Hipstamatic on iPhone

Glencoe Mountain Resort (mostly)

Put together from some photos from this last season.

Hebrides 2010

Here's the video of my week long trip to the Outer Hebrides. Shot on Flip video device, so sorry about the quality.

Brushes for iPod

Brushes App for iPod Touch

Just had a play around with the Brushes App on my iPod Touch. A great little painting tool which lets you export A4 size 300dpi quality as well as animation of the painting process as a quicktime movie. Will upload when my YouTube account lets me.

Glencoe - End of season

Once again it looks like lack of numbers has brought Glecoe ski area
to an early close. With snow still filling the top runs the mountain
only had 12 visitors last weekend and only a few this weekend. Not
enough to warrant staying open. It is such a shame especially after
such a fantastic season. Glencoe could easily have made it in to May.
It looks like Cairngorm will be the only resort open next month.
A big thanks to all at Glencoe for a great season.

Glencoe 11th April 2010

Up early to make the most of the great sunny Spring conditions. A long
warm day with the same conditions as the day before. Many in T-shirts,
some even in shorts. 20 degrees and soft snow to play in. It doesn't
get much better. Main Basin starting to mogul slightly. Spring Run was
great fun but care had to be taken cutting under the flypaper, closed
due to unstable snow. Mugs alley was becoming increasingly broken.
There was a great spirit on the hill. Smiles all around and continued
classic spring snow conditions. Let's hope it continues into May.
Fingers crossed.

Glencoe 10th April 2010

A late start meant an afternoon at Glencoe. The day was warm, about 18
degrees and no wind. The plateau poma still allowed access. Mugs alley
broken but navigable. Once at the top, Main Basin provided lumpy but
great spring snow conditions. Overhead skies were blue with bearley a
cloud. Rannoch Glades also provided great runs although caution was
adisable through the rocks. The drive home was stunning with strong
sun well into the evening.

Glencoe 3rd April 2010

Had car for Saturday, but not Sunday, although Sunday did look the better. Driving up through the rain things looked gloomy. There had been good snowfall during the week and the base had filled in giving a much needed top-up. Overhead conditions were grim. As was becoming familiar with Glencoe this season visibility was zero. Usually optimistic ticket office staff predicted it would clear up. I new better though. Once the mist has a hold here, it rarely lets go. Snow was great however. A few runs at the top did not provide much in the way of fun, so I decided to stay low and shred around Mug's Alley. It wasn't too busy, despite the Easter Holiday. Towards the end of the day snow returned, low down it was very wet and mixed with rain. Hopefully we'll see what's left hang on till May, but temperatures are due to increase so we'll have to wait and see if we get some of those classic sunny spring days at Glencoe.

Glencoe 29th March 2010

First chance to get on snow during my holiday from work. Weather has been atrocious. However a few centimetres of snow had fallen the night before and the weather looked bright for the Monday. Got up there and the slopes were desolate. Reports say only 20 folk on the hill. Skiers right from the top tow had great fresh which took all day to track out. Lower down the plateau was broken and Mug's Alley was very narrow so stayed at the top despite tiring T-bar. A relaxed day on my own with nice powder sprays (with compact base).

Glencoe 29th March 2010

From the slopes. Some fresh at top. Icy underneath and at Mugs Ally.

Cairngorm Sunday 14th March

Second day on the Gorm and if anything the weather had worsened. More white-mare conditions and I had not fully recovered from the beating the M1 Poma had given me the day before. More cruising was had although slightly more subdued. Tried to make it to the Ciste Gully, but visibility and wind so bad that we found ourselves once again on the White Lady. Much the same snow as the day before and much more tired. Had a couple of runs on the East Wall of the Lady, which was soft and the nearest thing to powder. Turning around the odd little tree poking out of the snow. The lifts seemed even more brutal today, with all but a few lifting me off the ground. This was compounded by the fact I didn't have a stomp pad on my new board.
I must say I was glad to see the back of the M1 Poma on the home run back to base, but at least did make the most of the weekend.
No photos as there was nothing to see!

Cairngorm Saturday 13th March

Looking forward to making the most of the vast snow coverage that Cairngorm was boasting. However the high winds and low visibility put paid to that. Most of the lifts in Corrie na Ciste were closed but we did make it down the Ciste Gully / East Wall and made use of the Day Lodge Poma (which I had never seen run before). Most of the day was spent on the M1 and White Lady. Plenty of millage under my board but white out conditions prevented full exploration. Whole are was covered apart from the very top of Ciste which is flat anyway. Did want to try a bit more freestyle jumps etc but super firm conditions and high speed cruising were the order of the day.
The M1 Poma really took its toll. Rutted conditions and a brutal take off meant I was riding on tired legs for much of the day.
A full day was had on the slopes by 8:30 and almost last lift around 4:30 so not bad at all.

Glenshee 4th March 2010

Gareth, Jon and myself took Thursday off work and headed to an icy but sunny Glenshee. Started the day off with a cooked breakfast in Blairgowrie and arrived at Glenshee bathed in warm winter sun. Started off with the Tiger black run, rocks and grass poking through and plenty of moguls. Didn't do a good job of it but probably not the best choice for first run of the day. Should have wondered why no-one else seemed to be attempting it. Over the back on Meall Odhar was great with packed powder and nice gulleys to play in. Huge cornices too, hanging formidably above the corries. A great day in the sun and a continuation of a great season so far. Wide coverage but not a great depth of snow. Heavy traffic areas scrubbed down to ice.

Glencoe, Sunday 28th February 2010

The previous Thursday & Friday saw a huge snow fall making Glencoe the snowiest resort in the world (according to Glencoe). The whole lift system needed dug out overnight and the road cleared of drifting snow. We thought it would be better to wait till the Sunday even though they did manage to open for Saturday.
Once up there it was a bit misty but midway and lowdown it was nice and clear.
Using my new board setup we made short work of Happy Valley, Main Basin and the home run down to carpark.
Etive Glades and Flypaper were closed due to avalanche risk. The previous Friday two skiers were airlifted from Etive Glades after triggering an avalanche there. The week before this had been a powder playground.

Glencoe, Sunday 21st February 2010

An astonishingly beautiful day at Glencoe. The sun shone all day on a gleaming white hill. Most of the pow from Wednesday had been taken, but there were a few pockets hidden around the hill on Etive and Rannoch Glades.
The Spring Run wasn't great for snowboards as it was in the early stages of growing moguls. These can put a stop to nice rhythmic turns. The whole area was accessible even from the top of the plateau across to the restaurant, this hasn't been ridable for a while. Rannoch Glades was a favourite and I couldn't work out why no-one else was taking advantage of the broken yet fluffy powder. That was until the middle of the afternoon when I gave it another bash. Carried away with slashing the pow, a big heel-side turn was met with the all too familiar clatter of my board striking a rock hidden beneath the snow. As I rode out of the softer snow onto more consolidated pack, I felt the board drag on heel-side turns. I nursed it down Mug's Alley and turned my board over only to have my worst fears confirmed. The granite teeth of Glencoe had stripped away a huge chunk of the base right up to the rail. This put a dampener on things and I only made a few more runs of mugs alley and the plateau before heading down early.
Conditions were great, Main Basin was pisted! and there was still a smidgen of powder to be had days after last fall. Queues weren't too bad either.

Glencoe, Wednesday 17 February 2010

The day before the webcams for Glencoe were showing blue skies and fresh snow. It was quickly decided to take Wednesday off work. The weather report made good reading with 60% chance of sun. The day however started foggy and cold. On reaching Tyndrum the snow started coming down heavy. The road conditions got very sketchy. The car park at Coe was quite busy and we were soon up the hill. Snow was still falling and the top of the hill shrouded in mist. Visibility was poor but the snow was exceptional. Etive Glades was full of untouched powder, absolutely phenomenal riding! Rannoch Glades was tricky with few reference points. The bottom slope falls away and as I lead the group down I found the slope breaking away and the small slab avalanche took me down the slope. Having cleared the slope of loose snow I persuaded the others to follow. Looking back up I could see them sitting above the break in the snow. It was quite a drop.
Visibility improved lower down and many more runs on Etive Glades were inevitable.
A great day and the best snow I've had at Coe for a while. Not too cold, but cold enough to keep the powder fluffy.

Glencoe, Sunday 7th February 2010

Headed up to Coe with Jonathan, they journey was overcast but due to brighten up. On approach to the ski hill you could see the profile of the mountain with small cap of cloud on top. The hope was for this to lift. The reality was that it would get thicker. Throughout the day it became more of a 'white-mare'. But, the wind was non existent (the reason why it didn't shift).
The snow however was great and we carefully picked our way down the main runs at the top as well as Mugs Alley. Spring Run and Flypaper were closed. No doubt to stop people wandering off the wrong side of the mountain. A distinct possibility. On the lifts you could not see as far as the next pylon. Soft snow and another win for me in the Kinder Surprise challenge although I did break mine eventually when I lent over to do my bindings.

From Glencoe 7 February 2010

Brushes Painting

Messing about with Brushes app on my iPod touch. A bit like finger
painting. Tricky to start with but could be good for killing time or
making visual notes.

Glencoe, Saturday 23 January 2010

No photo today I'm afraid, after driving all the way up last weekend for a half day and being chased away by the weather, I got up to Coe bright and early to make the most of fair conditions in the West.
Cairngorm was still being dug out as I drove up early taking care on very slippery roads.
It had been a cold night so once up the hill I found Mugs Alley, the run from Plateau to Cliffy very hard ice. Once up the top at Main Basin though, most of this was softer, Etive Glades too was very nice at the top. Spring Run however stayed in the shade and never really softened, but cover meant Thrombosis was available amongst the very wide coverage.
Conditions deteriorated a bit in the afternoon, only slight mist though. Calm winds and wide coverage with short queues meant everyone had a good day.
Still could do with a bit more depth though. I'm sure that will come though. It's still early days for the season.

Glenshee 8th January 2010

Friday trip to Glenshee in one of the coldest spells in 20 years. Gareth and myself met Jon & David W. up at Blairgowrie and headed on up to Glenshee. THe temperature was around -11 but the sun was out and sky was blue.
Again, considering the amount of snow lying around the whole country, there is surprisingly little on the hills in comparison.
Although plenty, a lot gets scraped or blown off the hill.
Unfortunately the first three lifts we used all stopped, this was like the bad old days. However the rest of the day passed without hitch. Cairnwell side was quite scraped, but going over Sunnyside to Glas Maol we scored some choppy powder.
A great , cold, white looking Glenshee gave me my third shred of the season and the cold spell looks like lasting at least another week.

From Glenshee 8 January 2010

Glencoe 4th January 2010

Another cold day and another visit to Glencoe for my daily shred. Not
much in the way of new snow. Much more compact and on the way to
getting icy in spots. Lower mountain still rocky. Main Basin at top
good but light was a bit flat. This is normal at this time of year as
the sun is at the back of the mountain.
The drive back was memorable as I left early to catch the light. Loch
Tulla and the Blackmount Lochans had a beautiful mist hanging over
them. Of course with this persistant cold spell they are all frozen
over. They look other worldly with the sun setting behind them.

From Glencoe 040110