The winter of 2010 continued in full force during the week leading up to this meet. A metre of snow fell in the Glen Coe ski car park. The Cairngorm funicular was shut again - due to too much snow. The A9 was even blocked for a while, and there was a real prospect of not being able to get to Laggan. This put some folk off. But not John & Colin, who headed up to the hut on their own on the Friday night. It's a newly converted hut, still needing some "finishing touches", but it's in a great spot and has everything you need. In particular it has a huge wood burning stove, which means it qualifies as a proper mountaineering hut.

With all the snow, skiing was the order of the weekend, and the intrepid duo headed into Dalnashallag bothy under blue skies. Colin certainly seems to have taken to skiing. There's talk that he's selling his downhill bike to get a proper ski touring setup. Surely not. I can hardly believe it's true.

Chris, Kath & Isla made their way up on Saturday afternoon, via some extreme sledging. During the evening first Ken, and then Dave & Lucy arrived at the hut. It turned out that Sunday was Colin's birthday. As if we could forget with all the reminders and hints he sent out through the week. Lucy had baked some "spring chicken" fairy cakes, and another kind soul had brought up a Hannah Montana birthday cake. Colin was delighted, as you can imagine. The inevitable single entendres followed, about Hannah being good enough to eat etc. The evening degenerated into a feast of cake, beer & wine.

Sunday dawned crisp and clear. After a leisurely morning letting the cake settle, Chris, Kath & Isla headed home. Dave, Lucy and Ken went to Meall Cuaich. Even although the hills were plastered in snow, the long flat track into the base of the hill didn't really have enough cover for a pleasant ski. However, once they were level with the reservoir, the cover got better & it was excellent on the way up the hill. Arriving at the top, the views were fantastic, but the temperature less so. They didn't hang about long and set off on the descent. Dave & Lucy sped off into the distance, leaving Ken in their wake. 

In the meantime, John & the birthday boy headed to Kingussie and skied up Carn an Freiceadain - a great little trip, even though it's only a Corbett. For the record Colin fell over 10 times, compared to Ken's 4 and Dave's twice. Lucy, clearly not trying hard enough, didn't fall once. John was using Nordic skis, so it's not fair to ask how many falls he had !

Click here for the pictures