Friday 3rd January

The group gathered on Friday evening in a beautifully snow-covered River Affric Car Park, excited to see old clubmates and meet new friends. The gear was loaded into Rachel’s trusty van and the group set off into the crisp winter’s night. With Rachel and Ben in the van; Tim, Steve, Paul, James, Stuart and Jeanette all headed in on bikes, with Ross dismissing the offer of a bike in favour of a leisurely jog.
An otherwise uneventful journey in was interrupted when the final bridge before the cottage was discovered to have been damaged by recent high-water levels, leaving a significant step-up onto the bridge that was too high even for Rachel’s impressively capable van. However, in a startling display of IBSC ingenuity and teamwork, the newly formed group came together to construct an access ramp from nearby rocks, allowing the van loaded with all our essential kit to overcome this final obstacle and make it safely to Strawberry Cottage.

Overflowing with pride from the successful off-roading adventure, the group settled into the hut, got to know each other better and started making plans for the following days.

Saturday 4th January

A cold and overcast morning saw the group divide into a party of skiers and hikers, with Paul and Jeanette heading on foot for the summit of Càrn a’ Choire Ghairbh and the rest loading skis onto packs and heading for the traditionally fertile snowfields of Coire Leachavie.

The long walk to the Coire was helped by sufficient snow cover to begin skinning from around 450m, but confidence waxed and waned as promisingly white faces began to look increasingly superficial on closer inspection. However, the group’s faith was rewarded when a small bowl tucked in the Southeast aspect of the Coire came into view and revealed an appealing looking ski line. The line was indeed skiable, but the whoops of excitement (Ben) from turns on fluffy powder soon gave way to yelps and crunches as the lurking sharks feasted on their P-Tex prey. A few laps were enjoyed before Ross and James set off to explore the southern part of the coire, and Rachel, Stuart, Steve, Tim and Ben skied in a narrow gully adjacent to the original line. A long combat ski and hike then brought the team back to the cottage just as daylight was fading. With Paul and Jeannette only recently back from their sunshine ascent of Càrn a’ Choire Ghairbh, the whole group was reunited and full of tales from the day’s adventures.

That evening saw the groups biggest challenge yet: could they collectively consume the frankly unreasonable volume of curry on offer, and still leave room for Ben’s apple crumble? It was touch and go for a while, and admittedly some dhal was left for breakfast, but overall it was an impressive feat of appetite and testament to the exertions of the day. A more poignant moment came when Ben proposed a toast to IBSC club legend Sam Burns, who had been due to attend the trip. The group clinked glasses of Sam’s preferred red wine and shared memories of his enthusiasm, generosity and relentless desire to ski.

Sunday 5th January

Some initially ambitious plans for Sunday from James were watered down to cater for tired legs and hut cleaning requirements. James, Stuart, Ben, Ross and Paul set off early to hunt some more turns while the rest of the group enjoyed the spectacular setting of the cottage. In glorious sunny conditions the skiers headed for Coire Ghaidheil hoping for a repeat of the previous days skiing. With skins on from around the same height as Saturday, the team made good progress up the glen and once again found skiable snow high on the southeast facing slopes. The skiing was more limited and conditions more challenging than the day before. As the turns-to-falls ratio began to deteriorate the team headed back to the cottage with the traditional combination of combat skiing, skinning and hiking. The beauty of being out in a Glen Affric covered in snow and bathed in sunlight made the excursion more than worthwhile despite the limited skiing.

With the skiers home and Jeannette back from another icy swim, all that was left was to pack up the hut and head back down the track to waiting cars and warm showers. As the group said their goodbyes back at the car park, for most the adventure was over. However, the eco conscious James and his passengers faced one more ordeal as punishment for their attempts to maintain a liveable planet. While the gas guzzlers fired up their engines, James discovered that a weekend left sitting in subzero temperatures was not ideal conditions for an electric vehicle and the auxiliary battery showed no signs of life. Thankfully, Rachel and Ben were on hand for a jump start to get them moving, and then again when they stopped to put on snow chains, and then again in Drumnadrochit when the car refused to charge.