Thursday 25 January 2018

Exploring North West Glasgow. A Cross Country Ski Tour. Part One.

                                               ALL PHOTOS CLICK FULL SCREEN.
This is part one of a long cross country- well... across Glasgow at any rate... ski tour on a pair of borrowed cross country skis. As four to six inches of snow has fallen in the last month over the Central Belt- on two separate occasions a couple of weeks apart- I made the most of them by planning ahead.
Looking at the Glasgow map and my own detailed knowledge of the area I knew a circular ski tour starting from Anniesland then taking in Bearsden (seen here, above) Dawsholm Park (skirting the edge of Maryhill) then the Forth and Clyde canal running down through Knightswood then the park there- plus the golf course then back to Anniesland via a different route should be possible.
Most of it would be travelling through green open spaces but occasionally using quiet back streets between the green areas--- travelling down roads or pavements when necessary. As it was a weekend outing the roads (most of the back streets almost blocked out by snow anyway) were very quiet. Apart from essential services- buses, trains, taxis -police etc  most folk had opted to stay home and not use their cars. (I heard later a six mile tail back traffic jam had occurred in Glencoe- caused by keen skiers flocking to the ski resort there then getting stuck and trapped for hours when they were already full up with visitors.
None of that hassle here though - even the pavements were empty as no-one seems to walk much in Bearsden over car driving age and it's the same as any other upmarket area I've noticed on previous cycling or walking trips around the various city suburbs- which is great from my point of view. The Kilpatrick  Hills in the distance here.
Some of the back streets had so much snow covering them it was hard to see where the road was underneath. There are two roads here.
I deliberately picked a route over several small hills for the views and a spot of downhill interest although truth be told I was only going at walking pace- deliberately so where I had to use pavements between green spaces and parks out of consideration. Not that I spotted anyone else around.
I also knew of a woodland trail that avoided most of built up Bearsden by linking Dawsholm Park with the Forth and Clyde canal.
A view of Anniesland, Jordanhill in the distance, and Anniesland Tower.
Anniesland Train Station and Glasgow's new super hospital at Govan, one of the largest in Europe, with a helipad on the roof. Dawsholm Park sits on a hilltop with good views over the city and a great network of trails.
Westerton Train Station. I had to take the skis off here to cross from Bearsden over into Anniesland to reach the Forth and Clyde canal via this pedestrian bridge.
A view over Anniesland from the other side of the bridge. You can see the gas towers I started off close to in the distance.
To reach the canal on the other side.
A few km of skiing along here followed, where I had some very easy downhill runs. Having skied so infrequently in the last ten years I was still finding my balance and technique and I never did get good enough to master the graceful but tricky telemark turns on anything other than a perfect gentle and wide slope so any turning involved was a clumsy bunny hop on planks. Not much room for snowplough turns either but useful for stopping or slowing down. I was improving though and was now bombing along- at a fast glide- sightly faster than fast walking pace but only just....



The real deal here. I need a lot more practice. Tricky when you only get low level snow so infrequently in Scotland. Some years none at all.

It was good fun though and felt great. A lone maverick nutter in a pristine, almost empty, world.
Apart from bird life of course. A moorhen here- a bird of wet moors, marshes, ponds and rivers. There used to be plenty of coots on the canal as well but moorhens have the distinct advantage of being able to leave the water and forage on the land for food whereas you don't see coots doing that much.
Very few coots on this canal now compared to 20 years ago but bird, insect,and animal numbers have all crashed dramatically world wide overall in that time. Some by 70 percent- some by 30 percent. I like to think of myself as a realist rather than a pessimist but the continuous downward trend of wildlife everywhere is obvious to anyone looking at the numbers.
So you might get a false picture here of this honeypot pond with its plentiful range of species. Gulls, tufted ducks, swans, mallards and geese- the numbers just enough to keep the pond from freezing over completely. Instead, it was a slushy thick porridge affair but very draining to swim or wade through I'd imagine.
Tufted ducks.
Swans and pigeons.
End of part one... in part two I tackle some mighty city hills....on Santa's magic planks!

A different kind of white. The chalk cliffs of the iconic Needles and an incredible climb up a caster sugar looking arete in this amazing video. I've never rock climbed on chalk before so I've no idea how good the protection is in the event of a fall off this thrilling knife edge. Probably best not to fall at all when relying on such crumbing crack lines or old metal pegs with a few hopeful nuts and hexes wedged in as a back up.  Well worth a full screen look in this link. Spectacular camerawork and effort. A real and very different adventure. Ah, to be young again.



















22 comments:

Neil said...

Wonderful! As someone who has never been on skis (and never will be now) I can only sit back and admire your ingenuity!

Anabel Marsh said...

Love it, a “lone maverick nutter” on skis, I wish I’d spotted you!

Carol said...

I'm also dismayed at how our mammalian wildlife is going down and down - thanks to people killing them off for fun mainly (e.g. shooters/hunters etc). I wish they'd leave nature alone to look after itself!

Didn't know you skiied? I've never tried it but, having no balance, know I would be cr*p!

blueskyscotland said...

Cheers Neil,
Glad you were able to post a comment as I've no idea why other ones have not reached the blog yet but I can see them appearing in the other inbox.

blueskyscotland said...

Hi Anabel,
Sadly, I've been called that a lot over the years because I don't keep to one sport. As few others I know are interested in doing a wide range of outdoor activities, at least with me, and stick rigidly to one thing to be a 'maverick nutter' is to be alone ...a lot of the time :o(

blueskyscotland said...

Hi Carol,
Yep- I've been enjoying the Big Cats series on BBC 1 recently.
I've had a pair of second hand downhill ski's and boots for over 30 years now and put an entire chapter about skiing through the Cairngorms in X country equipment in my book Autohighography. (Chapter 18. Mush!) You must have skipped that bit :o)
I'm sure I've also put up some old X country skiing photos on the blog years ago but if not I'll stick them up again.

Kay G. said...

Wait, you really did ski? I am impressed!
Only thing about skiing, it has to done in the snow and is therefore too cold for me.

Anonymous said...

I got some very odd looks walking through one of my local towns with skis strapped to my pack heading for the hills, and again when skiing down someones snowy driveway (it was a big house and a right of way). Put me in the mood as I'm off skiing next week
Great video as well - amazing, sensational arete and chalk looks disturbingly loose. I think the advice would be "don't fall!" :)

Linda W. said...

Great way to travel through town on a snowy day! We also get massive traffic jams on Mt Hood caused by skiers trying to reach the resorts on powder days.

Carol said...

I've actually read your Autohighography a few times but still don't remember the skiing bit. I think you must have immersed me in places and people too much in the book!

blueskyscotland said...

Hello Kay,
Yes I did. Well... slid across parts of Glasgow on planks as not much skill or style was involved. I'd need to improve a lot for actual skiing to take place.

blueskyscotland said...

Hi Andy,
yeah, that was an amazing ridge to go up. Hope you get good conditions for your skiing trip. Good prog on TV recently with lolo Williams on the Beacons- some lovely valleys and waterfalls profiled.

blueskyscotland said...

Hi Linda,
the Glencoe resort has spectacular mountain scenery but it is a small one with limited car parked for the numbers involved that particular day. Very glad I decided to stay local as driving on back roads would have been problematic with the snow levels involved.

blueskyscotland said...

Hi Carol, It is in there!
Can't have been that dire then if you've read it more than once. Seeing as you have knowledge of it I'll reveal a little about the last chapter as a reward- as that seems to have left folk somewhat baffled going by the feedback.
" The greatest gift you can give someone is a sense of purpose."
Since the 1960s I've read a few interesting books about humans living in a simulation- or an artificially created world. To Your Scattered Bodies Go. Philip Jose Farmer to name but one...or the Matrix films. More recently, with the major advances in computer games many have speculated that they could replicate the planet at some future date and you would never know it. Even in ten years the difference in open world scenery and increasingly lifelike characters is impressive so I decided to work that theory into the last chapter of the book as well as another main theme. Which is why it's called End Game.
So now you know :o)

Carol said...

Well I've always had that theory about mankind and our presence on this planet. I've often thought we are either like ants and something so large we don't recognise it as a being is watching us (maybe the mountains) or that it's all like a computer game of some kind. Maybe we're like the lions in the Roman arenas - maybe that's why we're fighting all the time. Maybe it's all entertainment for something we don't notice which is bigger and stronger than us?

Kay G. said...

Hey Bob! Guess what!! Just found out that one of my ancestors is Walter Fitz Alan Stewart! Yes, I know me and a million others but still...he gave the lands for Paisley Abbey and this pleased me no end.

Carol said...

Young again or not, there's no way in hell I'd tackle that ridge in your video - talk about knife-edge, high and crumbly! And, if it had rained, it would have been slipperier than limestone! and that's saying something! Looked far harder than HVS!

blueskyscotland said...

Ooohh, descended from Scottish royalty then as that line became the Kings of Scotland. Maybe I'll have to address you as Lady Kay or just 'Ma'am' as 'Your majesty' sounds too formal :)

blueskyscotland said...

Hi Carol,
Yep, An HVS move in the climbing wall is often very different to outdoors in a real situation- sometimes on wet, polished, or loose holds. I got up to E1 indoors or top-roping local crags but VS was my limit on multi pitch mountain routes. Never felt happy attempting anything harder on serious outdoor cliffs as you never know what the weather will throw at you. Started a few mountain routes in bright sunshine and ended up finishing them in the snow... as described in the book.

Kay G. said...

Bob, I shall allow you to call me "Kay"! It does make me want to make myself a T shirt that says, "I am descended from royalty, please give me some RESPECT." No one would ever believe it though, I am as common as dirt! LOL!

Ian Johnston said...

Great stuff Bob - I bet that particular ski tour hasn't often been done?! I'm always surprised by the sheer number of folk who have XC skis locally - any time we get a good covering there's bound to be tracks appearing.

blueskyscotland said...

Cheers Ian,
It's perfect country for ski touring in the north east.