Ski road trip....

Yay - just back from a brilliant ski road trip. Tied to school half term (not ideal!), I ended up getting a flight to Paris where I got picked up late on Saturday night at a very cold and austere Charles de Gaulle Airport. Fun times as its been ages since I've caught up with Dave, and a midnight stop over at a random french 'aire' (services) with beer and sushi at 1-2am (I forget) in the camper van was cool. 

My rough winter plan (at the moment) is to get better at skiing, so that I can ski tour and basically explore the mountains in winter. Why I left it this late to learn to ski I don't know!??

Beautiful evening light on the drive back to Kev and Sue's house

Last winter I took the plunge and basically spent a week skiing on piste and got comfortable on blue runs with the occasional red thrown in, but not very in control! 

Dave and fatty (its a spare jacket - honest)

So first stop on the road trip was a few days skiing in the Auvergne and meeting up with Kev and Sue. To start with we camped at Super Besse, and the next day hit the slopes. Surprisingly I felt reasonably good, loads better and more confident than last year. We had a great 3-4 days skiing at Super Besse, Le Lioran (beautiful but compact resort), and Mont Dore, and were well looked after in the evenings by Kev, Sue (the only vegetarians I know who eat pork) and the cats  at the Chateau. 

Dave heading into the clouds

After a great few days we headed East towards the Alps and I was secretly pleased with my skiing progress, as I now felt happy and in control on red runs, and had started to try black runs. I know there's a long way to go, but all good so far.....

Hawes water and Gait Barrows

The cold, foggy weather didn't encourage us out on a big bike ride as we'd planned so we headed to  Silverdale instead to amble around the ancient landscape.

The weather gave an ethereal feel to the day, as we wandered through woodland listening to the call of wildfowl that we couldn't quite spot see on Hawes Water, just visible through the reeds and mist.

Snow drops in the woods

Gait Barrows was also a 'pleasant' spot, and is important for its flora, particularly rare orchids and ferns, but we didn't see much of this today!

Hawes Water shrouded in mist

Mini ski tour in the Pennines

I made the most of today's great weather by going in search of snow. Rightly or wrongly I dismissed the Lakes because it looked quite scoured and I didn't want to trash my ski's on rocks just yet!!

Love the rime on the fence

Instead I headed North to the Pennines near Alston and started my mess around at Yad Moss, which has a ski tow and piste (I use this term loosely). Not sure if I appeared on their web cam or not.

I'd known that the ski tow wasn't running today so I had the place to myself. I skinned up, toured around on the top and made 5-6 runs down various 'interesting' slopes.

It was just what the doctor ordered and I spent the time learning the intricacies of using skins (man the glue is sticky and a pain when it sticks to your fleece!), kick turns, and how not to ski in powdery grassy terrain. It was sunny all day and I really enjoyed it. Lets hope there is more snow to come.

Icy tracks and scarlet macaws in the Pennines !

I had a brainwave, and declared that we should head up to Kirkby Stephen for a nice easy ride in the sun on the last day of the holidays before the usual work trudge starts again.....

We biked from Kirkby Stephen over to Brownber crossing the Coast to Coast footpath on our route. It was beautiful at Smardale Bridge but pretty darn cold. The ground was on the whole frozen,  but some areas where the sun had hit were surprisingly muddy, which again made it hard going (or maybe we were out of shape!). 

Fun time

Beautiful tree (and Abi!)!

The return leg over Nettle Hill was lovely and the light stunning. I got a puncture on this stretch, which was cold to fix, but I think its my first for over a year (good going). More icy patches led to Crosby Garrett and an icy road return to Kirkby.

Magical light

Packing up at the car we were really surprised to hear strange bird calls, and then see a flock of ??parrots fly over head!!! I'd heard of parakeets in the South of England, but here in the Pennines surely not. Well it turns out that they are quite famous/infamous, and it made an interesting end to a great day. Here's an article from the Guardian about the 'birds' !

Silverdale's bounty

After being house bound due to the very grotty weather on New Years day, today felt very restorative getting out and exploring some of the Lancashire/Cumbria coast.

Morecambe Bay

Be careful Abi!!

We started our wander at Silverdale, firstly heading to Jenny Brown's point. As the tide was partly out and we gazed over Morecambe Bay it was hard to imagine that ships landed here in the late 18th century, when now all that remains is a ruined stone jetty. It takes its name (Jenny Brown) from a nanny who was drowned here whilst trying to save the children under her care from the rising tide.

Beach combing (lots of pebbles!)

Heading back we got shelter from the high winds as we ambled through some beautiful ancient native woodland, clearly shaped by the limestone geography and often exposed land forms.

Ash Christmas tree

Just above the mud flats and tidal channels we came across an Ash tree that had been decorated with Christmas baubles and tinsel, it was very beautiful and seemed quite fitting for a first wander of 2015. Happy New Year.....

Come on Simon, hurry up with the pictures...

Not another! I'm off.....

The Yorkshire Tundra

Initially I wasn't sure if I'd made a mistake in suggesting biking today, especially with Rachael heading up to play in the snow on the Lake District fells, which sounded a good option. But I'd promised Steve I'd ride today, and besides -3 isn't that cold, is it....

-3 and icy at the start

Colourful sheep

We set off from Helwith Bridge in the Yorkshire Dales and within 2 minutes I couldn't feel my fingers or toes as we skated around on icy roads, however Steve had factored in lots of uphill so we quickly warmed up as we headed towards Malham Tarn up some bridleways I'd never ridden on before.

Wish I had spikes on the tyre...

Once in the 'high country' the roads were completely covered in a heavy frost and dusting of snow which luckily was on the whole grippy, and very beautiful. We were even able to help free a completely stuck car who'd managed to get wedged sideways on the narrow snowy road.

The tundra.....

Quick break at Malham Tarn

There were a few folk walking at Malham Tarn, and the odd bike track but we didn't see another cyclist. We dropped back via Stainforth, and a 'new' section of the Pennine Bridleway I hadn't seen before.

Don't touch the brakes...

Another fun section that was surprisingly fast and fun

Sadly we didn't see any polar bears, wolves or arctic fox, but we did really enjoy the 18 mile ride on the Yorkshire Tundra.

Beloved Bowland

When I should have been getting 'sorted' for Christmas, instead I 'reconnected' with the local area - Bowland. Firstly cycling in the morning, which was great until I strayed onto the route of a classic car rally.

Beloved Bowland Hills

Not sure why most of them felt the need to beep their horn before zooming past me far too closely and then engulfing me in toxic heavy metal exhaust fumes. At one point I recall shouting 'you may have a classic car, but learn to drive the damn thing...'. Most of the owners/drivers looked as infirm as their vehicles, which I guess explains a lot.

The fence line leads me home

Not to out done in the afternoon I stretched out the legs and walked to Abbeystead and back and didn't see another person. Now, must get on the internet and get the Christmas shopping done....