Loch Morlich

Didn't manage too much of a walk today, as I needed to head back South to go back to work tomorrow, but found time to visit Loch Morlich. The fresh snow on the Cairngorms looked good in the sunlight and made me wish that home was a bit nearer!

Nevis Range

The conditions for today looked much better in the West, so despite staying in Aviemore last night, I decided that it was worth the drive back to Aanoch Mor. The sky was grey, but the upper runs were in really good condition. I did make the mistake of trying to ski from the restaurant to the Quad and made a few imprints on my bases :(

The recent snow was obvious on the Ben (shown below) and there weren't too many people trying to climb the gullies.


There was little wind up top, and I did briefly consider walking to the summit from the top tow, but decided against it. There were a few good looking cornices around, looking like they could go at some point soon.


After a grey day on the slopes, as I got the gondola down the sun came out. Not wanting to miss the opportunity to take a few snaps, I headed round to Corpach to get a good view of the Ben from a different angle to Aanoch Mor!

Glencoe Mountain

Of all the ski resorts in the world, the one I've been most desperate to ski has been Glencoe. While I'm sure there are 100s (if not 1000s) of "better" resorts out there, it is an area that I have spent a lot of time in in the summer and has some of the most spectacular scenery I've ever seen.

I wasn't even intending to ski today as I didn't arrive until midday. I went to enquire how much a lift pass for tomorrow would be and they told me that they were £15 per day. You can't ski for an hour at Xscape for that, so I was persuaded to hand over the credit card straight away.

The 1st stage up the mountain is the access chair which is a fairly old 2 man lift. At the top of this you can normally ski across to the other lifts, but the snow cover didn't reach this low, so they were running the Argo Taxi. (For those of you who only ski the 3 Valleys, and Argo is the make of all-terrain vehicle that many of the stalkers use in the hills - you don't see too many of them in Courchevel!!). After the short drive, it was the single chair, which was a challenge when carrying skis and having a safety bar that didn't work!

Eventually I made it up to the skiable area and got going. There were 6 others sharing my resort today, so no lift queues! I think there were more people out walking than skiing. But what an amazing experience. The snow was in very good condition, and with views across Rannoch Moor, who could wish for any more.

Grantown on Spey

After yesterday I decided to play safe and stay low. Having a look through potential strolls in the area I stumbled across a section of the Speyside Way that could be made into a circular walk by returning alongside the river.

Much of the walk was through woodland which was perfect for the conditions. The paths were good underfoot and there were few other people around. Not the best day for photos though!

Glenmore

A conveniently timed 1st Aid Course at Glenmore Lodge meant that I had some time up near Aviemore during the ski season. Unfortunately, ski conditions were slightly less than perfect (okay, a lot less than perfect!) so I resorted to climbing mountains.

I set off from Glenmore to walk up Meall a Bhuachaille via Ryvoan Bothy (pictured below) in light drizzle. The bothy was a nice place to shelter while I ate lunch and I noticed that a group I had seen heading off ahead of me had stopped off too and signed the visitor book.



As I left the bothy the rain was getting heavier and soon turned to snow as I gained altitude. For muchh of the way up I could see two figures ahead of me, but they disappeared into the mist. With the snow getting heavier and heavier, and the wind getting stronger and stronger I started having second thoughts as to the wisdom of being up a mountain in the Cairngorms without having left a route card with anyone.

Reluctantly I made the decision to return by the route I'd come, rather than continue on to Craiggowrie as intended. Maybe today was a day for skiing after all?

Montafon (Part 1)

I have to confess that when I first heard that I was going to Montafon, I had to ask where it was! It's not a resort that is too high on the radar of British tour ops, but I soon discovered that it is a valley in the far West of Austria, not too far from St Anton and Ischgl.

We stayed in a medieval town called Feldkirch, which is right on the border with Lichtenstein and around a 30 min drive from the main resort village of Schruns. My previous experience of skiing at Feb half term is that you usually queue for about 30-45 mins to get on the gondolas up from resort unless you time it right and beat the ski schools. Schruns was a revelation - our group were the lift queue!

The ski area isn't the biggest, but the convenience of having a ski hire shop up the mountain (where we could leave skis and boots each night) combined with no lift queues really does make it a winner. Of course the metres of fresh powder snow always help make a resort look good.


Due to the presence of a very posh (private) sports clinic in Schruns, there is a rescue helicopter(pictured above) that spends all of its time based here. The "NHS" one will fly in for people who have no insurance or ask to go to the public hospital. Fortunately we didn't need to make use of either, and the worst we suffered was a ski that was lost due to the waist deep powder.

And Then There Was Snow

A week before I expected to be playing in the snow, but nevertheless a welcome trip. Will, Lizzie and I headed out to Fox House and a wander onto Burbage Moor. In places the snow was thigh deep and tough going, but it was a perfect blue sky day.

Windy Edge....aka Stanage!

With the sky blue and the sun shining, I thought it would be good to stroll up to Stanedge Pole and then along Stanage Edge (Unpopular End!). It wasn't the peaceful walk it may have been, as the quad bikes and trail bikes were out in force along Long Causeway. When I got to Stanage Edge, the wind nearly blew me over....so I didn't go too far. Still, it was good to get out of the house!

Moel Siabod

The forecast promised a good day with a temperature inversion, so we set off for North Wales. My parents dropped me off in Capel Curig, and I set off to walk up via the Daear Ddu ridge. Near the start, a stream joined the path and was frozen solid, and I hoped that this wasn't a sign of things to come, but the temperature inversion really was there. As I climbed higher, the streams started to flow again, making it easier underfoot.

The downside was the haze that meant that while I could just about make out Dolwyddelan Castle, it wasn't in a photogenic mood. The good thing about the Daear Ddu ridge, is that you can scramble it, or walk it, depending on your mood. I alternated between the two, and after a short lunch stop, made it to the summit.

The view across to Snowdon was clear, but I couldn't quite make out if the new cafe was open!!

I decided to take the path down to Plas-y-Brenin, which was straightforward. As on the way up, I reached a point where the streams had frozen, and the path became slippy. This slowed down the progress, but I just timed it right, arriving at PYB just in time for the Snowdonia sunset.

Grasmere

As is now a Boxing Day tradition, we went up to the lakes for a stroll around Grasmere. I wouldn't normally blog such a short walk, but I was quite pleased with a few of the photos, so decided to post them. The weather was perfect for a walk, and we wandered up onto Loughrigg Terrace before finding a coffee shop in Grasmere!


This robin was so friendly that it was eating out of my friend's hand. I guess that's why it's fat!!

Ingleborough

Today certainly wasn't the sort of day that I would have chosen to go out in, but having stayed the night in Ingleton, I thought I'd better take the opportunity. I left my car at the Youth Hostel and headed up towards Ingleborough. It wasn't raining, but there was a lot of moisture in the air and visibility was near zero! There were a couple of occasions where I came close to turning back, but I pressed on and made it to the top. The winds up there were fierce, and it was very cold, so I took the decision to return by the route I'd taken. The advantage of this over the route I'd planned, was that I avoided the 3 miles along a road at the finish!

I made it back down, and as I got near the bottom, the visibility started to improve...but not by much! It wasn't the weather to press on and do Pen-y-ghent, so I haven't yet conquered the Yorksire 3 Peaks.

Whernside

Having finished work for Christmas on Friday, I was watching the weather forecasts with interest. MWIS predicted that the high pressure system in place would give good clear weather, so I booked into Ingleton Youth Hostel for the princely sum of £8.

I drove up from Sheffield first thing this morning, and was met by low cloud and mist at Ribbleshead. I had decided that I would just do a round walk by Whernside, rather than attempting to do the "3 Peaks" in the day. Because of the number of people that are attracted to the area, the paths are well marked and generally bulldozed. This meant that navigation wasn't an issue, even in the poor visibility.


There were a few breaks in the cloud, but not when I was at the summit. It wasn't a day for lingering on the top, so I ate lunch as I started the walk back down. There were some people out, but only the occasional one or two. With it not really being the day I'd hoped for, I cut the walk short and headed back to the car. I'll save Ingleborough for another day!

Winter Highs

One of things I love, is a Winter high pressure system. The sky clear, the air fresh and a bit of frost on the ground. Obviously I like snow as well, but not for walking!

I only had a couple of hours, so went for a walk around Ladybower. Conditions were perfect, if a little cold. Despite the good weather, there weren't too many people around, even at Fairholmes.

Westend Moor

I'd not got up as early as planned, but headed off for Bridge End Car Park hoping there would still be space. In fact, it's been turned into a home for logging vehicles. Plan B was to park by Fairholmes, so I utilised the empty spaces by Derwent Dam and headed up the path towards Lockerbrook. The temperature guage on my car was telling me that it was below freezing, but the stiff climb soon resulted in me taking off the ski jacket and making do with a thin fleece.


Beyond Lockerbrook, the path climbes up to Alport Castles, where it levels out quite nicely. The views along the way take in the Edale Valley, the Snake Pass and Alport Farm. There were a few people around, but not many. I stopped for a brief chat with one of the park rangers, but otherwise just lost myself in my thoughts and my ipod!


Had the day been longer, I'd have liked to have carried on to Bleaklow, but decided to be content with making it as far as the Westend Moor trig point. Initially I decided not to return by the same route, and tried to hack a path down towards Black Clough - but eventually common sense took over and I headed back to the path I'd come on.

My timing was impeccible, arriving back at the car just as the last bit of light was disappearing. As you would expect at this time of year, I had been deep into the bog, so was glad of zip-off legs for the drive home!

(Technical Data: distance = 17.5km, ascent = 550m)

Weather Forecast

Anyone who spends a lot of time outdoors will know the importance of a good weather forecast. Last Saturday's forecast on most websites was for wind, snow, and generally horrible weather. It didn't happen - but then I wasn't expecting it to. Why? Because I'd looked at the surface pressure charts, and they had forecast pretty much what we experienced.

Today was a similar situation. The BBC were warning of snow and fog, but Mountain Weather Information Service (IMO the best forecast around) were telling me that the fog would be restricted to the valleys, and the sun would be out. Had it not been for that, I may have missed out on today and stayed in bed.

Burbage

Today was our annual Duke of Edinburgh's Award navigation training. All those who are interested in doing their D of E, come out to Burbage Moor with us and we go through the basics while getting cold, wet, fed up and stuck in bogs. We're quite happy for it to be nasty, as bad weather sorts out the serious ones from the "I've only come because of my mate" types.

For the first time ever, we had good weather. There was no rain, there were not really any bogs, there was no fog, and there was no snow. Okay, so it was cold, but the sun was out and visibility was excellent.

It's not a day where we walk very far - more a day where we walk slowly and deliberately. Oh, and as usual it was rounded off with fish & chips in the pub!

Snowdonia Navigation

Today's exploits were courtesy of Snowdonia Adventures who had put on a beginners navigation training course for some members of snowHeads. I had asked if I could tag along, as I teach navigation to my D of E group, without ever really having been taught how to teach it.

The course started off classroom based, before we headed out onto the hill. Most people had done some nav before, but there were a few total beginners. It was useful practice for me, with the 1st D of E trip coming up next weekend, as it is easy to get out of practice with taking bearings. I was encouraged that I seemed to get everything right!

As everyone was doing so well, we stayed out after dark, enduring a steep, uneven descent. This was particularly good as it was testing, and was interesting to see how the instructor managed the group to ensure everyone got down safely. Having done two night sessions in a week, I'm now keen to get out and do more :)

Brown Knoll

Having worked the past two evenings, I decided to take advantage of the weather and headed out to the Peaks. I'd planned a while back to do Rushop Edge/Brown Knoll, but never got round to it. The plan evolved into....park at the far end of Rushop Edge, walk over Brown Knoll and up to Kinder Downfall, then return by the same route.



Having [almost!] reached the trig point at Brown Knoll, I decided that it was far too boggy to want to return by the same route, so started to formulate plan B. I continued on, but stopped when I got as far as Kinder Low. Looking at the map, it appeared that there was a path that would link me to the Pennine Bridleway at South Head, without me losing too much height. WRONG!

As the terrain came into view, I realised that I had misread just how many contour lines I was crossing, but decided that it was still a better option that retreating back across Brown Knoll. So, my next target/challenge was to make it onto the Bridleway before it went dark. I reckoned that the final 2.5 miles would be okay with just my headtorch, but in fact the moon was full so I didn't need to use the artificial light.

The beauty of staying out late is that you get to experience views like this one below.

Tignes

I've only ever skied once before at October 1/2 term, so set off with expectations of icy pistes, lots of sun, and lazy afternoons. We were staying with Mountainsun in Les Boisses and were delighted to wake up on the 1st morning to fresh snow. In the village! Conditions on the glacier were a little windy, and visibility wasn't amazing....but what fantastic snow!

Over the three days, we got a mixture of heavy snow and sunshine. The race teams that were trying to train, gave up attempting gates in the 70cm of fresh powder and just free skied. On a couple of occasions we thought that they may close the area due to high winds, but fortunately they didn't.

My only previous visit to Espace Killy had been at the end of April in 2004. I'd skied more on the Val d'Isere side, but was really impressed with the ski area as a whole. One thing that I hadn't noticed, that I did this time, was just how expensive the place is. Skiing a lot in Austria has got me used to being able to ski on a budget - and this was no place for a budget! We were staying chalet board, so didn't bother with lunch....after all, only wimps stop for lunch on a powder day!

Because free ski hire was included in the deal, I didn't take my own. I chose to try the Scott Realm. They handled well, and were good for the conditions, but I wasn't convinced to rush out and flog my B2s on ebay so that I could buy a pair.

All in all it was a good pre-season warm up. Just a shame I have to wait 3.5 months for the real season to kick off for me.

Corrour to Fersit

The past few days have been spent pottering round the Highlands, showing one of my friends around. It's her first visit up here, so we've done a bit round the Cairngorms, and been over to Skye. Today we decided to visit one of my favourite haunts and do a walk.

Taking advantage of having two cars, we dropped one off at Fersit, and drove to Tulloch station. From there we got the train to Corrour and after popping in to the Station House we set off for Fersit. The first hour or so s along a path that follows the shore of Loch Ossian. Beyond the Lodge, the route follows the private estate road as far as Strathossian, before heading up into the forest. A short while later it exits the woods and drops down into the hamlet of Fersit, crossing the railway line.

(Technical Data: distance = 20.5km, ascent = 300m)