Apparently Scotland is the windiest country in Europe and while this is great for wind farms, it’s not so great for ski touring. This combined with the lack of snow meant that essentially Womens Day IBSC was cancelled. It seems that conditions were better in 1555 where there is a record of a woman skiing! It seems she wore a dress.

Three of us (Becky, Lucy Mairi) decided we would meet anyway for walking / running/ socialising. As Becky is training for a marathon Lucy and I thought we would support her by driving to Drynahan for a scenic walk and supervise her refuelling at Cawdor Café for a late lunch.

Drynahan is part of the extensive Cawdor Estate. Drynahan is a traditional 19th century shooting lodge on the banks of the river Findhorn, which is well worth a visit. From there we essentially headed South with Becky warming up on the walk up the steep hill. It is an area of extensive moorland with tracks suitable for biking. The area would probably also be good for ski touring if we ever had enough snow but probably getting up to the Lodge on the single track road would be an issue. We then headed West and down to the river Findhorn with us walkers going as far as Ballachrochin. Becky far out of sight ran as far as the rope bridge across the river Findhorn. This ropeway allows crossing of the river allowing travel between Ruthven and Drynahan. However Becky informed us that the ropeway is closed as it would seem that you need a special handle to operate it. We reconvened with Becky at Quilichan and made our way along the riverbank on a more awkward path back to the start.

A good lunch was enjoyed at the Cawdor Deli. These socialising trips are another great feature of the IBSC. Hopefully next year on Women’s Day we will have snow and clear conditions or perhaps we can arrange another day if there is enough snow this year.