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!

How much for a loaf of bread?

Two quid for a poxy wee loaf....two bloody quid. That's daylight robbery (and it's not like we have much daylight at the mo)...just because of all this snow apparently.

Also had to take out a second mortgage for half a dozen eggs - can't imagine the the happy chooks in their cozy little huts give a damn about what's going on outside and pop any less eggs than normal...grrrrrrr.



Well - I'm smiling in the pic, so by this point had overcome the shock of the mornings' shopping experience.

Joined by Andy Lole who didn't expect welsh snow to be quite like this...in fact he made his first turns of the season today, and mighty fine they were.

Slight crust today, but still very fab, although a few too many rock encounters on run two signalled an early finish...