Snow Shoeing on Cairngorm 13th Nov 2019

Winter skills and snowshoeing in the Cairngorm's near Aviemore in November!

If you too fancy a few days of bespoke and unique early, mid or even late late season off piste skiing, snowshoeing, winter mountaineering or winter climbing adventures that are well away from the queues and crowds, booking details can be found on our website at https://www.talisman-activities.co.uk/winter-skills-courses under private guiding.

Cairngorm Off-piste skiing 11th Feb 2019

Great skiing on Cairngorm :-)

Finally after several days of blizzard conditions in the highland and epics on snowbound roads the winds dropped, clouds lifted and the sun shone to reveal a winter wonderland and skiers paradise in the Cairngorms - music version below ;-)

Friday's ski adventure!

End of season ski tour over to Ben MacDui before taking in Pinnacle Gully on the Shelterstone on the way back to Cairngorms piste.

An end of season ski tour via Lurchers, Ben MacDui, Shelterstone Gullies and back via the Cairngorm piste.
I had a look at Castlegates Gully just as two snowboarders arrived after boarding down Diagonal Gully earlier. I checked out both the gully entrances first, before skiing down Pinnacle Gully which was nice apart from the worrying rocky runout at the bottom - video later!
The snow was good in both the Shelterstone gullies with smooth soft spring snow on top of a firmer base.
Both Castlegates and Pinnacle gullies had tricky entrances, which I first down climbed, with the rocky runouts not a place to fall or ski if icy! More details and photo album on our Facebook page here.

Latest ski video music version!

An awesome day skiing from the summit of Cairngorm to Ben MacDui before returning via the snowy corries with some superb skiing on the steep terrain via the Feith Buide (waterfalls!) to the foot of Hell's Lum.
The steep descent down the snow covered slabs, waterfalls and outcrops was well worth it, though climbing back up was hot work, avoiding ice and cornice collapse from the Hell's Lum cliffs above.
A few more ascents and untracked descents before heading back over to the Cas headwall to ski down the piste to the mid-station, then trainers on for a walk to the car! (20th April 2016)
YouTube enhanced video and royalty free music version now at https://youtu.be/_K8R86pjd6o

Cairngorm mid-April backcountry freshies!

Great off piste snow cover in the Cairngorms and with lots more snow to come this weekend and then cold settled conditions in the coming week :-)

Great off piste snow cover

The snow cover on Cairngorm to Ben MacDui and over on the Braeriach plateau is superb for ski mountaineering and forecast to better and better over the next week or more!

Another perfect ski day!

A cracking rest day though got a bit carried away as the SE snow surface softened around mid-day. This gave silky smooth swoosh, swoosh turns, heading down towards the Saddle.
Fortunately I remembered the pain of ascent, in the heat, from Loch Avon yesterday and stopped for a scenic lunch above the outcrops and subterranean waterfall, half way down! 

Great snow and ice and a ski across Loch Avon!

Visibility was appalling for walking never mind skiing on Cairngorm but once I dropped down the east side and below the clouds fun was had with a great ski along the length of Loch Avon towards the Shelterstone!

Lots more photos and video from the Loch Avon basin on the 6th March 2016 showing Stag Rocks, Carn Etchachan, Shelterstone and Hells Lum here

Almost May and still winter in the Cairngorms!

Great snow cover on the plateau and the northern corries. Winter is still hanging on in the Cairngorms with good skiing on and off piste. 

There's still some fun winter ice climbing in the easy and mid grades and the trick is to do the climbs in the morning then ski the gullies in the afternoon once the snow has softened and not the other way around! Jumping Jacobs cornice onto the frozen gully below at 02.00 with a headtorch is not a great idea nor is climbing it at 15.00 when it's in the sun!!! 

Many of the climbing gullies have been skied as well as climbed as can be seen from the selection of excellent videos below!

Many of the climbing gullies have been skied as well as climbed as can be seen from the selection of excellent ski videos above!