Adventure skiing on Geal Chàrn, Laggan – 10th January 2025

Adventure skiing on Geal Chàrn, Laggan

By Fiona Outdoors

The original plan for a club day trip to Cairngorm mountain was changed by group lead Al Todd with the aim of “skiing somewhere different”. A big snow dump earlier in the week meant that there were many options north, south, east and west of Inverness but Al had heard from his son Angus that conditions looked favourable on Geal Chàrn, a Munro near Laggan at the western end of Monadh Liath.

Of course, until you are actually on a Scottish mountain, you can never be sure what you will find but that is all part of the adventure.

After an early morning road recce by Angus in his 4×4 vehicle, Al also chose a start point of Garva Bridge, rather than the more common hill-walker approach from Spey Dam.

I was glad my friend David was driving his car, fitted with winter tyres, because the undulating single-track road to reach Garva Bridge was thick with snow. As we travelled west, I could feel my excitement growing as I looked up at the rolling hills and mountains all around, all covered in what appeared to be a thick blanket of snow.

Al split our larger group in two and I set off on skis with David and Paul, led by Donnie and Kenny, of Nevis 4 Outdoor Adventures, who would be instructing on the IBSC’s “intro to ski touring” course the next day.

Snow and heather bashing

There was just about enough snow to allow us to ski away from the parking area on a wide track, before we joined a narrower path and then headed off-track on to a more rugged terrain of snowy-heather.

Anyone familiar with Scottish skiing will know about the heather-bashing aspect of many winter outings. While the ground might appear sparse of snow, amazingly it is possible to ski fairly easily over a tapestry of thick, bouncy vegetation and in-fill snow.

For a while, our smaller group lost sight of Al’s group of six other skiers although we could hear their voices rising from the side of a burn to our left. While Al had continued to followed the line of the walkers’ path, our group had veered to the northeast and cut off a corner.

At around 380m elevation, we came together for a short while before our group continued the climb, again veering north-easterly while Al’s group made their own tracks more directly north.

With a snow-covered landscape route it’s possible to choose your own route to the summit, rather than following a path or “trod”, although careful compass and map work is required. Donnie discussed his choice of direction with our group each time we stopped to regroup and we were all happy with his decisions.

The higher we climbed, the greater the abundance of snow and, in the end, the heather and rocks mostly disappeared beneath. Donnie, often breaking trail at the front, set an even pace and it was possible to relax and enjoy the superb views.

Sublime vistas and sunshine

As the morning progressed the sun shone in a bright blue sky and we looked down over layer of thick clouds hanging in the glen. This phenomenon is created by a temperature inversion and it explained why the car park had been so bitterly cold as we prepared to set off, yet at higher altitude the air temperature felt warmer.

The vistas of multiple snowy mountain tops peaking out above fluffy clouds beneath a large bright sun were breath-taking and we stopped collectively at regular intervals to drink in our good fortune.

“You would not want to anywhere else on a day like this,” said Donnie, echoing all of our sentiments.

I felt lucky to be a freelance worker, which meant I could skip a day at my desk for a spontaneous day in the mountains.

The ski day was also a chance to meet new people. While I greatly enjoy spending time with my regular outdoorsy friends, it was interesting to chat with Donnie and Kenny about their guiding business and I got to know Paul, who it turned out has mutual friends.

As the ascent continued, the gradient steepened slightly although it never felt too challenging. The snow was soft and without ice – such a rarity on Scottish winter mountains! – and there were only a couple of slightly tricky sections where we needed to cross the course of a burn.

Again we lost sight and, this time, also the sounds of the other group but we thought they had most likely followed a more direct line to the top of Geal Chàrn. And there, as we rose up from the east side of the mountain, we suddenly saw them, already gathered around the snow-and-ice covered cairn, eating lunch and readying their skis for the descent.

It was surprisingly calm at 926m elevation, which I was grateful for. I have Raynaud’s Syndrome and I do not cope well when transitioning my from the uphill ski set up to downhill when it’s cold or windy.

Sastrugi, some turns and a lot of heather

Geal Chàrn forms a somewhat wide and flat ridge from north-east to south-west and it was agreed that this would offer the better chance of decent snow for our descent. First though, we needed to cross a sea of sastrugi that, while gently sloping, was also strewn with rock sharks.

Some skiers chose to cross this area on skins, while our group braved unskilled skis. There was a fair amount of zip-zagging and pole pushing to reach an altitude of around 880m where we could see some large sections of powdery snow.

I am not going to lie and tell you this was the best Scottish skiing I have experienced but, certainly, there were some very enjoyable turns on buttery like powder snow. We needed to be careful to avoid some clumps of heather and further rocks but, one the whole, there was a very pleasant 20 minutes of skiing that most Scottish skiers would be willing to spend hours to reach.

Then came a much more testing challenge as the snowy ground gave way to more and more heather, so that we were attempting to ski lines around and between the vegetation to remain on the snow.

I focused hard on trying to stay upright and to calm my speed with many wide zig-zags. My tendency in these situations is to lean back and to snow plough, which meant my thighs were constantly burning. I asked the others how they were faring and they confessed they felt the same.

By now, the sun was starting to set and the snow was painted a gorgeous yellowy hue. Each time that I stopped to rest my aching legs, I gazed out over a stunning horizon with the sun dipping behind distant mountains above a dense layer of cloud.

It was soon afterwards that we descended into this cloud and the air temperature suddenly dropped. The body heat generated by working hard as we “combat” skied a wild tapestry of heather, rocks, icy river crossings and snow patches meant I was still warm in my usual downhill ski layers.

We followed a vaguely snowy path for a while until there were too many rocks and stones and we made the decision to bootpack the final couple of kilometres along the bank of a burn.

I found I was suddenly chilly after stopping to strap my skis to my pack but I knew it would be hard work hiking with my kit on my back. I was right – as we strode out along the path, I soon warmed up again.

For spells I walked and chatted with the others, while at other times I enjoyed the silence and my own thoughts.

I reflected that while Scotland might not boast the best snow – and that fickle weather frequently results in testing conditions – the rewards of a big mountain journey on skis are many: The amazing accessibility that we have to our mountains, the spectacular views, the fitness gained from tough terrain, the company of like-minded people and the huge sense of achievement of a wonderfully unique adventure.