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

Blood Red Shoes

Today I have been mostly listening to Blood Red Shoes. Let me know if you hear they're coming to Glasgow.

Lots of folk will mention the obvious similarities to White Stripes, however they sound completely different still loud though and the girl is a lot cuter than Meg (sorry Meg).

Ben A'an - A kick up the Trossachs

It was a late start since we weren't prepared so Ben A'an is suggested since it's a small hill, but a fun climb and great views. Jon and myself got train to Westerton where Niels picked us up. It's not long until we get to the north end of loch Achray and the car park for Ben A'an walk. The route through the larch is steep and the atmosphere is very muggy. The sweat is pouring off me already. The fact that whole families with young children are coming down looking remarkably fresh disturbs me. I'll have to comfort myself with the fact that we must be doing it a lot faster! The sun stays with us and we get to the top in 30 - 45 minutes I think. The top is busy with people taking in the lovely views across Loch Katerin to Ben Venue and the Lomonds. We have a long lunch in the cooling breeze before heading back down. Once in the wood again the humidity hits again. I don't know we're never happy. Too hot one day blowing a hooly the next. These are the pleasures I suppose of walking in Scotland.

Control

New film by photographer Anton Corbijn on the life and relations of Ian Curtis is due for release in the UK this coming September. Looks really good. Check out the Youtube trailer. Looks like it did well at Cannes too.
To view other videos on Control. Click the menu button on the Youtube clip.