I have had a bit of a fixation with this gully ski wise for a few years. I have been up to ski it 5 times and only succeeded once, and even then this was not a complete descent as the top rock step was not banked out. With the massive snow fall of last week I thought it would be a good idea to try and put this one to rest. Scott and Scott (Burnett and Muir) both had days off on Friday and the plan was hatched.
We all met up at Loch Muick Car park and set off, 150m from the car Scott’s ski boot binding snapped…. really desperate not to abandon this idea – we managed to bodge fix it with tying knots and gaffa taping the strap and prayed it would hold.
We climbed up the shoudler of Cuidhe Crom instead of the normal walk in which is getting a little tedious now (especially as we did it two weeks ago). The sun was shinning but the wind was pretty strong. We knew it was going to be really strong up top, but we had a goal in our sights so just did things up tight and got on with it, the sun was out and all was a glorious day apart from the wind.
Scott and Scott on the way up in the picture above. All the way up there was a uncertainty if we would be able to ski the Gully, there certainly was enough snow, but the fact that there was a strong Westerly wind blowing all the snow into the gully concerned us about how stable the snow pack would be.
When we got there we made an anchor and Scott got lowered into the gully to dig a pit to check out the snow and see if it was do able, it was safe….. the excitement grew in everyone. Scott has been here quite a few times but like me, has never skied the Gully full length, we chopped away a bit of the cornice to make the entrance a little easier (still concentrating) and the lights turned to green!
One point to make is that I have just bought some new skis, and I had walked up to the top of the gully with them, as I was putting them on and peering over the edge into where I was going I realised that I had never skied them before and my first 10 metres ont he skis was going to be jumping off the cornice into a steep gully. Nothing I could do but expect them to perform…. and they did! they were fantastic. We all skied down the gully and it was brilliant.
Above is Scott entering. Scott Burnett decided to down climb the very top bit and put his skis on 3 m below the cornice, considering this is only his second season on skis I think he is a complete hero, he skied the rest of the gully brilliantly and should be really proud, will have to think of what next to take him down.
Scott above and me setting off down the gully.
Well a fantastic day – something more rewarding about skiing these types of things here in Scotland rather than the alps. I suppose it is the effort you need to get to then, the weather and the conditions all have to fall into place. When they do the sense of achievement is incredible.
Right – I am off to find the next gully to get obsessed with skiing!
All the photos can be seen by clicking here
A video by Scott Muir can be seen below
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