This winter has been mission learn-to-ski for me and it has been a slow (very slow) and often painful journey. This weekend marked a watershed because, under the gentle guidance of experienced friends Dave and Pauline (plus Wally), I was coached and nurtured up a hill, off piste, with skins on. Not only that, but I skied (some) of the way back down. The received wisdom is that you really need to be a proficient piste skier to ski tour in Scotland, and as I'm still limping down green runs, this is far from a description of me. My survival on Saturday is entirely due to excellent route choice by my friends, good instruction, and benign conditions. I admit I was terrified some of the time. The rest of the time it was brilliant glorious fun.
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| Skinning up on to the plateau of A Bhuidhenach Bheag. |
We set off from Dalnaspidal in the Drumochter pass in the direction of A' Bhuidhenach Bheag, a rounded munro on the east side of the A9. Skinning up hill on my new touring skis was a revelation. I'm happy to report that this aspect of ski touring was way easier than expected, and much easier than walking up hill. Eureka! I'm a convert.
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| Fabulous views of Glen Garry |
And the descent? Well, the initial slopes were wind scoured icy snow and I panicked. Having never skied anything so steep or technical, the skis came off and I stomped down the hill. I'd packed the crampons for this eventuality, but my second hand ski touring boots were fine on the crusty ice so I was soon able to catch up with the others at the point where the snow softened and the gradient eased. On the easier ground, I settled in to my tentative snowplough turns feeling right at home on the gentle slopes. Lots to learn- but I'm very keen, and happy to mark the milestone of my first munro by ski.
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| Cruising very very gently down the hill! |
3 comments:
A wrist compass can come in handy when touring. Because your skis always want to go on the slightest downhill, it's very easy to turn direction without noticing it at all in clag. On the top of Aonoch Mor once in thick mist a friend and I managed to turn the best part of 180 degrees without noticing until checking our compasses (in pockets of course) and thinking "wtf?"
Aha, yes a very good idea, thanks! Compass in pocket is a much easier mistake to make when you have hands full of poles.
Excellent! I have heard it said that if you can ski in Scotland, you can ski anywhere. My one experience was on Aonoch Mor in fog - petrifying.
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