Haggis_Trap, I hope I get to ski with you sometime. I skied with Craig 3 years ago and he suggested we ski together again - but he was not available during the last time I was up for the last Snowheads bash.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
barry, as a relatively innocuous looking slope that's easy to access from the ski area but has a history of being unforgiving, I just thought it was worth caveating the picture. I do fondly remember the day I took that photo though & like skiing into Sneachda for the first time, it represents what makes skiing in Scotland so special to me. I could go on holiday to the Alps and spend a week or two in a megaresort 10 times the size of a Scottish ski centre and get to know very little about it because it'd be just so overwhelming. But I can keep going back to mountains that I've become relatively familiar with and make new discoveries all the time. For an old git like me who regrets not getting into skiing earlier in life nor spending a season or three in the Alps as a yoof, the opportunity to do that on my own terms over the coming years is a real privelege.
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?
Ha - not too proud to admit that I ate s--t in the Cam Ghlean. Gives me shivers just thinking about it (snowball maybe you dont actually want to ski with me...). Could be waiting a few years until that slope is next in condition.
Anyone else got photos of the low Scottish mountains and bad snow you might find - On or off piste
I'm kinda glad people are expressing reservations about the entry. Man, that looks steep.
Hoping to be up there next March, and the back corries were on the list. Sitting here I'd give it a go, peering over the edge, I'm not so sure.....................lol.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Quote:
is that the route from Nine Mile Burn ending up at Flotterstone?
It is indeed - the Lothian bus time table would help!
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skied much in the pentlands
Only a few (5/6) times when there has been snow.
A couple of them have been surprisingly v.good days though.
BCjohnny - the Back Corries at Nevis Range, on a good day, can be as good as anywhere on the planet.
Doesn't often look like this mind.
But when it does your in for a real treat...
Haggis_Trap, nice pics, and the type of terrain I'd been led to expect, but the drop in got my attention.
Looking forward to spending a few days either side of 'the weekend' mouching around, with a fully fit snowball et al, late March coming. Maybe yourself even, if you're about.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
There is usually an easy entry into the NR back corries at yellow-belly or back track (see the piste map).
BCjohnny, the drop in with the scary scary looking entry is tower gully on Ben Nevis. It's a mountain or so away from the back corries which are in Haggis_Traps last post above.
I can whole heartedly say, I'd not ski tower gully. Quite happy on the back corries of nevis range though.
I'm sure there's a mountain festival film from last year about skiing tower gully. will have a look.
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.
Here it is...
Tower Gully - A summer ski descent from Simon Christy
BCjohnny, Nevis Range skiing is not on Ben Nevis but on the second ridge to the East. Tower gully with the scary entry is on Ben Nevis itself and you have to walk up. To be frank I'd only do that entry on a rope. The rest isn't quite so bad from seeing photos - but if I ever try a Ben Nevis gully it is more likely to be No 3: possibly doing the initial entry on a rope (someone I ski with one or two holidays per year and is my standard has done it by climbing the gully - he is Jungle on Winterhighlands website - perhaps the Scottish Snowheads may know him).
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Oh shoogly got there ahead of me.
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.
Ha - Jungle is a legend. Really nice guy. Met him several times whilst out and about with skis in random places! He loves it.
Anyone else got some pictures of the wee mountains to post up ?
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
His long story of skiing the back country in Lebanon on his own, with border patrols from both sides looming out of the cloud and clapped out equipment is quite amazing. It seems to me he's a throw-back to some of those Victorian adventurers. He also plays the viola.
He'll be on my January and March holidays.
Last edited by So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much on Tue 11-10-11 10:17; edited 1 time in total
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Ah, thanks.
Aren't the back corries off Aonoch Mor? So Tower (and other gullies) are Nevis, slightly different area.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
BCjohnny, Easy Gully is the tricky entry on Aonach Mor. See my TR http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewpost.php?p=926485
They called it Nevis Range because people have heard of Ben Nevis. Perhaps with Montblanc massif in mind which includes many other peaks in that area.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Some of my pics from Cairngorm over the last two seasons...
View west from high up on Coire Cas
b o l l o c k s.... i'll need to post all the others again as my linking didn't work.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Haggis_Trap wrote:
Anyone else got photos of the low Scottish mountains and bad snow you might find - On or off piste
Here's some rubbish snow from Jan at Glencoe
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?
Quote:
Shocked Shocked
That's a sphincter clencher for sure! Is that pitch sustained the whole way?
The entrance / exit (depending on your point of view!) is generally banked-up a few degrees steeper than the rest, but the top pitch is still pretty solid at 45°, mellowing down to 40° or so. For added clench, if you take a fall in the top pitch and slide, you are pretty likely to go off Tower Scoop, a fairly sizeable cliff directly below. You have to make a right turn to avoid this and get from Tower Gully into Observatory Gully proper. At this point, it starts to mellow out pretty fast back into just sensibly-steep.
Haggis_Trap wrote:
For sure - you wouldnt go to Scotland for a weeks holiday.
As before, as long as you're prepared to go on holidau and maybe get to ski, it can be great. We had two weeks round the various scottish ski area last march - TR here
I'll throw in some bluebird just to confuse things
few decent shots from (Cairngorm) last season, sadly no action as was a workday, but managed to dodge up the (open for once ) ski road to take a few in the afternoon
Pano accross Loch Morlich, mid afternoon March 16th 2011 (numero uno dude shoogly stitched this for me)
view out my bedroom windae morning of March 16th 2011
Cas same afternoon
Sneachda same afternoon
Lochain same afternoon
Ciste same afternoon
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Tue 11-10-11 14:17; edited 1 time in total
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
kitenski wrote:
Here's some rubbish snow from Jan at Glencoe
great shot - a belter
After all it is free
After all it is free
Contrary to what many like to believe the term Nevis Range was not one made up for marketing a new Ski Area. The name was given to the Ski Area from the lift company, the Nevis Range Development Company, which is what the company was doing, developing in the Nevis Range. You'll find reference to the Nevis Range (both with and without a leading Ben) in journals back to at least the 1880s. </anorak>
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.
[quote="BCjohnny"]
Quote:
I'm kinda glad people are expressing reservations about the entry. Man, that looks steep.
Hoping to be up there next March, and the back corries were on the list. Sitting here I'd give it a go, peering over the edge, I'm not so sure.....................lol.
Yeah I know what you mean - the pictures/videos are tempting me to test myself on it, and the rest of it looks pretty cool, but that's from the safety of my comfy armchair... Would definitely be easy to think up excuses to back out when looking down into it!
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Tue 11-10-11 18:49; edited 1 time in total
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
In the ticket queue at Glencoe, hence taken with my phone:
The access at Glencoe is by chairlift because windows would spoil the view:
The first bit of skiing on the way up was modified last year to improve the views on the way to the second chairlift:
Higher up the skiing isn't too shabby:
Sunnyside and the further valleys at Glenshee:
Tree skiing at Nevis Range isn't always possible:
But it always looks like this from the base:
You can easily find this sort of unpatrolled terrain:
And this is the patrolled bit:
And this view's not bad:
nor this one:
Cairngorm is sometimes okay too. Could use some more lifts:
Last edited by Ski the Net with snowHeads on Tue 11-10-11 16:22; edited 1 time in total
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Scotland's not all about the wild mountains & the gnarl. Families are welcome too & colours other than sky blue & snow white can often be seen ...
Cairngorm ski run to carpark ...
A Glencoe picnic ...
Red Bull racing at Glenshee ...
Learners using the Great Glen chairlift at Nevis ...
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.
Another one from 13th March 2011 at Glenmore, road was closed due to tree blown across road.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
The wall at Glencoe.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Haggis its great to see that someone makes the most out of scotland just like myself, like you say it can be the best skiing anywhere (on a good day!!) youve just got to find the right places!!, i come from Crieff and can come down some fantastic mountains all within 1 hour of my house, good couloirs and big freeride areas not served with any lifts, it annoys me when people say thet there is no good skiing in Scotland, roll on winter!!!
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
stevomcd wrote:
The entrance / exit (depending on your point of view!) is generally banked-up a few degrees steeper than the rest, but the top pitch is still pretty solid at 45°, mellowing down to 40° or so.
Oh, I thought it looked more than that at the top of Tower Gully. Not as bad as I thought.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
snowball, same.
Normally 'shrinkavision' makes things look worse.
I daresay I'll still get a chance to pussy out though...
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
snowball, like I said though, top pitch can bank out to over 50° - or 90°+ when I did it as there was no choice but to jump the cornice if you entered from the summit plateau (I climbed up the gully).
With that said, most skiers have no concept of what 45° really is. There's no piste anywhere in the Alps that even comes close to that (even the steepest runs usually top out in the mid-30°s). 45° feels pretty-much vertical when you're standing at the top.
Not claiming any kind of uber-gnarl by the way. I've been cr*pping myself every time I get into that kind of territory!
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?
Here's the pitch of Glencoe's Fly Paper in late March 2011. At about 40 degrees, it's quite possibly Europe's steepest black run and even it feels pretty precipitous from its rollover at the top. On a soft snow day, it's safely manageable but on a Scottish 'firm' snow day, I wouldn't go anywhere near it. The 'marked runs' into the Nevis Range back corries such as Chancer often require a roll off of a small cornice onto a steeply pitched scarp that quickly moderates out to comfortable whoopy territory and they don't have exposed rocks or cliffs below. But the thought of attempting to safely get onto sustained slopes of 45 degrees or more coupled with a drop from a cornice onto an even steeper scarp before even making the first turn above cliffs etc is what keeps me well away from the sort of terrain talked about above.
Great piccies on here guys - making me feel all homesick!
At risk of being a party-pooper dare I say the following is slightly disingenuous (right word? who knows, its early yet):
Quote:
But it always looks like this from the base:
In the 3 seasons I worked at Nervous Range in the mid/late 90s I can only think of 1 occasion where the hill looked like that from the base...
I love skiing in Scotland (see the video shoogly reposted further up this page), skied lots in the 80s & 90s and still sneak in the odd day pre/post season and it offers a great experience and great skiing on its day (as has been mentioned many times above) but it does seem to me that this thread (and the several others on SHs currently) is suffering a certain amount of 'rose-tinted-spectacle-itis' brought on by the last couple of seasons...
Anyway, I'll shut up before Haggis-Trap unleashes his Mr McAngry avatar on me... here's hoping for another winter like 09/10 (and maybe I'll make it across before June this time...).
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Quote:
But it always looks like this from the base:
You fairly gather the speed up when you enter that photo from the left and have the straight line of the off-beat wall.... the lower 2/3rds of the 4x course would make for an interesting ridercross when the ice age comes! Might as well get some use seeing as the UCI have ditched the 4X world cup.
Hope the opportunity arises to get some action shots on this, during the upcoming season:
snowball, like I said though, top pitch can bank out to over 50° - or 90°+ when I did it as there was no choice but to jump the cornice if you entered from the summit plateau (I climbed up the gully).
Oh right, I misunderstood. Back to "a rope at the top or nothing" then. Perhaps, with the cliff in mind I'll just try No3, if I ever decide to climb up.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
I could go on holiday to the Alps and spend a week or two in a megaresort 10 times the size of a Scottish ski centre and get to know very little about it because it'd be just so overwhelming. But I can keep going back to mountains that I've become relatively familiar with and make new discoveries all the time. For an old git like me who regrets not getting into skiing earlier in life nor spending a season or three in the Alps as a yoof, the opportunity to do that on my own terms over the coming years is a real privelege. 
