This newsletter has turned out to be an easy one for me having received a variety of articles, from skiing in Scandanavia to topics closer to home. Thanks for your contributions, the newsletter is far more interesting having a mix of authors.
An apology & correction: in the last newsletter there was a mistake in the Gordonstoun Marathon results. I inadvertently missed out Barnabas Cox’s name from the 2,5km race. Barnabas came home in 8th position in an excellent time of 23:30. Barnabas was justifiably proud of his efforts & I can only say sorry for missing out his name. Our juniors put a lot of effort into their skiing & it is only right that this gets proper recognition.
This winter season is probably over save for some high level touring in the Cairngorms, although April snow isn’t unheard of in Huntly; I’ve played cricket with accompanying snow showers in May! It has been a good season back to the usual snow averages making up for the disappointing season we had last year. The snow about Huntly at the end of February gave some excellent skiing. I took advantage of not being able to get up to the Clash for several days by exploring nearer to home. I had a superb tour over the Clashmach hill & was able to leave my mark on the terrain in the form of a series of wiggles on the hillside as I ended the day. Another memorable day was the JDS skiing about the Ski Centre & golf course, it would have made a great race venue. I shouldn’t really mention the ski jumping the youngsters were doing, it will only encourage them further. Needless to say they were awesome but fortunately some of the more sensible adults curbed their enthusiasm before serious damage occurred.
I’m thinking of starting a new feature entitled “The Mishaps of a X/C Skier” which would praise ineptitude & incompetence, all those little embarrassments we would rather forget. I’ll start the ball rolling with my little trip up Knockandy hill by Gartly Moor, which I can ski up from my back door. I returned home to find that somewhere on my journey my mobile phone had been lost (I don’t know why I carried it, I never use it). So as night fell I was retracing my ski trail, with Sandy’s mobile in hand, dialling my phone. Eventually the distinctive ring was heard & we were reunited, thankfully it wasn’t set to silent.
Peter Thorn
Hilary Musgrave & Rob Staples tell of their experiences of skiing in Finland & Norway, which will possibly give some of you holiday ideas. Remember if you want to find out more about their trips, just ask. Rob has also written a description of a trip he had over Morven but I want to keep that one for the next (pre-season) newsletter to whet your appetites for the winter 2004/05.
Mix and Match in Hemsedal by Rob Staples
Over my last couple of winter visits to the Alps I’ve always been unlucky with snow, and never enjoyed any decent off-piste, so this winter I looked at Hemsedal, Norway, known by some as the ‘powder capital of Europe’. With 200 km of pisted cross-country trails, it would also keep Maita and I satisfied in terms of Nordic skiing. There are also ample ski-touring opportunities and a chance for me to extend my Telemarking experience after a beginners weekend here in Scotland.
Along with two sisters and a brother-in-law, we got a great package deal with Neilson staying half-board in a hotel, but since the Norwegians even provide bags for you to make packed-lunches from, effectively got a week of full board for only £500 including flights. We’d recently bought our first waxable skis from the RAF and were looking forward to trying them out despite our lack of knowledge about all these waxes and scary ‘klister’. The heavy snow here in February provided us the perfect introduction the preceding weekend. Saturday was spent on Gartly Moor with knowledgeable friends testing out the effect of blue, red and klister waxes, and on the Sunday we got to try skins for the first time in an extraordinary touring day on Morven.
Arriving in Norway with great anticipation, we discovered the worst snow they’d had in years – no snowfall for five weeks! That considered, piste conditions were remarkably good on all, but the steepest black runs which were scarily steep ice rinks. No powder mauling off-piste though. Hemsedal has just 42km of downhill piste, with an 850m maximum vertical drop, but a wide variety of terrain both below and above the tree line. For thrill-seekers there are scarily big jumps in the snow parks, and a giant slalom course accessible to all. The sun on the first few days yielded amazing views over mountains, frozen lakes and wooded valleys, and on weekdays, we literally did not hit a single ski-queue.
Maita and I would cross-country ski to and from the lifts each day. Slowly, we introduced our fellow skiers to the beauty of cross-country, and took on tours ourselves further a field, using the free skibus to access a variety of trails. Maita takes on cross-country descents fearlessly, whilst the rest of us remained terrified by the lack of edges on firm snow. After a few days I insisted on sticking to the ‘easy’ trails - my hips a patchwork of blue bruises!
The Norwegian hire shops are used to people trying a bit of everything, with flexible hire offering Alpine skis, Telemark skis, and Cross-country skis all as part of one package. I even managed to hire Randonnee (Alpine ski mountaineering) skis as part of the package, though I had to buy some skins (a bargain at £50 after tax rebate). Without decent off-piste, I took to Telemarking, and was soon taking on the snowy part of red runs with reasonable confidence, whilst the icier patches on Telemark proved a challenge. I also linked up with another British couple in our hotel to go mountain touring on Randonnee skis. We skinned uphill in beautiful sun, but as the weather closed in and the light became flat, faced a descent, one moment in powder, the next clattering across ‘stastugi’, without warning. Finally, amongst trees inaccessible from the lifts, we found the kind of powder we’d been searching for.
The non-skiing highlight of the week was undoubtedly dog-sledding. We all fell in love with the beautiful huskies. Finally, on the penultimate night it started snowing, and on our last day we woke to 10cm of new powder. Whilst Hemsedal itself was busy with Oslo weekenders, we took the bus 10 minutes to the two quiet lifts of Solheisen, where we made the first trails through perfect black runs covered in powder – an absolute dream – and an indication of how good the skiing could be there.
I’d recommend Hemsedal to anyone who enjoys cross-country, or wants to mix it with downhill. It’s family friendly, no more expensive than the Alps (provided you’re not drinking the exorbitant alcohol), and boasts beautiful terrain. I merely wish you better snow than we had, but don’t worry I’m sure that’s just my jinx!
Akaslompolo, Finland by Hilary Musgrave.
A last minute decision took two middle-aged skiers
north of the Arctic Circle at the end of January for a week's cross
country skiing. Were we mad? Fortunately even if we were we got away
with it and had a wonderful 7 days skiing on 300km of impeccably
groomed ski trails.
To our relief even at that latitude there was plenty of daylight by now and we were lucky with temperature - at a mere -1°C the day we arrived it was positively balmy and we were just glad we hadn't arrived a day earlier when it was -35°C! The temperature dropped through the week but being such a dry cold a daytime low of -15°C was quite comfortable. The trails were amazing - freshly groomed every day with two classic tracks and a skate lane everywhere, and double width skate trails around the village. Mostly we were in forest though one day we did venture over one of the sizeable hills - a mistake since there was a howling gale on top, windblown crust underfoot and the trails obliterated - we stopped thinking we were competent skiers! Being early in the season the trails were very quiet and we seemed to have the place to ourselves some days. Around the area there were trailside cafes or sometimes shelters with fireplaces and wood stores so we could warm up at lunch time. Our only criticism of the skiing would be that most of it was over gently rolling terrain and not particularly challenging - but it was nice to feel that veterans of Herringbone Hill can cope with Scandinavia no problem.
We booked the holiday through Waymark who are now offering
independent
holidays (ie no skiing in groups with leaders). There were also people
in the same hotel who had gone with Inntravel.
I was unsure whether I should print this photo in a family newspaper but you don’t have to read Finnish to know the his ‘n hers loo – look very carefully
 Frank
throws a few shrimps on the trailside barbie & strikes a
suitably hunky pose |
|
The Hotel Yllas Humina was lovely - small with the rooms in log cabins, good food and friendly staff - who fortunately spoke excellent English since Finnish is completely incomprehensible. After a whole week I was competent in three words (kiitos=thank you, yksi=one, kaksi=two) so I think a long visit would be required to get fluent!
Club Championships, 14th March 2004.
Yet again our backup race date saved the Club Championships. Things were looking touch & go as to whether the snow would last long enough or that it would turn icy & make racing too dangerous. The snowmobile was still out of action so we would have been unable to groom out the icy ruts that were forming on the trails (the machine has been repaired & will make its return next winter). A big thanks to Colin Miller, Alan Telford & the Young’s for helping to prepare the course, their strategic snow shovelling sorted out a couple of bare patches. An early morning inspection showed that the trails were hard (& fast) but that the downhills were skiable as long as people used a bit of common sense – I know that is a bit much to ask of some of our lads. However our worries were unfounded as by midday the snow had softened considerably & become much slower. Because of the difficult conditions the courses were slightly shorter than usual.
Racers in the Rollercoaster
The usual mass start saw Andrew Young fall within the first 50m taking down several others with him, it seems he is making a habit of falling in races but I have learnt to keep well clear of him (see Newsletter 15). He was hardly on his feet when he started screaming “tracks”, but I refused to give way to the whipper snapper. The tough climb up Range Way saw Andrew Musgrave & Sarah Young setting a fast pace. I hadn’t intended racing but had been told that I was surplus to requirements for time-keeping purposes. I now resigned myself to once again to having to chase after our juniors. By Telemark Twist it was just Andrew Musgrave & me but on that first downhill he gained a huge distance that I could only make slight inroads on for the rest of the race. My final attempt to catch him was through the Rollercoaster but Andrew was one of the few skiers to make the sharp lefthander onto the main track. I was too tired & it just seemed too complicated to work that one out, so I took the easy way out turning right up hill then a 180° about turn – Andrew probably gained over 15 seconds on me with this manoeuvre – try it sometime. Sarah Young was first lady home claiming the scalps of Olwen & Posy (partying the night before is a feeble excuse). Fortunately for me Andrew Young was racing in the shorter 4km race where he managed to stay ahead of a poorly Alex Standen. Rachel May led the girls home. Megan Jansen & Alistair Skitmore were first girl & boy home in a closely packed 2.1km race. Yet again Hilary Musgrave & Anne Skitmore did impressive work with time-keeping making use of our new recording stopwatches. Hilary was most impressed with the button that prevented accidental stopping of the watch – not that that has ever happened to her in the past.
Another great day’s racing in the forest despite not having the usual immaculately groomed trails. The only disappointment for me was that for the first time no skier from outside of Huntly took part in one of our races. OK it’s not Scandanavia but there was plenty of snow. By the evening Tuesday 16th March the snow had disappeared probably bringing the Clash season to a close.
The Tarmac is Down.
If you visit the Ski Centre you will see that the tarmac roller ski track is finished & they are making good progress with laying the artificial track. Sandy & Olwen claimed the honour of being the first to roller ski the new track. The new store still awaits a roof & the downhill slope needs to be shaped using the huge mound of spoil. Hopefully most of the work will be completed by the end of April, a bit behind schedule but in time for the summer. Officially the Centre is closed until building work is finished but I know several skiers have been sneaking onto the track. Photos of the developments
NOTE: Tree planting is planned over the next few weeks & it would be good if as many of you as possible volunteer to help.
The Timberline snowfield is something I’ve been meaning to write about for sometime, but fortunately Colin Miller has got there first with this eloquent description of this “secret” resource for nordic skiers. Click Here for the story
Welcome to our newest member Alice Telford who weighs in at 5lb 10 ¾oz & congratulations to Lucy & Alan for increasing the Club membership to a grand total of 76. Alan is checking on Ebay if he can find some short skis.
· Mountain Tour: Sun 11 Apr.
· I am still in the process of buying the new Lottery grant equipment. I’ve run into a bit of a problem in getting the race bibs but hope to have this sorted soon. We have two pairs of Trailskate all-terrain roller skis which I would like as many members as possible to try out & see if they are any use on our forest tracks. The only problem is they won’t fit anyone with feet bigger than a size 10.
· Unfortunately I have not finalised our summer/autumn calendar of events partly because of the delay on the Centre & partly because spring has so quickly sprung up on me. Rest assured there will be regular roller ski sessions, probably weekly, along with a couple of races (one of which may be tied in with the Scottish Champs). I will send out a calendar ASAP. However I do have some dates for roller ski events in England:
| 1-3 May |
Yorkshire Wolds roller ski tour, Beverley Yorkshire Dales X/C SC Martin Appleby 0113 258 6678 |
| 5-6 June |
Roller ski skills / fun races, Hayes |
| 10-11 July | Roller ski skills / fun races, Hayes Gerard Evans 0208 847 5360 |
| 4-5 Sept | Roller ski skills / fun races, Hetton Lyons, Durham Adam Pinney 01582 602995 |
| 25-26 Sept | Roller ski skills / fun races, Salt Ayre, Lancaster Grahame Aspinall 01484 846490 |
I often get emails from various holiday companies.
http://www.pyrenean-activities.com is an outfit based, not surprisingly, in the Pyrenees.
Correspondence to: Peter Thorn,West Craigton Cottage, Kennethmont, Huntly AB54 4QP.Tel: 01464 831429
Email: peter@thornp.freeserve.co.uk