by Dierdre O’Caunagh

Hartside Pass in winter

“Snow is falling, all around us, children playing, having fun…”. Oh no they’re not, they’re all in school and it’s my afternoon off so a quick trip up to Hartside Pass for the first cross country planking of the season. Lots of fresh snow on a nice base of deep wet bog made for entertaining going. Plus deep drifting (this is the Pennines) led to the opportunity to bury one’s skis in waist deep snow holes. A white-out developed as we skied back heading into the next rapidly encroaching Atlantic front, unsurprisingly no-one else out on the hill. Combined with a finish in the dark and one headtorch between us the afternoon made for a typically character building experience; I love winter! But hey, before you start to get envious, it’s raining now.