With very high winds forecast for Sunday, it was surprising to see such a good turnout of members in the car park. We all trudged up through the rain, which turned to sleet by the time we got to the top of the zig zags and met the full force of the forecast winds.
Those of use carrying snowboards were struggling to avoid getting scooped up by the wind and, when Mike's hat blew off, we watched him walk back down in pursuit before making our way up to the top of the chimney. We waited for there for a few minutes before leaving him for dead, making our way on and up to the hut, catching sight of Mike down in the valley, where Berhhard and pal had scooped him and his hat up.
A quick brew at the hut later and around 18 of us got stuck into digging trenches on the up and down tracks of the tow between pylons two and five. The tracks are needed when the snow is deep to keep the hangers under control when there's no one on them and to ensure there's enough clearance between skier and the cable/top of the pylons.
I doubt I was the only one thinking that there was no way that the tow would run in the still very high winds and fully expected that we'd be going home after our trench building. A quick cup of tea and a buttie at the hut later though, the wind had dropped and the weather had cleared.
The snow was absolutely stunning down Presidents, Savages and right across to Hut Face, undoubtedly run of the day. It all got a bit crispy when you got over to Way out West and, on an exploratory hike up to the summit of Raise we were met with more high winds, made up for by hopping on to Sun Down and being propelled like windsurfers back across to the tow.
It was one of those magical days on Raise: when you set out with low expectations, muck in to get the tow clear and are then rewarded by a few hours of first class skiing with great company. The apres Helvellyn Gold at the Traveller's Rest never tasted so good. Roll on the weekend!
