The First (Mini) Ski Tour Of The Winter

Good to be on skis again

Another night and day of snow showers and the mid-November snow looked deep enough for the skis. It's been a few years since I could ski from the garden gate at this time of year. The sky was overcast and dark with layers of thick clouds. A cold NW wind blew.

View to Ben Rinnes

The snow was soft. Pushing through it the skis didn't glide much but it was still much easier sliding than walking. Returning home I followed my tracks and was able to enjoy the sensation of slipping effortlessly over the snow.

View to Meall a' Bhuachaille

Distant views were hazy. Flat light, the sky and the snow similar shades, a slight air of unreality to the landscape. Silence except for the swishing of my skis.

Feeding ground

Whilst the snow creates a wonderland for skiers and walkers it's hard on animals and birds, especially those reliant on plants. The first day I'd been out in the snow there were just a few fox and deer tracks. Nothing moved. Today, the third day with lying snow, I saw one rabbit just briefly, before it popped back into its burrow, and two buzzards circling high above. Creatures had been active though as there were several areas where rabbits and deer had scraped away the snow in search of frozen nourishment.

Towards the Cairngorms

I looked over dark forests, much of the snow blown off the branches by the wind, to hints of the distant Cairngorms, edges of darker grey that might be mountains. Retreating from the wind blowing up strong and cold from the valley below I took shelter behind a grove of birch and aspen. Not far away was a favourite tree, an ancient battered goat willow.

The old goat willow

Out of the worst of the wind I made a little video.

I returned across the fields as the wind strengthened. Only a little trip but it felt so good to be out in the snow on skis again.

Old gateposts framing a distant Ben Rinnes

The following day a slow thaw started and the first post of the week arrived, the postie having made it up the track, though he did say only just up the steepest bit. The book was the new edition of the Scottish Mountaineering Club's Ski Mountaineering in Scotland. It looks glorious, full of mouth-watering pictures. I hope I'll be some of the easier routes in the months to come (the harder ones I couldn't have done when my skiing was at my best and certainly wouldn't attempt now - of course I am always on Nordic skis and the book is really for Alpine tourers).