New Year Meet
Aviemore
28 December 1999 - 2 January 2000

Present: Gus M (owner!), Nina T (28/2), Jo L (28/29 & 1/2), Val L (28/29), Terry C (28/29), Andy R (1/2), James R (30/2), Willie J (29/30), Fiona & Calum M (1/2), Justin R (30/1), Emma and Dean (26/2), Brian S (1/2)

28 December

A few people started arriving at Gus M's house in Aviemore. He had kindly offered his home to the club over the festive period. Weather and snow conditions were superb at this point with Emma and Dean raving about wonderful ski and snowboarding conditions. Gus upset as an injured leg was preventing any fun in the snow!

29 December

Val & Jo headed up to the ski car park and set-off on what was supposed to be an attempt to get onto Ben Macdui which actually resulted in a magic day of bum sliding and ice axe training! The snow in places was really deep making going difficult, and caused lots of squeals from Val when deep patches of snow suddenly became burns! After lots of play, the winds got up and the cloud dropped so they decided that, as good fun had been had, it was best to get out while the going was good! Independently, Terry decided to set off from the Hotel just before Coylumbridge up Gleann Einich. Although a pick-up point and time had been arranged prior to dropping Terry off, a couple of hours passed the due time he turned up at Gus' place. In the meantime Val & Jo waited and waited and waited at the Hotel (fuelled by hot chocolates in the bar!) becoming increasingly more worried, before being rescued by Gus & Nina's arrival and news of his whereabouts!?! Differences in interpretation of where 'at the hotel' was ……..! Emma was now wiped out by the 'flu and Dean, very touchingly, stays to nurse her, so Nina heads out for a day on the Tele skis and new plastic Tele boots on her own. Unlike her debut in the self-same boots at the end of the previous year with Brian S and Gus, she manages to stay upright for over 10 seconds at a time and is elated to perform her first proper Tele turns! Willie J arrived during the evening ready to hit the ice and snow after being encouraged by today's stories. Low temperatures and stacks of soft fresh snow look promising, and everyone prays for thaw/freeze.

30 December

Yet another attempt of Jo's to try out this ice-climbing malarkey was thwarted by high winds, low cloud and generally horrible conditions (and high temperatures as it was now raining on top of the snow) bringing high avalanche risk with all the soft, fresh snow…!! After a horrendous cup of brown looking dishwater flavoured tea at the top car park, we decided to call it a day (at 9.30!), and headed down to join Val & Terry who were heading to do a forest walk behind Glenmore Lodge. I have a mental image of Val in plastic boots (but dry feet!), and Terry walking with a brolly! We met some from the Scottish Ski Club who were also a little fed up with the sudden change in conditions. Val, Terry and Jo headed back to Edinburgh this evening in readiness for Hogmanay celebrations on Prince's Street.

31 December

Justin arrived early afternoon having battled through a stormy Drumochter. Poor weather again prevented all from doing anything exciting. With the ski area only partially open due to hurricanes, most people opt for forest walks and cups (barrel-fulls?!) of hot chocolate in Café Mamba. Preparations began for the BBQ in Gus’ expansive garage, to which everyone in town appeared to have been invited. Despite constant assurances by Gus’ that there was more than enough beer (in the 10 trays or so of cans and bottles!) people still brought more with them! The spread was fit for a king with salads, burgers, nuts, bread, dips, rolls, and of course an enormous pile of burgers (which Dean set about breaking a world record for 'burning the most burgers in one sitting'). The party was underway upstairs with Justin as DJ at the Bells - soon everyone has kissed everyone and we were ensnared in a spider’s web of streamers!!! Gus’ next door neighbour puts on a fireworks display, although staying outside in the not so welcoming weather was a bit of an endurance test! Nina’s Dad (among many other locals and Aviemore regulars) arrived to First Foot. By about 3am or so Mr T finds himself in a very heated discussion with a very articulate lawyer from Glasgow, the main ingredient being far too much whisky consumed by both parties - he got home at 7am to stern disapproval from both wife and daughter!

1 January

Activities were mainly restricted to yet more forest walks (fortunately there are lots nearby to stave off cabin fever as the winds refused to drop below tornado level), and so began the first raid on Gus’ video collection. Nina and Justin had dinner at Nina’s Dad and Step-Mum’s, whereupon they were shown up by the older generation who go off to the Kincraig dance while Nina and Justin retreat to Gus’ house again to join in the telly watching and get an early night. They got back to find that Willie had left in disgust due to the not-forthcoming climbing conditions as high winds had stripped the hills bare of snow and render moving around in the hills near impossible. Jo & Andy R arrived late evening after a very successful Hogmanay in Edinburgh. This also marked the beginning of the two-day indoors Oxbridge championship (Andy, Cambridge and James, Oxford) - the overall result being Cambridge trounced Oxford 7-2 in backgammon, chess, scrabble and go-karting! Calum & Fiona arrived this evening via the Lairig Ghru and through the Calmain gap. Brian also arrived today leaving a 'flu suffering Anne.

2 January

Calum & Fiona set out earlyish - everything is relative! - and walked into Bynack stables after having a sauna and swim. About midday, Brian, Nina & Jo headed up Bynack More, the first 'bag' of the year for the FMC. It was also the first be-torching of the year!?!?! It was a typical don’t-go-out-with-Brian-without-a-head-torch kind of day … The choice of Bynack More was chosen due to its sheltered position from the south-south-westerly winds, but its was still bitterly cold in the wind. First sortie of the crampons on lovely crisp ice, even if Jo decided that one and a half crampons was plenty……!?!

3 January

Everyone who hadn't headed back to Edinburgh by this stage did so today, with many thanks and more to Gus M for letting us have run of his home for the week.

Nina T