News

Norway has had another great year with plenty of snow. More than 30 Loipers (over half the membership) will have been to Norway, making up for the dismal lack of snow here in the northeast. Venabu, Dalseter and Hovringen have been the most popular destinations (as ever). Dave Legg has written this nice article about the Loipers holiday in Hovringen in early March - see this link. Another 10 Loipers are heading off to arctic Norway and Sweden in early April, culminating in 6 days of guided skiing in the Lyngen peninsula, northeast of Tromso. It is a fabulous area with high mountains and amazing views into the fjords, with usually snow down to sea level. Snow conditions this year look really good.

Tyneside Loipers joined forces with Tyne Valley Mountaineers for a long weekend in Braemar at the end of February. We stayed at the lovely Rucksacks Hostel and Bunkhouse. We had superb weather but there was little snow, so it was a weekend of walking and mountain biking. Driving north past the Glenshee ski area, we saw only one patch of artificial snow and one short Poma running, so it was clearly the right decision taking mountain bikes rather than skis. On a frosty sunny Saturday morning, we weighed up the possible summit options (An Socach, Carn Bhan, etc). Paramjeet and Richard went with colleagues from TVM and biked up to a high bothy. Dave Legg and Howard and I chose a tough mountain bike route up through the Mar Lodge…

In September this year Tyneside Loipers hosted the final event in this year's 'Northern Roll' Race Series. The northern clubs in Snowsport England (Manchester, Yorkshire Dales, Lakeland and ourselves) came together to create four events through the summer at venues throughout the north. This was the driving force for us to identify a better track than Hetton Country Park (which we had been using for many year). The super new track at Summerhill Country Park in Hartlepool has a much better surface and also we were able to have exclusive use and not have to contend with dog walkers and other local users like at Hetton. The track is also great for spectators, being a very compact circuit with lots of twists and turns. Each race in the 'Northern Roll'…

The 2023 hut tour explored the Langsua National Park - covering new ground for the Loipers. Neil, Lewis, and Peter and Alison, plus non-Loiper Andy Roberts set off from Dalseter in late March. Andy, as the only one with any prior knowledge of the area, helped considerably with the planning. The overnights were all self-service DNT huts apart from one charming private hut which was pre-bookable and allowed us to avoid what would have been a very long day's skiing towards the latter part of the tour. The huts were great - one was brand new! The snow was good and the weather was great. The route took in several lower summits. See the full story, as written by Neil, here.

Back this year to two of our favourite destinations in Norway. Seven of us had a week in Dalseter with the GB Nordic team and five Loipers followed up with a week in Hovringen. Other Loiper groups headed to Venabu or went hut touring in the Jotunheim and Hardangervidda. Read the story of the Dalseter/Hovringen trip - follow this link. Dalseter is always good. We joined the second week of the GB Nordic season with guided skiing provided by Dagmar, Glennis, Stefan, Pete Curwen and Nigel Williams. The skiing was great and the social atmosphere was excellent. It is a great hotel too. Unfortunately we didn't have the best of snow on the high tops - they were very blown and icy. But the track skiing was mostly very good…

Early December – the met office promised a week or more of freezing conditions and supposedly there would be several days of snow showers.  Mostly along the North Sea coast, we were desperate for snow to come far enough inland and enough of it to ski. By the weekend of 10/11th December we had had only a half inch of snow but it was staying cold and frosty.  Not enough to ski.  But some dogged research by Jon Mellor revealed a Facebook posting showing snow on the summit of The Cheviot (815m).  Neil, David and Alan were persuaded to team up for a trip north – and thus we arrived in the Harthope Valley on Monday morning.  More in hope than expectation.  But it was soon apparent that we could…

Tyneside Loipers is 40 years old this year. The club was founded in 1982 by Helen Charlton and Sylvia Dowse. We are celebrating on 22 October with a meal and social event at The Badger near Ponteland. After a speedy AGM at 7pm, we will be having the meal at 7.45 and then a half hour slideshow celebrating the last four decades of the Loipers. Please come along and share some memories and amusing stories of past Loipers events and the characters that made the club what it is today. Contact Alan or Charlie to tell us that you are coming. Menu details will be sent out shortly. Who are these guys from the first ever Loipers Norway hut touring trip in 2001? Some of them will be there on…

We thought we were in for a good season. Alan and Jon started out on 29 November with a grand day touring on Nordic skis onto the summit of Bolt's Law above Weardale. Just after Storm Arwen, the snow was holding nicely in the gullies and pathways between drifts of heather. We even had some sunshine. But later that day, it rapidly warmed up and the snow vanished. Thereafter we watched and waited for news of snow conditions at Weardale and Yad Moss. Both of the ski clubs opened on just a few days and did not seem to offer promising skiing. Despite that, two club members managed a massive 14 days of UK skiing, shared between Weardale and Scotland. Congratulations Kevin and Kimberley! Nov 2021 - Alan and Jon…

Vivienne and Ebony returned to Dalseter in Norway for a 2 week trip which included a week of guiding for Visually Impaired skiers and a week with the GB Nordic programme which is now a popular annual event for members of Tyneside Loipers. Vivienne's husband Harry joined them for the second week. Vivienne's article tells the story. Apparently it didnt all go to plan! Travelling in this covid era is a risky business! Despite their problems, Vivienne has no regrets. It proved to be another enjoyable trip. Dalseter never disappoints! Read Vivienne's full article here.

Jon Mellor and Alan Mitcham managed some great skiing on Monday 29th November. Storm Arwen brought damaging winds to the northeast and also persistent heavy snow. Tan Hill hit the news when 50 people were trapped in England's highest pub. Not far away, the Durham Dales, above Weardale, were getting the benefit of the same snow. Conditions on Bolt's Law were as good as they ever get in November. The strong winds had blown lots of snow into the tracks and hollows, so we had mostly continuous good snow without having to flounder in the heather. Jon was out on his skis the previous day. First Loiper out skiing in the Pennines this winter (beating usual suspects John Dark and Tim Elliott)! He proposed an early start from near Stanhope…