Skiing at Glenshee

After a great day bagging Driesh and Mayar yesterday, most of the GWC staff were heading back down the road to Edinburgh to get back before dark. However, as we were this far North I wanted to make the most of the time we had in the wintery conditions. A few of us decided to head to Glenshee to get a day in skiing. I had been skiing in Andorra and Austria before a few years ago but I had never skied in Scotland; this seemed like a good opportunity as there was so much snow about.

A snowy Glenshee with all lifts open!

A group of us left early, said goodbye to the others and set off up the road to Glenshee. As we approached the ski centre, we could see just how good the runs looked; they all had a good covering of powder. I had driven through this way a couple of times in winter in the past but the runs never looked anywhere near as good as they did today. It was also clear that many other folk had the same idea as we did - the car park was rammed with families.

James adjusting his skis, Glenshee

After we had braved the crowds to hire skis, boots, poles and purchase our lift passes, we headed for the slopes. I was a little unsteady at first so took a bit of time to get my ski legs and ski head back on with a few easy runs down on the Carn Aosda side before heading up for a few runs on The Cairnwell. The runs were in great condition and the skiing was just as good (if not better) than what I remember experiencing in Austria a few years ago.

Glenshee skiing

After a while we headed across the road to the runs on the Meall Odhar side. I wasn't sure what to expect here because I had never seen these tows running before today. To my surprise, there seemed to be even more snow and even better skiing on this side! There was so much snow that you could pretty much ski on any part of the mountain and there was little to distinguish between what was a 'run' and what wasn't. We had great fun skiing down the small valley to the North of Glas Maol.

After a full day on the slopes, we were treated to a fantastic orange glow of the sun setting to the West above the snowy Cairngorms - what a day and what a weekend!

Sunset over Glenshee

Spittal of Glenshee to Pitlochry... and back

Gulabin Lodge

The annual GWC staff hillwalking weekend was once again on the cards this Friday to Sunday. However, I wasn't planning on doing much hillwalking. Due to my GWC Cycling Project commitments this year, I had been cycling pretty much every day trying to make sure I was up to the challenge. I knew one thing for sure though: I wouldn't be anywhere near the level of Lewis... what a legend!

We headed up in the minibus on Friday evening to Spittle of Glenshee. We were based in Gulabin Lodge for the weekend and had the place to ourselves. The place was great and I would really recommend it to anyone looking for group accommodation in the Glenshee area.

Lewis' plan for the Saturday was for us to cycle from the lodge to Pitlochry. I had recently cycled from Edinburgh to North Berwick and back a couple of times, but this would be the first real test for my bike... and for me! We set off around 9am and headed south along the main A93 road towards Bridge of Cally. This stretch was great fun as it was quite up and down but mostly down. The rain had stayed away but it was threatening. It was quite a cold day and there were patches of snow all around at the side of the road. I had made a poor decision to opt for my thin, fingerless gloves instead of my thicker Endura waterproof cycling gloves; time to change them. We turned off to the right to take the B950 road to Kirkmichael. This was a fairly straightforward run down to join the A924 at Kirkmichael.

We stopped for a breather at the side of the road between Enochdhu and Straloch. I had been keeping up with Lewis fine, but I had the feeling that this was a bit of a doddle for him. He seemed to have the ability to just step it up a level and then he would be suddenly out of sight. I guess this was to be expected, when someone's been cycling for as long as he has. Still, I thought it pretty impressive to see. We took a few moments to talk about our bikes and if we thought they were ready for Projects in May. I was keen to get Lewis' thoughts on the additions I had made to my Marin San Rafael. I had recently added a set of SKS Chromoplastic Road Mudguards, a Blackburn Expedition 1 + Rear Rack, some Tioga Power Studs 6 Bar Ends, and a Blackburn Chicane Stainless Steel Bottle Cage with a single Ortlieb Front Roller Plus pannier. Lewis agreed that these additions made the machine far more road friendly and was certainly well equipped to do the 500 odd miles in May.

The ride: Marin San Rafael 2008

Now refreshed, we started up the gradual climb up to Glen Brerachan, where the views opened up. It wasn't the clearest of days but we could still see down into Pitlochry and north west to Ben Vrackie. Then the fun started; a speedy descent down through Moulin, but then I realised that I would have to cycle up this ridiculously steep hill! We headed straight for the coffee shop for a hot drink and a scone, fighting our way through the tourists as we went.
The rain had stayed away but it was still rather chilly, but I set off feeling a little cold and with minimal layers on, as I knew I was going to get rather hot very soon. It wasn't too bad at first, the climb up from Moulin to Kinnaird was fairly steady and I was pleased with how I coped. However, moving on up the hill were a couple of sharp, steep turns in the road as we passed the woods. This was time to put the head down and spin those legs. It actually wasn't too bad and I was rather chuffed with my effort and I had managed to stay reasonably in touch with Lewis too. We paused for breath at the top and talk about the climb we had just conquered. Some recovery time; as we enjoyed the gradual run back down to Kirkmichael and then a short climb up to the farm along the B950 before joining the main A93 again.

Looking west through Glen Brerachan

I knew we were on the home stretch now, but I had forgotten just how far this stretch had been this morning. Heading back, it was important to keep the speed up and really use the down hill slopes to propel up the next crest. It was about now that the heavens decided to open. We didn't stop to put on waterproofs; we just wanted to get back... and when we did... we were absolutely drenched!
I was very pleased with how today went and I know I'll never be a cyclist, but it was certainly a great day. Looking forward to Projects... bring it on!