Two weeks ago the Scottish landscape was covered with a beautiful blanket of snow, not only in the mountains but also on lower ground.
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View from our house to Scolty Hill
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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!!
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My silhouette with map of Cairngorms in snow
©Fenfolio 2012 |
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Me in my element!
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The group enjoying the splendid views
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View from Lurcher's Crag
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Ski touring on Cairngorm plateau
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Almost there!
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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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Skiing the Deeside Way
©Fenfolio 2012 |
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Skiing along the river Dee
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