Keeping a positive attitude and making the most of whatever the weather decides to throw at us is part and parcel of being a Scottish skier. Lets face it, every day in the snow is a stupid grin sort of day. Even if it’s ridiculously grim out there! Saturday had provided a perfect bluebird day with 12cms of fresh powder at Glenshee. I however missed this. I had a fun day teaching in Edinburgh so I wasn’t too heartbroken. Two hours of race training, a two hour private then two hours of Super Sliders – basically zooming round the hill with a group of kids, not teaching, but getting some mileage under their ski’s whilst doing fun stuff.
Sunday was a very different day. It’s crazy how rapidly the weather and snow pack can change overnight. The drive north was full of hope. There was plenty of snow at the roadside and the further north we went the thicker it became. The large puddles and torrents of water flowing along a number of the roads didn’t deter us. There was clearly a big thaw on. However, there was still enough white to make things alright.
The ticket office staff were obviously having a laugh with the four letter code for the day…
The weather was pretty wild at times. I experienced some of the strongest gusts of wind I have ever skied in. On a couple of descents I was stopped dead in my tracks midway through high speed turns. It is a pretty weird experience to be zooming down the mountain one minute then the next to be at a total standstill because of the wind. Lets hope all the wild weather brings some more snow our way and doesn’t just strip the mountains bare again. Even if things pick up on the snow front, I will always remember the winter of 2012/2013 as the storm season.
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