Wow! This was just a small part of the free light show we had last night, one of the finest displays of Northern Lights we have ever had up here and the first time Isobel and Ellie have seen them. It went on for several hours, we got a bit chilly after and hour and a half!! Although some of Jura's finest did help thaw me out! The picture sadly does not do it justice, the colours were more vivid with intense reds and crimsons as well as the green and purple hues seen here.
Its been a busy old weekend. An early start on Saturday for both girls to catch the coach down to Madras College in St Andrews, Isobel playing for the A team, Ellie in goal for the B team. Isobels team won 10-0, she never actually touched the ball and by her own admission spent most of her time in goal watching the S4 boys rugby match on the next pitch! Ellies team drew 0-0 against Madras A team and unlike her big sister she actually made some saves, one of which involved flattening the opposition attacker!
Julie cooked an absolutely fabulous orange cake for us, some well earned calories!
Sunday morning saw another early start for Ellie and I although the sound of the wind in the trees made me question whether it was worth it. The drive up Donside did nothing to dispel the doubts, the River Don looking rather too full to be good for the skiing! When we got there things were no better, the snow was wet and there were streams coming off all the runs with wet patches of slush appearing at alarming rates. Gordon skiers are an intrepid bunch however and it takes more than that to put them off! Malcolm, ellie's coach got them onto snowblades (little skis about 2 feet long) and they had a great time.
The weather perked up in the afternoon and the sun even made an appearance late on. Ellie's turns are definitely improving and she made light of some tricky heavy snow conditions (which was more than can be said for her father!).
Just had to call in to Aonach Mor on our way home, had a great mornings skiing although the light was a little flat. Skiing great, spent the morning racing Ellie down the Fairway, I have to admit it is starting to get a bit tight at times but dad still managing to hold the upper hand!
And just to finish off, just to prove I am not the only one that falls over...............here is Ellie upside down on the last home run back to the top gondola station!!
Ellie and I went to Nevis Range at Fort William today and had an absolutely awesome day. We were there for the first lift up and enjoyed some fabulous powder snow in the Goose Gully. Spent the day skiing the quad chair. There was wall to wall snow,you could ski anywhere on the mountain with all the snow fences buried, the snow depth must be several metres in places.
Here are a few pictures of our little ski racer!
A tired but happy Ellie on the way down in the gondola
Its a pretty wild half term as the picture shows, a brisk northerly wind and no shortage of snow up on the hills. Had a lazy day today, went over to the shop, did the recycling and popped over to Ellenabeich where we were met by the view above.
Went out to Piazza for a meal this evening, then came home for pudding of Julie's lemon and poppy seed cake and ice cream.
Forecast is better for tomorrow so Ellie and I are heading to the ski slopes, either Glencoe or Nevis Range, we'll make our minds up in the morning.
Wow, what a weekend! Started off with an early start on Saturday, Ellie keeping goal for the S1 B team, they won 3-1 against Aberdeen Grammar A team, a really good result.
Sunday was up to the Lecht for Ellie and I for Gordon skiers. It was seriously windy to start off but thankfully the wind dropped and the sun came out to give a fabulous day's skiing. The only down side was the queues were a bit long as the Lecht was the only ski area that managed to open the rest being buried under tons of snow and stormbound! Never the less the skiing was great both on and off piste, Ellie getting her first introduction to off piste skiing!
One exhausted skier at the end of the day!
Fabulous conditions at the Lecht seen here at the end of a long day.
