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?!
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 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!
Happy New Year!!
January 8, 2008 on 4:56 pm | In Snowboarding | No Comments
There is no better time of year to go for a few drinks with your friends in Aviemore than over the festive period. There are always a lot of interesting nights and this year was no exception. It is nice to see the legendary Woodshed Bar, at Coylum Bridge Hotel, back to full form and even better to see live music playing there especially when it is the local band The Starlings who played in the Woodshed on the 24th to kick off the festive season. It was a great night attended by many local faces and everyone was in the festive mood. As well as getting to see ‘The Starlings’ the lucky crowd got a sneak preview of the Roxy Snow film ‘Labour of Love’.
As well as catching up with my friends over the festive period I got the chance to get out in the chilly highland air. As well as the customary walks around Loch an Eilan and Loch Morlich with my family I took a run up past Ryvoan and Bynack Stable and all the way up to the Barns of Bynack. I had never been all the way up there before and am glad to say that the view was definitely worth it, although it was a bit chilly at the top!! We actually cheated a bit and rode our mountain bikes up to the Bynack stable then ran the rest of the way. It was a good way to do it as the winter light was already fading when we got back to Loch Morlich.
After the festive break I headed out to Morzine for a few days of training in preperation for the next competition, the European Open, which kicks off in Laax, Switzerland next week. Hopefully the rest and recuperation along with the nice bit of dryland training I got in will see me in good stead to start the new year with a good result.
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.
Cairngorm Christmas
December 28, 2007 on 7:25 pm | In Snowboarding, Uncategorized | No Comments
There is nothing I like better than to see Loch Morlich covered in ice and some snow, even a little bit, on the tops of the Cairngorms. That is just the view that greeted me when I arrived home in Aviemore for Christmas. It had been cold for a while and the ground was white with frost and the lochs were all frozen hard enough to go skating on. Unfortunately there was not quite enough snow to have a good slide around on but there was enough to get going. It is always good to get up the hill at this time of year and it is not to be forgotten that any skiing and snowboarding in December is always a bonus.
The Ptarmigan tow was running and there was enough snow to get up a good bit of speed!!!
We spent a lovely family Christmas at Rothiemurchus and even managed to get in a bit of skating on the little lochan at the back of Rothiemurchus tennis club. It felt like a proper old fashioned Christmas card scene with the whole of the McKenna and Baxter caln sliding around on the ice. We had big plans for a boxing day hockey match until we woke up the next day to find the weather had gone mild and the ice was now a little on the thin side. We decided to go for a mountain bike ride instead and ended up at the head of Abernethy.
We cycled around by Loch an Eilan, then up to Loch Morlich and then on to the Green Loch and up to Bynach stables. It was a lovely clycle and certainly worked up the appetite for a second Christmas dinner!!
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.
December 21, 2007 on 8:05 pm | In Uncategorized | No Comments
Here are the girls from the Roxy Team enjoying their Christmas Party after the Roxy Chicken Jam Slopestyle contest in Kaprun last weekend. The Roxy Chicken Jam is a 6 star TTR snowboard event for girls only. The TTR stands for the Ticket to Ride Tour and is a world wide tour of top level contests including slopestyle, big air, quarter pipe and half pipe contests. unlike World Cup events, which are only held in the freestyle disciplines of half pipe and big air. The TTR tour contests are generally very progressive and media based with a lot of fun side events happening alongside of the snowboard contest. In kaprun, there was a large after party with 5 different DJs playing banging tunes into the small hours of the morning.
The Roxy park at the top of the glacier.
The riding during the contest was very competitive and of a high standard. In the end it was Cheryl Maas, the Dutch TTR Tour winner from two years ago who took first place, with TTR tour runner up from last year, Jamie Anderson from the USA taking second place and local ripper, Austrian Claudia Fliri taking the third spot. The contest was supposed to be held in the Roxy park at the top of the Kaprun glacier but had to be moved down to the half way slope where the DC sponsored park will be in the winter due to very high winds. This meant the girls did not get all the practice they would have wanted but it did not slow them down much. They soon got straight into it with Torah Bright, current TTR champion, blasting off the kicker first with a perfect frontside 360 to set the standard. Torah ride well all day but just could not clean up the landing on her cab 540 spin. Also riding well were the UKs Jenny Jones and Norways Kjersti Buaas who in the end tied for 4th place. Jenny got the 4th on a points breakdown but it was a close call, showing how much all the girls are pushing each other.
Before the contest started I spent the week with my fellow Roxy team mates in Kaprun doing the Roxy catalogue shoot for the 08/09 season. We were lucky enough to get some really amazing snow and lots of fresh powder turns. THis is always a very good thing at the start of the season and especially good after the bad snow season in Europe last year. It was bitterly cold though as you can see from the way our photogrpaher Josie Clyde is well wrapped up!! We wil be shooting all over the world in the next 3 months to try and get action shots for marketing. Hopefully if the snow is good in Scotland we will even get to shoot here!!
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.
That Roxy time of year
December 4, 2007 on 5:39 pm | In Snowboarding | No Comments
The Roxy Girls
it is creeping towards the darkest time of year, when it is totally dark at 4.40 and not light before 8.30. it is cold and wet outside and people in the towns are bustling around, busy with their Christmas shopping. The darkness was certainly brightened up this week by the welcome sight of snow on the hills in Scotland. There was enough on Cairngorm for the Ptarmigan tow to open and what that was there was very nice indeed. Hopefully we will continue to get snowed upon in the next few weeks so at Christmas I can get to ride at home. Before that, however, it is time for the Roxy Chicken Jam. Every year, just before Christmas, Roxy hosts an all girl slopestyle contest which turns out to be one of the most fun contests of the year.
This year the contest will be held in Kaprun in Austria where they have been having a lot of snow in the last few weeks. Girls from all over the world will head out to Kaprun in the next week to get ready for the competition, which is one of the largest all girl contests around. There is a large prize purse and a lot for the girls to ride for. I will be there along with Jenny Jones from Bristol and new comer Aimee Fuller from northern Ireland.
To keep the Roxy theme going, I am planning to host a Roxy film premiere in the Woodshed bar in Aviemore on Christmas Eve, after I have been shredding on Cairngorm, of course. The premiere will start around 7pm and all are welcome.
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.
Dust off the boards
November 18, 2007 on 9:47 pm | In Snowboarding | No Comments
This is the Dune graveyard in the autumn sun light. In between getting all my winter clothes and equipment ready I got out for a quick breath of fresh air and a wander around Rothiemurchus Estate where the Doune is situated.
Well, the autumn is nearly turning to winter and the last leaves are just hanging on to almost bare branches. The hills are now covered in a fine dusting of snow and my surf board may have seen its last wave fow a while. Well, at least until it warms up a wee bit. The nights are definitely closing in too, which makes it all the more important to get out there in the day light and get some fresh air. It also makes it a good time to give your ski and snowboard equipment a good old overhaul and check out so it is all up and running for when the first big dump of snow hits us in the hopefully not too distant future. The first thing to do is find everything from skis and boots and poles or snowboards and bindings and boots to gloves, goggles, hats, scarfs, turtle necks, long underwear, fleeces and everything warm and waterproof.
This is always a good idea as to be sure, if you do not, the morning you wake up to the first big dump you will only be able to find your skis and poles and one glove and will for sure have no idea what on earth could have happened to the other glove or why on earth your boots are not with the rest of your equipment. It will then take you a few hours to realize that your 5 year old nephew borrowed the boots to play crazy golf with in the summer and you have not seen them since, meaning that they are probably still hiding out in the rose bush in the garden, now full of water, and the missing glove is now the cosy lining in the cat basket. There is never enough snow and light time at this time of year to risk time losses of this nature so be warned, look out the gear now.
As well as finding it, it is a good idea to check it is all in working order. It is not much fun to arrive in the car park of the ski resort with virgin snow beckoning you up, up and away only to realise that your snowboard bindings are missing a strap as you broke one on the last day of the last season and forgot to get it fixed. It is also a good idea to get your board or skis waxed and serviced and ready to go.
The snow is coming, I am sure of it. So, be warned. Get that gear all ship shape and raring to go as I am sure you all are too.
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.
World Cup Action
November 5, 2007 on 10:05 pm | In Snowboarding | 1 Comment
Lesley in the Saas Fee pipe.
Last Friday saw the opening European Half Pipe World Cup of the season kick off in Saas Fee, Switzerland. I was there competing with fellow Scots and World Cup Team mates Angus Leith and Ben Kilner. The pipe they built in Saas Fee was the best one I have ever seen there and as a consequence the riding standard was very high. Undortunatley, due to bad weather, the first day of training had to be cancelled but the weather cleared up for the second training day and by the competition day it was a beautiful sunny day. It always makes a bigh difference to the riding if the weather is nice and here was no exception. The riders wore smiles as they flew high out of the pipe and lapped up the sunshine as they watched and admired the tricks being layed down.
Here is the ladies winner Kjersti Buaas on the podium
It was obvious that there had been a lot of training going on over the summer months as the riders were showing off new trick combinations left right and centre. In the end it was Kjersti Buaas who came out on top in the girls competition with new comer Chinese girl Chen Xu in second and World Champion Manuela Pesko in third. In the mens’ contest half Russian, half Swiss Juri Poladechov took the top spot with Fin Jenne Korpi in second and the Swiss rider Christian ‘Hitch’ haller in third. In the british camp, I came out on top with a respectable 11th place, which, added to my 8th in New Zealand in September, puts me in 9th place in the standings. Dan Wakeham had the best result of the UK guys with a 24th place although luck was definitely not on our side as well all messed up at least one of our qualification runs. That is the way it goes though and it is far more important to keep pushing limitis than worry about taking a few slams!
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.
Autumn Colours
October 30, 2007 on 9:43 am | In Snowboarding | No Comments
The SNP conference were lucky to enjoy one of the most beautiful autumn days of the season in Aviemore this Sunday. They did have a mixed bag though, as Saturday was typically wet and windy. Sunday, however, was a lovely blustery day with a lot of sunny spells which brought out the best of the autumn colours in the landscape. Craigellachie, the hill behind Aviemore, shone with the yellows and oranges of the turning birch trees, which contrasted amazingly with the sapphire blue of the sky. The gloden yellow of the ripe grain in the fields also added to the patchwork quilt effect in the landscape and gave the phesants a good place to hide, until they were disturbed like the one in the picture.
One of my favourite places to go walking in autumn is on Ord Ban at the back of Loch an Eilan. This hill is also covered in many coloured birch trees. These are well mixed in between the pines and rowans making for a truly stunning aray of autumn colours. The view from the top of Ord Ban gives you a great line of sight up towards the Larig Ghru and the Cairngorm Mountain on one side and down towards Inshriach in the other direction. Loch an Eilan is right below you, like a gem set between the mountains. There are some lovely little crags at the top of the hill on the Loch an Eilan side where you can sit and watch the world go by and admire the scenery, which is exactly what I did.
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.
Highland girls in the fairy glen
October 23, 2007 on 11:17 am | In Snowboarding | No Comments
It is the time of year when most European snowboard pros head to the European glaciers to get in some pre season training. The glacier of choice for this seasons autumn training is Saas Fee in Switzerland. Saas Fee literally means glen of the fairies in Swiss German. It is a beautiful alpine village high in the swiss alps and it is easy to see why it would be associated with otherworldy beings as it really is an enchanted place. At this time of year the trees are all turning and the white of the first snow falls me akes a stark contrast to the burnt oranges and yellows of the autumnal trees.
I headed to Saas Fee with the junior European Roxy Team as their coach for the week. There were 10 girls from the age of 13 to 16, from all over Europe, France, Switzerland, The UK, Norway and Holland. It is the first time that Roxy has ran a training camp for the junior girls and they were very, very excited to be there. This great opportunity to meet the girls they will be riding with for the rest of their careers is very special and as well as learning a lot on the mountian the girls learnt a lot about how to organze themselves, present themselves to the media and how to train to get fit and prevent injury.
I was happy to have two fellow highlanders along with me, Abigail Dempster and Ashlee Smith, both from the Spey Valley. Abigail is only 13 and Ashlee is 16 so they really have a long career ahead of them. They made the most of the camp and by the end of it were chatting away in French quite the thing to the French girls. Abi and Ashlee will be competing along with fellow UK rider, Aimee Fuller from Northern Ireland, in the UK contests this season and are looking forward to putting their new tricks to the test.
As well as the Roxy camp, there were many other National Teams training in Saas Fee in preperation for the up coming World Cup at the end of the month. I will be heading back out to the fairy valley in a weeks time to also compete in the next snowboard World Cup event. In the meantime I will get out into the Scottish highlands to see if I can see any of our own highland fairies!
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.
