Extreme Chainsawing...

So for those of you who responded to my previous posting and have supported the British Women's Ski Mountaineering Team, may I say a HUGE thankyou, and provide this little gem of a pic as a starter...

I'm not sure the suit would count as suitable PPE, but it seemed to do the job and more importantly, co-ordinated quite nicely with the chainsaw.

For those of you having a bit of a chuckle at my expense, feel free to add to the cause and help us on our way.

Muchos gracias amigos!

Ooo - A little bit of leg!

Hmmm -  the gimp suit arrived today...so this will give you a little taster. It's shiny and it's lycra, and it's not going to leave a whole heap to the imagination.

For an explanation - go onto Facebook and look for the British Women's Ski Mountaineering Team - that should make things a bit clearer.

For those of you who know myself and Di, then this might be the opportunity to help us out a little bit. It has proved to be a whole heap more costly than we expected, so if any of you lovely souls would like to contribute we would REALLY appreciate it.

In return for any contribution, we agree to go for public humiliation and post a pic of our very souls in our one-piece lycra numbers (not just a bit of leg) as a way of saying thanks.

Any contributions can be made via a cheque to "British Women's Ski Mountaineering Team" - and sent to either Di (address at digilbert.co.uk) or myself. Alternately ping us an email or gis a bell and we can give you bank details to do it over the internet. Any left over monies will go to charity.

Hate to grovel and all that, but for those of you who know us, it's got to be worth at least a tenner to see us all lycra'd up ;-)

Any questions - just ping me a missive  at catrin64@hotmail.com

Mainly skinning for me....

I

This weekend I got to play out with Vicky, Helen and Dee. Had a very fine Saturday schlepping up on to the tops to be rewarded with mighty fine views.

It has to be said - them there Northern Corries are plastered at the mo...


There are no photo's of Sunday, cause it was a suffer-fest! Ended up on a Corbett over near the Lecht...no visibility and blowing like bygerry. The question "why are we here" did cross my mind on more than one occasion. Character building I suppose, although I would feel that I have enough character to be getting on with without having to endure that sort of nonsense...

 Rant over. Had a great day today. Took meself up the hill and did some of the interval training malarky -  so more of the sucking wind and trying not to barf. Ended up a lesser shade of beetrooot as evidenced in the pic, but luckily twas pea soup so no-one could see me - phew.

And then...met up with Di, Derek and Heather - and a bag or two of jelly snakes - to ski into Sneachda for a late ascent of Aladdins Mirror Direct...Heather and
Derek did a stirling effort on it while Di and I offered moral support and looked after Millie...the best behaved dog in the world.

Came out in the dark with the most amazing moon...aaaah, brilliant!

Sunny Lurchers

Into Lurchers again today...

A very fine day...if not a little chilly...well a lot chilly in fact...wore everything and I still wasn't warm enough....

The good news is I still have all my fingers and toes...

Loads of ice and blue sky - all very alpine really :-)

Brrrrrrrr

Up in the Cairngorms with Vicky....

It wasn't the best view....and by eck was it cold....

Great chips at the Ptarmigan though :-)

Another Grand Day Out

Great day on Lurchers....

Some sun, some wind; a whole heap of ice...and good stuff too;

And an unbelievably gorgeous sky on the walk out (thanks Di for the photo).

And did I mention the reindeer? Fully free range - bet they taste GREAT!!!

Learning to Breathe

We might be smiling in the picture, but a few minutes earlier were trying a) not to barf  and b) breathe!

Experimented with the whole going-uphill-fast-on-skis thing. It involves copious amounts of sweating, not enough oxygen, lungs that seem remarkably inefficient after 30 secs....and a heap of other things that I won't go into now.

Deep joy!

Where has all the snow gone?

What a great gate... although I suspect it's designed more for dogs and kids rather than grown ups...

In a bid to avoid the crowds, Di and I headed up to the Northwest...

In a bid to avoid the crowds, we unwittingly avoided the snow and ice - there was none - doh!

Back in Blighty

After a week eating mainly baguettes, tomatoes, olives, pate, comte and necking copious amounts of vino from the Languedoc, I am now back across the pond.

Made it up to Grantown last night to experience a proper Scottish new year...fab street party with great music and fireworks - well worth the drive :-)

Needless to say, it was a bit of a late start today...in fact it was well into the afternoon before Di and I headed out...

Headtorches, moral fibre, and lots of warm clothes were the order of the day (or late-afternoon)....as well as good edges on the old ski's to cope with the bullet 'ard icy stuff.

Grand day out though!