Abriachen Ski-ing Conditions

The woods at Abriachen (http://www.abriachan.org.uk/) has a network of built trails ideal for biking and running. The Great Glen Way also runs through it before heading to Blackfold and ultmately Inverness. Happily, when the snow line drops to about 350m the area seems to hold the snow well and is good for cross-country ski-ing. Larger dumps are needed for the mountain bike trails to be ski-able, but relatively small amounts of the white stuff bring the entensive forestry tracks and GGW into condition. The only problem is the lack of circular routes when conditions are thin, but that is a small draw-back for mid-week ski-ing. I rate this venue higher than Daviot and Slochd, but you never see anyone ski-ing here. Where else can you ski see-saws or boardworks?

On Thursday I headed out in the morning and evening (with Dave) and got a couple of hours on the skis. The tracks down from the cairn were really too steep for me to ski down, but I only walked for a couple of minutes. In the evening the moon was so bright and the sky so clear that I didn't even need a headtorch. Far off in the distance the lights from the Glen Doe Hydro project lit up the clouds like some bizarre Mount Doom. The views are wide across the Monaidhliath plateau and the Morar mountains to the north. The cold made the snow quite icy but it was still inspiring to be ski-ing only 15min from Inverness.

So the next time the snow gets low and the hills down the Great Glen are white just take a risk and head up and you may be lucky.