A journey learning the basics of ski-mountaineering in a single scottish winter.
The Objective:
Hillend ‘parrallel development course’ to the successful descent of a ‘grade 1 gully’ successfully linking turns.
The journey reflected upon in this article looks back on a very fast paced, enjoyable and above all exciting period of my life, it is hoped to be as educational for me to reflect on as it is entertaining for the casual reader to enjoy. The aspiration to ski in the mountains has been a long running ambition, but only released in the last 18-months in this rather atypical progression into the niche-within-a-niche sport known as ‘ski mountaineering’.
As a child of our digital era, intoxicated by the availability of real time media streamed onto my phone through my teenage years, I was lucky to have plenty of hobbies ‘in-the real world’ to, predominantly, keep me out of this digital void. But at some point during those formative years ‘ski mountaineering’, in some attention span reducing format or another, passed beneath by fingertips. It perhaps wasn’t until I saw a film from an edition of ‘Mountains on Stage’ of Geraldi/Fabre on their Haute Route record that I was massively inspired and knew I wanted to experience the sport…what travelling on skis in the mountains would feel like and boy what a good journey building the skillset would be, which so far has been full of great experiences and powerful emotions.
My university years passed by with very little progress made towards the goal of taking up ski-touring or mountaineering, missing, as I know understand two of the best winters of recent memory during the covid years - then somewhere again during a lackadaisical lockdown venture onto my phone a reel of ‘ski mountaineering’ returned to my screen and a certain ‘go mountain goats’ episode’ on one of the most ambitious missions on skis in the UK ever attempted inspired me further. These motivators would lie dormant on the mind, in need of the right stimulus to bring them into realisation. This would come in the format of Jamie Paterson and Dan Ashwood - friends for whom I am sincerely indebted to for the realisation of these dreams.
I’d had a good year running in 2023 and had enjoyed being at the pointy end of some races and completed a Ramsay Round amongst many good days out in the hills. It had been a great year of freedom away from the structure of my Architecture degree but as a natural obsessor and projecteer I was in need of another goal to apply myself to. I’d clearly been talking too much to my pal Jamie Paterson (a very competent and passionate skier amongst other talents) about wanting to ski and on a rather memorable and foul trip to the Mullardoch hill’s with Dan Ashwood in early wintery conditions - the outline of winter project that would become known between us as ‘Hillend to Grade-1 Gully’ was born.
I can’t quite recall the exact moment that the goal of the winter being a ‘Grade-1 Gully’ was ideated, but Jamie made it pretty clear given my extremely limited skiing credential that i should ‘take some lessons at Hillend’ (the local Edinburgh dry-slope - once the longest in Europe). His comments were reinforced by ‘no one I suggest this too actually does it’ - i’ll do it thought, I think this guy knows his stuff and it makes sense to get some tuition. It’s a logical starting point, which pales in sensibility to the winter's goal ‘to ski, confidently linking-turns, down a grade-1-gully but it was a start atleast.. The term ‘grade-1-gully is a definition, originating from winter climbing to define a snow-filled gullies feature that would make an easy climb or, more commonly down-climb/glissade in winter upon descent from a harder route of ascent - these steep, often narrow and spectacularly situated ribbons of snow, that are generally snow-sure and so, particularly in the Scottish context pique the interest of steep-skiers (a really niche-within-a-niche) and in even average year stay in, or even best-condition until May.
Whilst for sure an ambitious goal that would require rapid development as a technically competent and confident skier, Jamie and Dan both thought it was ‘achievable’ and, it had a fun ring to it, I was committed!
My block of ‘parallel development’ lessons at Hillend on dreary November nights accelerated me from absolute novice on dh skis, to a dry-slope graduate who had left their limited nordic experience behind for the pleasure of having ‘heels locked in’. By December I was ready to get on some snow, but of course in Scotland that’s now a waiting game, refreshing forecasts in optimism. By Christmas there was enough snow on the ground and over the holidays and the early January racked up a weeks worth of touring around a rather lean-Lecht and on better conditions on the Glenshee Hills. A rather memorable day on these hills covering lots of ground on a pair of second-hand ‘skimo’ race skis’ was a particularly formative experience. It can be rare in life to be gifted an opportunity to see something you love afresh but as Marcel Proust said ‘The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.’ These skis were certainly letting me appreciate the hills with new eyes, the way the snow is draped upon the landscape and two planks allow you to flow-like-water across the surface, the contrast by which features are picked-out by snow and the opportunity to venture deep into a valley or corrie that one would never otherwise visit; all pleasures brought around by this new ‘tool on my feet’. I was dreaming.
Soon enough the good conditions were stripped by a warm spell, at least the snow accumulations in gullies would remain - waiting for me later in the season.
A day around a lean (and closed) cairngorm provided a good opportunity to get some mileage under my belt. Mentor Jamie was concerned by my adornment of ‘skimo’ kit over ‘proper touring kit’ but remained optimistic about the potential to complete a gully this winter. Up to this stage I'd been skiing easy angle terrain - all under 30 degrees. For some local reference - the Caerketton scree runs around around 35 degrees - a Grade 1 Gully being extended pitches of 35-40 degrees plus and perhaps only 5-6m wide - a combination that requires confidence and proper technique to conquer - I needed some steeper skiing under the belt.
Then the week of national xc I was presented with an almighty dilemma. Jamie was proposing skiing in the Back Corries - one of the most important sectors of steep skiing for the Scottish conditions - the nearest webcams suggested skiing to/from the gondola station on Aonach Mor, this giving a 600m skin to some of the best lines in the country - and in potentially great condition. One of the great gambles with Scottish skiing is having an ‘inkling’, assimilated through all intel on forums, social media, avalanche reports/blogs and weather forecasts available that conditions could be ‘good’ - you can never be sure - but that’s all part of the joy of the sport. Anyways National XC run, but with skiing on the mind - a quick pit stop in Edinburgh before a phonecall with Jamie talking through all the kit required before a train N to Stirling to position ourselves for an ‘alpine-start’ to Nevis Range. Living in Edinburgh and day-tripping is not a particularly sustainable lifestyle but there is a certain beauty to the 3am alarm and driving through the remnants of cowgate crowds heading home as your day begins - quiet roads and 4am waffle chat adding to the attractions all before your day in the mountains begin..
On the climbers lift at Nevis Range, the hills of Lochaber were shining white below the pink hues of a rising sun, filled with trepidation and excitement knowing a day out with Jamie and Big Mike would be some of the most serious yet exciting skiing I’d done so far and key step towards my Grade-1-Gully goal. Fun skinning led to the summit plateaux of Aonach Mor, Jamie repeatedly saying these were potentially some of the best conditions he’d skied in Scotland. We arrive at the top of ‘Summit Gully’ a feature too wide and arguably not steep enough to be ‘Grade 1’ but equally impressive. It’s a spectacular sunny day and their is 40cm of powder - i’ve never skied powder before, I’ve never skied anything so steep, i’m feeling completely unprepared but I’m just about confident I can ski the slope Jamie’s looking at. Nervous would be an understatement - I can rarely remember a point in life where the emotional concoction of nerves and anticipation have been so great - the precise combination of stimuli that drives utterly in-the-moment focus - a truly serene experience that has to be treasured. Jamie skis first, so fluidly and gracefully competing the ‘first pitch’ safing himself from any avalanche risk beneath some rocks. I creep painfully slowly
closer to the edge of the windlip required to drop over to access the slope, the aforementioned nerves and emotions evoke a ‘tabula rasa-eque’ mindset - all knowledge in the moment coming from direct perception - all movement being made relying on an inner trust that the skillset I have been building will suffice. I drop, make a few cautious unbalanced turns and then fall head over heels into the powder. The instinct on these slopes is to lean back, but in reality this just makes the skiing harder - thankfully I come to stop deep in the powder almost immediately and from that moment realise that the day is going to be a lot of fun! The first few turns in any steep skiing situation are always the hardest and perhaps those very-very-first ones on steep terrain even more mentally insurmountable! Of course falling over in a somewhat safe spot is perhaps the best scenario for understanding that in safe-snow nothing too-bad can happen. I gather myself, brush some snow off and make some turns down to join Jamie - smile beaming across my face already.
The rest of the day proceeds with much enjoyment skiing my first steeper lines - as I wrote on my training log ‘an all-time day….truly spectacular….this is what I’m after’. Of course in true Jamie Paterson style it finishes with benightenment, a splendid sunset skin back across the plateau looking at the N face of the Ben, grade-1gully lines being pointed out before a rather mentally and physically exhausting ski down to the gondola station before walking down the MTB track back to the car, maccies and then the long drive back south.
The winter was certainly lean, the next opportunity to ski coming a few weeks later at Glencoe - some fun lift-assisted turns (first since hill-end) with a collection of pals that grew throughout the day - lots of sharks and close calls - including some pretty big base-repairs to make at the end of the day. A long-weekend in the dolomites skiing brought my abilities on a great deal, and some steeper lines on fun light powder help build confidence that may have been difficult to gain in Scotland - especially around work - one thing I was sure to keep imbalance was that my lift-assisted mileage stayed below that touring - an unusual stat but one i’m quite proud of and won’t let slip.
To be continued.
Write-up coming soon...