Wheelchair accessible routes in winter

One of our favourite walks is down a quiet single track road in Yell at North Sandwick, a beautiful place to watch the sunrise, northern lights and stargazing. With views towards Fetlar, Unst and lesser known islands such as Linga, Uyea and Hascosay.

Another walk which we enjoy all year is the fully accessible circular route around the Loch of Clickimin in Lerwick (just opposite Tesco). We come here on a regular basis, taking time to just breath and take in the views of the loch, which we all appreciate after we've finished our weekly food shop. This short walk takes you around the loch and also takes you past the fascinating historical Clickimin Broch, a very well preserved stone-built round house, where structures can be found dating around 1000 BC to 500 AD. Please note access to the broch itself is through a kissing gate. Keep an eye out for the local Shetland ponies nearby who are sure to put a smile on your face.

These walks, like many others in Shetland, are wheelchair accessible, but you will need to plan ahead a bit more in the winter. When we are looking for winter walks we plan our accessible route along quieter single track roads using the OS Maps App. In snow and icy conditions we also try to stay near quiet roads that have been gritted as it’s a lot easier, safer and you're less likely to get stuck. But these quieter roads are not always a top priority for gritting, so keep an eye on the shetland.gov.uk website to check the status of the roads to make sure they're accessible.

Preparing your wheelchair for winter

The main thing you want to think about for accessibility is your wheelchair. Is it ready for winter? Can you put wider tyres with really good grip (think mountain bike style tyres) on your everyday wheelchair?

Brynn's go-to wheelchair, which he uses to get outside in the wetter, colder weather is an all-terrain mountain trike/wheelchair. We know not everyone has this type of wheelchair, but Ability Shetland have several all-terrain mountain trikes available all year round for people to borrow, which you can book on the Ability Shetland website.

This wheelchair is heavier, which makes it more stable in the stronger gusts of wind, and it has wider wheels with good grip for the snow and ice. Instead of hand rims you have levers which you propel yourself with, meaning that you keep your hands off your wheels and they stay warm and dry. There is also a detachable handle, that not only acts as a counter balance for the back of the chair (which helps going downhill) but also if you have someone with you they can help slow you down on the downhills and give you a little help if it's slippy going back up.

Remember, just like vehicles these wheelchairs need to be well maintained. This can be done locally at Shetland Community Bike Project.

Our second option is using Brynn's everyday wheelchair and swapping his slim wheels to a set of all-terrain wheels which are wider and have a lot more grip. We also use a front wheel attachment to lift his castors up off the floor. Both of these wheelchair options can help you to get out during the winter, even in the snow.