Pentlands Powder Hounds
Sunday 10th January
by Jan S
Ninemileburn to the Steading Inn car park at Hillend – on skis! This was the ski-tour with everything …
The weather forecast had suggested that there might be some wind but the conditions, as our party of eight started out from Ninemileburn at 10 am, were very reasonable with blue sky showing, excellent visibility, and – most important – an abundance of snow!
Getting onto the main ridge
Once up on the main ridge, the route was clearly marked out into the distance by a series of black dots – representing numerous hikers all taking advantage of the unique conditions. West Kip, East Kip, Scald Law, and Carnethy Hill all passed by comfortably.
Racing the hikers along the ridge
As we ascended Turnhouse Hill we were captivated by the deep powder snowfields off to the left. Accordingly, having reached the top, we skied off to the west, enjoying a fine descent down to Logan Burn midway between the reservoirs.
Cruising down to Logan Burn
Pentland Powder Hounds admiring their tracks
There followed an easy ski along the track to the elbow of Glencorse Reservoir, whence we climbed again around the western flank of Castlelaw Hill. As we climbed up Allermuir Hill, the sun sank in the west and a freezing wind got up blowing icy particles with needle-like ferocity onto any exposed skin, forcing us to zip up, don goggles, and hurry along. Finally the summit brought us the welcoming sight of a twinkling panorama of city lights stretching all the way from the City Bypass across to Fife in the rapidly darkening gloom. De-skinning was a hurried business, crouching low to the ground and struggling to control wildly flapping skins.
Soon we were descending – and thankfully, were out of the wind. As we passed below Caerketton Craigs we were joined by a bounding sheepdog, who escorted us down onto the golf course, before disappearing as quickly as he had appeared. Could this have been the Phantom Powder Hound of the Pentlands?
Onward across the golf course, and then we were skiing into the car park of the Steading Inn. Disappointingly we could not find any ski racks at the Inn, but never mind - rehydration rapidly got under way!
Brent, Lindy, Guy, Jan, Sammy (new member) and Ken, completed the 17 km (883m ascent) Pentlands Haute Route in approximately 7 hours.