 Poster: A snowHead
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Having not managed to go skiing since 2010 (apart from 2 days at Hintertux on honeymoon, which reignited the obsession!) OH and I took advantage of his work rota giving us a long weekend free last weekend. Reasons for not skiing for the last 2 seasons include brokeness and brokeness (knee op and wedding), the financial reason being why we are not off to the alps this year! It wasn't a well planned trip as we'd assumed that the weather would be unkind and we took the view that if there was no reasonably priced accommodation available the slopes would be too busy to be worth bothering
Due to a cunning swap of half days with a kind colleague we left Shropshire at around midday, with a car full of ridiculous quantities of stuff (had no idea how many layers would be necessary and needed to bring all jackets/trousers/gloves as we were lending kit to a friend when up there) we traipsed up the M6 (error, should have gone via Oswestry/Wrexham!) wondering how it was so busy given half term had not yet started. Eventually we found a quarry sized digger thing occupying 2 lanes, which was the cause of the congestion. Journey was uneventful after that and we arrived in St Monans to stay with a friend who we had convinced to have another go at skiing. Early the next morning, having checked it would be opening (around 8am) we hit the road towards Glenshee as that was the closest available resorts. Tom Tom doesn't have the Glenshee ski area on it as a POI or other destination, so we chucked in Cray and hoped for the best. On grounds of having no idea how busy the hire situation would be, we hired skis and poles (for us 2) and skis and boots for our fried at Bridge of Cally. The skis were very nice (Head Monsters for OH) and Peak 71s (can't remember brand  ) for me! Our friend had what looked like decent boots (proper buckle style rather than the many rear entries we saw being sported on the slopes) as well and it was £25 for the lot or £18 for us.
Arrived at Glenshee around 9.30 to a well marshalled, but Icy car park, obtained lift passes (next to no queue) and headed off to the Dink Dink poma with our friend. Had a few warm up runs on that while she got her confidence together and then we headed off to try and find a nice step up run from the nursery slopes. First attempt (the 3 low level runs on the "normal" side) was unsuccessful as they all felt comparatively narrow, steep and were a bit of an obstacle course with skiers, boarders and kit littering the ground. I will admit that on the far left (as you look up the mountain), I added to the decoration after carefully skiing past a faller and then catching an edge... Ooops!!!
Snow was really nice, soft, not too cut up and felt pretty fresh and plenty of it - the whole resort was open. Fortunately, as the visibility was pretty rubbish with mist/cloud cloaking the resort, so planning turns to avoid nasty patches would have been a little hard. After a few more runs with our friend, who was doing really well on the nursery slope, but was starting to spend more time queueing than skiing, we located a nice long blue piste on the right above the first drags. All the drags we did were fairly friendly, as was the 2 person chair. Did a few laps before a very tasty lunch in the cafe at the mid level (chilli/cauli cheese pasta bake really hit the spot as it was feeling quite cold. A few more laps of our blue, we headed across to Sunnyside and did a few laps of the greens there before friend and I called it a day (feet/legs tired) and send OH off exploring. A few navigational errors later (lack of vis and piste marking not that obvious) and he'd had some fun going fast and we headed back to Bridge of Cally to deposit skis and then back the other way to Kingussie for our night's accommodation at Colomba House. We'd booked a suite for 3, which was good value being last minute, and very spacious, just could have done with a door between the 2 bedrooms to be perfect. A very reasonably priced pub dinner in Kingussie finished the day very nicely!
Next day it was Cairngorm. Our friend decided she'd had enough skiing and went off to see friends who were staying in the area so we arrived at Cairngorm to discover that we were parking in the Ciste car park already. We'd obtained breakfast (and lunch) at Tesco in Aviemore and hired skis from Nevis Sport next door (£10 each for skis and poles). These were older (apparently about 10 years) but felt well maintained and waxed for the conditions, so good value in my opinion. I certainly found them as easy, if not easier to manage than the skis the previous day, and definitely easier than the skis at Hintertux glacier (which were probably wider and stiffer to cope with the slush), and they were easier to skate/glide on the flats than any of the skis I've hired in France.
Shuttle bus to the funicular worked well, and we obtained lift passes without much fuss (cash only window was a good opportunity to dispose of the monopoly money that our local shops would have been flummoxed by (disadvantage of living in back of beyond) and got the funicular up. Queue moved pretty efficiently (never had to wait for the next funicular) and we were up at the top, with blue skies and somewhat icy pistes - icy enough that poles wouldn't stab in well enough to hold them upright while faffing with getting boots organised and skis on. Managed to survive the ice while warming up on a few greens in the Ptarmigan bowl before dropping down to the bottom via gunbarrels (good fun) and also the Fincaill Traverse, where, despite the warning about icy/thin cover it was good fun. Another lap of the funicular and we went to explore the other side below Ptarmigan getting M2 followed by a red to the West Wall Poma. West Wall piste itself was closed (not that I fancied it anyway) and the east wall pistes would have been far too challenging so we survived the long drag up to the top, before having lunch watching people in the terrain park. Then went down White Lady (which felt like a proper red and steep, but very wide and in good condition), sent OH up for another lap of that as I was feeling tired and then came back down via M2 to the base station for a bus back to the car. After dropping off the kit we picked up our friend and got some lovely pics of the snowy mountains with a quick stroll around Loch Morlich.
Then braved the A9 back to St Monans where we had delicious fish and chips with yummy garlic mayonnaise. Was highly tempted by the chip van at the funicular base station - looked like they were doing well!
Next day our friend was back to work, but we headed back up to Glenshee in glorious sunshine. Hired skis a little closer this time (Scottish Ski Holidays) - £15 for intermediate skis/poles - again nice and well maintained. Ended up on 162 Rossignols of some description, which didn't actually feel long (previous days were 155s and 150s and I'm 5'5), as the hire guy suggested I might find going longer a little better for the potentially icy conditions. Again made Glenshee by about 10am, headed straight over Sunnyside, quick warm up on the blue with me trying to reduce the number of skidded turns and over to the Glas Moel area. The link from the piste down to the Glas Moel poma was a nice piste, but the walk up to the poma was hard work. Decided to give in and walk after poling/sidestepping a bit - and I'm pretty good at skating normally. Lift was entertaining, at least 3 strong pulls and the red at the top was wide and well groomed. The bravery kicked in and after watching various people coming down the west wall Gully I decided to have a go at the black. It was certainly steeper than it looked from the lift, definitely my steepest ever piste (and probably the blackest black I've been on). Only the start was marked (assume that's normal for Scotland) and I detoured around the bit that looked like a mini cliff, but I only fell over on the relatlvely flat gully, in full view of the lift when I found a large lump of very hard snow (or possibly a snow snake came and grabbed my ankle). Decided to have another go after lunch, and this time skiied more of the steep bit (admittedly partly as I traversed a bit longer than I meant to (wuss) giving myself a somewhat less pleasant place to turn, but again made it. Headed back to the other side for a look at more of the higher level pistes, which were quite nice, but a lot icier than sunnyside/Glas Moel. Eventually girded my loins and went up the single chair, which was frankly horrible. No foot rest, wooden seats, and weight of skis digging right into hamstring insertion tendon. Views at the top were awesome - OH took a few pictures. We decided against the black which looked hard, icy and had large snow(or ice) balls on it where the entry had been bashed, and went down the red over the top to the red, starting in the dip by the side of the T-bar. This was icy and rough, so did a combination side slip/traverse with turns where I could find some slightly softer snow. It was weird skiing with by legs being shaken that much - kind of like balancing on one of those powerplate things in the gym. Amazingly I didn't fall (self arrest techniques were running through my brain the whole time) but OH tells me he and most of the others on the piste at the time did (I wasn't watching as I was concentrating on me!) and didn't get taken out, although nearly being got by someone trying to traverse above me did convince me to stop wussing and get down the piste somehow or other. Once we go to the bottom I was ready to call it a day (long drive, tired legs) but sent OH off to have an quick play to get his confidence back on the better snow on Sunnyside, so he finished by coming down a blue/off piste run more or less back to the car ready for the long drive back to Shropshire, which went fine.
General Impressions
Other than the instructors the general level of skiing was less good than in the alps. Instuctors looked good and from what I could see their teaching was good too. But people were generally being quite sensible. Only saw one nasty looking collision on a green (waiting for OH who sat down unexpectedly when downhill ski found slush while uphill ski found ice) where an adult who was about to fall hit an already fallen skier. The short greens on the cafe side were quite a big step up from the nursery slope IMO.
Even though it was the weekend in the middle of 2 half terms it wasn't really that busy. The only major queue encountered all weekend was for the poma on the right of the cafe - I think that was the nicest of the step up pistes. Nursery slope pomas/T-bars were quite busy, but more due to aborted starts than sheer numbers most of the time.
Runs are shorter than the alpine resorts we've visited in the past and the largely surface lifts meant the skiing was more intense as travelling wasn't really a rest - long chairs/gondolas in the alps give more opportunities for a breather.
Food was good and relatively cheap
Piste maps/marking could be better - in the murk on Saturday we really struggled to find pistes - allegedly there was a green next to the blue, never found it! Easier in the sunshine, but some of the more advance pistes just had poles in the middle as a suggestion rather than marked edges. On the easier pistes the snow fencing worked to show where the pistes are, but would imagine that if they are completely buried navigation would get very difficult
Quite a few uphill links where lifts/pistes look to be adjacent.
My skiing
It became abundantly clear to me that the main factor holding my skiing back and preventing me from carving is my rubbish ankle flex. Even with heel lifts in my ski boots I struggle to get my weight properly forward, which added to not being very brave as means I habitually skid the tails of my skis towards the end of the turn as a braking mechanism. It also feels like I don't really engage the edges at the start of the turn, largely because I can't seem to exert enough pressure to the front of the skis. Solution being actually do yoga every day rather than just thinking about it! OH needs to pay a visit to CEM, so will try and schedule both of us for the summer - once I've made some improvement on the ankle flex situation.
In summary
Would we go again - absolutely - but not as a planned week until we've improved our winter walking/mountaineering skills so we have alternative options on days when the weather isn't kind. Opportunistic weekends definitely appeal as well!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Randomsabreur, thanks for all that effort in posting. I'm hoping to get back up there in March, your post has me looking forward to it much more now 
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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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good effort on your post...
As with all scottish skiing... you have to take the good with the bad...
When its good... its great.... when its tough weather... well....
Hope you continue to enjoy the "Scottish Alps!!"
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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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Mosha Marc, car share?? Need a brave pill to ask the Mrs first though!
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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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kitenski, good call. I need a brave pill as well. Do you think they want to go too??
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Mosha Marc, My Mrs is 100% clear she will never ski in Scotland again!!!
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kitenski, who said they had to ski??
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Kids have commitments Sat, and school Monday!
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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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Gonna be at glenshee saturday if anyone is around
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