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

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

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

Ski touring Glas Maol

I just realised I had forgotten to write about a ski touring trip we did last year which was very memorable for me and I'd like to share these beautiful moments with you. We are now well into Spring (although it feels very wintry sometimes!), but some people are still skiing in the Scottish mountains!

Here's the route we took, starting at the carpark at Glenshee Ski Centre.

Ski tour Glenshee ©Fenfolio2015

Enjoy the photos of this amazing winter landscape:

Skiining up towards Glas Maol ©Fenfolio2015

Ski lift covered in rime ©Fenfolio 2015

View to the South towards Spittal of Glenshee ©Fenfolio2015

On top of Meall Odhar ©Fenfolio2015

Making our tracks in powder snow ©Fenfolio2015

Enjoying the sunshine during a lunch break ©Fenfolio2015

The North facing side of this slope was covered with sastrugi ©Fenfolio2015

Sometimes we had arctic conditions! ©Fenfolio2015

Ski Touring Glenshee

Winter has arrived in Scotland! Most people loathe it because it can cause major disruption, but I love the snow because I can do my most favourite outdoor activity; skiing! Weeks ago I joined Edingburgh Ski Touring Club and last weekend it was my first trip with them. We met at Glenshee Ski Centre with our touring equipment (touring skis and boots, skins, ice axe, map, GPS, hot drink and food etc.). Saturday was a beautiful day with a temperature of about -5 C and hardly any wind. The snow varied from really icy on the South-West facing slopes (there was a massive storm a few days before!) to fluffy powder snow on North-East facing slopes. After we left the ski lifts behind us, a group of 10 people headed for Loch Vrotachan and eventually to Munro Carn a Gheoidh (975 m). The routes shown below are is a rough line of our actual track. Next time I make sure my GPS will work!

We had stunning views all around us.

 

After about 5 hours of walking uphill and skiing downhill off-piste, we enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate with cream in the cafe to end our trip. Most people would make their way back home again but two other members and myself booked a nice and neat hostel in Braemar. Our dinner in The Gathering was excellent and well-deserved after our physical endurance.

The next morning it was unfortunately +3 C, but it didn't disencourage us to plan for another trip. We checked the slopes from a few spots in Glen Clunie and heather was mainly what we saw on low level so we decided to go back to Glenshee carpark. It was already very busy with many downhill skiers so that was a good sign that there was still enough snow.

We made our way along the towbars and then headed to the fishing hut at the bottom of Loch Vrotachan.

The wind had picked up and even though the temperature was higher than yesterday, the chill factor was certainly there. The shelter from this building was very welcome to refuel our bodies. There was unfortunately not enough time for us to explore the area towards An Socach but the season has just started and in a few weeks time the days will get longer again. I can't wait to go out on my skis again....

Ski adventures

With so much snow early in the winter season, I decided to change my current alpine ski bindings into mountaineering ones, and buy skins and special ski boots so that I could also explore the local hills and mountains without a ski lift. First I managed to walk up Hill of Fare, near Banchory. It wasn't as easy as I had hoped; walking uphill went fine, but as soon as I got near the top, I sunk through the icy layer on top of the powder snow and got stuck in the heavy heather underneath! Skiing down was also a challenge because I didn't want to follow the same route. When I saw this beautiful, pristine slope I just had to take the risk and make my tracks. The fact that I could see it would end up in front of a dense forest, didn't put me off. By following my instinct and sense of direction (I know the hill quite well), ploughing through that lovely white powder, around tree trunks and following a deer helped me finally finding my way back to the forest track again.

My second adventure was Clachnaben on the 23rd of December. This was a complete different experience. First I had to negiotiate my way through a hunting party from London who were there to shoot their own game for Christmas dinner. After they assured me that I wouldn't be treated the same way, I continued my way up the track. I soon found out that ski mountaineering equipment is not the best for long tracks; you don't want to fiddle too much with your skins, taking them on and off everytime, but carrying your skis on your shoulders is not a good alternative either (I found out the hard way the next day). Another problem was that there was hardly enough snow underneath the trees alongside the forest. But after about an hour and a half I reached the bottom of the hill and started the proper walk uphill. Hard work, yes, but when you finally reach the top, have taken off your skins in a relatively sheltered spot behind a rock to shelter from a gusty and cold wind, fuelled up with hot drink and some carbos, take in the stunning views across the area and realise that you're the only person there, and know that you'll be making fresh tracks soon, the hardship is soon forgotten!













 

After my Scottish skiing trips it was time for something else. Jaap was soon going to start a new job and he had some extra holidays left, so we decided to go to Voss in Norway. I've never seen so much snow falling in such a short time (about half a meter in a day!). Even the Norwegians couldn't remember such a winter for a very long time (an ex-ski instructor told us he lived there since the 70's and never experienced this). Lucky us! 

Skiing in Glenshee

And the snow fun continues with skiing at Glenshee with Lucy and Dave last Thursday. I had finished a lot of work the previous days so I thought I deserved a day off! Unfortunately Jaap had meetings so he couldn't come with us. The conditions were excellent; no wind, blue sky, nice snow (apart from a few thin/rocky spots). We had a great day out as you can see on these photos.



Lucy and I also took some video shots, some of them while skiing at the same time. That was a real challenge, but great to do. Be warned though; you might get dizzy watching it!