It's a bit late for an update: Take it as read that the sun shone, the heat built up and we had a fantastic day out on the mountain. This was is Scotland, remember, in early April.And they're still touring around up there now.

I was very impressed by a couple of aspects of the seminar; Glenmore Lodge is an outstanding base for any event like that, oozing mountain skill credibility and all the facilities anyone needs to get the best out of a stay. The Cairgorm range is perfect for touring - it's not at altitude, so you don't need to acclimatise and it's easy to select a route that keeps you moving along rather than purely up.

That's not to say Scottish touring is always this benign. You need to have your navigation and mountaincraft skills up to date if the weather isn't as settled as we experienced, and reading the snow is as important here as anywhere.

It is possible to build skills relatively rapidly in this environment, especially tying it in with one of the Lodge's courses. Establishing your technique on the different gear is priority one; the softer boots and lighter skis and bindings feel quite different. Then finding your pace for the uphill is another critical part of the jigsaw. Slow and steady is easy to say but hard to find until you've skinned up a couple of slopes.

The retailers on the seminar enjoyed it hugely. They're detecting an increased interest in touring and backcountry skiing, and are looking to see which parts of the market they can look after. After this seminar, expect easier access to information and gear to get you off the pistes and into the hills from a wider range of ski shops.

For more about the Ski Touring Seminar see Day One here