Snow Fun on Aonach Mor!

With business now slowing down for the winter, we just couldn't resist giving ourselves a day off to go out and play in the snow we've had up here this week.

After a brief detour into Fort William to pick ourselves up a couple of brand spanking new sledges, we met up with our friends Mark and Gail and headed up Aonach Mor on the Nevis Range gondola. Despite Matt being sceptical about the amount of snow at the bottom, as we emerged at the top of the gondola we were delighted to see masses of the stuff - perfect for our sledging plans!

Being heavily pregnant, Gail couldn't join us for the sledging so we left her in the warmth of the Snowgoose restaurant and trudged uphill to the top of the Quad Chairlift. My feelings of trepidation were increasing as we climbed higher and higher, especially when I realised I didn't actually have a clue how to sledge. Luckily I had Matt with me, helping me understand some crucial 'sledge science', such as "the deeper the snow, the steeper you need it to be", and "you're lighter than me so you'll probably take off". As I said, crucial.

Luckily all my fears were forgotten when we reached the top and found some pristine knee-deep snow on which to christen our new sledges, and it was all downhill from there!

We had great fun trying to dig ourselves out of the powder at the top whenever we fell off, and it got even more interested towards the bottom as we tried to avoid the large rocks poking out of the snow, and the various ditches which the sledges seemed to be magnetically attracted to.

After a while the fun ran out for Matt when he slid over a rock and broke his sledge. We had a few attempts at tandem sledging but it is somewhat harder than doing it by yourself! We were soon drawn back to the warmth of the Snowgoose, where we joined Gail for lunch and beer before heading home. Definitely a successful day out, measured by the fact that I was still pulling snow out of my pockets on the way home.

Jen x