Stormy Scottish Weekend
March 9, 2009 on 1:24 pm | In Snowboarding, Skiing | No Comments
The snow is still falling today on the Scottish mountains as the weekend storm continues to add to the snowy coating already covering the hills. Ski-ing and snowboarding conditions in the last few days have been great under foot but pretty awful from the feet up as the wind has been blowing the proverbial, ‘as it had blown it’s last’ and standing up straight was becoming a challenge.
With the wind due to drop and more snow forecast the conditions on the Scottish hills are likely to be good both under and above foot in the week to come. There are a few events to look forward to this coming weekend as well, including the Nevis Mammoth Descent which is a race from the top of Aonach Mor to Meall Beag by ski or snowboard and is a whole lot of fun.
Check out the Nevis web site for more info. Conditions are also fine for many of the other outdoor activities around the ski resort towns if the weather does decide to argue. Many of the mountain bike trails around the Spey Valley have been re surfaced and up graded in the last year or so and the mountain bike centre at Wolftrax, between Aviemore and Fort William, at Laggan, is always in excellent condition and well worth a visit if you can not get your adrenaline fix on the snow.
And if the wind is the problem, then why not make use of it and get yourself out on the water at Loch Insh Watersports centre for a bit of sailing or windsurfing. Warm wetsuits are provided for rent at the centre so do not be put off by the cold!
Lesley McKenna
http://www.chunkyknit.com
Professional snowboarder, film maker and ambassador for Visitscotland. All sorts of outdoor sports from skiing to mountain biking and now mixes her time on the Snowboard World Cup Tour with time in Scotland doing these sports.
Start scoping your line now
March 5, 2009 on 8:06 am | In Snowboarding, Skiing | No Comments
As predicted a couple of days ago, the March storms have started bringing with them the usual great new snow. Cairngorm, for one, has a nice new white coat and good ski-ing and snowboarding to be had. I am sure there will be more snow to follow so in anticipation get yourselves up there and start scoping a good line for when the conditions are ON. Alternatively, cruise the lovely new powder and enjoy the amazing views of the white mountains around the Spey Valley.
I am currently in Morzine in France coaching on the Roxy snow camp for a week before heading to Spain for the next World Cup event where I will be competing in the half pipe. I am very much looking forward to making back to Scotland in the next few weeks to get in those lines I have been planning!! And to ride the various snowparks around Scotland. I hope to see you there!
Lesley McKenna
http://www.chunkyknit.com
Professional snowboarder, film maker and ambassador for Visitscotland. All sorts of outdoor sports from skiing to mountain biking and now mixes her time on the Snowboard World Cup Tour with time in Scotland doing these sports.
Mad March sessions
March 3, 2009 on 8:46 am | In Snowboarding, Skiing | No Comments
The start of March brings the mad March Hare to the Scottish hills, or at least seekers of mad March hair-raising snow escapades. There is always a dump of snow in the first two weeks of March and it is very often a large dump so be prepared as the exisiting base coupled with the great few months of on snow and good weather practice will no doubt bring the long awaited return of the extreme Scottish ski route.
Spurred on by the relatively new breed of Scottish snowboarders, many who have never been around the witness the more daring side of Scottish back-country riding, the many very talented home grown skiers who like to test their limits and pit themselves against the mountain will be out in force to get that line down Aladdins or Jacobs or drop that cliff or cornice or buttress they have not seen done for many a year.
And the snowboarders will be hot on their tails if not leading the way!! The last few seasons in Scotland have been a build up to something even better. There has been gathering momentum and a coming together of like minded back-country folks. These folks, definitely not backward at coming forward,unless riding switch that is, have had their beady little eyes on various lines and drops around the Scottish mountains just waiting for the right snow and weather to put them ‘in condition’ so to speak.
Like the big wave surfers who wait for years for the once in a lifetime storm to bring them their mega hit in the form of a huge wave to ride on, out own adrenaline junkies have been hanging out waiting for a season where they get in enough home practice to feel ready by March to take on THE LINE and this very well might be the season.
Watch this space as we wait for the inevitable March storm to hit and hope that it brings plenty of the white stuff with it, like it did last year, so the home grown snow mavericks can get their all to rare fix of ground breaking adventure adrenalin. I for one will be at the Top of Jacobs Ladder ready to jump in to the couloir and straight line the chute.Here are some pics from the last few weeks to get you motivated. See you on the snow!
Lesley McKenna
http://www.chunkyknit.com
Professional snowboarder, film maker and ambassador for Visitscotland. All sorts of outdoor sports from skiing to mountain biking and now mixes her time on the Snowboard World Cup Tour with time in Scotland doing these sports.
Skiing and Boarding on Cairngorm
February 23, 2009 on 6:31 pm | In Snowboarding, Skiing | No Comments
The snow arrived at the right time this year, so that the conditions were great for the start of the mid term holidays! This meant that everything was open and running really well during this period.
The staff on Cairngorm have reacted well to this and everyone has really pulled the stops out to ensure that it runs as well as possible. Many customers are unaware of the amount of unseen work that goes on to ensure that it runs smoothly.
Our hats go off to them all but in particular to the ski patrol, pisting and engineering staff who come in very early (when most of us are still in bed) to clear the road, piste the runs, open lifts etc. Below is a picture taken down the Day Lodge poma track showing a full car park!
During the half term the weather was a bit warmer and so snow was gradually lost over this period. As of today we could still just about pick our way down to the Day lodge, but some of the other runs are now broken. The Day Lodge poma, West Wall poma and Car Park T-bar now all require more snow to operate.
Despite this, the top still has plenty of snow and is good skiing and boarding, and you can still get down the White Lady and Cas.
For those people who are unaware of the Scottish ski resorts the freeze/thaw cycle is completely normal, and just a product of our weather systems and being a relatively low country on the edge of the Atlantic!
We should get some more snow soon and I fully expect to be skiing and boarding well into April (or even May) like the last 2 years.
Our ski and snowboard school is teaching kids from the local primary schools during the week over the next month, and I am sure that our Snowlimit programme will again have over 100 local kids on it each weekend. This year we have over 65 instructors, all of whom are passionate about their sports and have a desire to pass it on to others.
Inevitably however, this job is made easier if we have good weather, and our customers can have a memorable experience!
Mike Shepherd
http://www.theskischool.co.uk
In the winter I am the Director of The Ski School and The Snowboard School on Cairngorm Mountain, which employs over 65 ski and snowboard instructors each winter. In the summer I am a dinghy sailing Coach and run courses all over the north of Scotland, as well as dabbling in many other watersports.
Scotland, as good as I can remember
February 23, 2009 on 2:26 pm | In Skiing | No Comments
The snow conditions over the last month is Scotland have been as good as any I can remember. The snow has been of the light fluffy powdery variety and there has been full coverage. People have been able to ski and snowboard on runs that have been patchy or snow free the past few seasons and the general atmosphere on the Scottish Pistes has been brilliant, showing that the ski and snowboard scene in Scotland is very much alive and well. Me enjoying powder on the Head Wall of Cairngorm.
I for one, am not too surprised at the great conditions as I was lucky enough to have some great conditions last season and the season before that too. I think the difference this year is that the great conditions are a little bit earlier in the season than the last two years. Last year, it was the end of March before it got really good in Scotland and the year before that it was April that was the best month.
Right now we are seeing a bit of a mid season thaw on the lower slopes but this is usual and I am very sure that the snow will be back in full in March bringing with it some more great Scottish ski and snowboard conditions so do not put your skis and boards away yet as I think the best is still to come.I took this picture in the middle of April last year and have every intention of getting some more of that action this season.
The great snow conditions have allowed the ski competition circuit to run in Scotland for the first time in a few years and it is great to see that there is still a keen interest and high standard of ski racing in Scotland. As well as ski racing the freestyle parks in the Scottish resorts are providing great opportunities for the young ski and snowboard freestylers to learn new tricks and practice for the up and coming national champs in Laax Switzerland at the start of April.
At the same time the freestylers are in Laas the alpine racers will be putting their home practive to the test in Meribel, France at the Alpine Ski Champs where the boys will be chasing Scottish Ski heros Noel and Alain Baxter, Andy Noble and Finlay Mickel and the girls will be chasing Pam Thorburn and UK ace Chemmy Alcott. The Scottish snowsports competitors have been having a good season which bodes well for the coming Winter Olympics in Feb 2010.
Noel Baxter finished 17th in the World Championships slalom event after finally having a few injury free weeks on snow while Ben Kilner and myself have been quietly notching up top 20 and top 15 World Cup half pipe results. Ben is looking really strong in the pipe and it is only a matter of time before he breaks in to the top ten on the World Cup tour.
As well as bolstering the interest in the home grown competition scene the recent snow lower down has sparked an interest in cross country ski-ing and what better way to see the beautiful winter scenery than to ski around the local lochs and woods!
Lesley McKenna
http://www.chunkyknit.com
Professional snowboarder, film maker and ambassador for Visitscotland. All sorts of outdoor sports from skiing to mountain biking and now mixes her time on the Snowboard World Cup Tour with time in Scotland doing these sports.
November Skiing and Snowboarding in Scotland
November 27, 2008 on 4:02 pm | In Snowboarding, Skiing | No Comments
The Lecht was first to operate in Europe when it opened for an early start to the season on Friday 31st October. Since then, 1,559 skiers and snowboarders have enjoyed this autumn’s winter conditions over a full seven days of operation.
CairnGorm Mountain also offered skiing and boarding from the funicular for around 750 customers over the first weekend in November.
The Adventure Pass is offering buy one get one half price on day passes to Cairngorm and Nevis Range: www.visitscotland.com/adventurepass
Gillian Thompson
http://www.visitscotland.com/adventure
Works with adventure sports in Scotland and has a keen interest in keeping fit and walking and a new passion for surfing.
Summer time
June 6, 2008 on 10:04 am | In Snowboarding, Skiing | No Comments
Waiting for the snow at the start of the season…. The last strips of snow are quietly melting away from the corries and bowls and taking many happy snowy memories with them on the journey to the sea. The sun is out and most people are also thinking of heading beach wards in anticipation of a good summer ahead. Before the happy snow memories disappear all together for another season I decided to put together a small collection of my favourite Scotland snow shots from the 2007/2008 season. It really did prove to be one of the best snow seasons for a long, long time.
I got to ride some real powder, ride a powder kicker in the Cairngorm back-country, do a few lines and generally have a great time riding the pistes and parks right here in Scotland. Can’t ask for more than that. Now all I ask for is a bit of sun shine and a few waves as I am heading to Tiree, following the last of the melt water down to the sea.The Head Wall in full Glory.
My favourite line is on the left, Aladdins Couloir
I hope you all had as much fun as I did right here at home on our home grown snow. See you in the sea!!!!!!!! Bring on the waves…
Lesley McKenna
http://www.chunkyknit.com
Professional snowboarder, film maker and ambassador for Visitscotland. All sorts of outdoor sports from skiing to mountain biking and now mixes her time on the Snowboard World Cup Tour with time in Scotland doing these sports.
The Last day of the Season
May 7, 2008 on 11:02 am | In Snowboarding, Skiing | No Comments
The last day of the season at Cairngorm Mountain was Monday the 5th of May, which is one day later that the last day in Zermatt, Switzerland! I was in Zermatt for three weeks to do my BASI qualifications and was well aware that I was missing some great on snow action back home in Scotland as I had spent the previous week shredding some great home grown powder on Cairngorm.
Although Zermatt also had a lot of great snow, I was pretty sad that I could not make the most of the home snow. I was happy however, that I had managed to persuade the largest snowboard magazine in Europe to go and check out the great conditions, at last!!
They arrived in Aviemore to bad weather and mist but the boys up the hill had been busy with the cat and they soon had a monster booter built for the two European pro riders who they had taken over to shoot with. Joining the Euros were our very own Angus Leith and Ben Kilner.
They managed to build a 18m kicker, the largest ever built on Cairngorm and got some amazing pictures of the boys. Keep a look out for them in the first issue of Onboard next season! As well as getting some great riding in the Onboard crew did all the great tourist things you can do from Nessie spotting to Whiskey drinking and all in all had a ball.Meanwhile, back in Zermatt I was hoping the snow lasted at least a few days past my due arrival date home.
My patience was rewarded and the snow lasted long enough for me to get in a couple of great days over the weekend and into bank holiday Monday. The atmosphere up the mountain was amazing and everyone was telling stories of the great couple of months of Scottish ski-ing they had just had and all the adventures they had been on.
There were many very happy faces around and a lot of great tricks going down in the park on the jibs and the somewhat melted down Onboard jump. It was great to see the locals ripping it up though and very impressive to see Mike Jahtzy and Chris Mitchell, the local ski club coaches, throwing huge back flips and corked spins off the big jump while the snowboarders also span and flipped themselves well into the evening.
On the Monday night the lifts ran until 8pm and we watched a beautiful sunset growing over the Spey Valley to end what has been one of the best snow seasons I can remember in Scotland, ever. I for one have never ridden such great powder in Scotland as I was lucky enough to ride at the start of April this year. I hope that you all found some too and had as much fun as I did.
I am now very happy to hang up my snowboard for a while and dig out my surf board! Bring on the waves I say!!! See you in the sea.
Lesley McKenna
http://www.chunkyknit.com
Professional snowboarder, film maker and ambassador for Visitscotland. All sorts of outdoor sports from skiing to mountain biking and now mixes her time on the Snowboard World Cup Tour with time in Scotland doing these sports.
Good Ol Cairngorm
February 28, 2008 on 5:02 pm | In Snowboarding, Skiing | 1 Comment
I had a good ol weekend up on Cairngorm last weekend in the hope that the wind would drop and we would get the Roxy comp under way. Unfortunately, Cairngorm was living up to it’s character and the wind was going nowhere fast except southwesterly very strongly indeed, gusting 98mph no less!!! I taled to the main weather man up on the mountain and he told me the wind has been exceptional in the last few weeks with the highest ever recorded wind speed of 186mph!!!!!!!!!! a few weeks ago.
The good thing is though, that March brings calmer weather and there is still plenty snow around, especially in the park. The crew at Cairngorm have done an amazing job of pushing the snow around and have saved the pistes there from the worst of the wind. Here is the view from the cat on the way down the M105. There are a few more competitions due to run in the park on Cairngorm in the coming weeks so I am sure the wind will drop for some of those days.
The high winds did not damped spirits though and the night time event still went off with a bang. The theme was retro ski and in keeping with the theme the party was held in the one and only Winking Owl, home of many an Aviemore Alpine night out in years gone by and enjoying a new burst of life this current season. there were a lot of very retro looking bods around and they were all hoping for the wind to die down so they could go and get their shred on the snow as well as the dance floor!!
Lesley McKenna
http://www.chunkyknit.com
Professional snowboarder, film maker and ambassador for Visitscotland. All sorts of outdoor sports from skiing to mountain biking and now mixes her time on the Snowboard World Cup Tour with time in Scotland doing these sports.
An old legend
February 19, 2008 on 1:36 pm | In Snowboarding, Skiing | 1 Comment
I have just spent a great two weeks in Jackson Hole in Wyoming in the USA with ex pat Scot and mountain legend Davie Agnew. I went to the area to film for the next round of Roxy pod casts and got in touch with Davie, who has lived in the Tetons for the last 35 years to ask if he would mind showing us around a little as I knew he knew the area well. Davie grew up in Glasgow and was one of the first band of mountaineer pioneers to take to ski-ing and use his mountain knowledge to get into the backcountry and ski some untracked powder snow. He worked on Cairngorm for a few years in the 60’s before the European Alps called his name and he moved to Switzerland.
After a few years in Switzerland and the death of his good friend in a climbing accident, Davie moved to Colorado and then on to Wyoming where he finally settled, feeling happy that there were enough unexplored mountains for him there. he spent the next 35 years of his life bagging first decents of many of the ski-able lines in the Tetons and surrounding area and still goes out ski-ing most winter days to this day.We were lucky enough to have Davie as our guide for the trip and he was obviously thrilled to show us around and take us to the good spots.
We hiked around on the Teton Pass in chest deep powder, Davie leading the way and breaking trail for us then watched him very elegantly ski down some of the nicest lines I have ever seen. Davie has been telemark ski-ing for a very long time now and this allows him to use ski skins to get out into the back country. As we were snowboarding we had to follow up hill on snowshoes which made for some pretty tiring days on the hill. The views and snow were spectacular though, and all the hiking was well worth it as we got some great footage. We were also kept going by a constant stream of tales from Davie who has travelled the world ski-ing and mountaineering and made me realize just how large a contribution Scots like Davie have made to the Worlds mountaineering and ski-ing fraternity. I am now back in Scotland and looking forward to getting out on the Scottish hills this weekend for the Roxy competition on Cairngorm. Hope to see you there!! 
Lesley McKenna
http://www.chunkyknit.com
Professional snowboarder, film maker and ambassador for Visitscotland. All sorts of outdoor sports from skiing to mountain biking and now mixes her time on the Snowboard World Cup Tour with time in Scotland doing these sports.
