Skiing in the Cairngorms 2: 19th-21st February 2016

My second ski trip was in many ways more difficult than my first. I had envisaged gliding confidently and gracefully across the thick snow, maybe the odd passer by stopping to watch and point in admiration as I didn't fall over at all, and demonstrated such skillful cross country skiing that noone could believe this was only my second time on skiis.

It was an unrealistic vision, but it powered me up the A9 as the darkness drew in on Friday evening. For the first time, I would be taking Astrid up to Aviemore, and it would be the first time I tested her in real snow. I was nervous about it as I don't have snow tires, but given her Volvo heritage, I felt sure she wouldn't let me down.

I stopped off on the way in Crieff, to pick up my friend and 'ski instructor' who had arranged the weekend. The journey to his was interesting, I was dodging potholes as I went (the recent winter weather had really taken its toll on the roads in Perthshire), both on the road from Perthshire to him (The A822 for those who are interested) and away. There were some scenic detours, but I was unable to appreciate them because a) it was dark despite the moon, and b) I was focused on the road, specifically where potholes might be in said road.

We arrived at the Coylumbridge Hilton shortly after ten, having experienced a few flurries of snow (which we got excited about but never settled) and almost no ice driving. We awoke early the next morning and I was excited to see light snow outside! After a substantial breakfast (probably too substantial if truth be told!) I drove up to the Hayfield, where Astrid traversed snow for the first time (anti-lock breaks, whee!) she looked very at home in a snow flurry with my long skiis propped up against her froggy rear lights.

Astrid. Admire my skilful photo doctoring!

After slipping about on the reassuringly flat and open field for about half an hour on surprisingly sticky snow (a good portion of it was stuck to the bottom of my skiis and there were grass patches when we finished!) we crossed the road to try one of the Glenmore forest trails.

The snow on the hiking trails was (quite literally) gratingly thin, but the scenery more than made up for it. Following the trail alongside a babbling stream, we were forever stopping to take photos which just couldn't do the beauty of the place justice. Once again, I was reminded of how much I loved Scotland. We walked most of the route but did get a little skiing in, which was fabulous. It was just how I had imagined cross country skiing would be, only more fun!

Me having a lot more fun than I look like!

Snowing gently.

We arrived back at the car to find the gates up to Cairngorm mountain closed, so on the recommendation of another hiker (albeit she had two adorable dogs, rather than skiis), we headed down into Aviemore in pursuit of better snow and lunch. Unfortunately we only found the latter. The weather had turned miserable and grey – cold enough to be bleak, but not enough for snow, so we pondered our next moves in the entertaining 'Papa Rock' diner over a toasted sandwich, non-vegetarian mushroom soup, and onion based salad.

Then the outstanding idea occurred (and I can't take credit I'm afraid) to visit the Highlands Wildlife Park. We trudged around in diagonal sleet and freezing wind to see some amazing and beautiful animals which I have never seen before, in close quarters, including snow leopards, polar bears, arctic foxes, and an adorable red panda... my day was made!

Snow leopard. Isn't his coat magnificent?

We visited this little guy four times. I'm in love.

We left the park as it closed, and made it back to the hotel in time for a nice hot swim, and then dinner in the Bistro. The forecast promised better snow tomorrow, and we had a great trail involving a loch and a castle which we were itching to skii, but vowed to hike it if the forecast was wrong.

Sunday dawned damp but barely warm. The forecast was wrong! Sleety rain encouraged us to linger over another immense breakfast, before packing up and deciding to head up Cairngorm, which was open today. Excitingly, most of the downhill runs were closed, so the mountain wasn't as crowded as our last visit. The wind up here was much fiercer, and I borrowed some goggles to fully insulate myself against the biting wind. Once again we experienced sticky snow, but this time it was offset in places by icey slopes. I coped with the ice, barely, but it was a struggle and I wasn't enjoying myself, so we moved into a snowy patch where I could practice my 'snowplow' breaking in skiis (pointing your skiis into a V shape and biting the edges of the skiis into the snow to prevent sliding). After a while I managed to accomplish it from a standing start, but my default method of breaking from skiing at any speed remains 'the faceplant'! More successfully, I learnt to turn my skiis so I was facing the opposite direction. I took some photos of the impressive pattern I made in the snow from my practising! (well, I was impressed by it!)

This could be a photo of me, hard to tell.

The snow was much, MUCH deeper than the previous morning!

The leg out of the photo is literally buried in snow

That afternoon, we drove to Grandtully, to visit the Highland Chocolatier, whom a colleague and friend had recommended to me when I was working in Swindon last year! We were disappointed to find that the kitchen closed for lunch at 3pm (we arrived at 15:05) so we had a slice of cake each for lunch, and perused the mini chocolate museum and shop. I took photos of two giant chocolate wedding cakes for my friends who are brides to be (well it's in my interest, as I'll be getting a slice at the reception!) and purchased some highly expensive but absolutely magnificent chocolates from an enormous selection of velvet truffles. Possibly the strangest flavour I have ever heard of (which was delicious but weird) was liquorice and caramel. I also chose rose, passion-fruit, and lime and chilli.

Slightly bigger than my head. Happy Easter!

We took a beautiful back-road route through Aberfeldy and a stunning glen, following the A826/A822, which I would highly recommend. Apparently it's even more beautiful in the spring when the heather is in bloom – I will have to return then, and with my camera to hand!

Overall it was a beautiful weekend, with a decent amount of skiing despite the circumstances, some beautiful scenery and animals, and delicious chocolate. What's not to love? Back in Suffolk, a weekend like this would have seen me confined to the house for two days, but here there is no excuse not to adventure!