Saturday, March 19, 2011

Cairngorm South Side

An excellent day skiing the the south side of Cairngorm Mountain with Hamish Irvine and Graeme Ettle. A bit windy, snow tricky in places but great to be out before the thaw sets in next week.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Kingussie to Carrbridge

Ski touring has activity has been curtailed somewhat with my labyrinthitis/middle ear problems; comes and goes but has alarming symptoms when it strikes, which put me off heading into the winter hills on my own. Turns out my sister, unbeknown to me, has also been suffering from vestibular disorder for the last 2 years. It last struck her down while descending the Puig Campana in Spain.

With a big dump of snow and a couple of days for it to consolidate I couldn't resist another attempt on a Monadhliath  traverse from Kingussie to Carrbridge. Good conditions are not that frequent as the hills are all relatively low and ideally you need good snow down to strath level for the long easy angled run into Carrbridge.

I was lucky; apart from a 45min walk from Kingussie Station to the forest gate I kept skis on all the way to the forest gate just west of the saw mill at Carrbridge. A 20min walk got me into the village centre.

The route passes the site of the proposed Allt Duine Wind Farm which, in true NIMBY style, I'm strongly opposed to. This is what Cameron MacNeish has to say about it: Another giant windfarm for the Monadh Liath

Stats:
7.23am train from Aviemore to Kingussie (12 mins)
45 min walk to the forest gate.
Arrived at the Cairn Hotel Carrbridge at 4.55pm
Skis: Fischer 109
Wax: Swix Red Special 0'C to -2'C


View Kingussie to Carrbridge in a larger map