SCOTLAND · CAIRNGORMS · WINTER
Cairngorms Winter Skills
DIST 38KM · ASCENT 2,400M · DAYS 4 · GRADE 3/5
54.60°N 3.13°W · NY 266 235 · KESWICK, CUMBRIA
Small-group trekking expeditions. Eight people, one guide, and some of the last quiet places in Europe and beyond.
ROUTE CARDS · 55 ROUTES · 7 CONTINENTS
Every trip below runs with a maximum of eight walkers. Grades are honest: grade 4 means grade 4.
SCOTLAND · CAIRNGORMS · WINTER
DIST 38KM · ASCENT 2,400M · DAYS 4 · GRADE 3/5
NORWAY · HARDANGERVIDDA · SUMMER
DIST 92KM · ASCENT 2,100M · DAYS 7 · GRADE 4/5
TANZANIA · KILIMANJARO · SHOULDER
DIST 70KM · ASCENT 5,100M · DAYS 9 · GRADE 4/5
5 SPACES LEFT ON NEXT DEPARTURE
INDIA · LADAKH · SHOULDER
DIST 118KM · ASCENT 4,900M · DAYS 9 · GRADE 4/5
4 SPACES LEFT ON NEXT DEPARTURE
CHILE · PATAGONIA · SUMMER
DIST 130KM · ASCENT 6,200M · DAYS 9 · GRADE 4/5
3 SPACES LEFT ON NEXT DEPARTURE
FRANCE · ITALY · SWITZERLAND · MONT BLANC MASSIF · SUMMER
DIST 168KM · ASCENT 10,200M · DAYS 11 · GRADE 3/5
4 SPACES LEFT ON NEXT DEPARTURE
THE METHOD
01 · GROUP SIZE
Eight walkers is the most one guide can genuinely watch on a high pass. It is also the most a bothy, a mountain hut or a quiet campsite can absorb without wrecking the thing you came for. We have refused to raise it since 2014.
02 · GUIDES
Every winter trip is led by a Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor (MIC). Every international trek is led by an International Mountain Leader (IML). You will know your guide's name before you book, and they will phone you before you fly.
03 · GROUND
Wild camps are moved every season. Group waste comes out with us — all of it. We pay hut fees and homestay rates in full, book local mule teams and boats, and cap our own trips per valley per year. Quiet places stay quiet because visits stay small.
55
ROUTES WITH 2026–27 DATES
7
CONTINENTS · YES, ALL OF THEM
8
MAX GROUP SIZE
96%
RETURN RATE SINCE 2014
NEW ON THE PLANNING TABLE
THE PEOPLE
Wildtrace was founded by Rhona MacAllister after fourteen years with Keswick Mountain Rescue. The team is six guides and one office phone. Between them: one MIC, four IMLs, a Norwegian tindevegleder, more mountain seasons than the office whiteboard can hold — and a firm policy of turning back when the mountain says no.
FROM THE JOURNAL
KIT, HONESTLY
Most of what the shops will sell you stays in the drawer. We send a real list — the one our guides actually pack — and a WhatsApp number for questions. Boots that fit and a shell that works matter more than anything with a hashtag. Sleeping bags and axes can be hired from us for a few pounds a trip.
FULL KIT LIST SENT ON BOOKING · HIRE: SLEEPING BAG £30 · AXE & CRAMPONS £25
DEPARTURES · 2026–27
Fifty-five expeditions, seven continents, one rule: eight people, no more.