Off we went to Glenmore, 15 walkers and 9 intending to do some skiing or snowboarding. High winds seemed to be a given on trips at this point, and we anticipated it, but the reality was certainly worse than the forecast and it was fairly unpleasant even at the lower Cairn Gorm car park. Early on, the plans still seemed realistic though. It was, needless to say, not a great day for photography.
A small party set off for the weekend to Glen Clova, staying in the Carn Dearg Mountaineering Club's hut, Braedownie. The weather was good but windy, and we had the added excitement of an exploding oven to spice things up.
The annual DURC Winter Skills Meet is an opportunity for members to practise winter basics, including fitting and walking in crampons, the use of an ice axe, avalanche awareness and navigation. As always, club members don't act as guides or leaders, but the more experienced folk on the trip aim to pass on some of what they know in an informal way.
This year DURC headed once more to Glenshee. Deep, powdery snow, strong winds and often little or no visibility were the order of the day, despite some occasional views early on, and conditions deteriorated sharply in the afternoon. Most of us ended up pushing on to the top of Glas Maol before beating a retreat.
This was the last official trip of 2012 for the club, to the impressive wild glen east of Kingussie. Due to exams and folk departing for the Christmas holiday there were just seven signed up, and as a group it was decided to head up Carn Ban Mor, on the way to the Munro Sgor Gaoith.
Strawberry Cottage in Glen Affric was the destination for the last weekend meet of 2012. There was some snowfall and the weather was fine if cold, and the views were stunning. But not everything went quite to plan...
