 Poster: A snowHead
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This is picture heavy and rather than add more photos that clog up the Scotland ski resorts thread, I'll put a wee trip report here in the hope that it informs some of the more 'enthusiastic' snowheads for similar adventures in future seasons 
Ben Alder http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Alder is well seen from summits across the East & West Highlands, not really close enough to the A82 or A9 for easy day trips, so we accessed it from Dalwhinnie (home to a rather fine malt distillery) on Saturday morning, first by pushbike, then by foot after the track became too difficult to ride shortly after Culra, then finally by skins to the summit via Sron Bealaich Beithe. There's car parking at the level crossing in Dalwhinnie (where I slept on Friday night with feet on the dashboard) and a good landy track for 3/4 of the bike riding. We used a selection of bikes from mountain to road tourers, but I think my ancient Dawes Super Galaxy with a pair of Glasgow's Wheelcraft wheels and Conti Travel Contact tyres, was ideal as its ride is as comfy as a sofa, and I'd put most of the heavy stuff in the panniers rather than on my back 
We carried in food for 2 days and enough water for the ride but there was unlimited ice cold snow-melt burn water available and gallons of it was drunk in the heat of the days. I'd also brought a fishing rod in the hope that I could catch an alternative to porridge or a rehydrated breakfast, but the loch was still frozen. On the summit plateau of Ben Alder (which is huge and sprawling), we found an aspect close to the coire rim for our tents that was sheltered from the breeze and after some went for an evening ski, settled down to enjoy the views. But it was soon pretty cold so I was tent-bound and snoring, wrapped up in my cocoon while others stayed up to watch the sunset.
Sunday's dawn was spectacular and promised another baking day but started cold and frosty and some fine views were enjoyed as the sun rose over the Cairngorms. There was certainly no temptation to rush until the sun had worked its magic so I was back to sleep for another couple of hours waiting for the signal of warmth as the sun heated the tent. We then planned routes over our breakfast that would take in aspects best suited to the journey home and the sun's position on the snow throughout the day, taking in Garbh Coire and Coire na Lethcois and then the strips of snow that led back to our push-bikes.
All told, despite a couple of minor mishaps, it was as awesome a ski touring weekend as I could hope for anywhere in the world
Our destination mountain as seen through the zoom lens along Loch Ericht from Dalwhinnie ...
Leaving Dalwhinnie with everything but the kitchen sink ...
Best not to stop when you're top-heavy ...
Passing Culra ...
Loch a Bhealaich Bheithe still mostly frozen ...
The skinning starts ...
On the haul to the summit ...
Evening turns ...
Frosted tents on Ben Alder summit at dawn ...
At the summit shelter ...
View east into Garbh Coire at dawn, the frozen Loch a Bhealaich Beithe still in shadow ...
View west into Garbh Coire towards the gully lines we wanted the sun to bake ...
Chilly, but time for breakfast after another sleep ...
Some poseur on the hill  ...
A nice ramp entry ...
Into Col Gully ...
Hmmm, lush in the sunshine ...
Hmmm, crispy in the shady bits ...
Looking back to one of our lines ...
Topping out of a sluffy Garbh Coire with axe & crampons. It's a 45 degree pitch for about 200 m vertical with a 54 degree inclinometer measured headwall ...
After descending Coire na Lethcois, a bit of grass skiing, snow patch linking and skibatics. Two of the sluff trails in the bowl behind were left by me, one by skis, and the other by my heavy rucksack that I jettisoned on the way down ...
Final turns before crossing the river to the bikes ...
Then back on the bikes for 12 miles (mostly downhill) to Dalwhinnie ...
With just the one puncture on the way out ...
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Wed 22-04-15 12:02; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Wow! What a gob-smackingly impressive effort. Very adventurous and absolutely stunning photos.
Must have been hard work carrying all that kit to the summit 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Awesome! proper little adventure
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@moffatross, is the bothy at Culra still usable? I spent many a happy weekend and weeks away based in or around it, bivvying inside or camping nearby. The long walk in from Dalwhinnie and down the length of Loch Ericht is a first-class bitch though, especially carrying a heavy pack. It caused many a blister among the novices we took out that way. Fabulous area though for exploring the hills in the alder group
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@moffatross, Lovely report, great photos thanks for posting.. 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Class
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Outstanding
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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awesome!
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*applauds*
Not too sure about the bivvying out bit, but I really am getting tempted to buy some touring gear...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Samerberg Sue wrote: |
| @moffatross, is the bothy at Culra still usable? |
No, apparently there's asbestos in the roof and wall lining. It been closed until someone figures out what to do about it.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Magic photos.
It is a real shame that Culra Bothy is shut.
Was one of the nicest bothies in Scotland.
Have spent a couple of night in there and happy memories of Ben Alder.
About as remote and far from a road as you can get in the UK.
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Respect
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You know it makes sense.
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niiiiiiice! very very impressive, and great pics too! Chapeau!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@moffatross, a slightly non-skiing related question about your trip: What food supplies did you take? Presumably stuff which was light but calorie laden? I'm curious as I'm currently planning a backpacking trip to the Fisherfield Forest, and trying to keep everything as light as possible but sufficient to sustain a couple of big days out on the hill.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Very cool, gents
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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epic.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Cheers all, delighted the pix are liked, as I just love to pimp my photos Would never have done the trip alone and as ever, was fortunate to be invited to join a group by someone else with the inspiration. No 'respect' due either as it was pure fun, and a relaxed weekend really, just a lot of calories burned (plus a little sunburn) and at an easyish pace.
@Samerberg Sue, yep, the Culra Bothy is daubed with white paint warnings of asbestos but it still appeared to be a favourite congregation point for campers. Not surprising really as it's next to the river in the head of the glen's plain before the steeper ground and as you & Haggis Trap said, it's an idyllic spot. So much so that I'm already imagining a summer camp & hiking/fishing trip.
@CathS, your planned Fisherfield trip should be awesome. Taking food for a couple of days is easy with a mix of dehydrated meals, porridge, chocolate bars (Cadbury's fudge fingers work for me), coffee powder etc. and of course a Trangia stove or similar with enough fuel to boil the water you need. Couscous and flat bread were amongst the foodstuffs brought by other folk but I like the simplicity of pouring hot water into a foil packet that says 'Shepherd's Pie - 650 kcal' on it. More important for this trip was spare clothing as layers of insulation to keep warm at night (if AlansDeepBath ever reads this, he'll spot the Merino sweater he left in my car some years ago) , and a decent sleeping mat and down sleeping bag because the ground was frozen and as soon as the sun went down, even the light breeze stripped body warmth quickly.
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@Haggis_Trap, @moffatross, Culra was one of my favourite bothies, but my absolute favourite by miles is the bothy at Staoineag in the Abhainn Rath valley between Loch Treag and Glen Nevis. miles from anywhere and you have to be really determined to get in there! There's another one on the other side of the river that overlooks a really good trout pool for the fishing as well 
As long as the bothy at Culra is not locked up I'd still use it! Nothing like frying up your bacon on the fire while still wrapped in your sleeping bag, then stuffing the finished product into several of those very soft Scottish baps! Tastes wonderful, accompanied by a runny fried egg and sets you up perfectly for a long day in the hills.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Absolutely fantastic - there's something special about camping out in the winter Scottish hills
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Samerberg Sue wrote:
@moffatross, is the bothy at Culra still usable?
No, apparently there's asbestos in the roof and wall lining. It been closed until someone figures out what to do about it.
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Just for reference, the Ben Alder Cottage bothy should be usable, though another 8km distance from Culra if starting from the Dalwhinnie side.
We did a similar tour some years ago, starting from the station at Corrour (skins on on the platform!) and used the cottage then.
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Wonderful.
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Brilliant! Looked beautiful. Thanks for posting.
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The husband of one of my cousins was telling me about a few trips by sleeper from London in which he and his mates got off at the station on Rannoch Moor with full touring gear and just skinned from the platform. Something about that really appeals.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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That's badass!! Great TR and photos too!
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Great, very hard core cycling in
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Now that is a proper trip!!
Fantastic photo's too; what was the snow like?
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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What a fantastic trip, thanks for sharing the report and photos! What an adventure. Car, bike, foot, skins, skis and back again
thread drift, but:
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What food supplies did you take? Presumably stuff which was light but calorie laden? I'm curious as I'm currently planning a backpacking trip to the Fisherfield Forest, and trying to keep everything as light as possible but sufficient to sustain a couple of big days out on the hill.
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Havea google 'super light backpacking trail food' - lots of examples. I reckon make up porridge bags with dried milk powder, oats, nuts & dried fruit for breakfast and take mountain house food for dinner if you don't want to have to muck around cooking. Lunch go for high calorie low weight food. The ultra light backpacking sites give an indication of what is a good calorie to weight ratio.
I make up freezer bags with the following porridge mix for breakfast when camping, then just add the boiling water to the freezer bag and leave it for 5ish mins then its ready to eat. Freeze dried raspberries are the absolute bomb! Get them on amazon. Add more calories via more coconut (or regular milk) or nuts or oats or dried fruit or whatever.
CALORIES
Oats 75g 285
MAGI coconut milk 2 TBS 137
Chiseeds 1 TBS 70
Hazlenuts (chopped) 25g 166
Freeze dried rasberries to taste (approx 15?) 15
Boiling water 450ml
TOTAL 673
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Oh, the formatting of the ingredient list didn't work
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You know it makes sense.
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@kat.ryb, many thanks for those tips (especially the nut calories). The porridge mix looks delicious!
Funnily enough, I'm having an experimental freeze dried meal for dinner tonight. Ainsley's roast veg couscous and Beanfeast!
The Mountain House stuff looks good, but pretty darned expensive. Maybe the light weight and convenience is worth it though...
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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And we moan about having to hike over 250m of grass and rock to get to the snow for touring this time of year 
Chapeau
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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You should enter that for the TGR TR competition thing
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Fantastic video, I did traverse from Corrour station over Ben Alder and onto Dalwhinnie on old style nordic touring kit about twenty years ago. Didn't do anything as steep as you did. I stayed overnight at Benalder cottage then climbed Ben Alder and skied off to the north side down to Bealach Dubh then out via Culra. the snow was low enough that year to ski all the way to Dalwhinnie.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@moffatross, sorry, looks like they're not doing it any more. They used to do a monthly comp where the best TR won whatever prize was up for grabs that month.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@moffatross, brilliant and glad the top is seeing some use!
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@OwenM, that must have been an awesome trip ... there was a wide, shallow gully line going down to Bealach Dubh straight north of Ben Alder summit that looked a good, long ski, a la 'Lurchers Gully'. And on UKC, someone said they'd also done the route in from Dalwhinnie via kayak along Loch Ericht to Benalder cottage with their skis.
@Alans deep bath, cheers !! 
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Brilliance
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@kat.ryb, you are amazing, you have just solved my touring breakfast problem! Ta very much.
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Fantastic effort and I'm especially impressed with the cycle ski-carry!
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FAQ
So I had a nice cup of tea instead 
