Scottish Winter

Glen Feshie

This weekend I returned from our Scottish winter trip and very good it was indeed.  It's great to see the varied conditions in a Scottish winter and you find yourself always assessing avalanche forecasts, weather reports and social media to try to find the right option for your day out.  It's good to have a couple of options in the bag so you can be flexible on the day itself.  Over the past 3 weeks I managed to summit a few more Munro's, although I'm no Munro bagger in particular, its just nice as they do present a good challenge, especially in winter.  I also managed to get a couple of gully climbs in around Sneachda in some good snow conditions.  Of particular note, was getting back out on the skis around Cairngorm.  Some 25 years ago I completed my, at the time, BASI III ski instructors qualification in Scotland, so Cairngorm has always remained a staunch favourite of mine and it was good finally to be out on the planks again up there.  The mountain team do a great job in keeping the ski area in tip top condition and getting the most from what snow is available, be it a small or large amount, you know conditions are rough when they bale from the mountain.
I got my back country ski set up from Mountain Spirit in Aviemore.  Dave and the team offer some of the best advice and are the font of all knowledge, IMHO, when it comes to this subject.  I am now using the G3 Spitfire with a Salomon binding.  G3 are a Canadian company and the spitfire remains one of their popular models for its ability to cope with all things mountain.  This set-up gives a more Alpine set-up but with the ability to get off and do some touring.  I ventured out and did a tour, skinning up onto Cairngorm summit then skiing down the piste, to get the feel of the set-up and I am looking forward to much more fun out on the slopes.
So now busy catching up and sorting out kit, hopefully back off out to Bavaria in the next couple of weeks.