Scottish Backcountry Trip Report!

[KathrynC]

I thought about posting this in the trip reports section, but I decided that it would be of more interest to the people who frequent this part of the forum!

As some may know, I live and ski mostly in Scotland. This is a trip report for a 2-day festival of ski touring that took place in the Cairngorm area.

We've had a very lean snow year this year - I was honestly waiting for the cancellation email most of last week. But, the snow appeared at the last minute. Conditions weren't amazing (porridge in accumulation zones, very thin elsewhere!), but fun was had by all!

Making the most of a gap in the cloud for a group photo



Atmospheric skinning in the cloud



Skiing in porridge (this was HEAVY!)



Skinning across heather - if you aren't too precious about your skis, it's a remarkably efficient way to cross high moorland!



Atmospheric descent



More porridge!



I was hoping to also turn this into a gear review and tell you all about my new Ripstick Tour / ATK Raider EVO combo, but in the end I decided to use my old skis. That was the best call - lots of snow sharks!

 

[BlizzardBabe]

Great report @KathrynC ! I was up in that region last July and wondering what it would be like to ski it. Thanx for sharing!

 

[KathrynC]

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

When it's in, it's amazing. When it's thin, you need a sense of humour - but I love it!

There is more interesting terrain than this, but we were keeping the angles low to mitigate avalanche risk.

 

[Amie H]

Looks really cool! Do the skins protect your ski bases a little bit?

 

[KathrynC]

Looks really cool! Do the skins protect your ski bases a little bit?

Yes, to some extent.

The heather itself is softer than a ski base, so it doesn't really cause problems by itself. The biggest problem with heather is getting it stuck in skin glue!

The real danger to skis is hidden rocks. If I see a rock, I'll step onto it rather than trying to glide over it (that can rip the skin), and I'll try to step the flat of the ski onto to the rock because I would rather rip a skin than damage an edge. The skins do provide a little protection from unexpected rocks, as long as you stop trying to glide as soon as you hear/feel it. The fact that you are moving more slowly than in descent helps too.

 

[contesstant]

A region most of us not know much about. Thanks for sharing!

 

[yogiskier]

Thanks for sharing! So much heather in Scotland For our trip to there last August, my husband and I bought a book on hiking (that turned out to be for a higher level of hiking than we were intending, lol) that included skiing, so I skimmed those chapter titles with interest. However, we will probably usually be in Scotland in August (my husband loves the Fringe), so not sure I will ever get to ski in Scotland.

 

[KathrynC]

Thanks for sharing! So much heather in Scotland For our trip to there last August, my husband and I bought a book on hiking (that turned out to be for a higher level of hiking than we were intending, lol) that included skiing, so I skimmed those chapter titles with interest. However, we will probably usually be in Scotland in August (my husband loves the Fringe), so not sure I will ever get to ski in Scotland.

To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't ever recommend that anyone visit Scotland with the sole purpose of skiing - conditions here are simply not consistent enough for that, especially over the last 5 years or so.

However, I would say that if you happen to be here during the winter and conditions are good, it is well worth altering your plans to squeeze a day of skiing in.

 

[Trailside Trixie]

Looks so cool. I love Scotland. It's the one place over the pond I could live. What a great trip.

 

[Beckster]

Fun read! Thanks for sharing your pix too!