The Edinburgh Ski Touring Club


Ardenbeg Bunkhouse 30th April

A short day out...

By Kay Knamiller

In April I went on a ski holiday in Austria and we had skinned and skied between huts and loved it so much I thought that I should try out the Edinburgh ski touring club so I booked myself on the weekend to Ardenbeg. Excited that there was still some snow around I hired some skis from David. I was rather shocked to discover that you couldn’t clip your heel into them when you wanted to go down hill – I guess I had just discovered the difference between ski mountaineering and free heel ski touring and realised that I was not an experienced ski tourer but in fact a complete beginner.

So on Friday, rather nervously, I travelled North. That evening, as plans were made for a day out to Ben Macdui I worried more and by Saturday morning I was hiring down hill skis with bindings I could clip into! I thought that this was brilliant until we reached the Cairngorm ski centre car park and I had to strap them on to my rucksac (don’t remember doing this in Austria!) and I discovered that they were about five times heavier than those skinny things with a piece of wire for a binding that David had given me.

But it was a perfect day with clear blue skys, bright sunshine, stunning views of the ridge between Cairn Toul and Braeriach covered in snow.

We skinned up to the summit of Ben Macdui and had a superb ski down to loch Etchachan. I have never been to Greenland but I imagine that it would look like it did down there – snow and rock and blue ice – and Martin, Jim and Ruth with tents and the kettle on!

Though it was 4.30 the group (Craig, Archie, Clare and Lynn) decided to head on up Ben Mheadhoin and (with rent-a- boot blisters) I stayed back to gaze at the stunning view and look after the kettle!

And so it was 6.30pm before we started to head back, 8.30pm before we girlys decided to split from the men to take the faster way down (supposedly) , 9.30pm before it started to go dark (nice sun set – but always disconserting when you’re still at the top).

It was a further 10pm before we start skiing down the, by now quite icy, head wall of the ski resort (and I start telling myself that these people are mad but at least I now believe I will make it as all I need to do is follow the ski pylons down and I wonder if this is just how Joe Simpson felt) and it was 11pm when Archie gave me a lift from the top of the car park to my car (about 200 metres away) because I couldn’t walk another step carrying those bloody skis!

So will I join the club and go back for more? Well apparently they are all meeting in the pub on Tuesday night and, if this is how they ski, I am going to check out how they drink before I agree to anything!

Postscript!

Whoever said a 12 hour day was better than 2 x 6 hour days? Suffice to say, by Monday, Lynn and myself were only just able for a little light shopping in Aviemore followed by a even lighter lunch!…….worried now that Kay will insist on everyfuture trip being at least, as epic! Meanwhile Mark, Ross and Pam knocked off another obscure Corbett or two while Tiana cycled off to Inverness (having served up a superb midnight feast to the skiers the night before) So concluded another action packed weekend…….. Clare C