Skiing at Glencoe

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!!

Video …

Pictures …

Ski Jumping and Rory’s 1st Birthday

Ella was having a shot on the jump slope for the first time.  See what you think …

After the lessons, we went through to Edinburgh, to Rory’s 1st Birthday.  Loads of good stuff to eat.

Travellers IQ

If you get a minute you should try this.  Click here to take you to the web page – it is a picture of the world and it asks you to click on various places to test your geography.

My score was 195.262, My final level was 6 and got a travellers IQ of 94.

This should be right up Eddie’s street!!

Aviemore Skiing Feb 2010

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. 

Saturday
Mikie was coming up with us and we met him at Stirling Services.  We offloaded some of our boots and ski poles (and Patrick) into Mikie's car and headed up.

We pulled into Scandi about 1 o'clock and got unpacked.  I had to go down and have a meeting with the office staff and while I was doing that, the rest of them headed to Tesco to get the provisions.  I got back from the office before they were back and I booked the lift passes on the internet to save any queuing in the morning.

Everyone arrived back and we got the food away before going for a swim.  Pool was freezing for the adults - didn't seem to bother the kids.  Back to the house for chicken pie and a few beers while watching the highlights from the winter Olympics.  Early night as we had the alarm set for 7 to get up to the slopes before the rush.

Sunday
Alarm went off and we got up and got our long johns on.  After the porridge we got all the gear on and headed to the cars for the 20min drive to the slope.  We got there at 8:20 and the main car park was already full.  We got a space in the overflow and had to get a bus up.

The place was looking quite busy, but we jumped on the train without much of a delay, got out at the top and had our first ski down.  There was loads of snow and it was really calm, but it was quite foggy at the top.  Like the last time we were up in January, you only had to ski down a little before it cleared.  We had a good ski down, got to the bottom and the queue for the train was out of the building.  someone told us that it was a 1 1/2 hour wait.  We decided to try and head to the top via the tows - The first tows were easy enough, but to get to the top there was one left.  We were waiting in the queue and I thinking that it looked a bit quick, but it was the same kind of tow as the kids were used to at Bellahouston.  Mikie went up first, then Patrick, Ella, Myself, Megan and Mo.  We all got away fine.  It was going at some rate and it was really rough under your skis.  You really had to concentrate.  Ella seemed to be coping fine, I heard Mo shout and I turned to see Meg in a heap at the side.  I got off and skied down to get her.  It really was not easy skiing at all - it was not a designated run and it was very steep.  Meg and I made it down slowly and joined the queue again.  We waited about 20mins and this time made it up - just as we got to the top Mo shouted me - she looked terrible - I thought somebody had fallen and hurt themselves.  Ella had fallen off of the tow just after I had got off of the tow and Mo had got off to help her.  The slope was too rough and bumpy for Mo and Ella to ski down so they had decided to walk up.  Because it was so misty - Mo had no idea how far they had to walk, and Ella was having a major drama.  So when Meg and I made it to the top - Mo and Ella had been trudging up a really steep section, through deep snow in ski boots - Mo carrying 2 sets of skis and a poles - for about 30mins!!  Both of them looked absolutely knackered. 

By the time we all got to the top we would have been quicker waiting in the queue for the train -hindsight is a wonderful thing.
We had planned to go for an early lunch, but the queue was miles long.  We decided to ski down to the bottom and get something there.  As soon as we started the ski down it was obvious that Mo and Ella were struggling - Mo had really hurt her legs on the hike up the hill - they were really hurting.  We got to the bottom and we got carry out fish and chips from a van and plonked ourselves down on a snow bank and ate.

After lunch we headed back up - for another couple of runs, before heading home knackered and ready for our dinner!!

Monday
Decided not to set the alarm for skiing as the forecast was not too good.  After breakfast I went down to the office.  While I was there, the sun came out and the mountain website said that the wind was dropping - I rearranged to go into the office the following day and we decided to go for an afternoon skiing.  When we got up to the top the weather was amazing - there was blue sky and wispy cloud - not a breath of wind.  We had a afternoon skiing in as perfect conditions as you could hope for.  Home for chicken curry and Winter Olympics

Tuesday
Got up on Tuesday to a bit of snow on the ground - after I had been to the office we walked down to a ceramic painting place.  The kids (and Mikie) picked a ceramic and spent the next couple of hours painting them.  What a great way to spend some time.  We left the ceramic creations with the owner - he takes them away and puts them in a kiln overnight, and headed down to the Cairngorm Hotel for a late lunch/early dinner.  The snow came on really heavy and it was great just walking slowly back to the house.  Mikie, Meg and Pat went to Tesco to get some bits and pieces.  Mo, Ella and I went into a few shops for a look about.  We went into a outdoor shop - selling climbing and skiing stuff.  We were just having a look about and Ella shouts - "Dad - see if there are any skis for me!!"  They weans have no idea about money!!

We got back to the house - Mo and Mikie went up to get the swimming stuff, while me and the kids had a snowball fight.  Ella wanted to go into the soft play area rather than a swim, so Mo and I won a watch and had a coffee, keeping an eye on Ella and watching Mikie, Meg and Pat in the pool.  Home for a glass of wine, winter Olympics and chess (Mikie and the kids)

Wednesday
Packed the car up and headed down to the ceramic place to pick up the master pieces.  They looked great - if you are ever in Aviemore and looking for something to do head to http://www.smartyart.co.uk/ - excellent couple of hours (if you take Mikie - he pays!!)  Mo and I got a coffee to go and we headed down the road.  We were sick at leaving - there was 7 inches of fresh snow on the mountain and perfect blue skies

Quotes from the week:-

Ella  “Michael is really good at lots of things - Instruments, speaking Spanish, Chest (Chess), building train tracks - but not skiing!!”

Patrick – playing Mikie at chess.  Not wanting to let him know his plan but wanted to tell me, he said “Horsey, Horsey Look at me”  (had to be there)

The Video.  It is a bit all over the place – I was skiing behind holding my poles in one hand, trying to watch where I was going and pointing the camera at the same time.  I am not waiting for a call from the BBC to help at the Winter Olympics!!

More Photos …