Adventure Blog Scotland | Snow

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.

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!!

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!!

Glenshee is amazing!

January 14, 2008 on 12:48 pm | In Skiing | 3 Comments

I’ve patiently waited for my ankle to fix itself after an injury last season and I’ve had a few tentative days on telemark skis but when two large parcels got delivered last week it was time to open up a can of whoop a$$ again.

In those parcels were a set of new fat skis and some comfortable booties. Couple that with the massive snowfalls the Scottish hills have been subject to over the last couple of weeks and we’ve got the perfect ingredients for a day on the hill…

oh and did I mention the bluebird skies?!

Looking towards the Cairngorm Plateau

I’d packed the car the night before, lunch was made, clothes laid out ready to jump into so as to waist no time. Beep beep beep, the alarm goes and I’m into overdrive. Talking of driving; I’m sure skiers should be exempt from speeding fines. [NOTE FROM THE EDITOR; Ben - speeding should only be practised while on the slopes! For the record we DO NOT justify speeding under any circumstances.] Anyway it was a great drive over the Lecht towards Glenshee. As we approached the ski centre the snowbanks rose from the side of the road, sun kissed the tops of the hills and the pair of us couldn’t keep the smiles off our faces or stop bouncing up and down in our seats.

A swift change into ski gear and the reassuring clunk, clunk into my bindings and we were off. Off into Scottish skiing shangra la. The runs were in perfect knick, skies were blue and there was a definate buzz about the place as everyone lapped up the perfect conditions. Our first port of call was Corie Fionn for some fresh tracks.

Oh the sweetness of opening it up through fresh windblown snow! What a hoot!

The sun was moving fast so we headed for the Tiger and spent some time there taking shots. The weather station at the top of Cairnwell was frozen solid and I reckon the only temperature it was recording was ‘bloody cold’. It was a day of amazing snow, exhilarating skiing, and breathtaking views. And when all was said and done we ate lunch when we got back to the car after the sun went down on a perfect day.

After a day like that and seeing the amount of snow they have, things are looking good for the forseeable future so I’ve only three words for you.

‘Get up there!’

Ben skiing the Tiger at full boost irnwell weather station

Ben Thorburn
http://www.freeskiing.co.uk
Freeskiing and telemarking are my main sports but in the off season it's all about the mountain bike... that and a bit of hill walking and running.

Skiing at Glenshee

January 13, 2008 on 1:17 am | In Skiing | 1 Comment

Making a change from flying (though I did grab a quick flight on the paraglider near the end of the day!) Skiing was the order of the day on Friday 11th of January. Once the cloud lifted and cleared at lunch time Glenshee saw some lovely January snow conditions in a fairly mild sunny conditions with just a light and variable breeze.

For visitors to Scotland that have not yet enjoyed skiing and/or snowboarding the “Three Valley’s” that make Glenshee the largest ski center in Scotland, I’ve uploaded a few simple video clips (YouTube) at http://www.Ski-Video.co.uk currently the videos only feature “Sunnyside” double chair and poma tows, but will expand soon to cover as many of the runs as I get the time to film more runs as well as uploading filming done in previous years.

I hope these clips will encourage those from down south who have not yet been to Glenshee to make the trip to Scotland, and not just to play in the snow here at Glenshee but also at all of the Scottish centers.

See you on & off piest in 2008 (not to mention joining me in flying above the snow!)

Murray Hay (East Scotland Paragliding club)

Murray Hay
http://www.paraglidingscotland.co.uk
Born in Kenya from Scottish parents, 'full time' job is commercial photography but the last ten plus years has seen me fly well over 3,500 hours, paragliding all over Scotland!

New Zealand Snowpark

July 1, 2007 on 3:55 pm | In Skiing | No Comments

Snow cannons at Snowpark, New Zealand

I have just traveled from Scotland to the other side of the world, landing in Christchurch on the South Island of New Zealand about 7 days ago. It is definitely about 5 days as trying to put a definite number on the days would be impossible. I left Scotland on a Tuesday and after two twelve hour flights, arrived in New Zealand on a Thursday.

My brain has managed to get around the missing time way better than my body which is still very confused. As well as being day when it should be night and night when it should be day, meaning that cravings for spaghetti bolognaise breakfasts are not unusual, it is now approaching winter down here. The day before I left Scotland I was surfing at Sandend on the Moray coast. The weather was warm(ish), the sun was out, the beach was serene and I had a great time on my new long board. There was a real summer feel in the air added to even more by the smell of our bbq’in sausages, which we shared among our surf crew of 5 or 6 people.

Two(ish) days later and we found ourselves looking at the waves on the beach in New Brighton just north of Christchurch contemplating a quick morning surf. The only thing was, the temperature was now 2 degrees, there was snow on the ground and the beach was covered in frost. We decided to take a stroll instead, stopping on the way to buy some sausages to cook inside and eat for breakfast in front of the fire. It all felt very strange.

We spent a few days in Christchurch then got on the road down to Wanaka, our home for the next couple of months. We have come down here for the New Zealand snow season, to train and compete in the snowboard contests down here. There are two big ones, The Burton New Zealand Open and The New Zealand World Cup, both in August, as well as the Cardrona Games.

The majority of the international snowboard World Cup Riders are coming down for the contests and have started to arrive here this week. There will be some amazing riding and what looks like Olympic level fields so there is all to ride for.

We went up to the Snowpark resort this week to check out the conditions and get our snow feet back into action. They have an impressive set up there and have built all the features into the earth. They have numerous jumps and a two large half pipes all built into the ground so that when it gets cold enough they just have to make enough man made snow to cover the ground and they whole park is up and running.

The actual slope is only around 400m long so it just goes to chow what is possible in a small space if you can make snow. They also use the jumps and corners they have built into the earth as a bike park in the summer, with a downhill mountain biking track from the resort down to the valley floor.

It also goes to show what would be possible in Scotland with a bit of snow making!!! With a bit of luck all the jumps and pipe will be covered and open by next week and we can get our training under way.