Well I'm late at writing this up, very late.
So it's he end of January and I'm sure you have all been wondering what I have been up to.
I started the year with Fran in France. We booked a last minuet ski holiday to Flaine, where one of Fran's friends had an apartment. Dave had agreed to put us up for the week, show us around and join us on the slopes. He turned out to be a quality guy and we had a great time.
Now, I haven't been skiing for over 10 years. Henry (my brother) had talked me into buying ski boots and skis, so when we got on to the slopes on that first day I was slightly nervous. What if I hated skiing? What if I was awful? Was I about to look like a muppet with all the gear and no idea?
Turns out my fears were mostly unfounded. I can still ski. Fran and I had a cracking time on the slopes and I was genuinely gutted when the week was over and it was time to pack away my skis and catch a flight back to England.
So it's he end of January and I'm sure you have all been wondering what I have been up to.
I started the year with Fran in France. We booked a last minuet ski holiday to Flaine, where one of Fran's friends had an apartment. Dave had agreed to put us up for the week, show us around and join us on the slopes. He turned out to be a quality guy and we had a great time.
Now, I haven't been skiing for over 10 years. Henry (my brother) had talked me into buying ski boots and skis, so when we got on to the slopes on that first day I was slightly nervous. What if I hated skiing? What if I was awful? Was I about to look like a muppet with all the gear and no idea?
Turns out my fears were mostly unfounded. I can still ski. Fran and I had a cracking time on the slopes and I was genuinely gutted when the week was over and it was time to pack away my skis and catch a flight back to England.
Fran and I with big cheesy grins.
Fran, Me, and Dave.
Fortunately my time skiing was not over. I arrived back at Stagnated and a few hours later my laundry was in the airing cupboard and I was packing the BBV to head to Scotland. This time with the addition of my skis. Henry and I were going to go and sample Scottish skiing. We had managed to squeeze in a weeks ski holiday between the end of his exams and the beginning of lectures. So less than 48h after leaving France I was in Aviemore about to start week number 2.
Henry and I on Cairngorm in very cold weather.
We started the week with an open mind about the quality of skiing to be found in Scotland, it turned out that we were both to be pleasantly surprised. We skied at the Cairngorm Mountain resort and managed a day at Glenshee as well. Both resorts were really quite good providing some interesting skiing. Hen spent a few hours refining my technique and teaching me the basics of backward skiing. Once again I was slightly sad when our time skiing came to an end, even if it singled my return to mountaineering,
Roll on next years ski holidays.
Roll on next years ski holidays.