Scottish Snowboarding Adventure

Just back from a weekend's snowboarding on Aonach Mor with my flatmate Fiona. We were pretty lucky to have picked the only open ski centre for our weekend's adventure with Cairngorm suffering from 'too much snow'!

We drove up to Ballachulish on friday afternoon, with a chippie pit-stop in Callander, checking in to our quirky guesthouse just after seven. We quickly migrated towards the pub which had suffered the fate of bursts pipes following a particularly cold spell, but was nevertheless open for business. Within minutes we were holding free pints, bought for us by a friendly local. Soon after, another local walked in and demanded that the rugby be put on the TV. I was overjoyed to see he was referring to the Ulster vs Edinburgh. The joy was soon somewhat depleted after 80 minutes and a bleak scoreline.

In preparation for our day's exertions, we got up super early and wolfed down a supersized cooked breakfast - the ideal start to the day. We then headed up the mountain only to be told that we were waiting on a wind report before the mountain would be open for business. We finally boarded our gondola at 11am. I have to say I'm getting better at 'boarding, I must be - I'm not in half as much pain as I was after the last time I went!

After our snowboarding exploits, we headed south back through via Glencoe for a stop at the Clachaig Inn where we enjoyed a filling meal and a competitive game of 'guess the sauce sachet' with some visiting Australians. And, despite both confessing not to be big fans of it, we converted the Aussies to HP Sauce.

Carrying on our journey, we drove through the dark (with glimpses of the occasional deer) to the Bridge of Orchy where we were most pleased to hijack two mighty sofas, two pints of beer and a few newspapers to wind down after our tiring day.

The next day we joined the sunday drivers on the road home, diverting via Alloa to visit Fiona's sister, brother-in-law and 5-month-old niece. I can certainly say that after that weekend, I need a weekend to recover!