Oban, 15-17 February, 2008

From Oban

Norm's Birthday weekend in Oban, obviously involved too much drink, not enough snowboarding, some poor food, some excellent food, bar pool, darts, sore heads, queazy stomachs and no sea-faris.

Glencoe, February 9th 2008

Misty conditions prevail with warm temperatures and spring snow conditions. There was not a drop of wind but this also meant that the mist did not move and visibility was shocking. Up top snow was plentiful and soft so this was not a problem, however it was very disorientating. Top T-bar was dismounting 1 pylon early due to windblown top. There was quite a bit of snow loss further down with the bridge at the Cliffhanger starting to show through and the very bottom of the Plateau run starting to break up. The plateau poma was fully operational though.

Went up on my own and car park was full. In the hill it still seemed quiet that was until on the rare occasion when the mist lifted you could see people scattered across the mountain. Very strange as the mist also seemed to deaden the sound.

Could do with a top up of snow, but the  base is holding together.

Glencoe, February 2nd 2008

Stu, Jon and myself headed up to Coe from a snowy Glasgow. We had a weather window where the wind had eased just for the Saturday, winds had been ferocious and were due to pick up again on Sunday.

The hill was scoured with the bulletproof base showing through, however where the wind had deposited the softer stuf it was great. Main basin had lovely compacted powder and this also followed the fences lower down. The Wall also allowed for some powdery turns.

Spindrift and the wind made visibility poor at times, but there was plenty of give in the softer snow which made for easier riding.

A full day was had just as winds started picking up again.

Glencoe, January 12th 2008

Fantastic! Fresh snow after a few stormy days. All the way from the summit down to the car park. Not a breath of wind and blue skies all day. About -5 at the top but nice in the sun. Snow firm and wind packed. Spring run best as usual. Lovely consolidated pack. 

The busiest I've ever seen on first sight, however this seems to due to the non existent organising of the car park. Cars dumped all the way down the access road. We ended up parking at the side of the A82 and walking up access road. Although incredibly busy, queues didn't take too long. Gareth, Deirdre and myself had one of the best January days there has been in a long time.

Glenshee, 6th January 2008

Cold with sunny spells. Snow compacted with some crust bit good coverage. Sunshine and occasional cloud. 9 lifts open. A good start to the Scottish season. Winds non existent. Much lighter than forecast.

Fiona, Deirdre and myself headed up to Glenshee for what was a great start to the season. Weather was calm and bright. All good with pleanty of long runs. Only one minor hicup when I landed a kicker on my backside. Over-shot the landing and made a crater that some guys had to fill in. Noticed some lifts did not have their T-bars loaded, was Glenshee caught out by the favourable conditions. The car park was busy but apart from the two chairlifts, queues moved quickly.

Edinburgh Festival

Last night visited Edinburgh to go and see some comedy. Got train from Glasgow (one-way single, on Norm's instruction). On arrival at Edinburgh, Norm discovers that his return ticket is not a waste after all as they are running late trains. Bob, Jon and myself however have to look forward to paying full amount to get back, brilliant, great start.

We had a struggle finding a pub to watch the rugby in. Scotland were playing Ireland so we thought that would be a good start to the day. We eventually settled on a Wetherspoons and enjoyed pear cider and a rare Scottish win with trys and everything. The rest after that becomes a bit of a blur.

Weather not so nice but still had to go for chips on the bench, its tradition now! Chips scoffed, off to another pub before meeting Niels at the Pleasance. I was only going to see Simon Amstell so I sat and was taunted as 'Robbie William in disguise' and asked for beard growing tips for an hour while the others went off to see Rob Deering.

On their return it was a quick turnaround to see Amstell. I do remember it being funny but the individual jokes were lost in my residual haze of pear cider and lager. Not sure if its is an indictment on the Festival, but as usual the best laughs were had on the return train at the end of the night.

Photos of the day

Apremont Wedding 26-30 July 2007

Ange & Steve's wedding in Apremont & St. Cristoph where we stayed. Many thanks for the hospitality of both sets of parents. As well as the wedding a great break was had by all invited.

My Photos

Renny's Photos

Paul's Photos