Scottish Ski & Board 2022/23 e-mag

Welcome to the digital version of our annual Scottish Ski & Board supplement

The Flypaper at Glencoe Mountain Resort - Scotland's steepest in-bounds run PIC: Stevie McKenna / ski-scotland

To read the e-mag version of Scottish Ski & Board 2022/23, please click here https://frontrowmedia.uk/2022/thescotsman/scottishskiandboard/

The beauty of the snow-sliding life is that there is no right or wrong way to do it. For some people, like Olympic skier Charlie Guest, it's all about the buzz of competition. As she explains in her interview with Malcolm Jack starting on page 4, she has had all kinds of unexpected obstacles to overcome during her career as a ski racer, from a broken back in 2014 to the shock funding cut experienced by the British Alpine ski team this summer.

Her determination is such, however, that you wouldn't bet against her achieving her goals in spite of everything – and her love of her chosen sport is such that, even if things don't ultimately work out as she might have hoped, she'll certainly have had a good time trying.

For backcountry adventurers like Blair Aitken and Gavin Caruthers, skiing is also about overcoming challenges, but for them the enjoyment is to be found, not in winning races, but in tackling steep, technical lines on the kinds of slopes that most people would describe as winter climbing routes. In his feature starting on page 14, Aitken recalls their latest hair-brained scheme: an attempt to ski off all ten of the highest peaks in Scotland in a single weekend. Did they manage it? Read on to find out.

Snowsports don't have to be all about adrenalin, however. During lockdown, from their base in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park, former Olympic halfpipe snowboarder Lesley McKenna and photographer, writer and snowboarder Hannah Bailey teamed up to create Wandering Workshops – a very different way of experiencing the mountains. Yes, there's often a bit of backcountry adventure involved in these carefully curated tours, but there's also an emphasis on reflection, meditation and appreciating your surroundings. Participants in the workshops are invited to carry cameras or notebooks with them, and to record their experiences as they travel through the landscape. If the great poet of the Cairngorms Nan Shepherd were still alive today, you feel she would probably approve. In fact, she’d probably book herself a spot. You can read all about the workshops on page 10.

And finally, when it comes to getting the most out of Scotland’s ski centres a little local knowledge can go a long way, so Jamie Currie has been speaking to some long-term fans of Cairngorm, Glencoe, Glenshee, Nevis Range and the Lecht and asking them for insider tips. You can benefit from their many years of accumulated wisdom on page 8. Have a great winter! ✱