Fenfolio: Cairngorms

Showing posts with label Cairngorms. Show all posts

Monday, 11 April 2016

Last winter trip of the season

The weekend of the 18th of March we had booked ourselves on one of the ski club (ESTC) meets at Laggan, south of Newtonmore, in The Cabin, one of Edinburgh JMCS huts. It had been quite warm recently so most snow had already disappeared. Well, at least on the east side where we live but The Cairngorms had still plenty!

On Saturday early morning we started at Cairngorm upper car park and skinned up Fiacaill a' Choire Chais. The weather forecast gave us negligible wind but very thick, low cloud. We were hoping that if we got high enough we would be above it. And we were right because when we approached the steep bit of the ridge, we could see the sun appearing. A few steps more and we were witness of a beautiful cloud inversion in the valley.

Skinning up Fiacaill a' Choire Chais through clouds ©Fenfolio2016

Above cloud inversion ©Fenfolio2016

Skinning up Fiacaill a' Choire Chais in spring weather ©Fenfolio2016

Skinning up the steepest bit of Fiacaill a' Choire Chais ©Fenfolio2016

After we took in the stunning scenery and soaked up some vitamin D, we headed towards Cairn Lochan, back into the thick cloud. It was constantly changing so it didn't last long until the sun was back again. Initially we planned to skin further to Ben Macdui but most of us preferred to ski down the very appealing slopes here. The snow on our first run back to the saddle at Coire Cais was so good that we did this a few times!

Taking in the views towards Ben Macdui ©Fenfolio2016

Making our way to Cairn Lochan ©Fenfolio2016

View from Cairn Lochan ©Fenfolio2016

Then we skied down Coire Raibert and skinned up the top of Cairngorm, skiing downhill on the groomed slopes back to the carpark. Down here there was not much snow left so we really had to circumnavigate carefully around the heather. Luckily the Fiacaill ridge poma was not open and it still had lots of snow so we had the opportunity to ski down here. Again, the snow quality was fantastic so I went first showing the 9 guys how you really ski, haha!! It was the perfect last run of the season.

On Sunday, we made a walk to A'Mharconaich, one of the mountains along the Drumochter Pass. Although I could still feel my muscles from the day before, it was great to be out again and walking through the snow patches.

It has been a fantastic winter season. Now it's time for other sports like cycling and sea kayaking in hopefully some decent summer weather!

Walking up to A'Mharconaich ©Fenfolio2016

Descending from A'Mharconaich ©Fenfolio2016

Me being happy! ©Fenfolio2016

Tuesday, 17 February 2015

Winter in the Scottish mountains (2)

A few weeks ago Jaap and I stayed at Braemar for the weekend. We had hoped we could go skiing but on Friday it was stormy so we decided to go for a walk instead. We parked our car at Linn of Dee and walked through Glen Dee. The light was so flat I thought it would be better to take some black and white photos. I think it perfectly captures the atmosphere that day!

Linn of Dee bridge ©Fenfolio2015

Icicles at Linn of Dee bridge ©Fenfolio2015

River Dee meandering through winter landscape ©Fenfolio2015

Eerie landscape ©Fenfolio2015

The next day looked very promising for some skiing as we had some fresh snow overnight and there was not a lot of wind forecasted. It was Jaap's first day on the skies again and we didn't want to encounter any icy/rocky/heathery areas so we decided to go to ski resort Glenshee. Our luck was with us; once we climbed up our first hill we were able to ski down one of the groomed slopes which was not being used, so we had this run for ourselves! Some someboarders, who were waiting in the long queue to take the towbar, probably noticed our excitement as they followed us climbing our second hill.

Jaap skinning up to the top ©Fenfolio2015

Overnight the thaw set in unfortunately so a lot of snow was lost. Initially we wanted to go for a cross-country tour to Loch Callater but the track had become so icy that we changed our plan and had a walk in the snowless Cambus O'May forest instead.

The Cairngorms on the other hand hadn't lost its snow cover and lots more snow had fallen since that weekend in Braemar. Perfect timing because on the first weekend of February I signed up for a ski mountaineering course organised by the Mountaineering Council for Scotland to refresh my skills.

On Friday the weather was stunning and as I was on my own I went out for a cross-country ski tour around Loch Morlich and Glenmore Forest.

View across Loch Morlich to The Cairngorms ©Fenfolio2015

Line sand shapes along the bank ©Fenfolio2015

Cross-country tour Glenmore ©Fenfolio2015

A perfect winter day ©Fenfolio2015

Following the tracks ©Fenfolio2015

On Saturday I had an early start to be skinned up halfway Cairngorm mountain and meet the group for the course at 9am. After we split into two groups we went up the mountain and learned all about skinning techniques, avalanche awareness, snow quality, navigation and group leadership.

Having a good time on top of Cairngorm mountain ©Fenfolio 2015

On Sunday we went for a tour in the Monadhliath, West of A9, which I had never been before. Our plan was to skin up munro A'Chailleach.

The route we took up and down the mountain ©Fenfolio2015

We had some very fine weather, almost spring-like in the valley.

Taking our bearings ©Fenfolio2015

Making steady progress ©Fenfolio2015

Stunning views ©Fenfolio2015

Approaching the hidden ski hut, purposely built in the early 20's
©Fenfolio 2015

Lunchbreak in the ski hut ©Fenfolio2015

Room with a view ©Fenfolio2015

The ski hut is a wonderful building! ©Fenfolio 2015

More splendid views ©Fenfolio 2015

Only when we were close to the top the weather closed in and the wind was forceful again. Perfect again for putting our navigation skills into practice.

Good practice of navigating in poor visibility © Fenfolio2015

Only then I (or actually the course leader) realised that my Silva Expedition 4 compass was faulty. The black line, which should always stay on the top, was moving along with the dial when I was taking a bearing!

Faulty reading 1 ©Fenfolio2015

Faulty reading 2 ©Fenfolio2015

I'm so glad it happened in a relatively safe environment. The course leader is a volunteer with the mountain rescue team and was shocked to see this could happen. Thanks to her efforts I might get a replacement, even though my compass is out of warranty. Since this all happened I downloaded the app Viewranger on my mobile as my old Garmin GPS doesn't have the option to view a contour map and place a point on it to navigate to. I'll be practising with this together with my new compass so that I get more confident in my navigation skills.

I have learnt so much in these two days and had a great time with like-minded people. If you're a member of MCofS, do consider their courses. They are great value for money!

Sunday, 15 February 2015

Winter in the Scottish mountains (1)

Since the start of the new year I have been enjoying the snow on a couple of hillwalking and ski touring trips. I took many photos of beautiful winter landscapes which I can't resist sharing here with you!

The first trip was a 6-hour walk to our local mountain Lochnagar, near Loch Muick, Aberdeenshire. It was a beautiful day but quite windy at the top. The views were spectacular!

Selfie with Lochnagar in background ©Fenfolio2015

Lochnagar ©Fenfolio2015

At the end of January I went away with the ski touring club ESTC. It was an exciting journey as it had snowed a lot the day before meaning that the small road leading to our accomodation Slochd Mohr lodge off the A9 was cut off due to the piles of snow created by the snow plough. But with our snow shovel (essential part of our ski touring equipment), winter tyres and determination we managed to arrive just before it was dark. We had a short cross-country skiing trip in the forest in lovely powder snow with our head torches, very exciting!

The next morning we started our ski tour from the lodge. We were so lucky with the weather; blue sky, bright sunshine, below zero and no wind at all! Were we really in Scotland??

Slochd trip ©Fenfolio2015

A superb day for ski touring ©Fenfolio2015

Although a lot of snow had fallen the days before, it had also been very windy from the West which meant that many areas were icy and some areas were lovely (especially East facing). It was fine for skinning (no crampons needed) but it was difficult to find a good run downhill. All of them would end up in grass and/or heather. Almost at the end of our trip I found a section however that looked very promising. Although it was quite a short descent, it was heaven to float through the fluffy snow for the first time this year!

On Sunday I tagged along with a small group who were going to ski Dalwhinnie near Drumochter Pass. I had never been there and always wanted to explore that side of the country.

The weather forecast didn't look promising with low clouds and high winds (up to about 40mph on the top) but that didn't matter because we were well prepared.

On the top visibilty and snow conditions were poor. Now I knew for sure I was in Scotland! The wind was also ferocious so after quickly taking off our skins we carefully made our descent. It was hard going due the sastrugi and flat light but once we were halfway down it all got better and we could really enjoy our skiing.

Tuesday, 18 December 2012

Winter wonderland

Two weeks ago the Scottish landscape was covered with a beautiful blanket of snow, not only in the mountains but also on lower ground.

As always, the weather can change rapidly here so you have to take the opportunity when it comes!
My first trip was with the ski mountaineering club and I would meet a few members at Boat of Garten on Saturday night. Normally I drive via Tomintoul and small ski resort The Lecht, but due to heavy snow drifts the road closed down just when I arrived there! The weather forecast looked really good for the next day so I decided to go for an extra two-hour drive to get to my final destination Fraoch Lodge.

The next day we started at Cairngorm car park and skinned up to Lurcher's Crag, continued our way up to Cairn Lochan and then skied down in descent snow to skin up again to the top of Cairngorm itself. The hard physical work of about 4 hours walking uphill (legs burning!) was all forgotten when we skied off-piste back to the car park. Heaven!!

A few days later I tried out my new Nordic skis along the old railway path in Banchory. It was just in time because in the afternoon the thaw set in and since then the snow has gone completely on lower ground and in the mountains it has set off several avalanches. Let's hope the crispy cold weather will be back soon!

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