By Clare Campbell
23/02/05 6.30pm Wednesday evening, Hollyrood.
Five ski club stalwarts gather in the evening gloom as the wind and
sleet whip through the carpark. What snow has fallen in Edinburgh
during the day looks as if it has all but disappeared as we stand there
looking faintly ridiculous clutching our skis.
Those of us wishing to abandon this ill-conceived plan and retire to a cosy pub are drowned out by the howling gale ....and Martin, of course! So we trudge, then skin, up the hill into white out conditions and a chill factor that would do the top of Cairngorm proud. Visibility is such that not a light from the city can be seen and finding the top proves a little embarrassing. The absence of even one compass in the group does not go unnoticed!
And then………. and
then………. we reach the summit, the
clouds roll back, the city twinkles below and lying behind us is the
most perfect little jewel of a snow covered ski descent that one could
possibly wish for, inviting us down…..and
up……… and
down……… and
up……… and down to the loch below. And
all of this lit by the light of a full moon!
………Serendipity indeed!
Now how many ascents of Arthur’s Seat do you reckon it would
take to get to the top of the Gran Paradiso then?
Clare Campbell