First turns of the season

With only a few hours to spare from other duties, today I was up very early to catch the sunrise on Cairn Gorm. This was my first ski of the season, and it was fabulous. It was minus 7C in Strathspey first thing, but the rapid skin uphill soon saw me warm up! The descent was fabulous, as good as any day I've had on Cairngorm, and in November too! Really good snow off-piste, and great to get the ski-legs back in action.

Variety is the spice....

With the usual changeable conditions we get at this time of year my work has been really varied recently. Last week I had a great day out in Glen Coe guiding Greg up the Zig Zags scramble on Gearr Aonach, followed by a wintery walk up to to Stob Coire nan Lochan. This was working for Lochaber Guides.  At the weekend I was based out of Glenmore Lodge as a volunteer instructor for the Mountaineering Scotland SMART (student safety) weekend, with both days spent working on the Rock Improvers courses. Today I was out with Matt and Laurence in the Cairngorms. The plan had been to go for a good scramble, but with high winds and rain forecast we decided to stay low and look at developing and polishing their mountaineering skills, including using the rope alone, to increase safety if needed.

Enjoying the Zig Zags.....

Glen Coe looking stunning

Proper winter

Just below the summit

Going up

Going down--South African abseil technique

Ben Wyvis ski-touring

Fantastic day out ski touring on Ben Wyvis today. The full gamut of Scottish conditions, from heather survival skiing to perfect untracked powder, from glorious sunshine and views to whipping winds and Baltic temperatures. Brilliant! From the Garve road there doesn't look to be too much snow, but we had a hunch that with the prevailing winds of late that a good amount would have collected in the back bowls, and this it proved. Plenty of folk on the hill, but mostly hill-walking rather than skiing.

There is also a video from today available here

https://www.facebook.com/pages/On-High-Hills/805745176138694?ref=tn_tnmn