Clachnaben - We finally did it! Feb 12, 2009

We finally did it. We have been dreaming of snowboarding Clachnaben. We got there and walked up the wooded path and found it to be the deepest snow we have seen yet. We had our snowboard boots in our packs. I strapped on my board with only my hiking boots from the top of the hill and boarded down the path to the farmers fence. He was outside with his dog and they were both staring at me like I was an alien! I hopped the gate and strapped back in down to the bottom of the hill. It felt great! Nobody had been up so the snow along the path to Clachnaben was DEEP! It took us one hour just to get to the bottom. The sheep had run narrow paths through the woods so we used those as our walkway. The hike up was the hardest yet. Thigh to stomach deep, heavy snow all the way to the top. But we made it and boarded down the same beautiful deep snow. It was great, but exhausting.

Clachnaben...Breaking Trail with Jim Feb. 8, 2009

After a week of snow, we just had to see what Clachnaben looked like. Breaking trail was hard work, but we brought Jim along to help out. ;)

Many people came up after us and used our trail.

Sunny, blue skies were the order of the day.

Clachnaben...Another Planet Feb. 4, 2009

My 40th Birthday! I woke up to deep snow and a call from work saying I had the DAY OFF!!!

We went to Clachnaben in the afternoon and found that the rains of Monday and Tuesday had been snow on the hill. The higher we went the deeper it got. As we got above the forest it was knee deep. We worked our way up the trail which was barely visible as stones poking up here and there. Soon it got deeper and we could not tell where the trail was at all. we kept climbing to where we thought we'd need to make a left. I looked at my GPS and we had passed the turn by 200 meters or so. It was now about waist deep and there were no landmarks at all. Just deep snow. We knew if we just aimed up and kept going we'd find the top but it was not easy. In places the snow was at my chest and pushing up was interesting. We eventually saw the welcome sight of the top. As always the wind was blowing and we did not stay long. We aimed straight down and were wishing we had our snowboards.




Aoum breaking trail


Happy at the top


Where's my snowboard when I need it?

Clachnaben...Fast Jan. 28, 2009

We went up after work and made it up and back in 1:50. There was some ice on the paths near the top where people had packed down the snow. The sky was beautiful (pictures don't do it justice)

Lochnagar - Jan 25th, 2009

Our plan was to climb up to Meikel Pap, a peak at the top of Lochnagar. It was pouring rain and 3 degrees C as we left the house. I was hoping it would be snow as we made our way up. As we got to Aboyne, it had turned to snow and the road was quite covered. The single track out to the car park at Loch Muick was thick with snow and I was happy to find that my car did well. We walked in heavy snow for the first hour and then the snow stoped but the visibility was not great. As we went up the snow got deeper and deeper and the path across "the saddle" was no where to be seen. We had a nice walk anyway and really enjoyed the day.