Staff Winter Meet 2025

Our annual Winter Meet has long been a highlight of the year for the Mountain Equipment staff. It’s an opportunity for everyone to come together for a few great days in the Scottish mountains to develop skills and use the current and prototype kit that we spend so much time developing.

For the last few years, we’ve moved over to the West Coast to stay with our long-term partners Plas y Brenin at their winter base in Alltschellach, just north of Glen Coe. The long days in the mountains are in stark contrast to the comfortable accommodation, tea and cake and three-course dinners that follow each outing!

This year we tied the meet in with Plas y Brenin’s pre-season staff training, a perfect opportunity for us to get out climbing, mountaineering and walking together. The team at PYB are some of our most important kit testers, the accelerated wear they put on our kit plays a key role in the development of some of our best-known pieces. It’s always invaluable for our product team to be out in the hills with them.

The first day saw the majority of us heading out together for a journey into the back of the Lost Valley in Glen Coe before going up and over Stob Coire nan Lochan. Despite the sparse conditions low down it was certainly winter high up and an ideal opportunity for the less experienced members of the team to refresh their skills.

The following days saw people dividing up into smaller groups, the more experienced heading off to climb routes like Taxus on Beinn an Dothaidh or Raeburns Route in Stob Coire nan Lochan. Other teams headed to Ben Nevis for an ascent of the classic Ledge Route and Curved Ridge on Buachaille Etive Mor.

Thanks not only to our team for a great meet but also to the Plas y Brenin staff who worked with us to give some great days and endless kit chat on the long approaches and walks off. There’ll be more of the same next year!

The full video of our week is now available to watch on YouTube, watch now.