I certainly wouldn't say that Gavin MacKay and I were sitting about in January twiddling our thumbs. Far from it; we were like eager beavers...

One eye scanning the webcams and a finger gently resting on the large red phone sitting atop a ski tech bench in his garage. We'd put in the call to Nic Watkins and Troy Steel from Run Jump Fly Productions and
we're glad to hear that they were willing to ignore the police warnings regarding essential travel.

In our minds the short trip from London to Aviemore was essential if they were going to explore Scotland's
backcountry at its very best.

Gavin MacKay = Eager beaver

All Photos: Ben Thorburn

This big freeze you've all been hearing about apparently has the UK on its knees. Not so in the Highlands, a place where men are men and sheep are scared, we headed for CairnGorm Mountain to put in some leg work and head for the summit.

Temperatures were leveling out at -18C and we'd had top up after top up of snow leaving us with about 1.5m of fresh to play with. Perfect conditions you say?!

A wee wander from the ski area sees us hit some quality sidecountry in Coire an t' Sneachda (Corrie of the
Snow) and it didn't disappoint as Gav laid down a swift line and we could all get some quality turns as the light faded from golds to blues reflecting against the snow.

Our stash of trees from afar

Chilling out back at the Hilton Coylumbridge, our base for the weekend, only led to mild debauchery once the whiskies were consumed but the talk was of what the trees had in store for use the next day. Nic and Troy soon appreciated that we just don't ski trees in Scotland and that Sunday would be a unique day.

It kicked off with yet more fresh snow and an early rise saw us skinning from Glenmore towards our fabled peak. We setup on top of a sweet pitch we'd been eyeing for some time and when it was green for go we were threading our turns through ancient Caledonian Pine forest of the Cairngorms National Park. Skiing the trees in Scotland was as good as it gets for us and a true priveledge as the evening sun kissed the snow and
lengthened the shadows on our last run.

Just where do you think you're going?

The snow this season is epic in Scotland and we're lucky enough to have it on our doorstep. For Nic and
Troy, the long road home but for Gav and I the knowledge that it was worth the wait and that we would soon get our fix again!

Sun sets on an epic day's skiing

Related stories:

The lure of some Back Corries action at Nevis – the best lift accessed freeride in Scotland?

Twiddling our thumbs – More tales from Scottish snow

Scottish recce – the first trip of the winter

Les Portes du Soleil – an overview of Les Portes du Soleil with a little bit of flavour from Ben