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Off-piste Snowsports in Scotland
There are a lot of very good opportunities to ski and snowboard in the back country or off-piste in Scotland and the conditions and terrain can be very, very good although often challenging. Scotland is well known in climbing and mountaineering circles for its varied terrain and challenging snow formations, but not so well known to skiers and snowboarders for the accessibility of the off-piste riding and the off-piste guiding set ups.
In the last few years some very good guiding and mountaineering operations have sprung up offering the keen skier and snowboarder the chance to get out into the back country safely under the watchful eye of highly qualified mountain guides.
It is important, especiallly if you are not an experienced off-piste rider/skier, to go into the Scottish off-piste with a guide as the Scottish mountains are notoriously treacherous.
Many people are caught out every year in summer and winter on the Scottish mountains without the proper equipment, experience or knowledge. Therefore the first thing to do if you are interested in an off-piste adventure is to check out some of the mountain guiding operations and services available.
G2, based in Aviemore, are very good, offering guiding, instruction and rental equipment. There are also many outdoor centres that offer guiding and rental of the equipment needed, for example, Glenmore Lodge, the national outdoor training centre, near Aviemore is a long established outdoor centre with many qualified staff. To find out about these guiding operators and more in the Aviemore area check out the Visit Aviemore website. The best thing to do is to ask locally in the ski or snowboard shop if they can recommend a good mountain guide as local knowledge is very important.
Once you have found a good guide, it's important to talk over with them your abilities and experience and to be as honest as possible at this point. You must be a good to expert skier or snowboarder to head into the back country and not being honest with yourself or the guides at this point will put you and them in danger. Do not be put off though as there many easy routes to check out.
The next thing to look into is the special equipment you will need for your off-piste experience. The guides will advise you of this and will often be able to provide rental equipment if needed.
Back-country missions are very weather and snow condition dependent so you must be prepared to be flexible with your timing a little bit. It may be that you have planned a certain route with your guide but have to change the route at the last minute due to wind or snow or weather conditions. This is part of the excitement of going back country and the planning is always worth the time.
Once you have a plan and a guide sorted and have all the relevant equipment all you need to do is pack a good lunch, remembering plenty of water or juice, and set your alarm!
There are few greater adventures than a Scottish back country mission and it is well worth taking your camera with you too. One of the most memorable days riding I have ever had was a back country mission up Glen Einich in the Cairngorms and into the snow loaded corries above. Although only really suited to experienced riders and skiers these corries offer a great variety of terrain and a really long ride home.
Be warned though, it is a long hike in and out of Glen Einich and there are definitely more accessible places to start off. We were lucky to have picked a great day for weather and although the wind did pick up a bit and we got the customary passing few clouds along the way we for the most part had at least some blue sky. The snow was not exactly powder but there was some soft fluffy stuff around and all in all we had an amazing day.
If you would like to see more of this day, we featured it in the Chunkyknit Productions all girl snowboard film called Last Winter. Our mission started at 7.30 am and we got back to our starting point, Rothiemurchus, at 8.30pm so it was a long day. It was the middle of April so we had plenty day light and a lovely sunset to slainte our beers with!
Lesley McKenna
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