Sunset Ski Tour

2025 has started very cold here in Aberdeenshire with steady accumulations of snow and arctic-sourced winds....good conditions for XC skiing in other words!  I set out from the high point of a road close to home and skied up a forest track before breaking out onto the end of the Correen Hills.  My timing was fortunate, 30 minutes after sunset and the sky was a range of beautiful shades.  This stunted pine tree is usually the first skyline object on the ridge and makes a nice foreground to pictures.

I made an energy-sapping climb on the skis to catch the colours at the cairn of Peter Prop before they faded and was rewarded with a great show of light.

 Despite the biting cold I stood for a good while to enjoy the show as the light faded from gold to a deep amber.

In the south-eastern sky there was a lovely view as Saturn emerged from behind the moon and Venus shone as the brightest object bar the moon itself - not the best image but a lovely sight.

My fingers and toes soon told me it was time to move, so I headed back down through a narrow fire-break to reach the forest track and get some warmth back in a fast, swinging kick-and-glide to the road.  A tour of just a couple of hours, but a great way to spend an early Saturday evening!

An anything but "dry" January

January can, in some years, be a month of enforced abstinence from most outdoor activities.  Limited daylight, often hostile weather and low temperatures can combine to make things a bit of a challenge.  this year, with more free time, I was keen to grab opportunity where I could, work with the weather and just generally "seize the day".  

I did at least one walk every day, averaging 13km per day across the month in a variety of conditions from the sublime to the downright nasty.

 

When the snow came in heavily, accompanied by strong winds and drifting....time to switch from walking to skiing!

There were a few days of really good conditions for XC Skiing right from home

A spell of settled weather in the north west of Scotland tempted Allan and I to plan a few days kayaking

...amply rewarded by some superb winter paddling conditions.....

..and some great wildlife encounters.

Generally amenable if breezy weather gave good opportunities for gravel riding in the Cairngorms...

...and several rides closer to home, such as here on Lord Arthur's Hill on the Correen ridge.

So, January proved to be anything but a "dry" month for outdoor ventures; the trick now is to keep it up for the year!

In the "white room"

When the snow here in Aberdeenshire was at its deepest, I set out straight from my house on a ski tour across the fields with no definite destination in mind.  The forecast was for strong winds later in the afternoon but I hoped to be back off any higher ground before that as the unconsolidated snow would be blown around quite a bit. 

The depth of snow cover was immediately apparent, this large drystone field boundary is 1.5 metres high and 2 metres across and I was able to ski comfortably along it.

In the higher fields the wind was a strong breeze which had already been at work on the snow - one of our neighbours had been up this way a day previously and his tracks were clear on the surface.  The raised effect is a result of Les skiing through powder snow and compacting it where his skis passed; the wind has then removed the loose snow from the area leaving the compacted ski tracks raised on the surface.

Not just human tracks either; the trace of a Hare was absolutely plain on the surface of the snow - a sort of Strava for beasties!

Getting to the top of the fields brought two obstacles, first a barbed wire livestock fence which was mostly buried in snow, then immediately above that a 3 metre high deer fence enclosing a new forest.  I was able to step across the barbed wire, but needed to climb over the deer fence.  This presented a bit of a problem; stepping out of the ski bindings landed me chest deep in the snow!

Having climbed the fence, getting back onto ski was a real challenge, more akin to re-entering a sea kayak from the water.  Eventually and with the aid of the deer fence as a climbing frame I managed it, but have since added one of these to my ski touring kit for just such a situation.

Heading up into (or rather over) the plantation, I was surprised to see two other skiers appear from the whiteness above.  James and Linda are locals who share most of the same interests as me, and who ski...lots!  They reported that the wind on the Correen ridge was very severe and that they'd modified their planned route to stay below the skyline and out of the worst of it.  This was useful information and informed what my plans might be.

 I decided on making Manabattock Hill my target; a hill of just 419m/1375ft and less than 3km from my living room.  The ground between the nearby Cranniecat Hill and Manabattock has been planted with small conifers and the preparation has left the ground really difficult to cross on foot.  Not today though, it was mostly a smooth cover of snow.

I zigzagged up steadily, finding the best lines to suit my fishscale base XC skis and made good progress.  I was conscious that it was getting windier and mindful of the forecast but things were looking good for a pleasant tour and my thoughts turned to a swift descent.  When the wind really got cold I pulled on goggles and battened down my outer layers....and was glad to have done so.

The wind increased quite rapidly and within minutes there was a lot of blowing snow; this vortex leaping off the hill was particularly impressive!

Towards the top of the hill it became apparent that the wind was now very strong.  I pushed on up but just at the crown of trees which top the hill found myself in the "white room" - where the groundstorm reduced visibility to almost zero.  I could no longer distinguish the slope aspect and was losing sight of the tips of my skis for minutes at a time.

At just 250 metres above and less than 3km from my house, I found myself in a real battle with the conditions.  The trees were straining in the wind, I was being knocked about and had almost no visibility.  Despite the ferocity of the conditions and the strength of the wind, I stayed comfortable inside my shell clothing, but the margins for error were very thin here.  My internal alarm started sounding - this was no place to be in these conditions.

All thoughts of that swooping ski descent were literally gone with the wind; as I couldn't see the slope aspect in the driving snow there was no safe way to turn downhill and let the skis run.  Descent was mostly an inelegant side-slip and I was grateful that my back-country style skis have metal edges which assisted a degree of control.  Back on more level ground I was able to return to a semblance of kick-and glide but right down the fields to home the wind remained strong and the drift quite severe.  A veil should be drawn over my climbing of the two top fences, a lateral distance of 10 metres which involved over 20 minutes of wading/swimming through a deep drift and some salty language.....

For all  the effort and the ferocity of the weather, it had been a great outing; I learned some more about ski touring and gained some useful experience XC skiing in the "white room"!

A white world

Over a week of heavy snow has left much of Scotland under a thick blanket of snow.  Here in Aberdeenshire we've measured an even cover of 54cms/21 inches, mostly unconsolidated as the temperatures have been so low.  

The drifting has been quite spectacular on higher routes and even at lower levels the quantity is remarkable.  This part of Scotland is one of the snowiest, and February has a reputation as a snowy month but the present amounts are unmatched for ten years.  Mobility has become a challenge....

...unless of course you can adapt your mode of mobility! The quality of light in the very low temperatures, particularly around sunset,  has been really special.

The night of 10-11 February was exceptionally cold.  Just after daylight we registered -21.4 Celsius on our weather station and nearby Braemar recorded -23C.  This makes it the coldest February temperature since 1965, and the lowest temperature of any night since 1995.  To put it into context, -21C is four degrees colder than the inside a domestic freezer!

Stepping outside in the morning was to step into a gripping chill.  Fingers exposed for more than a few seconds became painful and unresponsive.  Many vehicles wouldn't run because the winter engine coolant which is commonly used here may not be quite extreme enough, or because diesel fuel has become waxy. 

Image courtesy of Alastair Murray

Extreme as the cold has been, it's so beautiful.  The frost has been so intense that the crystals are the size of small postage stamps, panes of crystal brilliance.  Trees have become works of art in this white world.

Look carefully and there's beauty everywhere; a strand of barbed wire on a fence has become a twisting string of the most delicate crystals.

The frosted stems of last year's Rosebay Willowherb are now a piece of abstract art.

At the edge of the River Don, the white world seemed even more intense, the air completely frigid to the point that any exertion caused the throat to burn as cold air was inhaled.  Here the trees were frosted to a depth I've not previously encountered, it was like white fur.

Ice floes have formed on the sides of the river and the water itself has partially frozen, a rare sight in Scotland.

 The fields which in late summer are a golden bounty of ripe barley have become white sheets of deep powder snow; crossed with the evidence of animals which normally would go unnoticed. Many folk here own XC skis and we've had more use out of them in the last 20 days than perhaps in the last 20 years! The opportunity to ski right from the front door and make long tours has been most unusual.

The build-up of snow may have reached a peak and the extreme temperatures are due to moderate over the coming days.  The conditions are certainly causing difficulty for many, but this white world is certainly dazzlingly beautiful.

Beneath the blaze of Orion

In one of the best winters for XC skiing in many years, it often hasn't been possible for me to get out during the day due to work commitments.  Once work was done though, evening skiing was certainly an option!

Setting off as the sun is setting might seem counter-intuitive, but really isn't. Embracing the hours of darkness in a Scottish winter opens lots of options, and offers some fantastic experiences.  The following pictures are a compilation from several different evening ski tours through the forest and onto the hills very close to home, either done solo or with one other person.  

Lorna skiing deep powder snow onto the Correen Hills as the sun sets, with crepuscular rays striking up from behind a cloudbank, prelude to a great show of  evening light

A blood red sunset seen through a narrow band of clear air below snow-laden clouds

                                                                 

On another evening, chillingly cold clear air, fortunately with no wind, and a lovely quality of light.

Alone on the ridge - just a set of tracks in the dusk, and realising what a very special experience this was

A winter sunset like a Turner painting, smouldering into the dusk.

Allan and I skiing into the darkness of a winter night in a chalky dusk, with a band of the palest colour imaginable in the air above us - perhaps linked to the hard frost that evening.

 And skiing on into the night until it was fully dark - but in no way black.  Above us, Orion's blaze, dominating the winter sky.  Later on during this evening we switched our head torches off on the way back through the forest and just stood, absorbing the stars, a swathe of the milky way and the silence of a deep frost in the snow-stilled forest - it was an intense and wonderful experience, and reason enough to be out.

This short video clip is a panoramic view just as our route out of the forest arrives on the Correen ridge. 

Ski tour - ski more!

Conditions for XC ski touring here in Aberdeenhire have continued to be exceptionally good - so good that I've been doing lots of skiing and not much blogging!  Repeated snowfall and overnight temperatures well below freezing have combined to build a really deep and stable snowpack.  In the forests the tracks are skiing really well.....

...on compacted tracks where there have been lots of traffic.  Off the usual routes the snow has a good crust, and is very pretty, but is just failing to hold my weight on forest skis.

Out on the open hills the views are really enhanced by snow cover, Tap o' Noth's summit hillfort is standing out particularly well.

All the high ground has good snow cover - and since this image was taken in the last week of January there have been further heavy falls to build up the snowpack.

It's a different world up here on the Correen ridge, just five minutes drive and 300m altitude separates the ridge from my house, but up here the wind is stingingly cold and the temperatures are lower by day - it's quite arctic.

Whenever I've been up doing short tours I've met other skiers - and in the spirit of the latest Covid lockdown almost all have been neighbours, friends and locals.  And really, if you have conditions like this on the doorstep, why travel any distance?!

So, skiing has taken centre stage for now while the good conditions last!  Under a blue sky it's marvellous, but if the touring by day has been good, touring during evenings and nights has been superb.....

 

Evening tour

Cross country skiing in Scotland is often marginal with thin, icy or sticky snow the norm in recent years - not this season though!  Large amounts of snow have built up on most of the high ground in Aberdeenshire, the latest dump courtesy of Storm Christoph added some 40cms.  It's not been necessary to travel in order to find good ski conditions; the forest just a couple of kilometres up the road from home has continued to give terrific skiing.  A brilliant winter day was settling into early evening when I clipped into skis and set out for an evening tour.

The forest tracks have been popular with skiers and families sledging over this weekend but by setting out as everybody else was heading home I had the entire forest to myself - and what a beautiful evening it was to be out.  The temperature was already below freezing and whilst in the forest I was sheltered from the keen north westerly wind - perfect conditions really.

A few kilometres up the forest track a small firebreak path slants off uphill which is my normal route to this end of the Correen Hills.  It's been many years since I've seen so much snow locally - in places it's lying a metre deep.

It was already well after sunset when I broke out of the forest and onto the open hill above.  The snow here was lying deep and unbroken and I'd expected it to be unconsolidated powder as it had been a week previously so it was a pleasant surprise to find that a wind crust had formed which was strong enough to support the skis as I pushed uphill.

The cairn at Peter's Prop is a great viewpoint and was the target for this evening tour.  The wind up here was both strong and bitterly cold as it blew across the snowfields.  I'd missed sunset but was treated to the afterglow and a lovely quality of light.  This was no place to be lingering this evening though, my fingers were "nipping" from just a few moments exposure while I changed settings on the camera.  I clipped back into the skis and headed back down using an energetic kick-and-glide to regain some warmth.

By the time I got back to the main forest track the dusk was deepening and a bright half moon was climbing higher.  Down here there was no wind and the only sounds were the swish of ski and my breath as I strode out.

 The snow immediately in front of me quickly lost definition as darkness fell so although the light levels were quite good I needed a headtorch to ski safely.  The torch beam picked out the diamond glitter of the snow and made for a really atmospheric run.  Taking a different route back offered a swooping downhill section of a full kilometre which my GPS watch told me had been covered in a shade under six minutes giving my speed on that section as 10km/h.  There was a price to pay in a climb back to the car, but well worth it for the fun.  

I arrived back at the car some two hours after dark with the temperature at -7 degrees Celsius having enjoyed a great evening tour of just over 10km/6 miles - on some of the best snow I've skied.