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.