I was out today on Ben Nevis with Kat and Rich for Maximum Adventure with our aim to reach the summit in somewhat interesting conditions for May!
We had a pleasant walk up in summer weather then hit the snow higher up and we were glad to have good boots as we continued on and being able to adapt our clothing meant we were all happy as the temperatures dropped and the snow started to fly around on our descent.
A great day out!

Cairngorm skiing and sunshine

I went with Ian to ski at Cairngorm as there was going to be a lot of snow after all that had been falling over the past couple of days.
We headed up early and were glad that we did as the car parks filled up quickly. After a run down to the Ciste Tow and back up, we skied down to the Ptarmigan tow so we could reach the top of the east wall which gave us untracked, silky snow for our first couple of runs down it.
Later in the day as the queues increased and the amount of untracked snow decreased, we skied off to Ciste Mhiread on more lovely snow though Ian, with his short, fat Freetrek approach skis, found that he had to point them in a straight line in a downwards direction rather than do any turns which would just bring him to a halt!
We skinned up towards the summit which was a new achievement for Ian so he was feeling pretty chuffed.
We found the skiing more enjoyable higher up although we did a few runs down the White Lady and the M1 which were good but with a few rocks sticking through at the bottom.

Coire an t-Sneachda - Spiral / Crotched Gully and Goat Track Gully

It's hard to believe that we're almost half way through May!
Ron and I walked in to Coire an t-Sneachda, in the sun, to see what gullies looked fun to climb. We started up Spiral and finished up Crotched Gully on good consolidated snow with maybe some slabby bits here and there.
We returned to the corrie by the Goat Track which was quite icy but as we descended, Ron found some excellent ice at the side of Goat Track Gully. In search of some more, we climbed Goat Track Gully which also had great snow, a couple of rocky steps in the first pitch, some steep ice up the wall on the second pitch and some interesting icy bits in our third and last pitch as we moved together up this last section.
The weather had deteriorated as we reached the plateau with snow starting to fall and the wind beginning to pick up so time to head back down.

Meall nan Tarmachan

We had a lovely day for the Climbmts / Tiso Glasgow micro navigation course! The visibility was so good that we had to use a bit of imagination as we navigated our way around and up to the summit of Meall nan Tarmachan then joined the ridge for our descent.

Cycling and skiing

I was out yesterday with Ron on the bikes for a journey around Slochd which took us around the forest tracks, across the River Dulnain and back. It was a beautiful day and quite pleasant to paddle across the river. For some pictures see Ron's blog here.
Today was another lovely day...more of this sunny weather please!
Ron and I walked for a bit then stuck the skins onto the skis and made our way up to the summit. We skied down the far side on good snow then back up to the summit again to ski down Coronation Wall which I found a bit tricky as the snow was quite heavy. The sticky snow was only to be expected though given the glorious sunshine!
Work over the weekend but with more snow forecast, I think I'll keep the skis out of the attic for now.
There will be more photos from Ron on his blog soon.

Lovely skiing at Cairngorm

I've just realised that I have been neglecting my blog over the past few weeks! The mixed weather recently has had me out on the bike getting covered in mud, swimming and just generally pottering about but yesterday was just fantastic.
Over the weekend I was working down in Perthshire so when I saw such a good forecast for Tuesday, I was looking forward to getting out on my skis. Ron and I bought passes for the ski area and started with some runs on the piste then skied down the back of Cairngorm. As this was such good fun, we put the skins on and made our way back up to the summit so we could ski back down again. It was worth the effort! We ended by skiing down from the summit and on down Coronation Wall.
Photos and more from Ron on his blog here