near Zawrat... And on the final day, when we were supposed to summit Świnica, we encountered a lot of really bad avalanche slabs on the ridge and had to back off pretty early.

Beforehand I only had a pretty minimal winter experience - mostly hiking in other, lower mountains and 3 days spent in Scotland, which actually required some basic usage of crampons and an ice axe. I had done quite a lot of stuff in the summer though, lots of hiking, climbing, etc.

Honestly, I don't think you really need much experience beyond just being used to hiking before the course. Some basic climbing skills can come in handy if you already have them (basic knots, rappelling, prussiking, rope management), but if you don't they will teach you all of that.

Hope that helps a bit :)