Last Saturday saw
Ann & John finally get back into the hills after a 2 month absence. The
forecast for high winds and fairly dodgy avalanche conditions, plus lack of leg
muscles, meant we headed for the Glen Tanar area to see how it went. Luckily
the car park had been cleared and a short walk across the road was all that was
needed before the skis went on. The estate had been driving around in a small
tracked vehicle that made the skiing much easier and more fun than it would
have been otherwise, and we got caught in a photoshoot for the ranger service’s
website:
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| Starting out |
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| In Glen Tanar |
We headed up the
Glen which was very pleasant in full winter wonderland mode. After a few km we
got a bit tired of the limited views so we headed up onto the extensive high
undulating ground east of the glen. This gave us some good views especially towards Lochnagar and felt a bit
Nordic with the scattering of small pines. The only downside was that the wax
on the skis, which had done a fairly good job so far, started balling up in the
colder conditions.
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| Getting towards the treeline |
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| Heading up Baudy Meg |
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| Cautious descent |
We soon reached our
high point of the day, the mighty Baudy Meg (488m) and
it was time for the descent, often the hardest part of any tour on skinny skis.
With variable snow and intermittently sticky skis we picked our way down slowly
using cautious but effective steppy turns and before long were back on the
forest tracks and easier going. All in all a good first outing of the year.
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