Snowy Escape Hiking Issues

Is anyone having issues with the Hiking aspect of the Snowy Escape expansion?  My best friend was playing the game when she noticed how the Sims need to have a level 4 Hiking skill level in order to even start the climb.  So she had her Sims training to acquire the  level 4 skill set; when her Sims best friend who was wearing a dress and high heels having no hiking skill at all climbed the mountain.  We were  dumbfounded.  How was that even possible.  Shortly,  when it came time for her Sims best friend to climb down the mountain,  she couldn't.  You have to have a leader in order to climb up and down the mountain.  We were so confused.  This sounds like a bug somewhere in this area of the game.  The Hiking was just too unorganized and hard to locate in the game.  Any help will help.