UKC

I have been roped into going Skiing at the Nevis Range on Sunday with some friends. While the confines of the piste don't sound appealing I plan on getting some skills to use to go touring.

What sort of clothing system do I need? I am assuming there wont be much uphill work so I will be colder than I am used to. Is there anything clothes wise I can reuse? Would I be ok with just my fleece trousers or powerstretch trousers and my climbing goretex salopettes?

I am not bothered about not fitting in with the ski/boarding fashion as I dont intend hanging about in the resorts much in the future

In reply to Milesy:
Whatever you are comfortable in for a day in the hills basically. The fashion police dont cover touring.

In reply to Mike_Watson_99:

I normally wear a lot less than I see skiiers and boarders cutting about in at the resorts. They all shuffle about in the Cairngorm car park like colourful Mitchelin Men.

In reply to Milesy:

Ski clothes, esp jackets, tend to be bulky and heavy (and warmer) compared to climbing kit. There's no warm up walking, and you don't need as much limb movement/flexability (although doing the splits may happen!!!)

In reply to Milesy:
Ski lifts are the coldest places on earth, they also have a habit of breaking down whenever I go near them. I'd err on the side of caution

Cheers. Also worried about damging my good salopettes falling and sliding about in the snow. Took me months to save for them. I have an old pair of skiing salopetted back at my maws loft I bought many years ago when I started hillwalking and was sweating buckets before I was out the car park. Never wore them again haha. Dont have a big jacket though. Maybe just layer up some fleeces. Can you downhill ski with dachsteins mitts? Probably the warmest I have.

In reply to Milesy: Have you skied before (your post suggests not)? If not, be prepared to spend sometime lying/falling/sitting in the snow and getting a bit damp. As above, chairlifts are cold. Skinning uphill is hard work and you will be warm. Skiing down is somewhere between the two.

In reply to Milesy: Old saloppetes and Dachsteins will be fine. As will a couple of fleeces and waterproof. Be flexible.

In reply to MG:

I went Ski Touring in the cairngorms last summer and managed fine in my normal hill gear due to the skinning up hill and across the plateau. There wasnt much actual downhill involved and it was short lived.

This is just downhill skiiing on the pistes at the Nevis range.

In reply to Milesy:

For downhill skiing I usually wear my normal hillwalking gear plus some thermal leggings.

In reply to Milesy: get yourself down the back corries - it's probably the best bit of lift accessed skiing in scotland

In reply to Milesy: >" This is just downhill skiiing on the pistes at the Nevis range."<

Have you ever used a draglift or chairlift before ? Have you ever skied on anything much steeper than 5-10 degrees ? (most of the snow heading off Cairngorm's summit across the plateau is about that pitch). Did you never need stabilisers on your first bike or are you really Glen Plake Jr. ?

The fashionista don't really hang out on the runs at the Scottish ski centres so don't worry about what you wear but don't underestimate the difference in the challenge between the ski runs on Aonach Mor and skinning around the Cairngorm plateau.

In reply to moffatross:

I will be on the baby slopes probably. My post was really just about making sure I was comfortably clothed for the day.

In reply to Milesy: For anyone interested, you can get bargain nevis range ski passes for £14 (valid until the end of march) here:

http://www.itison.com/f/3632-b47b9

In reply to tom.e:

Thats why my friends roped me in. They wanted an extra person and then split the saving thanks