Snow came to the northeast on Sunday (5th January). Eagerly awaited after a promising forecast, most of us awoke to about 10 cms of snow on Sunday morning but it soon started to thaw. Then, in the early afternoon, six Loipers gathered at Slaley Forest (on the edge of the Hexhamshire Alps!) and we had some great skiing. It continued gently snowing all day. Jon Mellor went skiing on his own, along the Waskerley Way.
The good news was that it was going to stay cold and sunny all week!
Slaley Forest and Waskerley Way were the favoured locations through the week and various loipers were out most days. Tim and Ben did a great job establishing a 5km circuit around Slaley Forest with nice tracks for everyone to follow. Sarah and Ken (new member) were there 3 days running. John Dark and Alan, Paul and Cath all enjoyed the unbroken trail on Day 1. And a host of Loipers have used the trails since.
John, Paramjeet and Graham were defeated getting to Parkhead on Tuesday. The road from Edmundbyers was almost impassable and it would have required a great deal of digging to get parked. Paul discovered a parking option at Rowley, which gave easier access to the Waskerley Way.
On Tuesday, Jon and Alan and Cath went to Weardale Ski Club in the wilds of the Durham Dales. It was their first opening of the year. Loiper members Kevin Moore and Keith Lambley had spent much of the previous day getting the lift system running. They had plenty of snow cover but the skiing was quite challenging. Jon and Alan and Keith managed to show off our telemark skiing skills (and also managed a couple of spectacular falls). There was a narrow ‘piste’ but the ground is quite lumpy and the piste consisted of a mix of snow and frozen bare ground! There would have been very good skiing the following day after a bit more work with the piste-basher.
Alan achieved a moment of fame when he was interviewed by Tyne Tees Television. The link to the evening TV programme is here. Worth seeing… there are some great drone shots of skiing at Weardale.
Alan and Jon also managed a day out on Kilhope Law, skiing from the roadside near Allenheads. The snow was very good with easy skiing lower down – and also good near to the summit. We also skied some distance along the top but in a lot of places the snow was unconsolidated and lying over deep heather. It was tricky returning down the upper section of the return track! Nevertheless it was another lovely day with full sun and great views.
There are more photos on the Loipers Facebook page. And lots more available on the Yad Moss, Weardale and Allenheads websites, all the local ski areas having been running on most days this week (see links page).