Description
In this episode I speak to Roger Wild - my father - about (some of) the history of ski touring in Scotland before moving on to describe our 2010 'Scottish Haute Route'. This 7 day journey from Ben Nevis to Gairnshiel near Ballater was around 155km in length with 10,000m of ascent. We pre-placed food caches, stayed in bothies, and skied on Nordic free-heel skis carrying our overnight gear with us. The route linked up the high ground through Lochaber to the Cairngorms, ascending numerous Munros and Corbetts along the way.
Roger is a retired British Mountain Guide and a former Royal Marines Commando.
Notes:
1. We talk about grip wax which goes on the ski under your foot on nordic skis to allow grip when that foot is weighted - not to be confused with the wax used to improve glide on downhill skis (and tips/tails of nordic skis)
2. Dr Adam Watson (1930-2019) was 85 when we met him near Banchory in 2016
3. For some reason I said I was a student in Aberdeen in 2010 - I'm not that young and was in fact a junior doctor then
4. We mention skimo race skis a lot but don’t acknowledge that of course modern standard touring setups have gotten way lighter too - most people seem to like something in the ‘light standard‘ range rather than full race skis - which are harder to ski in some conditions, less stable, more expensive and less durable. For long journeys obviously low weight is key.
I took the audio recorder along on the OMM Elite course in Glen Artney over the weekend of 26&27th October 2024.
I was paired with Phil Rutter of Kendal who has won the Elite race in 2022 and 2023.
The OMM is a 2 day mountain marathon in which teams of two navigate between checkpoints to a...
Published 10/29/24
In this episode I sit down with Alice Tirbooman to talk about her journey from aerial circus and climbing in Bristol, to solo Scottish long distance running.
We share tales of the remote and unsung Mullardoch Round, a 50km circuit of 12 Munros north of Glen Affric, which Alice ran solo and...
Published 10/10/24