I do not usually enjoy a long walk along a tarmac road to reach the start of a mountain hike, but the chance to ski along the snow-slick singletrack road that heads through Glen Loth to reach the slopes of Beinn Dhorain, was a rare treat.
The eastern coast of Sutherland around Helmsdale had received an amazing dump of snow over previous days but, even so, it came as a surprise to see the ribbon of thick snow reaching right along the singletrack road to the A9.
There was no chance of access by car and so, alongside my companions Paul and Colin, we simply clipped our ski boots on to our skis – already prepared with “skins” – and pushed off uphill to ski the 3km or so towards the southern slopes of the 628m tall mountain that sits in a collection of summits called Fionas.
A glen skin to reach Beinn Dhorain
The going felt easy and the gradient gradual, while the conversation between us was up-beat and companionable. We chatted happily about our good fortune at having so much snow, a sunny morning, a week-day adventure, the views and also about life, work and retirement.
At times, I skinned ahead to relish the tranquility of the glen that passes between high, rounded hills, all blanketed in pristine-looking snow. I could hear the burbling of the river to our right, the soft breeze in the trees that lined the road and the murmur of Paul and Colin’s continued conversation.
The snow was imprinted to one side with hundreds of footsteps that I imagined must be red deer. This was confirmed when I spotted dozens of hinds, mostly standing still in several small groups, peering nervously at us from afar.
High above us, I suddenly saw a large bird of prey swooping above the tall trees of a distant forest. We all stopped to stare and agreed it was most likely an eagle.
Road to mountain
The height gain was only around 100m total from the start of the road to where we headed on to the open slopes. Before going more off-piste, we crossed an old stone bridge close to a number of standing stones before spotting a gate that we needed to climb over (that meant we had to take off out skis and slot them underneath).
A little while later, another gate required a bit of clever navigating to pass through.
While ski touring brings many bonuses, such as an amazing freedom to roam in beautiful places, there are some trickier aspects including negotiating gates and fences and skiing over heather and rocks barely covered in the white stuff.
Away from the snowy road, we needed to plan our own route uphill. The visibility was good at this point and we could see the first high point of Druim Dearg at around 445m en route to loftier Beinn Dhorain.
Suddenly the gradient steepened and the skinning became more arduous. We took it in turns to break trail, easing the effort of whoever was behind. The chatter still continued as we got to know each other better. All members of Inverness Back-country Snowsports Club, we had made the arrangement for the Monday adventure via the WhatsApp group. I’d skied with Paul once before and Paul and Colin knew of each other but it was our first ski together as a trio.
I like meeting new people and I particularly like how being in Scotland’s hills enables easier conversations with strangers, or relative strangers. I guess we were like-minded enough to be keen to get out into the mountains on skis and I think that because you are side by side, or behind each other, it makes it even easier to share thoughts.
As we ascended, the views became increasingly wide over surrounding snow-capped peaks and behind us the backdrop was of the glassy sea.
We felt fortunate to be enjoying some blue sky although the wind at higher altitude was brisk and icy.
Saddle to summit
Reaching a wide saddle in the terrain, we decided to stop for a bite to eat. We needed to find a sheltered spot and we chanced upon a re-entrant – a crease in the landscape – that offered a convenient long hole out of the wind but deep in snow.
After sandwiches, flapjack, chocolate bars and hot drinks, we felt re-energised enough to clip back into our skis for the final 1km and 200m of ascent.
I was feeling the cold, especially in my hands, and I decided to get a bit of a march on. The cloud was also thickening and I suddenly wanted to reach the top.
I needed to check my phone map a couple of times to makes sure I was going in the right direction because the clag was now shrouding the rounded peak and making it difficult to see much ahead.
I made my way to a cairn atop Beinn Dhorain. It wasn’t big and as Colin and Paul joined me, we questioned if we were actually at 628m height but, again, my OS Map app confirmed we were. Sometimes on a flattish top, especially when there is cloud, it is difficult to assess what is up and what is down.
Transition to the downhill
After a quick photo, we began the (very cold) process of transitioning from uphill to downhill skiing. By now, two other skiers had caught up with us and we chatted while everyone stripped off skins from their skis, locked ski boots into downhill mode and stepped back onto to their skis, now with heels affixed.
The other skiers are also members of IBSC, as it turned out. They were a couple enjoying an outing in between dropping their child at nursery – and an afternoon pick up.
The downhill ski was a joy to start with. The snow was light with a fairly compacted base. In very little time, our speedy zigzags took us back to the saddle.
We were required to return uphill for a short spell and while Colin and Paul decided to reapply their skins, I simply unfixed my heels and poled myself along. It was quite hard work but I was in need of some warming exercise.
Suddenly, the sun started to shine through the cloud and I stopped to take in the superb view of a pinky-yellow glowing sun.
It was mid afternoon by now and the sun was lowering quite quickly. As the clouds parted more, the sun shone just above a snowy mountain peak to the west creating a breathtaking view.
I waited for Colin and Paul to catch up and then we all transitioned to full downhill skiing mode again. However, unlike the relatively smooth progress higher up, the snow at lower altitude was much more sketchy.
Scottish ‘survival’ skiing
You may have heard the term “survival skiing” and it means that skiers need to cope with tough terrain, rocks, vegetation and poor visibility yet try to survive as best they can. In some places, the snow barely covered rocks and vegetation, while in other places fluffy snow sat in deep hollows around bulbous heather plants, creating traps for unsuspecting skiers. Poor Paul fell a couple of times and, on one occasion, it was a major effort to get himself and his unwieldy skis out of the snowy hollow.
By the time we made it back to the gates on the lower slopes having followed almost exactly the same route as for the ascent, we all had tired quad muscles.
A tough ‘pole’ along the glen
But then came the hardest part of the day – and it took me by surprise. During the glen skin, I’d had imagined us all zipping back along the glen, perhaps even using the road as a sort of quarter pipe.
I had obviously underestimated the gradient, however, because it quickly became clear that there was a lot of flat terrain and many sections of incline.
Instead of zip-zipping along, we all had to use our poles to push ourselves along for more than 2km. Halfway back, I knew I needed to stop for a quick sweet treat because I was slightly losing my sense of humour! This is always an indicator of low energy levels for me.
Thankfully, there was a final whoopy moment at the end of the ski trip when a short, but steep, decline whizzed us right back to the side of the A9. It was starting to get dark, although we had not needed our head-torches. I was reminded of coming to the end of a long day on resort slopes, finishing as the sun sets and right at the edge of the resort village, before a short walk to an apres-ski bar.
Our walk was a little different: Back along the side of the A9, carrying skis, to our vehicle parked in a lay-by. We then changed from our ski kit, chattering happily about a brilliant adventure, and jumped back in the car for the two-hour drive back towards Inverness. The après-ski beer had to wait until each of us arrived back home again.
Beinn Dhorain ski tour, Sutherland
Distance: 15km
Total elevation: 670m