Skiing at Glencoe
>> Monday, March 08, 2010
Last week, our local radio station, Real Radio, were doing a charity day, trying to raise money for CHAS (Children's Hospice Association Scotland). Throughout the day they were auctioning off various different things - signed football boots/tops, spa weekends etc. I had a wee look at lunchtime and noticed a "Family Mega Deal" at the Glencoe Ski Centre. It included all lift passes, hire and 2hrs of instruction, and the current bid was only £75.
I won the auction - I ended up paying a bit more than the £75, but it was a bargain for us and the money was going to a good cause. We arranged to go on Sunday as the weather was looking quite promising and the snow will not be around for much longer.
All the stuff was looked out on Saturday night. We had an early night and the alarm was set for 6. We pulled out of the drive at about 7 and the weather looked promising - very still and dry. We got up to Glencoe just before 9, the rain had been on and off on the way up, but not too bad. The mountain was in mist and on the way up in the chairlift the drizzle changed to light snow. By the time we got to the top it had almost stopped and that was the last we saw of any rain.
During the morning, the mist came and went - at times you could see fine and 2mins later you couldn't see 10m in front of you. We stuck to the easy green routes in the morning, just to get our bearings- this was the first time we had been to Glencoe.
Pat was showing off - skiing down and spinning round to go backwards before spinning back round – looking cool. I was on a bit of a flat bit and wasn't going too fast, so I gave it a go. I managed the first bit, however I soon found myself in the position of going backwards and quickly speeding up. Not to worry, I didn't panic. I simply threw myself backwards and stopped myself by whiplashing the back of my scull into the hard packed snow!! I could see stars!! I only got a helmet at Christmas, and that was because Mo was pressuring me. If I had not had it on I am sure I would have been out for the count!! The kids found it hilarious!!
We went for an early lunch at 11 to avoid the queues – and when you have breakfast at 6 and skied all morning, you are ready for it!! After lunch the mist cleared and the sun came out. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the snow was perfect - and the Glencoe scenery wasn't too bad!! We had another few runs before we met our instructor for the afternoon. He was great - I think he was quite impressed with the kids, and he gave us some great pointers and tips to help us all improve.
The lesson took us up to about 4ish. We had another few runs down the easy greens, while Megan and Patrick went down the jumps. Going down the chairlifts was great. The views were fantastic and the chairlifts are surprisingly quite. After a long day skiing it is nice to just relax and enjoy the view!
We got changed and headed down to Tyndrum for fish and chips. It was such a lovely night – even after the sun went down, the reflections on Loch Lomond were fantastic.
We got home at about 8, Ella and Patrick were sleeping in their beds by 8:05 and the rest of us were there by 9!!
What a day – if you could guarantee sun and snow like that we would be winning a lot more than 1 medal at the Winter Olympics!! It is great to see the look of enjoyment on all our faces – I wish my body could cope with it!!

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The kids were on holiday Mon, Tues and Wednesday this week and we had managed to get accommodation at Scandinavian Village in Aviemore. We were hoping to get some skiing in and I picked up skis from Bellahouston on Thursday so we were sorted for a sharp exit on Saturday morning.
